Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

The Negotiation Experts ("we", "us", "our") is an independent advisory firm specialising in enterprise IT contract negotiation. We have operated since 2015, representing buyers exclusively in negotiations with major technology vendors including Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AWS, Google Cloud, and others.

We are the data controller for personal data processed through this website and in the course of our advisory engagements. If you have questions about how we handle your data, please contact us using the details in Section 12.

2. Data We Collect

We collect personal data in the following circumstances:

• Enquiry forms: When you submit a contact or enquiry form, we collect your name, email address, job title, organisation, and the content of your message.
• White paper downloads: When you request a research publication, we collect your name, email address, job title, and company.
• Newsletter subscription: When you subscribe to our newsletter, we collect your email address and, if provided, your name.
• Email correspondence: When you contact us directly by email, we retain the content of that correspondence including any personal data contained within it.
• Website analytics: We collect anonymised, aggregated data about how visitors use our website. This does not include personally identifiable information.
• Engagement onboarding: When you engage us professionally, we may collect additional professional information necessary to perform our services, including details of your contract situation, organisational structure, and relevant commercial arrangements.

3. Legal Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR and applicable data protection legislation, we rely on the following legal bases for processing your personal data:

• Legitimate interests — responding to enquiries, providing requested information, and maintaining contact with prospective and current clients where we have a genuine business relationship.
• Contractual necessity — processing data necessary to perform advisory services you have engaged us to provide.
• Consent — sending marketing communications and newsletters, where you have opted in.
• Legal obligation — where processing is required to comply with applicable law.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes:

• Responding to your enquiries and arranging initial advisory conversations
• Delivering requested research publications and white papers
• Sending our negotiation intelligence newsletter (where you have subscribed)
• Performing advisory services under an engagement agreement
• Maintaining records of our business relationships
• Improving our website and understanding how visitors engage with our content
• Complying with legal obligations and professional responsibilities

We do not use your personal data for automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects.

5. Third-Party Services

We use a limited number of third-party services to operate this website and manage communications:

• Formspree (formspree.io): Our contact and download forms are processed by Formspree, which transmits form submissions to us by email. Formspree may temporarily store submission data on its servers. Please review Formspree's privacy policy for details.
• Google Fonts: We load fonts from Google Fonts, which may result in your browser making requests to Google's servers. Please review Google's privacy policy for details of any data collected through this service.
• Website analytics: We may use an analytics service to understand aggregate website usage. We configure any analytics tools to respect user privacy and, where possible, to avoid the use of cookies or to anonymise data at collection.

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for their marketing purposes. We do not share client data with technology vendors or any counterparty to negotiations we are engaged in.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law:

• Enquiry data: Retained for 2 years from the date of last contact if no engagement follows, or for the duration of a business relationship plus 5 years.
• Newsletter subscribers: Retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion.
• Engagement records: Retained for 7 years from the conclusion of an engagement to comply with professional and statutory obligations.
• Analytics data: Aggregated data may be retained indefinitely as it cannot identify individuals.

7. International Data Transfers

Our primary operations are conducted in the United Kingdom. However, some of the third-party services we use (including Formspree) may process data in the United States or other countries outside the UK/EEA. Where such transfers occur, we ensure they are conducted under appropriate safeguards, including reliance on the UK's International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or equivalent standard contractual clauses.

8. Cookies

Our website uses a minimal number of cookies. We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or third-party cookies for behavioural advertising purposes.

• Strictly necessary cookies: Required for the website to function. No consent is required for these.
• Analytics cookies: If we use an analytics service, we may set a cookie to distinguish between sessions. Where possible, we use cookieless analytics or anonymise data before it is processed.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect some website functionality but will not affect your ability to access our content.

9. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR and applicable data protection law, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access: You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: You may request that we delete your personal data, subject to legal obligations requiring retention.
• Right to restrict processing: You may request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: Where processing is based on consent or contract, you may request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object: You may object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
• Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in Section 12. We will respond within one month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

10. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include encrypted communications (HTTPS), access controls, and staff awareness of data protection obligations.

No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. While we implement robust safeguards, we cannot guarantee absolute security and will notify you promptly in the event of a data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or the services we provide. Material changes will be notified on this page with an updated effective date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

12. Contact Us

For any questions about this privacy policy, to exercise your data rights, or to raise a concern about our data handling practices, please contact us:

We aim to respond to all data rights requests within 30 days. For complex requests, we may require up to three months and will inform you of any extension within the initial 30-day period.