Privacy Policy
Who is responsible
This website and the client area (cliente.novuscoding.pt) are operated by Artur Salgado, acting as an individual under the NovusCoding brand. For any question about your data: artur@novuscoding.pt.
What data I collect and why
In the contact form: name, email, project type, message and the page language, to reply and prepare a proposal (pre-contractual steps). If we go ahead: your contact details, proposals, acceptance and project content (updates, approvals, comments and files), to perform the contract. When you accept a proposal online, I record your name, email, IP address, date and time and the accepted version, as proof of the agreement. I do not use your data for marketing, never sell it, and use no tracking cookies or advertising.
How long I keep it
Enquiries that do not go ahead: up to 12 months after the last contact. Client area accounts: up to 12 months after the project is closed. The acceptance record (including the IP) is kept with the contract for as long as it is needed as proof. Documents subject to legal obligations (such as invoicing) are kept for the period the law requires. Encrypted backups are kept for up to 12 months: deleted data disappears from backups as they expire.
Who processes data on my behalf
I use these services (processors), each only for its purpose: Vercel (hosting of the website and client area, EU servers), Neon (database, Frankfurt), Resend (email delivery, Ireland), Backblaze (encrypted backups, EU), Amen (mailbox where I receive your messages) Telegram (internal alerts and my assistant: contact details and summaries of the enquiry or project, for example when a new enquiry or comment arrives), Google (Gemini and PageSpeed Insights, see “Artificial intelligence”; and Google Analytics, see “Website statistics”) and Groq (USA, see “Artificial intelligence”). Some of these companies are outside the EU; in those cases transfers rely on the safeguards provided by the GDPR (standard contractual clauses or the EU-US Data Privacy Framework).
Website statistics
I use Google Analytics to know how many people visit the site and which pages they read. Only with your consent (the cookie notice) does Analytics set cookies and count you as a visitor; the legal basis is that consent, which you can withdraw at any time under “Cookie preferences” in the footer. Without consent, Google only receives signals with no cookies and no identifier. Advertising signals are always off and I do not combine this data with the enquiries you send me. The details are in the Cookie Policy.
Artificial intelligence
I use AI tools to work faster: drafts of proposals and project updates, summaries, checking whether a request fits what was agreed, and analysing your current website (Google measures it with PageSpeed Insights, which only receives the public address). The providers are Google (Gemini) and Groq (USA). When I start working with you, I may ask the AI to search the web for public information about your company (its name, website and sector) to prepare your client record; I don’t send your email or phone number in that search. Before sending text, I replace emails and phone numbers with placeholders; my own voice notes and screenshots of conversations you send me may be read by the AI as they are, and are never stored. The providers do not use these requests to train their models. I also rank enquiries by priority with simple, fixed rules (for example, the source or whether you mentioned a budget). AI never decides on its own: everything that reaches you is reviewed by me, and there are no automated decisions about you.
Novus, the website assistant
The website has Novus, an AI assistant. The 30-second estimate works with buttons and fixed rules, without AI, and the figure it shows is only a rough guide — it is not a quote. If you type a question, the text is sent to Groq (USA) to generate the answer, after I replace emails and phone numbers with placeholders. The conversation stays only in your browser while you are on the website (it is cleared when you close the tab): it is not stored on the website or by me, and Novus uses no cookies. To know whether Novus helps, I only count daily totals — how often it is opened, how many questions and estimates it gets, how many contact requests arrive —, with no text, no cookies and nothing that identifies you. Only if you leave your name and email (at the end of the estimate or when Novus suggests getting in touch) do I receive those details and your answers — and the conversation, only if you choose to include it —, handled as a contact request.
Client area
The client area only uses strictly necessary cookies, to keep you signed in, so there is no cookie banner. When you open a proposal, the opening is recorded (so I know you received it), and acceptance is recorded as described above. You receive emails about your project (proposals, updates, approval requests and invitations).
Your rights (GDPR)
You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, object to and port your data, and to lodge a complaint with the Portuguese DPA, CNPD (cnpd.pt). To exercise any right, write to artur@novuscoding.pt.