Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Nead, LLC (“Nead”, “we”, “us” or “our”), collects, uses, discloses and protects personal information in connection with the website at hardware.co and its subdomains, and its former address cstm.ai (together, the “Site”), the hardware.co and cstmAI brands, and any related communications, chat features, quote requests and sales interactions (together, the “Services”). It also explains the choices and rights you have.

This policy covers information we collect through the Site and in the course of marketing and selling our products and services. It does not cover data that a customer processes using cstmAI hardware or software installed in that customer's own environment. That data is controlled by the customer, and our handling of any of it in the course of an engagement is governed by the written agreement with that customer.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us. When you request a quote, contact us, book a call, use the chat assistant or otherwise communicate with us, we collect what you choose to provide, which may include your name, work email address, phone number, company, job title, the products or services you are interested in, details about the workload you want to run (for example models, use cases, number of users, deployment setting and timeline) and the contents of your messages.

Chat and voice interactions. The Site may offer an AI-assisted chat or voice assistant. If you use it, we collect the messages you send and receive, any contact details you share, and, for voice, the audio and its transcript. Interactions may be recorded and reviewed by our team to respond to you, to follow up on your enquiry and to improve the assistant.

Information collected automatically. When you visit the Site, we and our service providers automatically collect certain technical information, such as your IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring URL, pages viewed, links clicked, the date and time of each request, and approximate location derived from your IP address. We collect this through server logs, cookies, local storage, pixels and similar technologies.

Information from other sources. We may receive information about you from business-contact databases, public sources such as company websites and professional profiles, event organisers, and partners, and we may combine it with information we already hold, for example to confirm the company you work for or to route your enquiry to the right person.

We do not knowingly collect sensitive personal information (such as health, financial-account, biometric or government identification data) through the Site. Please do not submit it through our forms or chat. The Services are intended for business users and are not directed to children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.

2. How we use information

• To respond to enquiries, prepare configurations and quotes, schedule calls and provide the Services you request.
• To manage our relationship with prospects and customers, including through our customer-relationship management system.
• To send you information about our products, services and events, where permitted by law and subject to your choices.
• To operate, maintain, secure and improve the Site, the chat assistant and our Services, and to understand how they are used.
• To detect, investigate and prevent spam, fraud, abuse, security incidents and other harmful or unlawful activity.
• To comply with legal obligations, enforce our terms, and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
• For any other purpose we describe to you when we collect the information, or with your consent.

We may create de-identified or aggregated information that can no longer reasonably identify you and use it for any lawful purpose. Where we do, we will not attempt to re-identify it except as permitted by law.

3. How we share information

We do not sell personal information for money. We share personal information only as described below.

• Service providers. Companies that provide services to us, such as website hosting and content delivery, email delivery, customer-relationship management, chat and voice infrastructure, analytics, and IT and security services. They may use personal information only to perform services for us and are bound by confidentiality and data-protection obligations.
• Affiliates. Other businesses under common ownership or control with Nead, LLC, which may help us respond to you or deliver the Services, subject to this policy.
• Suppliers and partners in an engagement. Where you ask us to quote or deliver hardware, we may share the business details needed to obtain pricing, availability, shipping or warranty service from manufacturers and distributors.
• Legal and safety. Where we believe disclosure is required by law, regulation, subpoena or court order, or is necessary to protect the rights, property or safety of Nead, our customers, users or others.
• Business transfers. In connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganisation, sale of assets or similar transaction, personal information may be transferred to the successor or acquirer, subject to this policy.
• With your consent or at your direction.

4. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies that are necessary for the Site and chat assistant to function and stay secure, and others that help us understand how the Site is used and remember your preferences. You can set your browser to refuse or delete cookies; some features of the Site, including the chat assistant, may not work properly without them. Some browsers send a “Do Not Track” signal; because there is no common standard for responding to it, the Site does not currently respond to those signals. Where required by law, we honour recognised opt-out preference signals such as Global Privacy Control as a request to opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information.

5. Retention

We keep personal information for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy, including to respond to you, maintain our business relationship, meet legal, tax, accounting and reporting obligations, resolve disputes and enforce our agreements. Enquiry and CRM records are generally retained while the relationship is active and for a reasonable period afterwards. Server logs and chat transcripts are kept for shorter periods unless needed for security or legal reasons. When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it.

6. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information against loss, theft, misuse and unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction, including encryption in transit and access controls. No method of transmission over the internet or of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we learn of a security incident affecting your personal information, we will notify you where required by law.

7. Your choices

• Marketing email. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the link in the email or by contacting us. We may still send you non-marketing messages about an enquiry, quote or engagement.
• Calls and texts. We will contact you by phone or text only as permitted by law. You can ask us to stop at any time.
• Cookies. You can control cookies through your browser settings, as described above.

8. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the following rights regarding your personal information, subject to exceptions and limits under applicable law:

• to know or access the personal information we hold about you and how we use and share it;
• to correct inaccurate personal information;
• to delete personal information;
• to receive a portable copy of personal information you provided;
• to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, targeted advertising and certain profiling; and
• to withdraw consent where we rely on it, and to object to or restrict certain processing.

Residents of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Texas, Oregon and other U.S. states with comprehensive privacy laws, and individuals in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, may have these rights by law. We will not discriminate against you for exercising them.

To make a request, use our contact formand say that your message is a privacy request. We will verify your request by matching the information you provide with the information we hold, and we may ask for more information to do so. You may use an authorised agent where the law allows; we may require proof of the agent's authority and may ask you to confirm your identity directly. If we deny your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision, and we will respond within the time the law requires. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of an appeal, you may contact your state attorney general or data-protection authority.

9. Visitors outside the United States

Nead, LLC is based in the United States, and the Services are operated from the United States and other countries where our service providers operate. If you access the Site from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to, stored and processed in the United States, where data-protection laws may differ from those in your country. Where the law requires, we rely on appropriate safeguards for such transfers, such as standard contractual clauses. Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, our legal bases for processing are: taking steps at your request before entering a contract; our legitimate interests in operating, securing and marketing our business, which we balance against your rights; compliance with legal obligations; and your consent, where we ask for it.

10. Third-party links and services

The Site may link to third-party websites and services that we do not control. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and we are not responsible for them.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date above, and if the changes are material we will provide additional notice as required by law. Your continued use of the Services after an update means the updated policy applies.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy or our privacy practices can be sent to Nead, LLC through the contact formon this Site. Please mark your message “Privacy”.