Privacy Policy
Last updated .
This ThoughtLeaders privacy policy explains what personal data we collect through thoughtleaders.ae, why we collect it, who we share it with and what you can ask us to do about it. It covers three things in particular, because they are where most data reaches us: the booking and contact forms, the free Profile Auditor, and the free email course.
In plain terms: we collect the minimum we need to prepare for a call, deliver the service you bought, send the emails you asked for and understand which pages people read. We don’t sell personal data, and we don’t use your data to train AI models.
1. Who we are
Summary: we are the data controller for the personal data described here.
ThoughtLeaders is a LinkedIn thought leadership agency trading as ThoughtLeaders at thoughtleaders.ae.
- Based in: Dubai, United Arab Emirates
- Privacy contact: hello@thoughtleaders.ae
2. What this ThoughtLeaders privacy policy covers
Summary: this website, our marketing, and the services we deliver to clients.
It applies to thoughtleaders.ae and every page on it, to our free tools and email course, to enquiries we receive, and to the personal data we handle while delivering a LinkedIn engagement for a client. It does not apply to LinkedIn itself. When you use LinkedIn, LinkedIn’s own privacy terms govern what it collects, and we have no control over that.
3. The personal data we collect
Summary: what you give us on a form, what we need to run your account, and anonymous information about how the site is used.
| Category | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiry and booking data | Name, work email, company, role, LinkedIn profile URL, the package you’re considering, and an optional revenue band | The booking and contact forms |
| Email subscriber data | Email address, which list you joined, and whether you opened or clicked | The free course and newsletter sign-ups |
| Profile Auditor data | The LinkedIn profile you ask us to analyse, and the score and recommendations generated | The free Profile Auditor |
| Client service data | Interview recordings and transcripts, drafts, approvals, your LinkedIn analytics, and the contact details of people you ask us to engage with | Delivering the service |
| Billing data | Invoicing details and payment records | Contracting and payment |
| Technical and usage data | Pages viewed, approximate location, referrer, device and browser type | Analytics |
The Profile Auditor is free, and no email address is required to start it. Client interview calls are recorded and transcribed, because we write from your own words; the recordings are kept for 90 days after transcription. Our analytics is privacy-friendly analytics that sets no cookies.
We don’t ask for special category data (health, religion, political views and the like), and we ask you not to send it to us.
4. Why we use it, and our lawful basis
Summary: to answer you, to deliver what you bought, to send emails you asked for, and to improve the site.
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Replying to an enquiry and preparing for your audit call | Performance of a contract, or our legitimate interest in responding to you |
| Delivering a paid engagement | Performance of a contract |
| Sending the free course, and marketing emails | Consent, withdrawable at any time |
| Measuring how the site is used | Legitimate interest. Our analytics sets no cookies. |
| Keeping accounting and tax records | Legal obligation |
| Preventing fraud and securing the site | Legitimate interest |
We handle personal data in line with UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (PDPL).
Marketing emails are sent on consent. Every one of them has a link to unsubscribe in one click.
5. Cookies and analytics
Summary: this site sets no non-essential cookies.
This site sets no non-essential cookies, so there is no cookie banner to click through. We measure how the site is used with privacy-friendly analytics that sets no cookies and doesn’t follow you to other sites.
If you dismiss the announcement bar, your browser remembers that for 30 days in its own local storage. That stays on your device and isn’t sent to us.
6. Who we share data with
Summary: service providers who help us run the business, under contract, and nobody else.
We don’t sell personal data and we don’t share it for anyone else’s advertising. We do use third-party providers, each of which only receives what it needs for its part of the job.
- A hosting provider, which serves this website and the forms on it
- Privacy-friendly analytics that sets no cookies, which counts page views without identifying you
- Brevo, our email service provider, which sends the free course and any emails you subscribed to, and holds your email address and newsletter preference for that
- A scheduling tool, which books the audit call
- A transcription service, which turns client interview recordings into text
- Cloud storage, which holds drafts, voice guides and client documents
- A payment provider, which processes card payments
We may also disclose data where the law requires it, or to professional advisers in connection with a legal claim.
7. AI and your data
Summary: we use AI tools for research, transcription and sorting notes. We don't let them train on you.
Our writing is done by people. Where we use software in the process, such as transcription of your interview calls, that tool is a processor acting on our instructions.
We never use client or prospect data to train AI models.
8. International transfers
Summary: some of our providers are outside the UAE, and that transfer needs a legal basis.
Some of the providers above may store data outside the UAE. Where personal data leaves the UAE, we transfer it only on a basis that UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (PDPL) permits.
9. How long we keep it
Summary: only as long as we need it, then we delete it.
| Data | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Enquiries that don’t become clients | 24 months from last contact |
| Client records, including accounting records | 5 years after the engagement ends, as UAE commercial and tax law requires |
| Interview call recordings | 90 days after transcription |
| Email subscriber data | until you unsubscribe |
Enquiries that don’t become clients are deleted on that fixed schedule rather than kept indefinitely.
10. Security
Summary: access controls, encryption in transit, and a short list of people who can see your data.
Access to client accounts is limited to the team working on them. Data is encrypted in transit. Accounts use multi-factor authentication where the provider supports it. No system is perfectly secure, so if something goes wrong we will tell the people affected and the relevant authority where the law requires it.
11. Your rights
Summary: you can ask to see your data, correct it, delete it, or stop us using it.
Depending on where you are, you may have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- have inaccurate data corrected
- ask us to delete data we no longer need
- object to, or ask us to restrict, a particular use
- receive your data in a portable format
- withdraw consent, for example by unsubscribing from an email
- complain to a supervisory authority
To exercise any of these, email us at hello@thoughtleaders.ae.
12. Children
Summary: this site is for business use and not aimed at children.
Our services are sold to businesses. We don’t knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us data, email us and we’ll delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
Summary: if we change something material, we'll say so and date it.
We’ll update the “last updated” date at the top whenever this page changes. Where a change materially affects how we use your data, we’ll tell affected clients and subscribers directly rather than relying on you noticing.
14. Contact
Privacy questions: hello@thoughtleaders.ae
Anything else: contact ThoughtLeaders.
See also our terms of service.