Privacy Policy

Effective date: November 11, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Cortex Charlotte (“Cortex Charlotte,” “we,” “us” or “our”) collects, uses, shares and protects personal information when you visit cortexcharlotte.com (the “Website”), request a free IT assessment or otherwise contact us. It also explains the choices and rights you have. Please read it together with our Terms and Conditions.

1. Who We Are & Scope

Cortex Charlotte operates the Website and is responsible for the personal information described in this policy (the “controller” under data protection laws that use that term). You can reach us at any time at hello@cortexcharlotte.com.

This policy applies to information collected through the Website, our contact and assessment forms, and email communication with us. It does not apply to information handled under a separate written services agreement between you and an IT service provider, which is governed by that agreement and the provider’s own privacy notice.

2. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

When you request an assessment or contact us, we collect the information you choose to give us, such as your name, work email address, company name, company size, the service you are interested in and anything you write in your message. If you email us, we receive your email address, the content of your email and any attachments.

Please do not send passwords, financial account numbers, health information or other sensitive data through our forms or by email. If you do, we will delete it where possible.

Information Collected Automatically

When you visit the Website, our hosting and security providers automatically process technical data needed to deliver and protect the Website, such as your IP address, browser type, device type, operating system, referring page, pages requested and the date and time of your visit. This data appears in server and security logs.

We also use privacy-friendly analytics to understand, in aggregate, which pages are visited and how the Website performs. See section 7 for details.

Information From Others

If an IT service partner contacts you after your request, the partner may share with us whether the assessment took place and whether you became a client, so we can manage referrals and improve the Website. We do not buy personal information from data brokers.

3. How We Use Information

To respond to your request, confirm it and arrange your free IT assessment.
To pass your request to the local IT service partner who will contact you and perform the assessment (see section 6).
To communicate with you about your request, including follow-up messages related to it.
To operate, secure and improve the Website, including preventing spam, fraud and abuse of our forms.
To understand how the Website is used, in aggregate, and to improve our content.
To keep business records, comply with legal obligations and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We do not use your information for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects, and we do not sell it.

4. Legal Bases (EEA & UK Visitors)

If the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the UK GDPR applies to our processing of your information, we rely on the following legal bases:

Steps before a contract: handling your assessment request and passing it to a service partner at your request (Art. 6(1)(b)).
Consent: where you tick the consent box on our forms, and for any optional communications you agree to (Art. 6(1)(a)). You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing.
Legitimate interests: operating, securing and improving the Website, preventing abuse, aggregated analytics and keeping business records (Art. 6(1)(f)).
Legal obligations: where we must keep or disclose information by law (Art. 6(1)(c)).

We share personal information only as described here:

Local IT service partners who deliver assessments and IT services in the Charlotte area (see section 6).
Service providers who process data on our behalf under contract, such as website hosting and content delivery, security and spam protection, form handling, email delivery and analytics. They may use the data only to provide their services to us.
Legal and safety reasons: if required by law, court order or legal process, or to protect the rights, property or safety of Cortex Charlotte, our users or others.
Business transfers: as part of a merger, acquisition, financing or sale of all or part of our business, subject to this policy.
With your permission: in any other case where you ask or agree that we share it.

We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined under U.S. state privacy laws.

6. Local Service Partners

IT assessments and IT services requested through the Website are performed by one or more independent IT service providers in the Charlotte area that work with Cortex Charlotte. When you submit a request, we share the details you provided with the partner best suited to your request so it can contact you, schedule the assessment and prepare a quote.

Partners may use your information only to respond to your request and, if you decide to work with them, to provide services under a separate agreement with you. Once you sign a services agreement, the partner handles any personal or business data it receives during the engagement under that agreement and its own privacy notice.

7. Cookies, Analytics & Tracking

The Website does not use advertising cookies, social media tracking pixels or cross-site tracking. Our analytics are configured to measure visits in aggregate without placing tracking cookies and without building profiles of individual visitors. Our hosting and security providers may use strictly necessary cookies or similar technologies to protect the Website from attacks and bots.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control: because we do not engage in cross-site tracking, targeted advertising or sales of personal information, there is nothing additional for these signals to switch off. Where a law requires us to honor a Global Privacy Control signal, we will treat it as a valid opt-out request.

8. How Long We Keep Information

Assessment requests and related emails: up to 24 months after our last contact with you, unless you ask us to delete them sooner or a longer period is required by law.
Server and security logs: typically up to 30 days, unless needed longer to investigate an incident.
Aggregated analytics: kept in a form that does not identify you.
Records we must keep for tax, accounting or legal reasons: for the period required by law.

When information is no longer needed, we delete or anonymize it.

9. Security & Breach Notification

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect personal information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), access controls and limiting access to people who need it. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

If a security breach affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by applicable law, including the North Carolina Identity Theft Protection Act where it applies.

10. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

Know or access the personal information we hold about you and receive a copy.
Correct inaccurate personal information.
Delete your personal information.
Receive your information in a portable format.
Opt out of the sale of personal information, targeted advertising or profiling (we do not do these).
Withdraw consent you have given.

How to make a request: email hello@cortexcharlotte.com with the subject “Privacy Request.” We may need to verify your identity before acting, usually by confirming details you gave us. An authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf with your written permission. We respond within 45 days, or within the shorter period required by the law that applies to you, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

Appeals: if we decline your request, you may appeal by replying to our decision with the subject “Privacy Appeal.” We will answer within the time required by law. If you are not satisfied, you may contact your state attorney general.

11. Rights of U.S. State Residents

Several U.S. states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia and others, give residents specific privacy rights. Some of these laws only apply to businesses above certain size or data thresholds. Whether or not a particular law applies to us, we honor the requests described in section 10 for all U.S. residents.

In the past 12 months, we collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (such as name and email address), professional or employment-related information (such as company name and size), internet or network activity (such as pages visited and technical logs) and any other information you include in a message. We collected it from you, from your device and, for referral outcomes, from our service partners, for the purposes in section 3, and disclosed it to the categories of recipients in section 5. We do not collect sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about you.

12. Rights of EEA & UK Residents

If the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, you also have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests and to ask us to restrict processing. You can lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority, although we would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first.

13. Emails & Communications

After you submit a request, you will receive messages related to that request, such as a confirmation and scheduling details. We will only send newsletters or promotional emails if you have agreed to receive them, and every such email includes a way to unsubscribe, as required by the CAN-SPAM Act. We do not send text messages or make automated calls through the Website.

14. Children

The Website is intended for businesses and is not directed to children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

15. International Transfers

Our service providers may process information in the United States, the European Union and other countries. Where we transfer personal information from the EEA or UK to a country without an adequacy decision, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework where the recipient participates in it.

16. Biometric Information

Cortex Charlotte does not collect, store or use biometric identifiers or biometric information, such as fingerprints, face geometry or voiceprints, through the Website. Any discussion of biometric privacy rules on the Website is general information, not legal advice.

17. Third-Party Links

The Website may link to websites we do not control, such as government resources or software vendors. Their privacy practices are governed by their own policies, and we are not responsible for them.

18. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top shows when it was last changed. If we make material changes, we will post a notice on the Website before the change takes effect.

19. Contact

For questions about this policy or to exercise your rights, contact Cortex Charlotte at hello@cortexcharlotte.com.