Draft for legal review before launch. Highlighted items still need to be filled in or confirmed.
Last updated: date of launch
This policy explains what personal data Giga Translations collects, why we collect it, and what you can do about it. It covers this website, our message, quote and booking forms, and the files you send us for work.
Who we are
Giga Translations is a trading name of registered company name, a company registered in England and Wales under company number company number. Our registered office is at Suite 49, New House, 67-68 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8JY, United Kingdom. We also have offices at 12555 Orange Dr, STE #200, Davie, FL 33330, United States, and at WeWork, 5th Floor, DLF Two Horizon Centre, Sector 43, Gurugram, Haryana 122009, India.
For the personal data described in this policy, we are the data controller. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number ICO registration number.
If you have a question about this policy or your data, email projects@gigatranslations.com or write to our London address.
What we collect
When you send a message or ask for a quote. Your name, work email, phone number and company if you give them, the service and languages you need, your deadline, any files you upload, and anything you write in the message box. The form sends this to our project team by email and sends you a copy.
When you book a call. Your name, email, company and phone number if you give them, the time you choose, your time zone and any notes. Our booking form emails a calendar invite to you and to our project team. To prevent double bookings, our server keeps the booked time and a one-way coded version of your email address (a hash, which can't be turned back into the address) for 30 days after the call.
When you send us files. The files themselves and whatever they contain. Documents, audio and video often include personal data about other people, such as names in a contract or voices in a recording. See "Personal data inside your files" below.
When you work with us. Billing contact details, purchase order numbers, and our emails and call notes with you.
When you browse the site. Our web host keeps standard server logs, which record your IP address, browser type and the pages requested, for log retention period, for example 30 days. To stop spam, our forms keep a coded (hashed) version of your IP address for 10 minutes. The site doesn't set cookies and doesn't use analytics or advertising tools. See our Cookie Policy.
Fonts. The site loads its fonts from Google Fonts. When a page loads, your browser connects to Google's servers, which receive your IP address. Google's privacy policy applies to that connection.
We don't ask for special category data, such as health or religious information, through the website. Please don't include it in a form message.
Why we use it, and our legal basis
| What we do | Legal basis under UK GDPR |
|---|---|
| Reply to your message, prepare a quote, hold a booked call | Steps taken at your request before a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) |
| Deliver the work you order, invoice and get paid | Performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) |
| Keep financial and tax records | Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) |
| Send occasional news about our services to business contacts | Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)). You can opt out any time |
| Keep the website and our systems secure, including spam protection | Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) |
| Measure how the website is used, if we add analytics in future | Your consent, asked for before any analytics run (Article 6(1)(a)) |
Personal data inside your files
When you send us files to translate, transcribe, lay out or convert, we usually act as a data processor for you. That means we only use the personal data in those files to do the job you asked for, and we follow your instructions about it. You remain the controller and are responsible for having a lawful basis to share it with us.
If you need a data processing agreement, ask us and we'll sign one before work starts. We can also sign your NDA.
AI data projects
Some projects involve building or checking data used to train and test AI systems. Two situations apply.
Data you send us to label, rate or review. We act as your processor, as described above. We only use it for your project, we don't use it to train any model of our own, and we delete it when the project ends unless you tell us otherwise.
Data we collect for you from contributors. When a project needs new recordings, text or images, we recruit people (contributors) to provide them. For contributors, we're the controller of their contact and payment details. Before they start, we explain to each one what they're providing, who it's for, how it will be used and how to withdraw. We keep a record of that consent and pass it to the client with the data. Voice recordings and images of people can count as biometric data when they're used to identify someone, so projects that need them get a separate written notice and explicit consent.
If you took part in a Giga Translations data collection project and want to ask about your data, email projects@gigatranslations.com and quote your project or contributor ID.
Who we share it with
We share personal data only with people who need it to do the work or run the business:
- Our linguists and production team. Translators, proofreaders, typesetters, transcribers and annotators who work on your project. Each one is bound by a written confidentiality agreement.
- Service providers. Website hosting and form email (hosting provider), email and file storage (email and storage provider) and accounting (accounting provider). They process data for us under contract.
- Google Fonts. As described above, when the page loads.
- Professional advisers and authorities. Our accountants and lawyers, and regulators or courts when the law requires it.
We don't sell personal data.
Transfers outside the UK
Our team works from the UK, the United States and India, and includes linguists in other countries, so some data, including files you send, may be accessed from outside the UK. When that happens, we use a safeguard the UK recognizes: an adequacy decision for the destination country, or the ICO's International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum. Ask us if you want details for your project.
How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Messages and quotes that don't go ahead | 12 months from our last contact |
| Booked call records on our server | 30 days after the call |
| Spam protection records | 10 minutes |
| Client files and finished work | 90 days after delivery, unless you ask us to delete them sooner or keep them longer |
| AI project data you send us | Deleted at the end of the project, unless the project agreement says otherwise |
| Contributor consent records | For as long as the client uses the dataset, plus 6 years |
| Contracts, invoices and accounting records | 6 years after the end of the financial year, as UK law requires |
| Marketing contact details | Until you opt out, or after 2 years with no contact |
How we protect it
Files move through encrypted connections and are stored in access-controlled systems. Team members only see the projects they work on. Add certifications or specific controls once confirmed, for example ISO 27001 or Cyber Essentials
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you can ask us to:
- give you a copy of your personal data
- correct data that's wrong
- delete your data
- limit how we use it
- move it to another provider
- stop using it for direct marketing, or on the basis of legitimate interests
Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. Email projects@gigatranslations.com to use any of these rights. We'll reply within one month, and there's no charge in most cases.
Complaints
If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. If you're in the EU, you can contact your local data protection authority.
Changes to this policy
We'll update this page when our practices change and show the new date at the top.