Controller
The data controller for systemsdetective.com is Otman Mechbal, operating Systems Detective as an independent public project. Systems Detective is not currently a registered company.
Contact: otman@systemsdetective.com
What data is collected
Two forms on this site collect personal data:
- Contact form (on the homepage, under Start a Conversation): name, email address, organisation if provided, and the message you write.
- Newsletter signup: your email address, submitted directly to Substack, which operates as a separate service with its own privacy policy. Subscribing to the newsletter does not add you to any other list.
The contact form and the newsletter are kept separate. Sending a message through the contact form does not subscribe you to the newsletter, and subscribing to the newsletter does not start a conversation.
Legal basis
Contact form submissions are processed on the basis of legitimate interest and, where a conversation about potential collaboration follows, pre contractual communication. Newsletter signups are processed on the basis of your consent, given directly to Substack at the point of signup, and withdrawable at any time through the unsubscribe link in any newsletter email.
Processors
The following third parties process data on behalf of this site:
- Hostinger, for website hosting and contact form email delivery.
- Plausible Analytics, for cookieless, aggregate visitor analytics. Plausible states that it does not use cookies or persistent identifiers and that data is processed on servers operated by European companies.
- Substack, for newsletter delivery and subscriber management, under its own privacy policy.
Retention
Contact form messages are kept only as long as needed to respond, and for no more than 24 months unless an ongoing conversation or working relationship continues beyond that point. Newsletter data is retained by Substack until you unsubscribe.
Your rights
You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data at any time by writing to otman@systemsdetective.com. Requests are handled directly and without charge.
Analytics
This site uses Plausible Analytics, a cookieless analytics tool. Plausible does not use cookies, does not track visitors across sites or devices, and reports only aggregate statistics such as page views, referrers, and countries.
The contact form, its fields, and any message content are never sent to analytics. Event tracking on this site records actions such as button clicks, form starts, and page views, but never names, emails, organisations, or message text.
If a Google Analytics property is added in the future for paid acquisition reporting, it will not be enabled for visitors in the European Economic Area without a consent mechanism in place first, and this policy will be updated before that happens.
Automated decision making
No automated decision making or profiling is applied to any data collected through this site. Every message is read by a person.
Complaints
If you believe your data has been mishandled, you can raise this directly with the controller using the contact details above, or lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in your country of residence within the European Union.
Changes to this policy
This policy may be updated as the project evolves, including when Systems Detective becomes a registered legal entity. The date at the top of this page always reflects the latest version.