Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to Hotep Intelligence ("we," "us," or "our"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our websites askhotep.ai and knowledge.askhotep.ai, interact with our Telegram bot (@hotep_llm_bot), or use any of our related services (collectively, the "Services").

By accessing or using our Services, you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with the practices described in this policy, please do not use our Services.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following categories of information:

Usage Data

• Pages visited, time spent on pages, and navigation paths on our websites
• Browser type, operating system, device type, and screen resolution
• IP address (anonymized where possible)
• Referring URLs and search terms that led you to our site

Cookie Data

• Analytics cookies for understanding site usage patterns
• Advertising cookies for serving relevant advertisements
• Functional cookies for remembering your preferences

Telegram Bot Interaction Data

• Your Telegram user ID and username (as provided by Telegram's API)
• Messages you send to the bot and the bot's responses
• Command usage (e.g., /start, /profile, /deep)
• Interaction metadata such as message timestamps, topic selections, and feedback (thumbs up/down)
• Rate-limiting counters (daily message count)
• Profile data including chat streaks, total interactions, and persona alignment scores

Payment Data

• If you subscribe to our Pro tier, payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe. We do not store your credit card number, CVV, or full billing details on our servers. We retain only a record of your subscription status and Telegram user ID for service delivery.

3. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our websites use cookies and similar tracking technologies to enhance your experience, analyze usage, and deliver advertisements. Below are the specific technologies we use:

Google Analytics (GA4)

We use Google Analytics 4 with tracking ID G-F714P7SDN1 to understand how visitors interact with our websites. Google Analytics collects data such as pages visited, session duration, bounce rate, and approximate geographic location. This data is aggregated and anonymized where possible. Google Analytics may set cookies including _ga and _ga_* on your device. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy.

Google AdSense Cookies

Google AdSense uses cookies to serve advertisements on our websites. These cookies enable Google and its partners to serve ads based on your visits to our sites and other sites on the internet. AdSense cookies may include __gads, __gpi, and related identifiers used for personalized advertising. See the "Google AdSense Advertising" section below for more details and opt-out options.

Cloudflare Analytics

Our sites are served through Cloudflare, which may collect performance and security analytics data. Cloudflare Web Analytics is privacy-first and does not use client-side tracking or cookies.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. Note that disabling cookies may affect some functionality of our Services.

4. Google AdSense Advertising

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on our websites. Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on our sites. Google's use of the DART cookie and other advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our sites and/or other sites on the internet.

How Google uses your data:

• Google may collect and use data for ad personalization, including your browsing activity across websites that use Google advertising services.
• Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to our websites and other websites.
• Google and its advertising partners may place and read cookies on your browser, or use web beacons to collect information for ad serving and reporting purposes.

Opt-out options:

• You may opt out of personalized advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
• You may also opt out of third-party vendor cookies for personalized advertising by visiting www.aboutads.info/choices.
• For users in the European Economic Area, you can manage your consent preferences via the cookie consent banner displayed on our sites.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate and improve our Services. Each has its own privacy practices:

Cloudflare

Our websites are hosted and delivered through Cloudflare Pages. Cloudflare provides CDN, DDoS protection, and performance optimization. Cloudflare may process your IP address and request metadata for security and performance purposes. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.

Stripe

We use Stripe to process payments for our Pro subscription tier. When you make a payment, your payment information is sent directly to Stripe and is subject to Stripe's Privacy Policy. We do not receive or store your full credit card details. Stripe may collect your name, email address, billing address, and payment card information as necessary to process your transaction.

Telegram

Our Telegram bot operates through the Telegram Bot API. When you interact with our bot, Telegram provides us with your Telegram user ID, username, and message content. Your use of Telegram is also subject to Telegram's Privacy Policy. We do not have access to your phone number, contacts, or other Telegram data beyond what is explicitly sent to our bot.

6. Data Retention and Deletion

We retain your data only for as long as necessary to provide our Services and fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy:

• Rate-limiting data: Daily message counters are automatically reset at midnight each day.
• Profile data: User profile statistics (streaks, chat counts, scores) are retained as long as your account is active with the bot.
• Conversation data: Bot conversation history may be retained for service improvement and is periodically purged.
• Analytics data: Google Analytics data is retained according to Google's data retention settings (default 14 months).
• Payment data: Subscription records are retained as long as your subscription is active and for a reasonable period afterward for accounting and legal compliance.

To request deletion of your data, please contact us at contact@askhotep.ai. We will respond to your request within 30 days.

7. Your Rights

For Users in the European Economic Area (GDPR)

If you are located in the European Economic Area, you have the following rights under the General Data Protection Regulation:

• Right of Access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You have the right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to Erasure: You have the right to request deletion of your personal data, subject to certain legal exceptions.
• Right to Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request that we limit the processing of your personal data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to Object: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for direct marketing purposes or where processing is based on legitimate interests.

For California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:

• Right to Know: You have the right to request disclosure of the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you.
• Right to Delete: You have the right to request deletion of personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to Opt-Out of Sale: We do not sell your personal information. If this changes in the future, we will provide a "Do Not Sell My Personal Information" link and update this policy accordingly.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at contact@askhotep.ai. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Services are not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a child under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at contact@askhotep.ai so we can take appropriate action.

Data Retention

We retain different categories of data for different periods:

• Conversation logs: Retained for up to 90 days to improve AI response quality, then anonymized or deleted.
• Account and profile data: Retained for the duration of your account and up to 30 days after deletion request processing.
• Payment records: Retained for 7 years as required by applicable financial regulations.
• Analytics data: Aggregated analytics data may be retained indefinitely in anonymized form.

Security Measures

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include:

• HTTPS/TLS encryption for all data transmitted between your browser and our services
• Payment processing exclusively through Stripe, a PCI-DSS compliant payment processor — we never store your raw card data
• Access controls limiting who can access user data within our organization
• Regular review of our data collection and processing practices

No method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

International Data Transfers

Our services are operated in the United States. If you are located outside the United States, please be aware that information we collect may be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States. By using our services, you consent to this transfer. For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), we rely on appropriate safeguards including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission to legitimize transfers of personal data to the United States.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect, use, or disclose personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will take steps to delete that information promptly. If you believe we may have inadvertently collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at contact@askhotep.ai.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your information.

Your continued use of our Services after any changes to this Privacy Policy constitutes your acceptance of the updated terms.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

We aim to respond to all privacy-related inquiries within 30 days.