Legal
Privacy Policy
How we collect, use and protect personal data across the VLDB Solutions sites, including dbask.ai, and the rights you have under UK data protection law.
1.Who we are
VLDB Solutions Limited ("VLDB Solutions", "we", "us", "our") is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 06680502). Our registered office is The Plaza, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool, England, L3 9QJ.
If you have a question about this policy or your data, contact us at info@vldbsolutions.com.
2.What this policy covers
This policy covers four websites:
| Site | What it is |
|---|---|
| vldbsolutions.com | Our main website: the company, our services and how to contact us |
| vldb.uk | Our blog |
| dbask.ai | The product site for DBAsk |
| sovereigndb.com | The product site for SovereignDB |
It covers personal data we collect through these websites and in emails you exchange with us.
It does not cover data we process for customers as part of our services. That is covered by the customer's contract and data processing agreement. In that case the customer decides how the data is used and we process it on their instructions.
3.What data we collect
Data you give us
- Enquiry and demo forms (all sites): your name, work email address, company and message. Some forms also ask for a phone number, your job role, a short description of your database environment, or a referral code.
- Email: anything you send us, and our replies.
- Blog comments (where comments are switched on): your name, email address, optional website and your comment.
- Updates and newsletters: your email address, if you sign up.
Data collected automatically
- Server logs: your IP address, browser, device, the pages you ask for, and the date and time. Our hosting providers keep these for security and performance.
- Security checks: our enquiry and demo forms include a hidden field that a human visitor never sees or fills in, but an automated bot typically does. If that field is filled in, we treat the submission as spam and discard it. This check runs entirely on our own systems: it does not collect your browser or device information for any third party, does not send anything to Google or any other provider, and does not set a cookie.
- Website usage, only if you accept cookies: the pages you view, how long you stay, the links you click, the page you came from, your approximate location, and your browser and device. This comes from the analytics tools listed in our Cookie Policy.
- Email activity: when we send you email, we record whether you open it and which links you click.
Data from other sources
- Business contact details: your name, job title, company and work email, from public sources such as LinkedIn and company websites, from events, and from partners, so that we can contact people about services relevant to their role.
We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal data. Please do not put any in a form or an email to us.
4.How we use your data, and why
Under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018) we need a legal basis for each use of your data. These are ours:
| What we do | Data used | Our legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry or demo request, and follow up | Form details, emails | Legitimate interests (answering business enquiries), or taking steps at your request before a contract |
| Keep in touch about our services and send marketing emails | Name, work email, company, email activity | Legitimate interests (promoting our services to business contacts). You can opt out at any time. If you are a sole trader or a partnership, we only send you marketing emails with your consent. |
| Measure and improve the Sites | Website usage data | Your consent. You can withdraw it by changing your cookie choice. |
| Protect the Sites from spam, fraud and abuse | IP address, browser and interaction data, server logs | Legitimate interests (keeping the Sites secure) |
| Publish blog comments and manage sign-ups | Comment details, email address | Your consent |
| Meet our legal duties and handle legal claims | Any of the above | Legal obligation, or legitimate interests |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed them against your rights. You can ask us how.
We do not sell your personal data. We do not make decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects.
5.Who we share your data with
We share personal data with providers who help us run the Sites and our business, only as far as they need it. Providers that process data for us are bound by contract to keep it secure and to use it only on our instructions. Google, for some of its services, also uses data for its own purposes, as its privacy policy explains.
| Provider | What it does for us | Sites |
|---|---|---|
| HubSpot (privacy policy) | Keeps our customer records, receives form submissions, sends our emails. | vldbsolutions.com, dbask.ai and sovereigndb.com |
| Google (privacy policy) | Google Analytics (website statistics, only if you accept cookies). | All four sites |
| Ahrefs | Website statistics, only if you accept cookies | vldbsolutions.com |
We may also share data with our professional advisers, insurers and IT support providers, with authorities where the law requires it, and with a buyer if we sell the business.
6.Transfers outside the UK
Some of these providers are based or process data outside the UK, including in the United States. When personal data leaves the UK we make sure it stays protected. We do that by using providers covered by UK adequacy regulations (including the UK-US data bridge, for certified US companies), or by using approved safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us for details.
7.Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- ask us to correct data that is wrong
- ask us to delete your data
- ask us to restrict how we use your data
- object to us using your data
- ask for your data in a portable format
- withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on it. This does not affect what we did before you withdrew it.
You can object to direct marketing at any time and we will stop. Every marketing email we send has an unsubscribe link.
To use any of these rights, email info@vldbsolutions.com. We may ask you to confirm who you are. We will reply within one month. If your request is complex we may need up to two more months, and we will tell you if so. There is normally no charge.
8.Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
9.Keeping your data secure
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse and unauthorised access. No transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee the security of anything you send us. Please do not put sensitive information in a form.
10.Changes to this policy, and how to contact us
We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top shows when. If we make an important change, we will say so on the Sites.
VLDB Solutions Limited, The Plaza, 100 Old Hall Street, Liverpool, England, L3 9QJ, Company number 06680502, info@vldbsolutions.com
Questions about this policy?
Contact VLDB Solutions Limited at info@vldbsolutions.com. We aim to respond to all enquiries within five working days.