Legal

Privacy Policy

This page contains placeholder details (shaded, italic) that must be replaced with Meridian Gate Group's actual information before publication. This is a general template and should be reviewed by a qualified data protection lawyer before going live, particularly regarding the Germany–UAE cross-border data transfer sections.

Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Meridian Gate Group ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects personal data when you visit our website or contact us. We are committed to handling your data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable UAE data protection law.

Data Controller

Meridian Gate Group GmbH, Musterstraße 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany — see our Impressum for full contact details.

What Data We Collect

Information you provide via our contact form: name, email address, area of interest, and message content.
Information you provide via our AI chat widget: the text of your questions and the resulting conversation.
Technical data collected automatically when you visit the site (IP address, browser type, pages visited, timestamps), depending on your cookie choices.
Cookie preference data, stored to remember your consent choices.

How We Use Your Data

To respond to your enquiries submitted through the contact form or chat widget.
To operate, secure, and improve the website.
To analyze anonymized usage patterns, where you have consented to analytics cookies.
To comply with legal obligations.

Legal Basis for Processing (Art. 6 GDPR)

We process personal data on the basis of your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR) for optional cookies and the chat widget, the performance of a contract or pre-contractual steps at your request (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) when you contact us, and our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) in operating and securing the website.

Cookies

We use necessary cookies to operate the site, and optional analytics and marketing cookies which are only set with your consent. You can manage your preferences at any time via the "Cookie Settings" link in the footer of our website.

AI Chat Widget

If you use our AI-powered chat assistant, the text of your messages is sent to our backend and, in order to generate a response, to Anthropic's Claude API for processing. We do not use your chat messages to train any AI model. Please avoid sharing sensitive personal data (e.g. financial account numbers, health information) in the chat.

International Data Transfers

As Meridian Gate Group operates across both Germany and the United Arab Emirates, personal data may be transferred between the EU/EEA and the UAE. Where such transfers occur, we rely on appropriate safeguards under Art. 44 et seq. GDPR, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, or your explicit consent where applicable.

Data Sharing with Third Parties

We do not sell personal data. We may share data with service providers who process data on our behalf (e.g. hosting providers, the AI provider powering our chat widget) under appropriate data processing agreements, or where required by law.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described above, or as required by applicable law (e.g. German commercial and tax retention periods of up to 10 years for business correspondence).

Your Rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to: access your personal data; request rectification of inaccurate data; request erasure ("right to be forgotten"); request restriction of processing; receive your data in a portable format; and object to processing based on legitimate interest. To exercise these rights, contact us at the email address below.

Right to Lodge a Complaint

You have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the EU member state of your habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement. The competent authority for Meridian Gate Group is Der Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz Baden-Württemberg.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The current version is always available on this page.

Contact

Questions about this Privacy Policy can be directed to info@meridiangate.io.