Privacy Policy

About this policy

This Privacy Policy explains how bitNode Solutions ("bitNode Solutions", "we", "us" or "our") collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you visit our website, read our Insights blog, send us an enquiry or subscribe to our newsletter.

bitNode Solutions is an AI, automation and software agency based in Lahore, Pakistan, and we work with clients internationally. Where data protection laws use the term, we are the controller of the personal information described in this policy.

What this policy covers

Visits to our public website, including the Insights blog
Enquiries you send through our contact or project form, or by email
Newsletter subscriptions
Sign-ins by authorized administrators of the website's content management system

What this policy does not cover

When we deliver services to a client, personal information we handle as part of that project is governed by separate agreements, such as a master services agreement (MSA), a statement of work (SOW) and, where applicable, a data processing agreement (DPA). If you are a client, or a user of a system we build for a client, those agreements apply to that data. This policy also does not apply to third-party websites or services that our website links to.

Information we collect

We aim to collect only what we need to respond to you, run our website and keep it secure.

Information you give us through the contact or project form

When you submit the contact or project form, we collect:

Your name
Your email address
Your phone number, if you choose to provide it
Your company
Your country
The service you are interested in
Your budget range
Your expected timeline
Your message and any other details you choose to include

Please do not include confidential or sensitive information in your message, such as passwords, financial account details or health information. If a project requires that kind of information, we will agree on a secure way to share it first.

Information recorded automatically with a form submission

When a form is submitted, our system also records:

The page of our website the form was submitted from
Your browser's user agent, a short text string that describes your browser and operating system
A salted, one-way hash of your IP address

We use the hashed IP address to prevent abuse, such as repeated automated submissions. We do not store raw IP addresses with submissions, and a salted one-way hash is designed so that the original address cannot practically be recovered from it. Our forms are also protected by rate limiting and spam traps.

If you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address only. Every newsletter email includes an option to unsubscribe.

Emails you send us

If you email us directly, we receive your email address and anything you choose to include in your message.

Information needed to deliver the website

Like any website, our site receives certain technical information from your browser, such as your IP address and user agent, in order to deliver pages to you. Our hosting and infrastructure providers may process this information to deliver the site and protect it against attacks and misuse.

Content management system administrators

If you are an authorized administrator of our content management system, we process the information needed to give you access, including sign-in credentials (stored in hashed form), a session cookie while you are signed in, and audit logs of actions taken in the system.

How we use your information

We use personal information to:

Respond to your enquiry and discuss, scope or propose a potential project
Send you our newsletter, if you have subscribed
Operate, maintain and secure our website, including preventing spam, fraud and abuse
Understand which pages of our website lead to enquiries, using the page a form was submitted from
Manage administrator access to our content management system and keep a record of changes made
Comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes and protect our rights and the rights of others

Legal bases for processing

If the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the UK GDPR applies to you, we rely on the following legal bases:

Legitimate interests. We process enquiry information to respond to you and manage our conversations with prospective clients, and technical information, such as the user agent and hashed IP address, to secure our website and prevent abuse. We rely on this basis only where your rights and interests do not override it.
Steps prior to entering a contract. When you ask us for a proposal, quote or statement of work, we process your information to take the steps you have requested before a contract is signed.
Consent. We send our newsletter only with your consent. You can withdraw it at any time using the unsubscribe option in any newsletter email or by contacting us.
Legal obligations. We may process information where needed to comply with laws that apply to us, such as record-keeping requirements or valid requests from public authorities.

Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small text files that a website stores in your browser.

No advertising cookies. Our public website does not use advertising cookies.
Strictly necessary session cookie. We use a session cookie only for signed-in administrators of our content management system. It keeps administrators securely signed in and is essential for the system to work. Visitors who browse the website, read Insights, submit a form or subscribe to our newsletter do not receive this cookie.
Future changes. If we introduce analytics or other non-essential cookies, we will update this policy and ask for your consent where required.

You can also control or delete cookies through your browser settings.

We do not sell personal information. We share it only as described below, or where you have asked us to or agreed to it.

Service providers

We use service providers that process personal information on our behalf to run our website and communications. They fall into the following categories:

Cloud hosting and infrastructure
Database hosting
Email delivery
Media storage and content delivery network (CDN)

These providers act on our instructions and may use personal information only to provide their services to us.

Legal requirements and protection of rights

We may disclose information where required by law, regulation or legal process, or where necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of bitNode Solutions, our clients, website visitors or others, including to investigate and prevent abuse of our website.

Business changes

If bitNode Solutions is involved in a merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will take reasonable steps to keep it protected in line with this policy.

International data transfers

bitNode Solutions is based in Pakistan and works with clients around the world, and our service providers may store or process information in other countries. As a result, your personal information may be processed in countries other than the one where you live, including Pakistan, and those countries may have different data protection laws.

Where the law requires it, we use appropriate safeguards for these transfers, such as standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it:

Enquiries. We keep enquiry information for as long as it is relevant to our conversation or relationship with you, typically for up to 24 months after our last contact, unless a longer period is required by law. If you become a client, records related to the engagement are handled under the relevant project agreement.
Newsletter. We keep your email address until you unsubscribe. After that, we keep a minimal suppression record so that we do not email you again.
Administrator accounts. We keep administrator account information and audit logs for as long as needed to provide access and keep the content management system secure.

When information is no longer needed, we delete or anonymize it.

How we protect information

We use technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, including:

Encryption of data in transit between your browser and our website
Access controls based on least privilege, so people and systems can access only what they need
Hashed credentials for administrator accounts
Audit logging of activity in our content management system
Rate limiting and spam traps on our forms

No website or system is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If you believe your interaction with us is no longer secure, please contact us right away.

Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal information:

Access: ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
Correction: ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete
Deletion: ask us to delete your personal information
Restriction: ask us to limit how we use your information in certain circumstances
Objection: object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time
Portability: ask for a copy of your information in a structured, machine-readable format
Withdrawing consent: where we rely on consent, such as for the newsletter, withdraw it at any time
Complaining: lodge a complaint with a data protection authority, such as the authority where you live or work

Some of these rights apply only in certain circumstances. If we cannot fully meet a request, for example because the law requires us to keep certain information, we will explain why where we are allowed to.

Additional information for California residents

If you are a California resident, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose, and the right to request that we delete personal information we have collected from you. The categories we collect include identifiers (such as name, email address and phone number), professional information (such as company) and technical information (such as browser user agent and a hashed IP address), as described in the "Information we collect" section above.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

How to exercise your rights

To make a request, email us at hello@bitnodesolutions.com and tell us which right you would like to exercise. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request, for example by confirming that you control the email address associated with it. Where the law allows, you may use an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf, and we may ask for proof of their authority.

We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

Children's privacy

Our website is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

Links to other websites

Our website may link to third-party websites and services, such as social media profiles. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, and we encourage you to read their privacy policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our website, our practices or applicable law. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date shown on this page, and we will highlight any material changes, for example with a clear notice on this page.

Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or would like to exercise your privacy rights, please email us at hello@bitnodesolutions.com.

bitNode Solutions is based in Lahore, Pakistan, and serves clients internationally.