Columbus Earth Corp.
Privacy Policy
Effective date: 15 August 2026
Columbus Earth Corp. (“Columbus Earth”, “we”, “us”) runs columbus.earth. This policy explains what personal data this website collects, why, and what we do with it. It covers the website only, not the Columbus Pro or Elio products themselves.
Who we are and how to reach us
Columbus Earth Corp. is a Delaware corporation in the United States.
Questions about this policy or your data: contact@columbus.earth.
What data you give us
We only collect personal data from you when you choose to send it through one of the forms on this site.
Contact form
On the Contact and Research pages, with tabs for General, Columbus Pro, Elio, Investors, and Careers. Depending on the tab, we ask for:
- Your name and email address (all tabs)
- Your message (all tabs)
- How you heard about us
- Your industry and company size (Columbus Pro)
- Your organisation (Investors)
- The role you are interested in and an optional resume link (Careers)
Product updates checkbox
An optional checkbox reads “I want to receive product updates from Columbus Earth.” We only send you product updates if you tick it. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email or by writing to us.
Blog subscription
The blog subscribe form collects your email address only, so we can send you new articles, research notes, and product updates. You can unsubscribe at any time.
The Columbus assistant chat
Anything you type in the chat on our business pages is sent to our server so an AI model can answer it. If you ask for a demo or to get in touch, the chat shows a short contact form asking for your email, name, industry, and message. Your chat history is stored only in your own browser (localStorage), never on our servers. You can erase it by clearing your browser data for this site.
When you submit any of these forms, our server also records the technical context of the submission: the page you were on and your IP address.
Please do not type sensitive personal data (health, political views, and so on) into our forms or the chat. We do not ask for it and do not want it.
What data we collect automatically
Analytics. We use PostHog to understand how the site is used. Depending on your consent choice (see Cookies below), PostHog collects: pages viewed, clicks, scroll depth, which forms were started, blog reading and sharing activity, technical errors, heatmaps, and, if you accept cookies, session recordings. Session recordings mask the contents of every input field, so what you type into forms is not recorded. Analytics events also include standard technical data such as browser type, device type, and approximate location derived from your IP address.
Server logs. Our hosting provider, Vercel, keeps standard server logs, which include IP addresses.
Why we collect it, and the legal basis
For visitors in the EU, UK, and similar jurisdictions, GDPR Article 6 requires a legal basis for each use. Here they are:
| What | Why | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Contact and chat form data | To answer your enquiry, arrange demos, evaluate job applications, and talk to investors | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)): responding to a request you made. For pre-contract discussions, Art. 6(1)(b) |
| Product update emails and blog subscription | To send you updates you asked for | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)). Withdraw any time by unsubscribing |
| Chat messages sent to the AI model | To generate an answer to your question | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)): operating the assistant you chose to use |
| Analytics | To understand what works on the site and improve it | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) for cookie-based analytics. Aggregated, cookieless measurement relies on legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Server logs | Security, abuse prevention, keeping the site running | Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
Who we share data with
We share personal data only with the service providers that run this site. We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with anyone for their own advertising.
- HubSpot, Inc. (United States): our CRM. Every form submission is stored in HubSpot, including your IP address.
- PostHog, Inc. (United States): analytics and session replay. Analytics requests are routed through our own domain to PostHog’s US cloud.
- Google LLC (United States): two roles. Messages you type in the Columbus assistant chat are processed by a Google AI model (the Gemini API) to generate answers. Separately, some of the site’s fonts are loaded from Google Fonts servers, which means your browser sends your IP address to Google when the page loads.
- Vercel, Inc. (United States): hosting, content delivery, and image processing.
We may also disclose data if the law requires it, or as part of a corporate transaction such as a financing or acquisition.
International transfers
We are a US company and the providers above process data in the United States. If you visit from the EU, UK, or Switzerland, your data is transferred to the US. Where a provider is certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, we rely on that certification. Otherwise we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses.
How long we keep it
- Contact and enquiry submissions: 24 months from our last contact with you, then deleted.
- Careers submissions, including any resume link: 12 months from the application, then deleted, unless you join us or ask us to keep you on file for future roles.
- Email subscriptions: until you unsubscribe. We keep a record of the unsubscribe itself so we do not email you again by mistake.
- Chat history: never stored on our servers. It lives in your browser until you clear it.
- Analytics data: kept in PostHog under its standard retention.
- Server logs: kept briefly under Vercel’s standard retention.
You do not have to wait for those periods to run out. Email us and we will delete your records sooner.
Your rights
If you are in the EU or UK (GDPR), you can ask us to: access the data we hold about you, correct it, delete it, hand it over in a portable format, restrict or object to how we use it, and withdraw any consent you gave (this does not affect processing that already happened). You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
If you are a California resident (CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to know what personal information we collect, to have it deleted, to correct it, and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We do not sell personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of. We will never discriminate against you for exercising these rights.
To exercise any right, email contact@columbus.earth. We will verify the request and respond within the legally required time.
Cookies and tracking
When you first visit, a banner asks whether you accept analytics cookies.
- Accept: PostHog sets cookies so we can recognise repeat visits, and session recording is enabled, with all typed input masked.
- Reject: no analytics cookies are set and no persistent identifier is created. Measurement continues in a cookieless, non-identifying mode.
Your choice is saved in your browser’s localStorage. To change it, clear this site’s data in your browser and choose again on your next visit.
Beyond analytics, the site stores a small amount of data in your browser for functionality only: your consent choice, your Columbus assistant chat history, and short-lived navigation state. None of this is used for advertising. We do not use any advertising trackers.
Children
This site is not directed at children under 16 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, email us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, we will update it on this page and change the effective date at the top. For significant changes, we will add a notice on the site. We will not quietly reduce your rights.
See also our Terms of Service.