Privacy Policy
Effective October 3, 2026
This policy covers the RetrievalKit website: articles and a live hybrid search demo, the newsletter, and the Starter Kit for sale. It explains what personal data is collected, why, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and the rights you have over it. It is written to meet the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Portugal's data protection and electronic communications laws, and United States federal and state privacy laws.
Who is responsible for your data
RetrievalKit is operated by Erica Thompson (Brave Haven), the controller of your personal data. For anything about your data, email hr@bravehaven.io. No data protection officer has been appointed, because one is not required at this size.
The short version
- We collect only what the service needs, and use it only for the purposes below.
- We never sell your personal information, and never share it for advertising.
- Analytics stays off unless you accept it, sets no cookies, and you can change your mind at any time.
What we collect, why, and for how long
The newsletter
- What
- Your email address and when you signed up
- Why we are allowed to
- Consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw it at any time by emailing us
- How long we keep it
- Until you unsubscribe. Email us and you are removed within 30 days
Selling and delivering the Starter Kit
- What
- Your email address, the amount and currency paid, Stripe checkout and customer IDs, and whether the kit was delivered. We email you the download link through Resend
- Why we are allowed to
- Contract: needed to provide the service you signed up for (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)), and legal obligation: tax and accounting law (gdpr art. 6(1)(c))
- How long we keep it
- As long as tax and accounting law requires, up to 10 years
Search
- What
- What you type into the search box is sent to the search engine to find results. Searches are not saved. If a search fails, the query is written to the server log so the problem can be fixed
- Why we are allowed to
- Legitimate interests (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)): providing the search you asked for and fixing it when it breaks
- How long we keep it
- Not kept, except a failed query in server logs for no more than 30 days
Running and securing the site
- What
- IP address, browser and device type, pages requested, and time of request, in server logs
- Why we are allowed to
- Legitimate interests (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)): keeping the site working and protecting it from abuse
- How long we keep it
- No more than 30 days, then deleted automatically by our host
Understanding how the site is used (only if you accept)
- What
- When each page was viewed, the page address, the referring site, approximate location (country, region, city), browser, operating system, and device type. No cookies. Visits are told apart by a hash of the request that Vercel discards after 24 hours, so the data is not tied to you
- Why we are allowed to
- Consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw it at any time
- How long we keep it
- Vercel keeps it for our plan's reporting window, and may keep it longer. Withdrawing consent stops any further collection
Cookies and similar technologies
These are strictly necessary for the site to work, so they do not need your consent:
- session cookie: Protects the newsletter and admin forms from cross-site request forgery. Kept: Until you close your browser.
- analytics-consent (localStorage): Remembers your analytics choice. Kept: Until you clear it.
Vercel Web Analytics sets no cookies. Its script is loaded only if you choose Accept analytics; until then nothing about your visit is sent to it. You can change your choice at any time with Analytics settings at the bottom of every page. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as a refusal and do not ask.
Who we share it with
We use these service providers (processors). Each may use your data only to provide its service to us, under a data processing agreement:
- Vercel: Hosts the site and keeps short-lived server logs. Runs Web Analytics, only if you accept. Location: United States.
- Our managed PostgreSQL provider: Stores the account data described above. Location: United States.
- Stripe: Takes payments. Card details go to Stripe directly and never reach us. Location: United States.
- Resend: Sends email. Location: United States.
- Elastic Cloud: Runs the search engine. It holds the articles, not personal data. Location: European Union (AWS).
We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We would disclose data to authorities only where the law requires it.
International transfers
Our providers store or process data in the United States. For transfers of personal data from the European Economic Area, the UK, or Switzerland, we rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) where the provider is certified under it, and otherwise on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses in the provider's data processing terms.
Your rights
In the European Union, the UK, and Switzerland
- Access: get a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification: have inaccurate data corrected.
- Erasure: have your data deleted.
- Restriction: ask us to stop using your data while a concern is resolved.
- Portability: receive your data in a machine-readable format.
- Objection: object to processing based on our legitimate interests.
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what was done before.
You can complain to a data protection authority. In Portugal that is the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD), www.cnpd.pt. Elsewhere, contact the authority where you live or work. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.
In the United States
Depending on your state (including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas, and others with comprehensive privacy laws), you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to access it, to correct it, to delete it, and to opt out of its sale, of targeted advertising, and of profiling. We do none of those three. We will not treat you differently for using any of these rights. You can use an authorized agent, and if we turn down a request you can appeal by replying to our answer.
How to make a request
Email hr@bravehaven.io and say what you would like. We answer within one month (GDPR), or within 45 days for US state privacy law requests, and tell you if a complex request needs longer. Requests are free.
How we protect it
- Every connection is encrypted with HTTPS
- Card details are handled by Stripe and never reach us
- Starter Kit downloads use signed, expiring links checked against a recorded purchase
Children
RetrievalKit is not intended for anyone under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has given us personal data, email us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
When this policy changes, we update this page and its effective date.