Aude Data Protection Policy

1. Policy brief & purpose

   1. As a pre-seed startup working with design partners and handling sensitive information, Aude is committed to protecting the data of our design partners, employees, and stakeholders.

   2. This policy outlines our approach to data collection, storage, and handling to ensure we maintain trust and confidentiality while building our product.

2. Scope. This policy refers to all parties (employees, job candidates, customers, suppliers etc.) who provide any amount of information to us, including:

   1. Aude team members (employees, contractors, and advisors)

   2. Design partners and customers

   3. Suppliers and service providers

   4. Anyone who receives access to data through collaboration with Aude

3. Policy elements.

   1. As part of our operations, we need to obtain and process information.

   2. This information includes any offline or online data that makes a person identifiable, such as names, email addresses, and usernames.

   3. Aude collects this information transparently and only with the full cooperation and knowledge of interested parties. Once this information is available to us, the following rules apply.

   4. Our data will be:

      1. Accurate and kept up-to-date

      2. Collected fairly and for lawful purposes only

      3. Processed by the company within its legal and moral boundaries

      4. Protected against any unauthorized or illegal access by internal or external parties

   5. Our data will not be:

      1. Communicated informally

      2. Stored for more than a specified amount of time

      3. Transferred to organizations, states or countries that do not have adequate data protection policies

      4. Distributed to any party other than the ones agreed upon by the data's owner (exempting legitimate requests from law enforcement authorities)

4. Data protection principles.

   1. Data collection and processing. As an early-stage startup working closely with design partners, our data collection has specific, focused purposes. We gather information only when it directly supports our mission to build and refine our product. Specifically, we collect and process data to:

      1. Develop and improve our product

      2. Collaborate with design partners

      3. Understand user needs and feedback

      4. Maintain business operations

   2. Our commitments. As we build our product with design partners, we recognize that trust is fundamental to our relationships. These core commitments guide how we handle data, ensuring we act as responsible stewards of the information entrusted to us. Each commitment reflects our values and shapes our daily practices:

      1. We collect data transparently and with explicit consent

      2. We only collect data that serves a clear purpose

      3. We keep data accurate and up-to-date

      4. We process data within legal and ethical boundaries

      5. We implement appropriate security measures

   3. Data protection practices. At Aude, we implement essential security measures to protect our data and systems while maintaining operational efficiency. These foundational practices help us safeguard sensitive information without creating unnecessary complexity for our small team. Every team member is expected to follow these key security measures:

      1. Use password managers for secure credential storage

      2. Implement two-factor authentication on all accounts

      3. Encrypt sensitive data in transit and at rest

      4. Use secure cloud services for data storage

      5. Regular backups of critical data

      6. Limited access to sensitive information on a need-to-know basis

   4. Design partner data. Our design partners are crucial to Aude's development, sharing valuable insights and feedback that shape our product. We recognize that this collaboration requires them to trust us with sensitive information. To honor this trust and protect our partners' interests, we maintain specific protocols for handling design partner data:

      1. Clearly communicate what data we collect and why

      2. Obtain explicit permission before collecting any data

      3. Provide options to request data modification or deletion

      4. Protect proprietary information shared during feedback sessions

      5. Only share anonymized insights from design partner feedback

   5. Data retention. Clear data retention policies help us maintain data minimization principles while preserving valuable insights. We aim to balance our need for historical data with our commitment to responsible data management. Our straightforward approach to data retention ensures that:

      1. We keep data only as long as necessary for our stated purposes

      2. Design partner feedback is retained only for the duration of our partnership unless explicitly agreed otherwise

      3. We securely delete data that is no longer needed

   6. Breach response. While we work to prevent security incidents through careful practices, we must be prepared to respond quickly and effectively if a data breach occurs. Our response plan prioritizes transparency and swift action to protect our stakeholders. Should a breach occur, we follow these clear steps:

      1. Immediate notification to affected parties

      2. Swift action to contain and assess the breach

      3. Documentation of the incident and response

      4. Implementation of measures to prevent future occurrences