Privacy Policy

Starken ("we", "us", "our") is a software and AI development studio. We operate this website at starken.io and provide related software services. For any questions regarding this policy, contact us at: privacy@starken.io.

We collect information you provide directly to us, including:

— Contact form data — name, email address, company name, and project description when you submit an inquiry.

— Newsletter subscriptions — email address if you opt in to communications.

— Usage data — anonymised information about how you interact with our website (pages visited, time on site, browser type, device type) collected via analytics tools.

— Cookies — small files stored on your device to remember your preferences and improve your experience. See Section 6 for details.

We do not collect sensitive personal data such as financial information, health records, or government ID numbers through this website.

We use the data we collect for the following purposes:

— To respond to your enquiries and provide the services you request.

— To send you relevant updates, case studies, or newsletter content (only with your consent).

— To improve and optimise our website based on aggregated analytics.

— To comply with legal obligations applicable to our business.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties for marketing purposes.

For individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA), we process your data on the following legal grounds:

— Legitimate interest — to respond to business enquiries and improve our services.

— Consent — for newsletter communications and non-essential cookies. You may withdraw consent at any time.

— Contract — to fulfil our obligations when you engage Starken for a project.

— Legal obligation — to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

We may share your data with trusted third-party services necessary to operate our business:

— Email providers (e.g. Resend, Postmark) — for sending contact form confirmations and newsletters.

— Analytics platforms (e.g. Plausible Analytics, Vercel Analytics) — privacy-first, cookieless analytics.

— Hosting providers (e.g. Vercel, Cloudflare) — for serving this website securely.

All third parties are contractually bound to handle your data in compliance with GDPR. We do not share your data with advertising networks.

We use a minimal set of cookies:

— Essential cookies — required for basic site functionality (e.g. form session tokens). These cannot be disabled.

— Analytics cookies — help us understand how visitors use our site. These are anonymised and we only use privacy-respecting tools. You may opt out at any time.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect some features of the site.

We retain personal data only as long as necessary:

— Contact form enquiries — up to 2 years, unless a longer retention period is required by an ongoing client relationship.

— Newsletter subscriptions — until you unsubscribe.

— Analytics data — aggregated and anonymised; no personally identifiable retention.

You may request deletion of your data at any time (see Section 8).

Under GDPR and applicable privacy laws, you have the right to:

— Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

— Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.

— Erasure — request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten").

— Restriction — request that we limit how we process your data.

— Portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.

— Object — object to processing based on legitimate interest or for direct marketing.

— Withdraw consent — at any time where processing is based on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@starken.io. We will respond within 30 days.

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. These include HTTPS encryption, access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no method of internet transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Our servers and service providers are primarily located within the EU/EEA. If any data is transferred outside the EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place (e.g. Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission).

Our website and services are not directed at individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such data, please contact us immediately and we will delete it promptly.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of our website after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

For any privacy-related questions or to exercise your rights, contact us at:

Starken

Email: privacy@starken.io

Address: Sofia, Bulgaria

If you are unsatisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. In Bulgaria, this is the Commission for Personal Data Protection (CPDP) at www.cpdp.bg.