Privacy

This Privacy Policy explains how Akaeon (“Akaeon,” “we,” “us”) collects, uses, and shares information when you visit akaeon.com, contact us, or use the Akaeon Registry. It is written in plain language. Where a term has a specific legal meaning under GDPR, CCPA, or another applicable law, that meaning controls.

Summary

We collect the minimum information needed to run the website, respond to inquiries, operate the registry, and keep the service secure. We do not sell personal information. Opt-out records submitted to the registry are designed to be public — that is the point.

Information we collect

Information you give us directly

• Contact form submissions. When you fill out a form at /contact, /labs, or elsewhere on the site, we collect the fields you provide — typically name, email, company, role, and a free-text message.
• Email correspondence. If you email us at hunter@akaeon.com, publishers@akaeon.com, or any other Akaeon address, we receive the contents of that email and any attachments.
• Publisher account information. If you request a publisher account, we collect organisational and contact details and verify domain control via DNS TXT challenge.
• Lab integration information. If you integrate as a lab, we collect company, role, expected query volume, and the API credentials we issue to you.

Information collected automatically

• Server logs. Like any web service, we record technical information about requests: IP address, user agent, timestamp, requested URL, response status, and similar diagnostic data. We use this to operate the service, detect abuse, and debug.
• Cookies. akaeon.com uses only essential first-party cookies needed to make the site work (for example, session state on form submission). We do not use third-party advertising or behavioural-tracking cookies.

Information that is public by design

The Akaeon Registry exists to produce records that any third party can independently verify. When a publisher registers an opt-out, the canonical payload — including the domain, declared policy, scope, and the registry’s signature — is anchored to the public Arweave network and made queryable through the registry API. Records on Arweave are designed to persist indefinitely and cannot be deleted by Akaeon. Do not submit personal information in a registry record that you are not willing to make permanently public.

How we use information

• To respond to your inquiry and provide the service you requested.
• To operate, secure, and improve the registry and the website.
• To verify domain control during publisher onboarding.
• To detect, investigate, and prevent abuse, fraud, or violations of our terms.
• To comply with legal obligations.

We do not use your information to train AI models. We do not sell or rent personal information. We do not share your information with advertisers.

Legal bases (GDPR)

If you are in the EEA or UK, our lawful bases for processing under the GDPR are: (i) the performance of a contract or steps taken at your request prior to entering into a contract (responding to inquiries, providing the registry service); (ii) our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the service; and (iii) compliance with legal obligations.

How we share information

We share information only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers. We use a small number of vendors to operate the service — for example, hosting and email delivery. They process information on our behalf under written agreements and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes.
• Public substrates. Registry records are anchored to Arweave by design. The content anchored is the canonical payload defined in the spec, not your account or correspondence.
• Legal compliance and safety. We may disclose information if required by law, valid legal process, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to protect rights, safety, or the integrity of the service.
• Successor. If Akaeon is acquired or merged, information may transfer as part of that transaction, subject to this policy.

Retention

We retain contact-form submissions and correspondence for as long as needed to respond and for a reasonable period afterward for record-keeping. Server logs are retained for a limited diagnostic window. Publisher and lab account information is retained for as long as the account is active and for a reasonable period afterward. Registry records anchored to Arweave are public and persistent by design and are not under Akaeon’s control to delete.

Security

We protect information with administrative, technical, and physical safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the data and the state of the art. No system is perfectly secure, but the registry’s verification model is specifically designed so that you do not have to trust our infrastructure to trust our records.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, port, or restrict our processing of your personal information, or to object to certain processing. To exercise these rights, email hunter@akaeon.com. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.

Two limitations to be aware of: (i) registry records anchored to Arweave cannot be deleted from Arweave by us or anyone else, by design of that network; (ii) if we need information to comply with a legal obligation, we may retain it for that purpose.

California residents have specific rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know what personal information we collect and how it is used, the right to delete (subject to exceptions), the right to correct, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. We do not “sell” or “share” personal information as those terms are defined under California law.

International transfers

Akaeon operates from the United States. If you access the service from outside the United States, your information may be processed in the United States and other countries that may have different data-protection laws than your jurisdiction. Where required, we rely on appropriate safeguards for cross-border transfers.

Children

The service is not directed to children under 16, and 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.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top. Material changes will be communicated through the website or, where appropriate, by email.

Contact

For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email hunter@akaeon.com.