Privacy Policy

We collect the categories of information below. We do not ask for, and ask that you do not send us through the Site, sensitive information such as government identification numbers, financial account or payment card numbers, health information or passwords.

• Contact details and messages

  What it includes

  Your name, your email address and the contents of your message, including anything you choose to put in it.

  Where it comes from

  You, when you use the contact form or write to us.

• Access-code activity

  What it includes

  The access code you type into the code box and whether it was accepted. Our application does not keep a record of the codes entered: it checks the code and answers yes or no.

  Where it comes from

  You, when you use the code box.

• Technical and usage data

  What it includes

  IP address, browser and device type, operating system, language settings, the pages and files requested, the referring address, the date and time, and the approximate location (country or region) that can be inferred from an IP address.

  Where it comes from

  Collected automatically by our hosting provider’s servers when the Site loads.

• Cookie and storage data

  What it includes

  The small items described under “Cookies, local storage and similar technologies” below.

  Where it comes from

  Your browser, when you use the code box or move between pages.

We do not collect information about your activity on other websites or apps, and we do not build profiles of visitors.

We use personal information for the purposes below. For visitors in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the table also shows the legal basis we rely on.

• Responding to you and starting conversations

  Examples

  Reading your message, replying, discussing a possible relationship and following up on your inquiry.

  Legal basis (EEA, UK and Switzerland)

  Legitimate interests (running our business and answering the people who contact us) and, where you ask us to, steps taken before entering into a contract.

• Operating and securing the Site

  Examples

  Serving pages, checking access codes, keeping gated areas gated, detecting bots and abuse, diagnosing errors and keeping logs.

  Legal basis (EEA, UK and Switzerland)

  Legitimate interests (a working, secure Site). Where a law requires consent to store or read information on your device, we ask for it unless the item is strictly necessary.

• Legal, compliance and protection

  Examples

  Complying with law and lawful requests, keeping records, establishing, exercising or defending legal claims, and enforcing our Terms and Conditions.

  Legal basis (EEA, UK and Switzerland)

  Legal obligation and legitimate interests.

• Business transactions

  Examples

  Evaluating or carrying out a financing, merger, acquisition or sale of assets, where records may be reviewed under confidentiality.

  Legal basis (EEA, UK and Switzerland)

  Legitimate interests.

We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects, and we do not use information from the Site for advertising. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we weigh them against your rights and reasonable expectations; you can object at any time (see Your rights and choices).

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We disclose it only in the situations below.

• Service providers. Companies that process information for us under contract, such as our hosting and delivery provider (Vercel Inc.), our email-delivery provider (Resend), and providers of email, security, storage and IT services. They may use the information only to provide their services to us.
• Related companies. BlackForge operates through series, subsidiaries and affiliates. Information may be shared among them for the purposes in this policy.
• Professional advisers. Lawyers, accountants, auditors, insurers and similar advisers, who are bound by duties of confidentiality.
• Legal and safety reasons. Where we believe disclosure is required by law, subpoena or other legal process, or is needed to protect the rights, property or safety of BlackForge, our visitors or others, or to detect and prevent fraud and security problems.
• Business transactions. In connection with a financing, merger, acquisition, reorganization or sale of assets, subject to confidentiality.
• At your direction. When you ask us to share information, or where you have given consent.

We may also use or share aggregated or de-identified information that cannot reasonably be used to identify you.

The Site uses a small number of first-party items that it needs in order to work. It does not use advertising, analytics or social-media cookies, tags or pixels.

• bf_forge

  Type

  Cookie (first party; HttpOnly, Secure, SameSite=Lax)

  What it does

  Remembers that a valid access code was entered, so you do not have to enter it on every page. It holds a signed timestamp and no personal information. It is set only after a correct code is entered and is cleared when you lock the area.

  How long

  Up to 30 days

• forge:arrive and forge:quench

  Type

  Session storage (your browser tab)

  What it does

  Holds the on-screen position of the code boxes so that an animation can carry from one page to the next.

  How long

  Until you close the tab. Never sent to our servers.

You can block or delete cookies and clear stored data in your browser settings. If you block the access cookie, areas opened with an access code will not stay unlocked.

Because the Site does not track visitors across other websites, it does not change its behavior in response to “Do Not Track” signals. We treat the Global Privacy Control signal as a valid request to opt out of any sale or sharing of personal information; as explained above, we do not sell or share it.

If we add analytics, advertising or other non-essential technologies in future, we will update this policy first and, where the law requires it, ask for your consent.

We are based in the United States, and our providers process information in the United States and, depending on how their networks are run, in other countries. If you visit from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States, where data-protection laws may differ from those where you live.

Where the law of the EEA, the United Kingdom or Switzerland requires a safeguard for such a transfer, we rely on one that is available for it, such as the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses (with the UK addendum or the Swiss equivalent) or an adequacy decision. Contact us if you would like more information.

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy.

• Messages and correspondence: as long as needed to respond, to evaluate and carry on any relationship that follows, and to meet legal, accounting, tax, dispute-resolution and recordkeeping needs.
• Hosting and security logs: for the limited period that our hosting provider keeps them under its settings.
• Access cookie: up to 30 days, or until you lock the area or clear it. Session storage lasts until you close the tab.

When information is no longer needed, we delete or de-identify it, unless we are required or permitted by law to keep it, for example during a dispute or while a legal hold is in place.

We use measures suited to the Site and the information involved, including encryption of data in transit (HTTPS), cryptographically signed access tokens, access controls on our email and systems, and providers that maintain their own security programs. No website or method of transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please do not send sensitive information through the contact form, and tell us promptly if you believe your information has been compromised.

Depending on where you live, you may have some or all of the rights below. We will honor a request to the extent the law that applies to you gives you the right, and we will not treat you differently for making one.

• Access. Ask whether we hold personal information about you and get a copy.
• Correction. Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Deletion. Ask us to delete your personal information, subject to legal exceptions.
• Portability. Receive information you gave us in a portable format.
• Objection and restriction. Object to, or ask us to limit, certain processing, including processing based on our legitimate interests.
• Withdrawing consent. Where we rely on your consent, withdraw it at any time. This does not affect what we did before you withdrew it.
• Opting out of sale, sharing, targeted advertising and profiling. We do none of these, so there is nothing to opt out of.

How to make a request. Email us at agent@blackforgeventures.com, use the form on our contact page or write to us at the address under Contact us, and tell us what you would like. To protect you, we may ask for information to confirm that you are the person the information relates to, for example by asking you to write from the email address you used before. You may use an authorized agent; we may ask for proof of their authority.

How quickly we respond. We respond within 45 days, or sooner where the law requires it (for example, within one month in the EEA and the UK), and we tell you if we need more time. There is no charge unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.

Appeals. If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our response with the word “Appeal.” We will answer within 45 days of receiving the appeal (60 days where the law allows) and explain our decision. Depending on your state, you may also contact your state attorney general.

California

In the 12 months before the date at the top of this page, we collected the following categories of personal information: identifiers (name, email address and IP address); internet or other electronic network activity (pages requested, browser and device data, timestamps); approximate geolocation inferred from the IP address; and the contents of communications you send us. We collected them from you and from your device, for the business purposes in “How we use information,” and disclosed them for those purposes to the service providers described in “How we share information.” We have not sold or shared personal information, as California law defines those terms, and we have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of anyone under 16. We do not collect or use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. California residents may also ask for information about disclosures to third parties for their direct marketing; we make none.

Other U.S. states

Residents of other states with comprehensive privacy laws, such as Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Utah and Virginia, have similar rights to confirm and access, correct, delete and obtain a portable copy of their personal data, and to opt out of targeted advertising, sales and certain profiling. We do not engage in those activities. These laws apply only when certain thresholds are met; we respond to requests as described above either way. Nevada residents may ask us not to sell their covered information; we do not sell it.

European Economic Area, United Kingdom and Switzerland

If European or UK data-protection law applies to you, you also have the right to complain to your local supervisory authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office). The purposes and legal bases for our processing are in the table under “How we use information.”

The Site is meant for business visitors and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

The Site may link to websites run by third parties and by other companies in the BlackForge family, for example through a “Visit site” link. We do not control those sites, and this policy does not apply to them. Read their privacy notices before you share information with them.

We may update this policy from time to time. We will post the new version on this page with a new “Last updated” date and, if the changes are material, give any further notice the law requires. Using the Site after the new version takes effect means you accept it. Earlier versions are available on request.

Questions about this policy, or requests about your information: BlackForge Ventures, LLC, a Delaware series limited liability company. Email agent@blackforgeventures.com or use the form on our contact page, and put “Privacy” in your message. You can also write to us by mail, marked “Privacy”: