Privacy, in plain language.
Collectual connects clients with relevant professional expertise. This notice explains what we collect, how AI supports the service, and how you can control your information.
Who is responsible
Vend Solutions Ltd operates Collectual and is the controller of the personal information described here. We are registered in England and Wales (company number 15330435), at 3rd Floor, 45 Albemarle Street, Mayfair, London, England, W1S 4JL. Contact us about privacy at ben@collectual.com. A client may separately be responsible for how it uses information it receives for its own research.
Information we collect and its sources
Clients give us account details, project briefs, screening questions, budgets and booking preferences. Experts give us their name, company, role, experience, location, contact details, availability and proposed fee. We receive account information through verified sign-in, and retain relevant correspondence, consent records, bookings and technical security logs.
We also record email-open indicators and invitation-page visits to manage invitations and follow-ups. Email-open indicators can include automatic previews.
We use public professional information, contact services and recommendations to find experts. You can review your profile and ask us to correct any details. Please do not share confidential or unnecessary sensitive information.
Why we use it
We use information to source and contact potential experts, assess their relevance, create shortlists, coordinate consultations, generate research reports, answer emails and operate and protect the service. Account, project and booking processing is necessary to perform our agreement with you or take steps you request before an agreement. Relevant professional research, contact enrichment, matching and service security rely on our legitimate interests in running an expert research service, balanced against your rights and reasonable expectations. We rely on consent for recording and transcription of your voice or video sessions, and on legal obligations where applicable to financial or other required records. You can object to professional outreach at any time.
AI interviews, matching and review
An AI model supports interviews and reviews professional information and answers for project fit. With your consent, audio and transcripts may be saved throughout an interview, including an unfinished session. We identify AI interviews and request recording consent before continuing. Device permissions do not replace this consent.
AI matching uses professional experience and answers to assess project fit and prepare shortlists. This may affect whether you are presented for an opportunity. An assessment is not a verification of your identity, employment or credentials, and transcripts and summaries can contain mistakes. Contact us to request human review, explain or challenge an assessment, or correct your details. Clients remain responsible for their selection and research decisions.
Recordings and who can access them
Screening and paid consultations are separate. Each consultation participant is asked for separate consent to recording, transcription and AI analysis before joining. You can stop or leave a session at any time and contact us to withdraw recording consent. Withdrawal does not change the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. Contact us before joining if you need a consultation without recording.
Authorised Collectual staff can access relevant project and screening records. Clients can access their own projects and the profiles, screening evidence and reviews of experts presented to them. Consultation recordings and transcripts are available to the project client and authorised staff; AI research reports are published to the client after team review. Private invitation links grant access to an individual screening: do not publish or share them. Providers process relevant data to deliver the features listed below. We may also disclose information where required by law or necessary to handle a legal claim.
Service providers
We share relevant information with providers of hosting and security, AI models, professional contact information, email, telephone and video calls, recording and transcription, and payments where enabled. They process information to deliver the features described in this notice.
Where payout setup is enabled, payment providers handle identity, bank and financial details. We retain account identifiers and setup status. Setup alone does not authorise a charge or guarantee a payout.
International processing and security
Service providers may process information in the UK, EEA, US or other countries. Where international transfer rules apply, appropriate contractual safeguards or an applicable adequacy decision are required. Contact us for information about safeguards for your data. Access to stored media is restricted to authorised users and temporary private links.
How long we keep information
Recordings, full transcripts and raw screening answers: 90 days. The period starts when the session finishes or, for individual or abandoned screening answers, from the last recorded activity. Access stops at expiry; scheduled deletion normally follows within 24 hours. A documented legal requirement or dispute may require a restricted preservation hold and review.
Temporary recovery copies can remain for a further seven days after deletion before expiring. Such copies are not available for normal playback. Provider security logs or legally required records follow their applicable retention requirements. Copies already downloaded by a client or participant are outside Collectual’s automatic deletion process.
Profiles, bookings, correspondence, consent and operational records, match reviews and reviewed research reports are separate from raw media. Reports and reviews may contain limited quotes or answer excerpts. We retain these records while needed for the project or account and any applicable legal, accounting or dispute obligations, rather than deleting them with the audio. We review this need when a project or account closes. You can request earlier deletion; we will explain any information we must retain and restrict it where appropriate.
Your choices and rights
Depending on applicable law, you can request access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability of your information; object to legitimate interest processing, including outreach; and withdraw consent. Use the stop-follow-up link in an invitation, reply asking us to stop, or email ben@collectual.com. We may need to verify your identity before disclosing or changing records, and will respond within applicable legal deadlines. These rights have exceptions, which we will explain where relevant. You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office or your local data protection authority.
Browser storage and changes
Authentication and security features use necessary browser storage and technical signals to prevent fraud and abuse. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and does not use advertising pixels. We date changes to this notice and communicate material changes where required. Read our terms of service for the rules governing projects, screening and consultations.