Privacy Policy

Last updated: November 13, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how STS Connect ("we", "us", "our", or "the Service"), operated by SMART TELECOM SERVICES STS LTD ("Smart Telecom"), a company registered in England and Wales (company number 12417165, VAT number GB443973468), collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards your information when you use our unified business messaging platform at stsconnect.chat, portal.stsconnect.chat, and app.stsconnect.chat.

By creating an account or using the Service, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your information as described in this Policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

  • Account information: Your name, email address, company name, and password (stored as a bcrypt hash).
  • Payment information: Billing details processed securely via Stripe. We never store full credit card numbers on our servers.
  • Messaging channel credentials: When you connect WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, TikTok, or email, you authorize us to store the access tokens/credentials required to send and receive messages on your behalf.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

  • Usage data: IP address, browser type, device information, access times, and pages visited.
  • Cookies & local storage: Used for authentication, session management, and security.
  • Website statistics: On stsconnect.chat we count visits with Umami, which we run on our own server. It sets no cookies, stores nothing in your browser and does not identify you. It records the pages viewed (without the part of the address after "?"), the referring site, country, browser and device type, grouped per visit under a random identifier that cannot be linked to you. Your IP address is not stored, and no statistics are shared with third parties.
  • Website chat: If you open the chat on our website, the chat window loads and stores a conversation identifier in your browser, and the messages you send are kept so that our team can follow up. Replies may come from Sara, our AI assistant, or from a member of our team. Nothing from the chat loads until you open it.

1.3 Message Content & Customer Conversations

To provide the Service, we process messages you send and receive through connected channels. This includes:

  • Message text, media (images, audio, video, documents), timestamps, and delivery status.
  • Contact information of your customers (name, phone number, email) when they message you.
  • This data is stored by our messaging engine hosted on our own infrastructure and is not shared with third parties for marketing purposes.
  • Voice notes, videos, images and files your customers send can be turned into text automatically for your team (media understanding). This runs on our own servers, which keep no copy of the file once it is read. The text is saved as an internal note in the conversation. You can switch it off at any time on the AI Agent page.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • To provide, operate, and maintain the Service across all messaging channels.
  • To create and manage your account, subscription, and billing.
  • To send service-related notifications (security alerts, billing receipts, product updates).
  • To provide customer support and respond to your inquiries.
  • To detect, prevent, and address fraud, abuse, and technical issues.
  • To comply with legal obligations and law enforcement requests.
  • To improve and develop new features based on aggregate, anonymized usage data.

3. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), we process your personal data on the following legal bases:

  • Contractual necessity: To provide the Service you signed up for.
  • Legal obligation: To comply with tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements.
  • Legitimate interest: To ensure security, prevent fraud, and improve the Service.
  • Consent: For optional marketing communications, which you can withdraw at any time.

4. Third-Party Services

The Service integrates with the following providers. Each processes data under their own privacy policy:

  • Meta (WhatsApp Cloud API, Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct) - governed by Meta's Privacy Policy. Data received via WhatsApp API is used solely to respond to user messages.
  • Stripe - payment processing - governed by Stripe's Privacy Policy.
  • Telegram - bot messaging - governed by Telegram's Privacy Policy.
  • TikTok (TikTok API for Business) - comments on the connected Business Account's videos, read and answered on your behalf - governed by TikTok's Privacy Policy. Data received from TikTok is used solely to show and answer those comments.
  • Amazon Web Services (SES) - transactional email delivery.
  • AI providers - when you use the AI features (AI agent, reply suggestions, image descriptions), the relevant conversation text, and for image descriptions the image, is sent to the AI provider of the API key you add, or during a trial to the provider we use, only to produce the answer. Image descriptions use your own key only.

5. Data Retention

We retain your personal data as follows:

  • Account data: Retained while your account is active. Deleted within 30 days of account closure.
  • Message content: Retained as configured in your account settings. You may delete conversations at any time.
  • Billing records: Retained for 7 years as required by tax and financial regulations.
  • Logs & usage data: Retained for 90 days for security and debugging purposes.

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including TLS 1.2+ encryption in transit, bcrypt password hashing, role-based access control, and isolated Docker infrastructure. Payment data is handled entirely by Stripe and never touches our servers.

7. Your Privacy Rights (GDPR / Data Subject Access)

Depending on your location, you may have the right to: access, rectify, erase, restrict, port, object to, or withdraw consent for processing of your personal data. To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@stsconnect.chat. We respond within 30 days.

8. Data Deletion

You may request deletion of your account and all associated data at any time from Account Settings → Delete Account, or by emailing privacy@stsconnect.chat. We process deletion requests within 30 days. Previously stored messages are permanently removed as part of your account deletion.

9. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence, including the United States and Meta's servers. We ensure such transfers comply with applicable data protection laws.

10. Children's Privacy

The Service is not intended for individuals under 16 years old. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by email or a prominent notice within the Service at least 30 days before they take effect.

12. Governing Law

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of England and Wales. Any disputes arising in connection with this Policy are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales. SMART TELECOM SERVICES STS LTD is the data controller for account and billing data, and you have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) or to the data protection authority where you live.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact our Data Protection Officer:

Email: privacy@stsconnect.chat
Company: SMART TELECOM SERVICES STS LTD (company number 12417165)
Registered office: Dns House, 382 Kenton Road, Harrow, Middlesex, HA3 8DP, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 20 4634 4449
Website: stsconnect.chat