Privacy Policy

Real Connected is a digital growth agency specializing in SEO, Generative Engine Optimization, content strategy, and AI-powered marketing systems. In this policy, "Real Connected," "we," "us," or "our" refers to Real Connected, located at 21025 Ridge Rd, Freeland, MD 21053, USA, the operating entity behind realconnected.ai. "You" or "your" refers to anyone who visits our website, uses our services, subscribes to our communications, or otherwise interacts with us.

We act as the data controller for the personal information described in this policy, which means we decide how and why your data is processed. When we work with you on a client engagement, we may also act as a data processor on your behalf for data we handle inside your marketing systems. Those arrangements are governed by your separate service agreement with us.

This policy covers personal information we collect through:

• The realconnected.ai website and any subdomains we operate
• Our forms, calendars, and lead-capture surfaces (including chat widgets and consultation booking)
• Our email, SMS, and direct outreach programs
• Client engagements, audits, proposals, and deliverables
• Our presence on third-party platforms when you interact with our official accounts

This policy does not cover websites or services operated by other organizations, even when we link to them. Their data practices are governed by their own policies.

Information you give us

When you contact us, request an audit, book a call, subscribe to our newsletter, or become a client, you may provide:

• Name, business name, job title, and role
• Email address, phone number, and business address
• Website URL and information about your business goals, audience, and competitors
• Billing and payment information (processed by our payment providers, not stored on our servers)
• Content of messages you send us, including consultation notes and project briefs
• Login credentials and access tokens you choose to share so we can deliver services (analytics, search consoles, CMS, ad accounts)

Information we collect automatically

When you visit our site, we automatically collect technical and usage data, including:

• IP address and approximate location derived from it
• Browser type, operating system, device type, and screen size
• Pages viewed, time on page, scroll depth, referring URL, and exit pages
• UTM parameters and campaign attribution data
• Cookie identifiers and similar tracking identifiers (see Section 6)

Information from third parties

We may receive information about you from:

• Analytics and advertising platforms that report on our campaigns
• Publicly available sources (your company website, LinkedIn, business directories) when we research prospects
• Referral partners who introduce you to us with your consent
• Service providers we use to deliver our work (see Section 7)

We use the information described above for the following purposes:

We do not use your information to make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects without human review.

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or a region with similar privacy laws, we process your personal information under one of the following legal bases:

• Contract. Processing is necessary to deliver the services you have engaged us for, or to take steps before entering into a contract.
• Legitimate interests. Processing supports our reasonable business interests in marketing, security, analytics, and operations, balanced against your rights.
• Consent. You have opted in to specific processing, such as receiving our newsletter or accepting non-essential cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legal obligation. Processing is required by law (for example, tax records).

We use cookies and similar technologies (pixels, local storage, server-side tracking) to make the site work, understand how it is used, and measure our marketing.

Categories of cookies we use

Your choices

You can manage cookie preferences through the consent banner on your first visit and at any time through the "Cookie settings" link in our footer. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking strictly necessary cookies may break parts of the site.

We honor Global Privacy Control signals where applicable.

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with parties who help us run the business or where the law requires it.

Service providers

We work with vetted third parties under contracts that limit how they can use your data. These include:

• Hosting and infrastructure (website hosting, content delivery, email delivery)
• Analytics and search tools (Google Analytics, Google Search Console, third-party SEO platforms)
• Marketing platforms (email service providers, CRM systems, scheduling tools)
• Payment processors (for invoicing and subscription billing)
• Productivity and AI tools we use to deliver work, such as document processing, transcription, and large language model providers

Legal and safety disclosures

We may disclose information when we believe in good faith that doing so is necessary to:

• Comply with a law, regulation, court order, or legal process
• Protect the rights, property, or safety of Real Connected, our clients, or others
• Detect, prevent, or address fraud, security, or technical issues

Business transfers

If Real Connected is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you and honor the commitments in this policy.

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, unless a longer period is required by law.

We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including:

• Encryption of data in transit (TLS) and at rest where supported
• Role-based access controls and the principle of least privilege
• Multi-factor authentication on internal accounts and key vendor accounts
• Vendor risk reviews before granting access to client data
• Regular review of access logs, credentials, and security configurations

No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take our duty to protect your information seriously and will notify you and the appropriate authorities of any incident as required by law.

Depending on where you live, you may have one or more of the following rights:

• Access. Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Correction. Ask us to fix information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Deletion. Ask us to delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions.
• Portability. Receive your information in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Objection and restriction. Object to certain uses of your information or ask us to restrict processing.
• Withdraw consent. Withdraw consent for any processing that relies on consent.
• Opt out of marketing. Use the unsubscribe link in any email, reply STOP to any SMS, or contact us directly.
• Non-discrimination. Exercise your rights without facing reduced service or higher prices.

California residents (CCPA / CPRA)

California residents have the right to know what categories of personal information we collect, the sources, the purposes, and the categories of recipients. You also have the right to delete, correct, and limit the use of sensitive personal information. We do not sell personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising in the sense defined by the CPRA.

How to exercise your rights

Email [email protected] with the right you want to exercise. We will verify your identity before fulfilling the request and respond within the timelines required by your local law (typically 30 to 45 days). You may also authorize an agent to submit a request on your behalf.

If you believe we have not handled your data properly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

Real Connected is based in the United States, and we work with service providers in multiple countries. If you are located outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in countries that may have different data protection laws than your own.

For transfers from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, and supplementary measures where required.

Our services are intended for businesses and the professionals who run them. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at [email protected] and we will delete it.

Our site and deliverables may link to third-party websites, tools, or platforms. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Review their policies before sharing personal information.

We may use AI assistants and large language model providers as part of how we deliver work. When we do, we configure them to avoid retaining client data for model training where that option is available, and we do not feed sensitive personal information into them without your authorization.

We update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of the page and, where appropriate, notify you by email or through a notice on the site before the changes take effect.

Continued use of our website or services after the effective date of a change means you accept the updated policy.

Have a question about how we handle your data, a request to exercise a right, or a concern you want us to look into? Reach out and a real person on our team will respond.