Privacy Policy.

01The short version

We collect two kinds of information: what you choose to send us (when you fill in our inquiry form or talk to our chatbot), and a small amount of anonymized site usage data, but only after you click "Accept" on the cookie banner. We never sell your data, we never share it with advertisers, and we never use it to build a profile about you. If you want it deleted, we delete it. That is the whole policy in one paragraph. The sections below explain the details.

02What you choose to share with us

You decide when to give us your information. You can browse the entire AEEX site without sharing anything personal. You only share data when you actively choose to:

• Fill in our project inquiry form on the Studio or Community page.
• Send a message to AEEXY, our chatbot assistant.
• Email us directly at support@aeex.org.
• Create an account or buy a product through AEEX Store (launching later in 2026).

When you do, we receive only what you typed in: typically your name, email address, and a description of your project. Phone number and company name are optional. We use this information to reply to you, prepare a creative proposal if you are a potential client, and stay in touch about your specific project. That is it.

03What we observe automatically (only with your permission)

When you accept analytics cookies on our consent banner, two privacy-respecting analytics services start collecting aggregated information about your visit. If you decline, none of this happens.

These services collect:

• The pages you view and how long you spend on them.
• Your country (not your city or street).
• Your device type (mobile, desktop, or tablet) and browser name.
• Where you arrived from (a search engine, social network, direct visit, or one of our domains: aeex.org, aeex.studio, or aeex.community).
• Which buttons and links you click on the page.
• Anonymized recordings of how visitors move through the site, with form fields and personal data automatically masked (Microsoft Clarity).

IP addresses are anonymized before storage. We use this only to understand which projects, stories, and pages people care about, so we can keep improving the site.

04Services we use to run AEEX

We use a small number of trusted third-party services to make AEEX work. Each one only handles the specific information it needs.

• Google Analytics 4 (Google LLC, USA). Visitor analytics, only after you accept. Privacy policy. Browser-wide opt-out.
• Microsoft Clarity (Microsoft Corporation, USA). Aggregated heatmaps and anonymized session insights, only after you accept. Privacy statement.
• Formspree (Formspree Inc., USA). Delivers your inquiry form submissions to our email inbox. Privacy policy.
• Sanity.io (Sanity AS, Norway). Stores our published blog posts and project portfolio. Does not store visitor data. Privacy policy.
• Behold.so (Behold Inc., USA). Embeds our public Instagram feed on the Studio page. The embed loads images from Meta's content network, which means Meta receives a basic request from your browser when those images load. Privacy policy.
• One.com (Group.one, Denmark). Our website hosting provider. Stores the website files and email. Privacy policy.

05What we never do

We have a few hard rules about how we treat your data. None of these things happen, ever:

• We do not sell your information to anyone.
• We do not share your data with advertisers or marketing networks.
• We do not build advertising or behavioural profiles about you.
• We do not track you across other websites.
• We do not add you to mailing lists without an explicit opt-in from you.
• We do not handle payment card details ourselves. When AEEX Store launches, all payments will be processed by a certified payment provider, never by us.

06Cookies and what's stored on your device

Some small pieces of data are stored locally in your browser to make the site work and remember your preferences. They fall into three categories.

Strictly necessary (always active)

These are essential for the site to function and do not require consent. They store:

• Your language preference (English or Dutch).
• Your cookie consent choice, so we don't ask you again on every page load.
• Which AEEX domain you arrived through (aeex.org, aeex.studio, or aeex.community), used only for our internal analytics for the duration of your visit.

Analytics (only after you accept)

Cookies set by Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity. They collect what is described in section 03 above. If you click "Decline" on our cookie banner, none of these are set.

Marketing or advertising

We do not use any. There is no marketing, advertising, or third-party advertising pixel on this website.

Managing your preferences

You can change or withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the Cookies link in the footer of any page. You can also clear cookies and local storage through your browser settings. Doing so will not affect your ability to use the site.

07Your rights and choices

You are in control of your data. Under European data protection law (GDPR), and in spirit even outside Europe, you have the right to:

• Ask us what personal data we hold about you.
• Correct anything that is inaccurate or out of date.
• Ask us to delete your information entirely.
• Withdraw your consent for analytics at any time, with no questions asked.
• Receive a copy of your data in a portable format.
• Object to or restrict how we process your data.
• File a complaint with your local data protection authority. In the Netherlands, that is the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens.

To exercise any of these rights, send an email to support@aeex.org. We will respond within 30 days, but usually within 48 hours.

08How we keep your data safe

We take reasonable, modern security measures to protect your information: encrypted connections (HTTPS) for everything you send, server-side credentials kept off the public internet, access controls on internal tools, and trusted hosting. No system is perfect, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we treat your data the way we would want our own treated.

09How long we keep your data

We only keep data for as long as it is genuinely useful or legally required.

• Project inquiries: kept for as long as we are working on your project, plus up to 5 years after for tax and accounting purposes (a Dutch legal requirement).
• Chatbot conversations that did not lead to a project: deleted within 30 days.
• Analytics data: kept in Google Analytics for up to 14 months, then automatically deleted.
• Email correspondence: retained while it is part of an active or recent conversation, then archived or deleted.

You can ask us to delete any of this earlier by emailing support@aeex.org.

10International data transfers

AEEX is based in the Netherlands. Some of the services listed in section 04 are based in the United States or elsewhere. When data leaves the European Economic Area, we only work with providers that participate in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework or have equivalent safeguards in place (for example Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission). By accepting analytics cookies, you consent to those transfers.

11Children's privacy

AEEX is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has shared information with us, please contact us and we will delete it immediately.

12Updates to this policy

If we add a new tool, change how we collect data, or update our practices, we will revise this policy and update the "Last Updated" date at the top. Significant changes will also be highlighted on the site so you don't miss them.

13Governing law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Netherlands. Any dispute arising from your use of our services will be resolved exclusively in the competent courts of the Netherlands.