Website and enquiry privacy

Updated 27 September 2026. Notice version: 2026-09-27-website-analytics.

Scope and responsibility

Gary Cowan operates AICowan, a UK-based independent business that develops and sells Zentarra. Gary Cowan is responsible for AICowan's handling of personal information. For privacy questions or requests about your information, email contact@aicowan.co.uk.

Our business address is listed on the Legal information page.

This page covers the AICowan marketing website and its enquiry and application routes. It does not describe account activity, analytical questions, workspace contents or backups inside Zentarra. See the separate Zentarra application privacy information for those matters.

Visiting this website

The website serves static pages through Microsoft Azure Static Web Apps. Optional Statcounter analytics loads only after you select Accept analytics. We do not add advertising trackers. The site includes an application form and a restricted owner sign-in. Owner sign-in uses Microsoft Entra ID and necessary authentication cookies; applicants do not need to sign in. Fonts are served from this website, so loading a page does not contact Google Fonts. Azure receives connection information, such as your IP address, when serving requests. We have not enabled optional Application Insights or Azure diagnostic logging for this website. Microsoft still processes connection and service information to deliver, secure and maintain its services. Provider retention is explained below.

Optional Statcounter analytics

With your consent, we use Statcounter (project 12948372) to understand visits and improve the public website. It can receive your IP address, visit time, page URL and title, referring page, browser, operating system and screen information, and use identifiers to distinguish visits. Please do not put personal or confidential information in page URLs. Analytics is not loaded on the beta application form, private owner pages or the preview site. Session-recording scripts are not permitted by this website's security policy.

Choose Accept analytics or Reject analytics in the website notice. Before acceptance, no Statcounter script or tracking image is loaded. You can withdraw consent at any time using Analytics settings in the footer; this stops future tracking and removes accessible first-party Statcounter storage. Information already sent is not automatically erased by withdrawing consent; contact us about a deletion request. Your browser settings can remove third-party cookies that this website cannot access.

We remember your analytics choice in browser local storage for 180 days, separately for each website origin. This preference is used only to honour your choice. Statcounter describes a first-party visitor cookie lasting up to two years and a third-party returning-visitor cookie lasting up to five years; browser controls can shorten or block these. Provider cookie lifetimes are separate from our 180-day consent preference. Detailed visit history is retained within the project's rolling log capacity, with older entries replaced as that capacity is reached; summary statistics can remain longer while the project is retained. We use these reports for website improvement, not beta application assessment.

See Statcounter's privacy information and cookie information for its processing and storage details. Analytics is optional and declining it does not prevent you using the site or applying for the beta.

Contacting AICowan

Email links open your email application. Information you send can include your name, email address, organisation and the contents of your enquiry. Please keep initial questions to the information needed to discuss Zentarra; do not include passwords, database credentials or confidential customer records.

Enquiry information is used to respond, maintain the correspondence you request and discuss relevant services. If you do not provide a usable reply address or the information needed to answer a question, we may be unable to help.

Applying for the beta

The website form collects your first name, email, current data platform, what you would like to test, optional organisation and job role, and your request to join the beta. It records submission and respondent identifiers, submission time, the version of this privacy information and notification status. Gary Cowan uses these details to assess your application and contact you about participation. Required fields are marked; without them we cannot process the application.

We use legitimate interests for handling these requested beta applications: assessing suitability, responding and administering recruitment. The form asks only for relevant information, makes organisation and role optional and does not enrol you in marketing. You can object or request deletion by emailing contact@aicowan.co.uk. Beta sign-up is a request to participate, not blanket consent to all processing or acceptance of product terms.

Applications are stored in private Azure Table Storage in UK South. Only the authorised owner can download them through the website. Each application expires 12 months after submission and a daily cleanup deletes expired records, normally within the next day; outages may delay cleanup. Downloaded copies and separate correspondence must be managed separately. Accepted users' product accounts have their own application privacy information.

A reference-only notification is sent through Azure Communication Services Email to contact@aicowan.co.uk, hosted by Microsoft 365. It does not contain the form answers or applicant email address. If sending fails, the application remains saved for owner review and notification retry.

To limit abuse, the service stores keyed hashes derived from email addresses and daily submission counts that expire after two days and are removed by the next daily cleanup; outages may delay deletion. It also uses a short-lived signed form session and a hidden spam-check field. The form service does not deliberately store raw IP addresses or log request bodies; Azure hosting may process connection information. These controls support our legitimate interest in protecting the application service.

Beta sign-ups are processed through this website, not Tally or Google Sheets.

Providers and external links

The website and its font files use Microsoft Azure hosting. The application form uses Azure Table Storage, managed Azure Functions and a daily Azure Logic Apps cleanup. Operational notifications use Azure Communication Services Email. Email enquiries go to contact@aicowan.co.uk, AICowan's corporate mailbox hosted by Microsoft 365. GoDaddy provides the associated account/sign-in service and Microsoft 365 service administration and support. This address is used for general enquiries, evaluations, beta, support, privacy and accessibility correspondence.

The website resource is configured in West Europe; beta sign-up storage and scheduled cleanup are in UK South, and the email notification service reports Europe as its data location. These settings do not mean that all Microsoft processing takes place in those regions. Microsoft publishes its Products and Services Data Protection Addendum. Our primary Microsoft 365 mailbox is in the United Kingdom. Microsoft service delivery and support can involve processing outside the UK; the configured regions do not cover every operation. Our Azure subscription is governed by a Microsoft Customer Agreement incorporating the DPA. For applicable international transfers, that DPA provides Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK transfer addendum, available through the link above. The GoDaddy Microsoft 365 service terms also incorporate the Microsoft Customer Agreement. GoDaddy processes information needed for its account, administration and support services under its Microsoft 365 terms and Data Processing Addendum. Its transfer terms provide for applicable adequacy arrangements or contractual safeguards, including UK transfer provisions. Microsoft, GoDaddy and their authorised service providers may process information outside the UK, including in the United States. The linked documents explain the safeguards; you can also email contact@aicowan.co.uk for a copy or an explanation relevant to your information.

YouTube videos are links, not embedded players. This website does not load a YouTube player or thumbnail before you choose to visit YouTube. Links to YouTube and LinkedIn take you to external services with their own privacy information.

AI, automated decisions and profiling

This marketing website does not send visitors' questions to an AI service or profile applicants. Its interactive product examples display predefined sample figures. The beta form validates and stores submissions and notifies Gary for review; it does not score suitability or automatically grant beta access. Automated spam checks and submission limits protect the form. Our beta recruitment procedure is owner review, without automated suitability decisions. Zentarra product processing is described separately.

Lawful bases and retention

We rely on legitimate interests to deliver and secure this website and respond to enquiries you send us. These interests are providing information about AICowan and Zentarra, keeping the service available and answering requested correspondence. We limit the information to what those purposes need, do not add advertising tracking and do not treat an enquiry as marketing permission. You can object by contacting us.

Our retention policy is: ordinary enquiry correspondence for up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact; reference-only beta notification emails for up to 30 days after receipt; and downloaded beta CSV files only while needed for their review task, with a maximum of 30 days after download. Applicant details in exports must also be removed by their original beta record expiry date, if sooner. Mail and downloaded copies are handled through a manual review and deletion procedure, separate from the automated Azure cleanup.

If correspondence becomes a contract, accounting record or dispute record, only the information needed for that separate purpose may be retained under a documented reason and review date. Microsoft recovery copies, retention policies or legal holds can delay final erasure after mailbox deletion. The mailbox has a 14-day deleted-item recovery setting with single-item recovery enabled. Checks on 27 September 2026 found no mailbox or organisation-wide holds in the queried Exchange settings. The default mailbox policy does not automatically apply our website-specific deletion schedule, which is handled manually. Provider-generated connection, diagnostic and security records have service-specific retention rather than the beta-record schedule. Microsoft determines retention by the purpose of processing, the nature and sensitivity of the information, service/security needs and applicable legal or contractual requirements, as described in its Privacy Statement and applicable service terms. We do not promise one fixed deletion period for all Microsoft internal logs. GoDaddy processes service information for the duration and purposes of its services; its DPA provides for return, deletion or de-identification when those processing arrangements end, subject to legal retention obligations. These periods do not describe Zentarra workspace or backup retention.

Your right to object

You can object to our use of your information where we rely on legitimate interests. Email contact@aicowan.co.uk and explain your request. We will consider it and explain the outcome; this right depends on the circumstances.

Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis used, you may have the right to:

• Access your personal information and obtain a copy.
• Have inaccurate information corrected or incomplete information completed.
• Request deletion or restriction where the relevant conditions apply.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests, and object to direct marketing.
• Receive certain information in a portable format where that right applies.
• Withdraw consent where processing relies on consent, without affecting the lawfulness of earlier processing.

These rights are not absolute. If a request cannot be fulfilled in full, you can ask for an explanation.

Requests and complaints

Email contact@aicowan.co.uk with enough detail to identify the information and your request. Relevant identity checks may be needed to protect your information; do not send identity documents unless requested through an appropriate route.

Rights requests are normally handled without a fee and within one month, subject to the applicable rules on identity checks, clarification and extensions. Read the ICO's explanation of response times.

Raise concerns with Gary using the same email address. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Changes to this information

The date on this page identifies its latest revision. Changes in how the service handles information need to be reflected in the notice and communicated where required.