Privacy Policy

1. Information We May Receive

Depending on how you interact with AlaricForge, we may receive information such as your name, email address, company name, support correspondence, website details, product license information and information associated with commercial transactions.

2. Purchases and Freemius

Purchases of AlaricForge commercial software may be processed through Freemius, which acts as a Merchant of Record and may process payment, billing, subscription, taxation, invoicing and licensing information.

Payment-card or payment-account information is generally handled by Freemius and its payment processors rather than directly by AlaricForge.

Freemius may provide AlaricForge with transaction and customer information required to administer licenses, downloads, renewals and support.

3. Product Licensing

Commercial AlaricForge software may communicate with licensing infrastructure operated by Freemius in order to activate, deactivate or verify a software license and determine entitlement to updates, services and support.

This may include technical information required to identify the WordPress installation, website domain, plugin version, license status and associated account.

4. Product-Specific Privacy Information

Different AlaricForge products may process different information depending on their purpose and configuration. The following sections describe processing specific to individual products and services.

4.1 AlaricForge Store Assistant

AlaricForge Store Assistant is a WordPress and WooCommerce plugin that provides AI-assisted shopping and customer-support functionality.

Depending on the merchant's configuration, the assistant may help store visitors search for products, obtain product information, compare products, interact with their shopping cart and receive answers based on information provided by the merchant.

Information Processed by Store Assistant

When a visitor communicates with Store Assistant, information necessary to process the request may include:

• messages and questions submitted through the assistant;
• relevant conversation context;
• WooCommerce product information relevant to the request, including product names, descriptions, prices, attributes, variations and availability;
• shopping-cart information when necessary to perform a requested cart action;
• store information and Knowledge content configured by the merchant; and
• technical and usage information necessary to authenticate requests, operate the service, enforce service capacity, maintain security and diagnose errors.

AlaricForge-Hosted AI Service

When the AlaricForge-hosted AI service is used, Store Assistant sends information necessary to process the visitor's request to AlaricForge service infrastructure.

This may include the visitor's message, relevant conversation context, relevant WooCommerce product or store information, and technical information required to authenticate and process the request.

AlaricForge may use third-party artificial-intelligence infrastructure, including OpenAI, to process requests and generate responses. Information necessary to generate a response may therefore be transmitted to the applicable AI service provider.

WooCommerce Data

Store Assistant accesses WooCommerce information only as necessary to provide its configured functionality. This may include products, categories, attributes, variations, prices, stock information and shopping-cart data.

Store Assistant does not independently process customer payment-card information. Payments remain handled by WooCommerce and the payment services configured by the merchant.

Merchant Knowledge Content

Merchants may provide store-specific Knowledge content to help Store Assistant answer questions about their business. This may include shipping and returns policies, store information, product guidance, frequently asked questions and similar business information.

Merchants are responsible for ensuring that information supplied to the Knowledge system is lawful and appropriate.

Passwords, payment-card details, government identification numbers, medical information and other unnecessary sensitive personal information should not be submitted as Knowledge content.

Technical and Usage Information

AlaricForge may process limited technical and service information required to operate Store Assistant and the AlaricForge AI service.

This may include installation identifiers, site identifiers, request counts, timestamps, service usage information, error information and technical diagnostic data.

This information may be used to provide the service, enforce applicable service capacity, maintain security, prevent abuse, diagnose technical problems and improve service reliability.

Merchant Responsibilities

The merchant operating a WooCommerce store remains responsible for the store's customer relationship, products, privacy practices and information made available through Store Assistant.

Merchants are responsible for providing their visitors with any privacy notices, consent mechanisms or other disclosures required by applicable law and for ensuring that their use of Store Assistant and third-party AI services complies with applicable privacy and data-protection requirements.

4.2 AlaricForge EU VAT

AlaricForge EU VAT products provide functionality intended to assist WooCommerce merchants with EU VAT-related workflows, including VAT-number validation and related store functionality.

EU VAT Lite

AlaricForge EU VAT Lite does not require an AlaricForge account and does not send usage analytics or telemetry to AlaricForge.

Information used locally by the plugin remains within the merchant's WordPress and WooCommerce environment except where an external service is required for a feature selected by the merchant.

VIES VAT-Number Validation

Certain AlaricForge EU VAT functionality can validate EU VAT numbers using the European Commission VAT Information Exchange System (VIES).

When VIES validation is performed, the VAT number being checked is transmitted to the European Commission VIES service. The response may include validation status and related information returned by that service.

Availability and processing by VIES are governed by the European Commission and applicable European Union rules and privacy practices.

Commercial EU VAT Products

Commercial versions of AlaricForge EU VAT may communicate with services required for licensing, software updates, subscription administration or functionality expressly described in the applicable product documentation.

Licensing and subscription information may be processed through Freemius as described elsewhere in this Privacy Policy.

Merchant Responsibility for VAT Data

Merchants remain responsible for determining what customer, billing and VAT information they are legally required or permitted to collect, process and retain.

AlaricForge EU VAT assists with store workflows but does not independently determine a merchant's legal obligations.

5. Support Communications

If you contact AlaricForge for support, we may retain the information you provide, including email correspondence, diagnostic information, screenshots, website details and technical information needed to investigate the issue.

Please avoid sending passwords, payment credentials or other unnecessary sensitive information through support channels.

6. Website Analytics and Cookies

The AlaricForge website may use essential cookies required for website operation and may use analytics or similar technologies where configured.

Where consent is required by applicable law, non-essential cookies should only be used after the appropriate consent has been obtained.

7. Why We Process Information

Information may be processed where necessary to provide software and services, administer licenses, deliver downloads and updates, provide support, respond to enquiries, manage commercial relationships, comply with legal obligations, prevent abuse or improve the reliability and security of our products and services.

8. Data Retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably required for the purposes for which it was collected, including customer support, accounting, licensing, service operation, fraud prevention, contractual obligations and applicable legal retention requirements.

Commercial transaction information may need to be retained for longer periods where required for accounting, taxation or legal compliance.

Information stored directly in a merchant's WordPress or WooCommerce installation is subject to the merchant's own retention and deletion practices.

9. Data Sharing

We do not sell personal information.

Information may be shared with service providers where necessary to operate the business or provide a requested service, such as Freemius, hosting providers, email providers, payment processors, artificial-intelligence service providers or government validation services.

Information may also be disclosed where required by law or where reasonably necessary to protect legal rights, users or systems.

10. Security

We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction.

No internet-based system can guarantee absolute security, and customers should also maintain appropriate security controls on their own websites and systems.

11. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights relating to access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability or objection regarding personal information.

Requests concerning information held directly by AlaricForge may be submitted through the contact details published on the AlaricForge website. We may need to verify the identity of the requester before acting on a request.

If a request concerns information held by a particular WooCommerce merchant, the request should normally be directed to that merchant.

12. Third-Party Privacy Policies

Third-party services used by AlaricForge maintain their own privacy policies. Users should review the policies applicable to services they use, including Freemius, artificial-intelligence providers, payment providers and the European Commission VIES service.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our products, services, technology, third-party providers or legal obligations.

The latest version will be published on the AlaricForge website.

14. Contact

Questions regarding privacy or personal-data processing may be submitted using the contact information published on the AlaricForge website.