Privacy policy

1. Who we are and scope

ByteAlong LLC, a Texas limited liability company ("ByteAlong", "we", "us" or "our"), plans, designs, installs, configures and supports network infrastructure, including structured cabling, Wi-Fi, VPN and multi-site connectivity, security cameras and door access systems. Our contact details are in section 15.

This policy explains how we handle personal information when you:

• visit bytealong.com and its pages (the "site");
• contact us by email, phone, the contact form or in person;
• become a client, or act as a contact for a client, supplier or partner; or
• are a user, employee, tenant or visitor of a client whose systems we work on (see section 4).

"Personal information" means information that identifies, relates to or could reasonably be linked to a particular person. Information solely about an organization is not personal information. Information about identifiable employees, business contacts and sole proprietors is.

We decide how to use information for our own business activities, such as responding to inquiries and keeping billing records. For personal information in client systems, our role is different, as explained in section 4.

Products offered separately with their own privacy notice, including the Writing Assistant, are covered by the notice presented with that product. This policy does not describe that product's text processing, accounts, extensions or AI features.

2. Information we collect

We do not ask you to submit government ID numbers, health information, payment-card details or other sensitive information through the site. Please do not send sensitive information or passwords unless we have agreed a secure way to receive them.

3. Our website

No cookies or tracking

The site does not set cookies or use analytics, advertising tags, tracking pixels, fingerprinting or session recording. Its scripts support website functions such as the menu, page animations and contact form. They do not use local storage or session storage to retain information about you.

Your browser may cache pages, scripts, images and fonts, and may retain browsing history or form entries under your browser settings. That ordinary browser behavior is different from tracking by ByteAlong. If we introduce cookies or tracking tools, we will update this policy and provide any choices or consent request the law requires before using them.

The contact form

The form does not submit your entries to a ByteAlong server or save them to a website database, local storage or session storage. Choosing send passes your entries to your chosen email app or email handler as a message addressed to info@bytealong.com.

Your email app and provider then handle that message under their own terms and settings; for example, they may save a draft. You can edit or discard it before sending. We receive the message only if you send it, and then handle it as other email we receive.

Hosting and fonts

Your browser must connect to servers to load the site. Those connections disclose technical data, including your IP address, to the providers involved:

• Hosting. Microsoft Azure hosts the site and processes request data to deliver and secure it. We have not enabled additional site request logging or analytics, and do not keep our own site-visit logs. Microsoft's processing is subject to the applicable service terms and privacy notices. See the Microsoft Privacy Statement.
• Fonts. The site loads the Inter typeface from Google Fonts. Google receives technical data associated with those requests, including your IP address and browser details. Google states that it does not use Google Fonts requests to build end-user profiles or target advertisements. See the Google Fonts privacy FAQ and Google Privacy Policy.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

We do not track visitors across websites for advertising. A Do Not Track signal therefore does not change how this site operates. We honor Global Privacy Control and other recognized opt-out preference signals where applicable law requires. Because we do not sell personal information or share it for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising, there is no such activity to stop on this site.

4. Data in client systems

While working on a client's network or security systems, we may access user and device lists, IP and MAC addresses, network and firewall logs, Wi-Fi sign-in records, credentials, cardholder and door-entry records, and live or recorded camera footage.

For this information, the client determines the purposes of processing, and we act on its behalf as a service provider or processor, as applicable. Our written agreement and any required data-processing terms govern that work. We:

• access and use information only as needed for the agreed services and the client's documented instructions, or as required by law;
• do not sell it, use it for our own advertising or combine it with unrelated information for our own purposes;
• limit access to people who need it and are subject to confidentiality obligations;
• protect credentials and coordinate their handover and the removal of our access when the engagement ends or the client requests it;
• copy footage or records out of the client's systems only when needed for the agreed work, at the client's documented request or as required by law; and
• delete troubleshooting copies when no longer needed, and return or delete remaining client system data at the end of the work as our agreement and applicable law require.

Where retention is legally required, retained copies remain protected and are used only for that purpose. Backup copies are addressed in section 7, subject to stricter requirements in applicable law or the client agreement.

Information that remains in the client's systems follows the client's retention settings and decisions. The client is responsible for its lawful use of cameras and access systems, required notices and consents, and responses to people whose information it controls. This does not remove ByteAlong's own legal or contractual obligations.

If you are a client's employee, tenant or visitor, contact that organization first about its records. We will assist it with privacy requests and security obligations as our agreement and the law require. We do not independently delete client-controlled footage in response to a request that should be decided by the client.

5. How we use information

For our own business activities, we use personal information to:

• answer inquiries and prepare proposals, quotes and site surveys;
• deliver, document and support services, schedule visits and coordinate with your team;
• issue invoices, process payments and keep business and tax records;
• send service messages, maintenance notices and relevant security advisories;
• send occasional service updates to business contacts where permitted. These messages explain how to opt out, including by replying "unsubscribe". We honor opt-outs within 10 business days, or sooner where required;
• secure our site and systems and prevent fraud or misuse; and
• meet legal obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.

Client system data is used only as described in section 4. We do not use personal information covered by this policy to train AI models or authorize providers to do so on our behalf. We do not make decisions about people based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

Legal bases (where UK or EEA data protection law applies)

We rely on contract where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you personally; legitimate interests to respond to business inquiries, manage client relationships and secure our operations, where your rights do not override those interests; legal obligation for required records and other duties; and consent where required, including for marketing where applicable. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing.

6. How we share information

We disclose personal information only as appropriate for the purposes in this policy:

• Service providers help with hosting, email, file storage, accounting and payment processing. Providers acting on our behalf are subject to appropriate contractual limits. Banks and some payment providers also process information for their own legal, security and fraud-prevention purposes under their own privacy notices.
• Subcontractors and suppliers help deliver projects or handle equipment and warranty requests. We disclose what they need for the work and require appropriate confidentiality protections.
• Professional advisers, such as accountants, lawyers and insurers, receive information where needed to advise or assist us, subject to appropriate confidentiality.
• Legal and safety reasons. We may disclose information when required by law or legal process, or where lawfully necessary to establish or defend claims, prevent fraud, or protect people's rights, property or safety.
• Business transfers. Information may be disclosed in connection with a proposed or completed merger, acquisition, financing or asset sale, subject to appropriate protections and applicable law. A transfer does not by itself authorize materially different uses of information from those described in this policy.
• Your instructions or consent. We may disclose information as you direct or expressly authorize.

Disclosures of client system data remain subject to section 4 and the client agreement. We do not sell or rent personal information, or share it for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising.

7. How long we keep it

• Inquiries that do not become engagements: up to 24 months after our last contact.
• Client and billing records: throughout the relationship and normally seven years afterward, subject to applicable tax, accounting and legal requirements.
• Project documentation, such as diagrams and as-built records: throughout the relationship and up to three years afterward for warranty and support questions, unless the agreement requires an earlier return or deletion. We also consider earlier client requests, subject to legal retention requirements.
• Client system data: only as described in section 4 and the client agreement. The project-documentation period does not authorize keeping unrelated footage, access logs or unnecessary credentials.
• Hosting and font request data: we do not keep our own site-visit logs. Microsoft and Google retain request data under their applicable terms and retention practices.

We may retain limited information longer where required by law or reasonably necessary for a legal claim, investigation or legal hold. We may also keep a minimal record of a marketing opt-out so we can honor it.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it or make it anonymous. Deleted information may remain in protected backups until those backups are overwritten in the normal cycle. We do not use those copies for ordinary business purposes. If a backup is restored, we reapply relevant deletion requests, subject to legal and contractual requirements.

8. Security

We use administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the information we handle. These include serving the site over HTTPS, restricting access to people who need it, protecting credentials and requiring staff and subcontractors to keep information confidential.

No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a personal information breach occurs, we will notify affected clients, individuals and authorities as required by our agreements and applicable law. Please do not send sensitive information by ordinary email unless we have agreed an appropriate secure method.

9. Your rights and choices

Depending on the laws that apply, you may have the right to:

• access your personal information and obtain a copy;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• delete information, subject to applicable exceptions;
• receive eligible information in a portable format;
• object to or restrict certain processing, including marketing; and
• withdraw consent where we rely on it.

Email info@bytealong.com with the subject "Privacy request". We may ask for information reasonably needed to verify your identity or authority. Do not send identity documents unless we ask and provide a suitable way to send them.

We aim to respond within 30 days and will comply with the applicable legal deadline. If an extension is permitted and needed, we will explain it within the required time. If we cannot fulfill a request, we will explain why, unless the law prevents us from doing so. Requests are free unless the law permits a fee, which we will explain before charging.

We also consider requests from people not covered by a specific privacy law. For client-controlled records, use the process in section 4. Opting out of marketing does not stop necessary service, billing or legal messages.

10. U.S. state privacy rights

State privacy laws differ in their coverage, exemptions and rights. Where a law applies to ByteAlong and your information, we will provide the rights and procedures it requires. The following describes our practices and request process:

• No sale, advertising sharing or targeted advertising. We do not sell personal information, share it for cross-context behavioral advertising or use it for targeted advertising, and have not done so in the past 12 months. This includes information about minors.
• Sensitive information. We use and disclose sensitive personal information only for permitted purposes associated with the services, security and legal obligations described here. We do not use it to infer characteristics about you. Where consent is required, it must be obtained before the relevant processing.
• Profiling. We do not use personal information for profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
• Authorized agents. Where applicable, an authorized agent may submit a request. We may verify the agent's authority and your identity as the law permits.
• Appeals. If we decline a request, you may appeal by emailing us with the subject "Privacy appeal". We will review it and respond within the applicable legal deadline, explain the outcome, and provide information about contacting the relevant regulator where required.
• No unlawful discrimination. We will not unlawfully deny services, charge a different price or otherwise discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

California disclosures. Where the California Consumer Privacy Act applies, the categories we collect include identifiers; personal information described in California's customer-records law, such as contact and billing information; commercial information; internet or other electronic network activity; professional or employment-related information; and visual information. Examples and sources are described in section 2, purposes in section 5, and retention periods and criteria in section 7.

During the past 12 months, we have disclosed the following categories for business purposes:

• Identifiers and contact information, including names and email addresses, to service providers supporting hosting, email and file storage, and to project subcontractors where needed to communicate, coordinate and deliver services. Contact information may also fall within California's customer-records category.
• Commercial information, including proposals, invoices and payment records, to accounting, banking, payment and file-storage providers, and to project subcontractors where needed to deliver the work, administer billing or maintain business records.
• Internet or other electronic network activity information to hosting providers and technical service providers or subcontractors for delivery, security and troubleshooting. For website requests, hosting and font providers receive technical information directly from your browser; ByteAlong does not retain its own site-visit logs.

Client-controlled footage, access records and credentials are processed on the client's behalf under section 4. Where those records include visual, professional or sensitive personal information, access is limited to the client and personnel or service providers authorized for the agreed work, subject to applicable legal requirements. The client's privacy notice addresses its collection and disclosure of those records.

We have not sold or shared personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising in the past 12 months. Other legally permitted disclosures, such as required legal disclosures, are described in section 6. We provide any additional notice at or before collection that the law requires.

11. International visitors

We are based in the United States. We and our providers may process information in the United States and other countries, whose privacy laws may differ from yours.

Where a transfer is restricted by applicable law, we use a legally permitted transfer mechanism, such as an applicable adequacy decision or approved contractual safeguards, together with any additional measures required. You can contact us for information about safeguards relevant to your information and, where applicable, how to obtain a copy.

Where UK, EEA or Swiss data protection law applies, you may complain to the relevant data protection authority. You do not have to contact us first, although we welcome the opportunity to address your concern.

12. Children

The site and our business services are not directed to children. We do not knowingly seek or collect personal information directly from children under 16 through the site or our business inquiries. If you believe a child has supplied information directly to us, contact us. We will review it and delete it where appropriate, subject to applicable legal requirements.

Client systems, such as cameras at schools, shops or offices, may contain images or records of children. Those records are controlled by the client and handled under section 4. Requests concerning them should be directed to the client so they can be addressed under the applicable rules.

13. Other websites

The site links to third-party websites, including GitHub and equipment manufacturers. Their privacy notices apply to information they collect. We do not control their practices. Provider connections used to load this site are described in section 3.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as our services or practices change. The date at the top identifies the current version. For material changes, we will provide appropriate notice, such as a prominent site notice or an email to affected clients, before the changes take effect.

Where the law requires consent or another step before a new use of information, we will complete that step. Posting a revised policy does not by itself authorize a use that would conflict with applicable law or binding commitments concerning previously collected information.

15. Contact us

For privacy questions or requests, contact ByteAlong LLC at info@bytealong.com with the subject "Privacy".

You can also read our terms of service.