Privacy policy

1. Who we are

This website, settlers.tech, is operated by Rizq Management Software Ltd, a company registered in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, trading as Settlers(“we”, “us”). For the personal data described in this policy we are the controller.

Questions and requests about your data go to hello@settlers.tech. We have not appointed a data protection officer, as our processing does not require one; this address reaches the people responsible for data protection.

2. What this policy covers

This policy covers visits to settlers.tech and requests you send us through the contact form or by email. It does not cover personal data we process on a client’s behalf while building or running workflows in the client’s systems. That processing is governed by our contract with the client and our data processing agreement, and the client is the controller for it.

3. What we collect

When you contact us

• Your name and a way to reach you — a work email address or a Telegram username.
• Anything you choose to tell us in the optional “What eats your team’s week?” field. Please do not include information about other people, or any sensitive personal data, in this field.
• Request context: the country your request came from (derived from your IP address by our hosting provider, not the address itself), the page you sent it from, and your browser’s user-agent string.
• If you email us, the content of that email and your email metadata.

When you visit the site

• Server logs kept by our hosting provider: IP address, time of request, requested URL, referrer and user agent. We use them only to operate and secure the site.
• Local storage in your browser: where you stopped in an audio episode, and display preferences such as the cover image you selected. This data stays on your device; it is never sent to us.

We do not use cookies for analytics or advertising, and we run no third-party tracking, analytics or advertising scripts. If that changes, we will update this policy and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent first.

4. Why we use it, and on what basis

We process personal data under the ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021 and, where they apply to you, the EU General Data Protection Regulation and the UK GDPR. For each purpose we rely on the following legal basis:

• Replying to your request and arranging a call — taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, and our legitimate interest in answering business enquiries.
• Preparing and running an engagement with your organisation — performance of a contract, and our legitimate interest in managing business relationships.
• Operating and securing the website, including filtering automated spam — our legitimate interest in a working, secure service.
• Meeting legal obligations, such as keeping business records or responding to lawful requests from authorities — legal obligation.

We do not use your data for marketing unless you ask us to keep you informed, we do not make decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects, and we never use your data to train artificial intelligence models.

5. Who else processes it

We share personal data only with service providers that help us run the site and answer you, under contracts that require them to protect it and to use it only on our instructions:

• Vercel Inc. (United States) — hosts the website and runs the contact form; keeps the server logs described above.
• Telegram — delivers a notification of each contact request to a private team chat, through the Telegram Bot API.
• Our business email provider — hosts hello@settlers.tech and our replies to you.

We may also disclose personal data where the law requires it, to protect our legal rights, or to a successor in the event of a merger or sale of our business, in which case this policy continues to apply. We do not sell personal data, and we do not share it for advertising.

6. International transfers

We are based in the Abu Dhabi Global Market, and some of our providers process data in other countries, including the United States. Where personal data leaves the jurisdiction it was collected in, we rely on an adequacy decision where one exists, or on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses and the equivalent instruments recognised by the ADGM Commissioner of Data Protection and the UK. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards that apply.

7. How long we keep it

• Contact requests and related correspondence — for up to 24 months after our last exchange, unless the request leads to an engagement, in which case we keep it for as long as the contract and our record-keeping obligations require.
• Requests filtered as spam — not stored.
• Server logs — for the retention period set by our hosting provider, typically days to weeks.
• Local storage — until you clear it in your browser.

8. How we protect it

The site is served only over encrypted connections. Access to contact requests is limited to the people who need to answer them. Secrets are held in our hosting provider’s encrypted environment configuration, never in source code. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we will tell you and the relevant authority without undue delay if a breach is likely to put your rights at risk.

9. Data we handle for clients

When we build or operate workflows for a client, we may process personal data held in that client’s systems — customer records, messages, orders. We do so only on the client’s documented instructions, as a processor, under our data processing agreement. If your data is in a client’s systems and you want to exercise your rights, please contact that client; we will help them respond.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you are, you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy of it;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• have your data erased;
• restrict or object to our processing, including where we rely on legitimate interests;
• receive your data in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

To exercise any of these, write to hello@settlers.tech. We will answer within one month, and may ask you to confirm your identity first. There is no charge unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.

You also have the right to complain to a supervisory authority: the ADGM Office of Data Protection, or the data protection authority where you live or work. We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first.

11. Children

This website and our services are intended for businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when our practices change, and change the date at the top of the page. If a change materially affects how we use data we already hold about you, we will tell you before it takes effect.