01Who we are
This website is run by Porifyx. In this policy, “Porifyx”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean us. We design and build AI automation, custom software and websites, and we work with businesses across the UK and abroad.
For the personal information described here, we are the controller. That means we decide why and how it is used, and we are responsible for looking after it under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
If you have any question about this policy or about your information, you can write to us by email or use our contact form. A real person reads every message.
02What this policy covers
This policy applies to anyone who:
- visits porifyx.com or any page on it;
- uses the chatbot on our website;
- fills in our contact form or any other form;
- books a consultation with us;
- signs up to our newsletter;
- is a client, or works for a client, supplier or partner of ours.
When we build something for a client that handles their customers’ data, we usually act as that client’s processor. In that case the client’s own privacy notice applies, and our responsibilities are set out in a separate data processing agreement.
03Information we collect
Things you tell us
- When you contact us: your name, work email, company, phone number if you give it, the service you are interested in, your budget range and whatever you tell us about your project.
- When you book a consultation: your name, email, company, phone number if you give it, the time you choose, your timezone and a short brief. We also keep a record of any changes, such as a reschedule or cancellation.
- When you join our newsletter: your email address, your name if you give it, the exact wording you agreed to and the date and time you agreed.
- When we work together: contact details for the people we deal with, invoices, payment records and anything you share as part of the project.
Things you type into our chatbot
Our chatbot keeps a record of the conversation: your messages, its replies, the page you were on when you started and any contact details you choose to share. There is a full section on the chatbot below.
Things we collect automatically
- Simple visit counts. We count page views and button clicks each day. These counts do not use cookies and cannot be linked back to you.
- Google Analytics. Only if you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics records things like the pages you view, your device type and your rough location (to city level). IP addresses are shortened before they are stored.
- Security information. To stop spam and attacks, we keep a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address with form submissions, and our servers keep short technical logs for up to 14 days.
Things we receive from others
Sometimes we receive your details from someone else, for example when a colleague introduces you, or when you contact us through LinkedIn or a directory such as Clutch. We only use those details to respond to the introduction or enquiry.
Please do not send us sensitive information
We never need information about your health, religion, ethnicity, sexuality or similar personal matters. Please leave this out of forms and chat messages. If it arrives by mistake, we will delete it.
04How we use it and why we are allowed to
The law says we must have a valid reason, called a lawful basis, for each way we use personal information. Here is what we do and the reason we rely on.
| What we do | Our lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry or chat, and prepare a proposal or quote | Taking steps you have asked for before a contract, and our legitimate interest in answering business enquiries |
| Confirm, remind you about and manage your consultation | Taking steps you have asked for before a contract |
| Deliver projects, support and invoices | Performing our contract with you, and our legal duty to keep financial records |
| Send our newsletter and occasional updates | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time |
| Set analytics cookies and remember your chatbot conversation | Your consent, as required by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) |
| Count visits, keep the site secure, block spam and improve our chatbot’s answers | Our legitimate interest in running a safe and useful website. We have checked that this does not override your rights, and you can object at any time |
| Deal with legal claims or requests from the authorities | Legal obligation, or our legitimate interest in protecting our business |
We do not use your information to make decisions about you by automated means alone, and we do not build profiles of website visitors.
05Our chatbot and how it uses AI
The chatbot on our website is an AI assistant, not a person. It answers questions about our services and our work using information we have written and approved. When you use it:
- your messages are sent securely to our AI provider so it can write a reply;
- our agreements with AI providers do not allow them to use your conversations to train their public models;
- the conversation is stored for up to 12 months so we can follow up your request and check the quality of the answers;
- if you share your name or email, we treat the chat like any other enquiry and may get back to you about it;
- someone from our team may read the chat or join it if you ask for a person, or if the assistant cannot help.
AI can make mistakes. Please check anything important with us before you rely on it. Our AI chatbot notice explains this in more detail.
06Marketing
We only send our newsletter or marketing emails if you have clearly said yes, for example by ticking the box on our newsletter form. Every email has an unsubscribe link, and you can also just reply and ask us to stop. When you unsubscribe, we keep your email address on a short “do not contact” list so we never email you by accident again.
If you are a client, we may occasionally tell you about similar services we think are useful. You can say no at any time.
07Cookies
We use a small number of essential cookies to make the site work and keep forms secure. Anything optional, such as Google Analytics or the chatbot remembering your conversation, only switches on if you agree in our cookie banner. Saying no is as easy as saying yes. Read our cookie policy for the full list.
08Who we share it with
We never sell personal information. We share it only with carefully chosen companies that help us run our business, and only as much as they need. They act on our instructions under written contracts that require them to keep it safe.
| Who | Why |
|---|---|
| Our web host | Stores the website and its database on servers in the UK or Europe |
| Cloudflare | Speeds up the site, protects it from attacks and runs the Turnstile spam check |
| Our email provider | Sends booking confirmations, reminders and our replies to you |
| Our AI provider | Writes the chatbot’s replies (for example Cloudflare Workers AI or OpenAI) |
| Google Analytics, only if you accept analytics cookies | |
| Our newsletter platform | Sends the newsletter, only if you subscribe |
| Our accountant and professional advisers | Keep our accounts and give us legal or tax advice |
We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect our rights, or if our business is ever sold or merged, in which case the new owner would have to follow this policy.
09Sending data outside the UK
Some of the companies above, such as Google, Cloudflare and our AI provider, may handle data outside the UK, for example in the European Union or the United States. When that happens we make sure the transfer is protected in one of the ways UK law allows: a UK adequacy decision, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us for a copy of the safeguards we use.
10How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Enquiries and contact form messages | 24 months after our last contact, unless you become a client |
| Consultation bookings | Your personal details are anonymised 24 months after the consultation |
| Chatbot conversations | Up to 12 months |
| Other form submissions | As set for each form, normally 12 months |
| Client contracts, invoices and payment records | 6 years after the end of the contract, as HMRC requires |
| Newsletter subscribers | Until you unsubscribe, then only a “do not contact” record |
| Server security logs | Up to 14 days |
When the time is up, the information is deleted or anonymised automatically.
11How we keep it safe
We take security seriously, and we build the same protections into our own website that we build for our clients:
- every page is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection;
- passwords and keys are stored encrypted, never in plain text;
- our team signs in with two factor authentication, and each person only sees what their role needs;
- suspicious sign in attempts are blocked automatically;
- the database is backed up every night and backups are kept private;
- our software is checked regularly for known security problems.
No system is ever completely secure. If something does go wrong and it affects you, we will tell you promptly, and we will report it to the ICO where the law requires.
12Your rights
UK data protection law gives you strong rights over your information. You can ask us to:
Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. That will not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
13How to make a request
Just write to us by email or use our contact form and tell us what you would like. You do not need to use any special wording. We may ask you to confirm your identity so we do not hand your information to the wrong person.
We will reply within one month. If your request is complicated we may need up to two more months, and we will tell you if that happens. There is no charge, unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.
14Children
Our website and services are meant for businesses and adults. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you think a child has given us their details, please let us know and we will delete them.
15If you are not happy
Please talk to us first. Most concerns can be sorted out quickly, and we would like the chance to put things right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK regulator for data protection. You can contact the ICO at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by calling 0303 123 1113.
16Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when the way we handle information changes, or when the law changes. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last updated. If we make a significant change, we will make it clear on this page and, where appropriate, tell you directly.
Still have a question?
Write to us and a real person will reply within one working day.