Privacy Policy

Independent platform. This service is operated by Steps Ventures and is independent. Company information is compiled from public sources for research and networking purposes.

Data Controller

Steps Ventures is the controller responsible for personal data processed through this platform.

Privacy contact: privacy@stepsventures.com

Data We Collect

Contact information you voluntarily submit (lead/contact forms): name, email (required); organization, phone, job title (optional).

Account information (where you register for a member account): name, email, organization, role, a securely hashed password, and multi-factor authentication settings.

Member communications (where you use private messaging): message content and metadata, accessible only to the participants and authorized administrators.

Search queries — to improve matching and connect you with relevant companies.

Technical data — hashed IP address, browser type, and security/audit logs.

What we do NOT do: no advertising or remarketing cookies, no sale of personal data, no third-party ad tracking.

Legal Basis (GDPR Article 6)

• Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) — to provide member accounts and private messaging you request.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) — to share your contact details with a portfolio company when you explicitly opt in.
• Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) — security, abuse prevention, and improving the matching service.

Data Retention

• Account data: for the life of the account, then deleted within 90 days of closure.
• Private messages: until deleted by participants or account closure.
• Lead/contact data: 24 months. Search & audit logs: 12 months.

Your Rights (GDPR Articles 15–22)

If you are in the EEA/UK you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability, objection, and to withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise your rights or lodge a complaint with us, email privacy@stepsventures.com with “Data Subject Request” in the subject. We respond within 30 days. You may also complain to your local data protection authority.

Data Sharing

• Contact details are shared with a portfolio company only with your explicit, opt-in consent.
• We use vetted processors (cloud hosting, email delivery) under data-processing agreements; we do not sell or rent personal data.

Hosting & International Transfers

• Account data and private messages are being migrated to EU data centres (Google Cloud, Belgium — europe-west1).
• Until that migration completes for a given dataset, some processing may occur in the United States under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Our hosting provider maintains ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II certification.

Security

• TLS/HTTPS in transit; encryption at rest for databases.
• Passwords stored using a strong one-way hash; optional multi-factor authentication.
• Role-based access control, audit logging, and least-privilege administrative access.
• IP addresses are hashed for analytics.

No Automated Decision-Making

Our AI matching engine returns search results only. It does not make automated decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.

Contact

Steps Ventures

Email: privacy@stepsventures.com