The short version
We collect very little. If you fill in the contact form we keep what you typed so we can reply. If you agree to analytics, we count page views to learn which of our writing is worth continuing. We do not sell anything about you and we do not buy lists. Everything below is the same statement with the detail a policy is obliged to include.
Who we are
This site is operated by Blur Brands LLC, a limited liability company registered in the United States. For data protection purposes we are the controller of the information described here, which means we decide why it is collected and what happens to it. You can reach us about anything on this page at [email protected].
What we collect
Three things, and nothing else:
- What you type into the contact form
- Your name, email address, company, which service you are asking about, and your message. All of it is optional except your email address and message, because without those we cannot reply.
- A one-way fingerprint of your IP address
- To stop the contact form being used to send bulk mail, we count recent submissions per visitor. We do this by hashing your IP address together with a secret value and keeping only the result, which cannot be turned back into an address. The hash is discarded after one hour. Your actual IP address is never written to our database.
- Analytics, but only if you agree
- Which pages were opened, roughly where in the world the visit came from, and which site referred you. This is off until you turn it on, and you can turn it back off at any time.
Our web host also keeps standard server logs, which include IP addresses, as essentially every web server does. We do not analyze these and they are kept only as long as our host retains them.
Why we use it, and on what legal basis
If you are covered by the GDPR or the UK GDPR, these laws require us to name a lawful basis for each use. Ours are:
- Replying to your inquiry
- Steps taken at your request before entering a contract, and our legitimate interest in answering people who write to us. You asked us a question, so we answer it.
- Keeping the form from being abused
- Our legitimate interest in keeping the site working and not becoming a relay for spam.
- Analytics and any future advertising measurement
- Your consent, and nothing else. This is why the banner exists and why nothing loads before you answer it.
We do not use your information to make automated decisions about you, and we do not profile you.
Cookies
Every cookie the site can set is listed by name, purpose, and lifespan in our cookie policy, along with the controls for changing your mind.
Who else sees it
We do not sell your personal information, we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not trade it. A small number of companies process it on our behalf, under contract, and only to do the job we hired them for:
- Our customer relationship platform
- Holds contact details and correspondence for people who get in touch, so an inquiry does not get lost. If you allow analytics, it also records which pages you read before you wrote to us.
- Our analytics provider
- Aggregate visitor statistics. Runs only with your consent, and what it is allowed to receive follows the categories you set in the cookie banner rather than being enabled by default. Both providers are named by cookie in our cookie policy.
- Our web host and email provider
- They store the site and carry the message we send you. They do not use your information for their own purposes.
We will also disclose information if a law we are subject to requires it, which has not happened to date. If we are ever bought or merged, personal information would transfer with the rest of the business, and we would say so here before it took effect.
Where your information goes
We are based in the United States and our providers store data there. If you are writing to us from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, your information will be transferred out of your country to reach us. Where our providers rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for those transfers, those terms apply to your information as well. If you would rather not have your information leave your region, the honest answer is not to use the contact form, and to email or call us instead.
How long we keep it
- Enquiries that become client work: for as long as we work together, and for seven years afterward, because tax and contract records require it.
- Enquiries that do not become client work: three years, then deleted, in case you come back to a conversation we already had.
- The spam-prevention hash: one hour.
- Analytics: fourteen months, which is the shortest retention Google Analytics 4 offers.
- Your cookie choice: six months, after which the banner asks again.
You can ask us to delete an inquiry sooner than any of this, and we will, unless we are legally required to keep it.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct it if it is wrong, or delete it. Write to us and we will do it. We do not charge for this and we will not make it difficult.
If the GDPR or UK GDPR covers you, you additionally have the right to restrict how we use your information, to object to uses based on legitimate interests, to receive your information in a portable format, and to withdraw consent at any time without that affecting anything done before you withdrew it. You also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority, and you do not have to raise it with us first, though we would like the chance to fix it.
If you are in California, you have the right to know what is collected and why, to delete it, to correct it, and not to be treated differently for asking. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under California law, so there is nothing for you to opt out of. You may use an authorized agent to make a request.
Send any of these requests to [email protected]. We will respond within thirty days, and we may need to ask you something only the right person would know before we act on a request.
Children
This is a business consultancy. Nothing here is aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under sixteen. If you believe a child has sent us something, tell us and we will delete it.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS, inquiries are stored where the public cannot reach them, and the number of people with access is small. No one can promise perfect security, and we are not going to. What we can say is that we hold very little worth stealing, which is itself a deliberate choice.
Changes to this policy
If we change what we collect or why, we will update this page and move the date at the top. If the change is significant, and particularly if it affects a choice you already made, we will ask you again rather than quietly rely on the old answer.
How to reach us
Questions, requests, and complaints about this policy all go to the same place: Blur Brands LLC, at [email protected]. A person reads it.