Privacy Policy

1. Introduction & Scope

Vector Studios ("Vector Studios", "we", "us", or "our") is committed to safeguarding the privacy of all visitors, clients, viewers, and players. We process personal data in accordance with applicable United Kingdom and European data protection legislation, including:

• The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR);
• The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018);
• The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR); and
• The EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) where applicable to individuals within the European Economic Area (EEA).

This Privacy Policy covers all digital services and properties provided by Vector Studios, specifically including:

2. Data Controller Identity & Contact Details

For the purposes of the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, the Data Controller is:

3. Information We Collect & How We Collect It

3.1 Web Design & Studio Client Enquiries

When you submit a project enquiry form or contact our studio via email, we collect:

• Identity & Contact Details: Client full name, business or organisation name, email address, and telephone number;
• Project Specifications: Selected package tier, project brief, budget requirements, technical preferences, and any correspondence exchanged during project scoping;
• Technical Access Logs: Public IP address, browser user-agent, and request timestamps logged transiently by our web server firewall (e.g. IONOS) for fraud prevention, server protection, and defence against brute-force attacks.

3.2 VectorTV Streaming Platform

VectorTV operates on a privacy-respecting, zero-registration model.

• No User Accounts: You are not required to create an account, log in, or provide personal details to view live programmes or access the TV guide.
• Salted Cryptographic Telemetry: To balance server bandwidth, monitor stream health, and compile non-identifiable viewer counts, our telemetry script processes:
  • Pseudonymised IP Hashes: Your raw IP address is never persistently stored in plain text. It is passed through a one-way SHA-256 cryptographic hashing function salted with the active calendar month (e.g. hash(IP + YYYY-MM)). This produces an irreversible 16-character pseudo-identifier that cannot be decrypted or reverse-engineered to identify you individually.
  • Viewing Diagnostics: Active channel selection, player heartbeats (transmitted every 25 seconds during playback), total seconds viewed, and stream connection status.
  • Device & Application Classification: Broad device category (Desktop, Smart TV, Mobile), application name (e.g. Chrome, Safari, Firefox, VLC Media Player, TiviMate), and operating system.
  • Country-Level Location: High-level geographic country code derived from Cloudflare or GeoIP headers. We do not collect granular GPS or street-level location data.

3.3 Maritime Simulator (Steam Video Game)

When you install and play Maritime Simulator via Valve Corporation’s Steam platform:

• Steam Platform Integration: The game interfaces with Valve’s Steamworks API using your unique numeric Steam ID to facilitate achievements, player statistics, and cloud synchronisation. Vector Studios does not receive, view, or store your payment card details, billing address, or Steam account password.
• Local Save Files & Settings: Simulator progression, naval scenarios, control keybindings, and graphical configuration files are saved locally on your computer and, where enabled, synchronised with Valve’s Steam Cloud.
• Crash Diagnostics: Should a critical engine crash occur, local diagnostic log files (containing engine state, GPU driver version, and memory allocation at time of failure) may be created on your local system for troubleshooting purposes. We do not deploy kernel-level surveillance software, rootkits, or third-party ad-tracking software within our game client.

3.4 Community Channels & Support

When you participate in our public Discord server or submit a support ticket via email, we process your platform username, email address, and ticket contents solely to assist you and maintain community safety.

3.5 AI Assistant (Email & Website Chat)

Emails sent to agent@vectorstudios.uk and conversations with the chat assistant on our websites are handled first by our AI assistant, which answers questions and gathers enquiry details for our team. A member of our team is copied in to every email the assistant sends, and conversations are handed to a person when needed. The assistant does not make decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.

• What is processed: Your name, email address, business name, telephone number (if given), message contents, and the project details you share (requirements, budget and timeframe), plus the chat transcript where you use the website chat.
• How: Message contents are sent to Google's Gemini API to classify the enquiry and draft replies. Enquiry details are recorded in a Google Sheet used by our team. Under Google's paid-service terms, your messages are not used to train Google's models.
• Website chat: The chat is served from our own server. Your IP address is held in memory for a few minutes for rate limiting and is not stored. If you don't share contact details, the conversation is not saved.

4. Lawful Bases for Processing (UK GDPR Article 6)

We only process personal data where there is a recognised lawful basis under UK data protection law:

5. Cookies & Local Storage

We adhere to strict standards under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR):

• No Behavioural Advertising Cookies: We do not deploy third-party advertising cookies, remarketing pixels (such as Meta Pixel or Google Ads), or data-broker trackers on any of our sites.
• Client-Side Local Storage: On tv.vectorstudios.uk, we may store non-personal user interface preferences (such as audio volume, favourite channels, or player layout) locally in your browser’s localStorage. This data never leaves your device.
• Strictly Necessary Security Cookies: Essential session cookies may be used by security providers (such as Cloudflare) to verify genuine human traffic and mitigate automated bot assaults.

6. Third-Party Service Providers & Data Processors

We only engage vetted service providers who maintain rigorous security and data protection standards:

• Valve Corporation: Provides digital rights management, payment checkout, community forums, and Steam Cloud functionality for Maritime Simulator. Valve’s handling of personal data is governed by the Valve Privacy Policy.
• Web Hosting & Infrastructure: Web hosting services (such as IONOS) host our web servers, databases, and contact scripts within secure data centres.
• Content Delivery & DNS: Cloudflare provides DNS resolution, DDoS mitigation, and SSL/TLS encryption.
• Email Communications: Our business mailbox providers, including Google (Gmail), process incoming and outgoing email correspondence sent to hello@vectorstudios.uk and agent@vectorstudios.uk.
• Google (Gemini API and Google Sheets): Processes enquiry emails and website chat messages for our AI assistant, and stores enquiry records, as described in section 3.5.
• Virtual Private Server Hosting: Our website chat server is hosted on a UK virtual private server.

We do not sell, rent, lease, or trade personal data to third parties for commercial or marketing purposes.

7. International Data Transfers

Vector Studios operates primarily within the United Kingdom. Where data is processed by international partners (for instance, Valve Corporation based in the United States for Steam operations), transfers (including to Google for our AI assistant) are conducted using UK International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs), European Commission Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs), or applicable adequacy regulations ensuring equivalent data protection safeguards.

8. Data Retention Schedule

• Prospective Client Enquiries: Enquiries submitted through our contact forms, by email, or through the website chat (including chat transcripts and AI assistant records) that do not progress to an active contract are securely deleted after 12 months.
• Contractual Client Records: Invoices, contracts, and business correspondence relating to paid design services are retained for 6 years following project completion in compliance with statutory UK accounting and HMRC requirements.
• VectorTV Telemetry: Live stream connection heartbeats expire automatically after 60 seconds of inactivity. Historical daily viewing statistics and salted hashes are retained purely as aggregated, non-identifiable metrics.
• Game Software Saves: Local game files and Steam Cloud saves remain under player control and can be deleted directly via Steam or your local system at any time.

9. Protection of Children

Our websites, broadcast services, and video games are not directed at children under the age of 13 (or under 16 within the UK and EEA). We do not knowingly solicit or collect personal data from children. If you have reason to believe that a minor has provided us with personal information without parental or guardian consent, please notify us immediately at hello@vectorstudios.uk, and we will take immediate steps to remove such information.

10. Your Statutory Rights Under UK GDPR

Under UK and European data protection law, you possess key rights regarding your personal information:

• Right of Access: You may request confirmation of whether we hold your personal data and obtain a copy of that data.
• Right to Rectification: You may request the correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You may request that we delete your personal data where there is no ongoing legal justification for its retention.
• Right to Restriction of Processing: You may request that we suspend the processing of your personal data under certain conditions.
• Right to Data Portability: You may request the transfer of your provided data to yourself or a third party in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Object: You may object to the processing of your personal data where we rely upon legitimate interests as our lawful basis.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time without affecting previous lawful processing.

To exercise any of your rights, please submit a formal request to hello@vectorstudios.uk. We respond to all verified Data Subject Access Requests within one calendar month without charge.

11. Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) & Complaints

If you are dissatisfied with how we have handled your personal information, we encourage you to contact us first so we can resolve the matter promptly. However, you also have the statutory right to lodge a complaint with the United Kingdom’s supervisory authority:

12. Amendments to this Policy

We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time to accommodate changes in legislation, technical adjustments to VectorTV, or game updates to Maritime Simulator. Any updates will be published immediately on this page with an amended "Last Updated" date.

13. Contact Vector Studios

For all privacy, data protection, or legal enquiries, please contact: