Privacy policy.

Who I am

Ananta Strategy is a marketing consultancy run by me, Ash Bhamra, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. I decide how your personal information is used, so I'm responsible for looking after it.

If you have a question about this policy or your data, email me at ash@anantastrategy.com.

What I collect

• Your contact details: your name, company, job title, phone number and email address, when you fill in a form on this site, email me, message me on LinkedIn or swap details at an event. If you've accepted marketing cookies, what you enter in a form on this site is also saved to my CRM.
• What you tell me: anything you include in a message about your business and what you need.
• Website usage: pages you visit, how long you stay, your device and browser, your approximate location and how you found the site. This only happens if you accept analytics or marketing cookies (see Cookies below).

On pages with a form, your IP address is used to look up which country you're in, so the phone field shows the right dialling code. The lookup goes through Cloudflare (or ipapi.co as a backup), and I don't store the result.

I don't ask for sensitive information such as health details, and I'd ask you not to include it in a message.

How I use your information

What I use it for	Why I'm allowed to
Replying to your enquiry and keeping in touch about work we might do together	My legitimate interest in talking to people who have shown an interest in my services, or a step towards working together
Delivering services and sending invoices if you become a client	It's needed for our contract, and the law requires me to keep invoices
Sending occasional marketing emails	Only with your consent. Every email has an unsubscribe link
Understanding how the website is used so I can improve it	Your consent, given through the cookie banner

I won't add you to a mailing list or send you marketing emails unless you've asked me to, and you can stop them at any time. I never sell your information.

Who I share it with

I don't sell, rent or share your information with anyone else. It's only stored in the tools I use to run the business, and those providers can't use it for their own purposes:

• Squarespace: hosts this website and receives contact form submissions.
• Google (Gmail and Google Analytics): stores the emails we exchange, and measures website traffic if you accept analytics cookies.
• HubSpot: my CRM, where I keep contact details, contact form submissions, notes on our conversations and copies of emails we exchange, so I can keep track of enquiries and clients. If you accept marketing cookies, HubSpot also records which pages you visit.
• Cookiebot (Usercentrics): records your cookie choices.

I may also share information if the law requires it.

Where your information is stored

Some of these providers store data outside the UAE, including in the United States and Europe. When that happens, I use providers that protect data to recognised standards, such as standard contractual clauses. My CRM data is held by HubSpot in the European Union.

How long I keep it

• Prospects and enquiries: 24 months from our last contact, then deleted, unless we start working together.
• Clients: for as long as we work together, then invoices and accounting records for as long as the law requires (usually 5 years in the UAE).
• Website analytics: 14 months, the Google Analytics setting I use.

You can ask me to delete your details sooner at any time.

Cookies

Cookies are small files a website stores on your device. This site uses:

• Essential cookies: needed for the site and its forms to work. These can't be switched off.
• Analytics cookies: help me see which pages are useful and how people find the site (Google Analytics). They don't identify you by name.
• Marketing cookies: HubSpot and Squarespace use these to recognise you when you come back to the site and to connect your visits with any form you fill in, so I know what you're interested in when we talk. I don't use them for advertising, and I don't sell your data.

When you first visit, a cookie banner from Cookiebot asks which of these you accept. Nothing non-essential runs until you say yes. You can change your choice at any time.

Change cookie settings

The full list of cookies this site uses is below, kept up to date automatically.

Your rights

You can ask me to:

• show you the information I hold about you
• correct anything that's wrong
• delete your information
• stop or limit how I use it, or object to it
• send your information to you or someone else in a usable format
• withdraw consent you've given, such as for cookies or emails

Email ash@anantastrategy.com and I'll reply within 30 days. There's no charge.

If you're unhappy with how I've handled your data, please tell me first so I can put it right. You can also complain to the UAE Data Office. If you're in the UK, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, and if you're in the EU, your local data protection authority.

Keeping your information safe

I use secure, password-protected tools with two-step verification where available, and limit access to what's needed. No system is completely secure, but I take reasonable steps to protect your information.

Children

This site and my services are for businesses. I don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

Changes to this policy

I may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed.