Privacy policy

1. Introduction and scope

This privacy policy explains how Hanic Software Tutor and Interior Design PLC (trading as Hanic Interiors, “we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses, shares, stores and protects personal data when you visit hanicinterior.com, contact us, enrol on a course, or engage us for design, visualisation or construction services.

It applies to every interaction with the studio, whether it begins on this website, by telephone, by email, through a messaging application, or in person at our office in Bole sub city, Addis Ababa.

We have written this policy in plain English rather than legal shorthand, because a policy you cannot read protects nobody. If anything here is unclear, write to [email protected] and we will explain it.

1.1 Who is responsible for your data

Hanic Software Tutor and Interior Design PLC is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. Our registered office is at Bole sub city, Wereda 04, House no. 281, first floor, office 1-10, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

1.2 What this policy does not cover

• Websites operated by other organisations that we link to. Following an external link takes you outside our control and outside this policy.
• Personal data you choose to publish yourself on a public social media platform, even where you mention or tag us.
• Information that does not identify a living individual, such as aggregated statistics or fully anonymised project data.

2. The personal data we collect

2.1 Data you give us directly

2.2 Data collected automatically

Our website is built as static pages served with no third-party analytics, no advertising pixels and no social tracking scripts. Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs which may include your IP address, the date and time of the request, the page requested, the referring page and your browser's user-agent string. These logs exist for security and diagnostics.

2.3 Data we do not want

Please do not send us special category data — health information, religious or political opinions, biometric data, or anything about a criminal record — unless a specific accessibility requirement in your project makes it genuinely necessary. If you do send it unnecessarily, we will delete it.

3. Why we process your data and on what basis

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether our interest is overridden by your rights and freedoms, and we will provide our reasoning on request.

4. How we use the information in practice

4.1 Answering enquiries

A brief sent through the contact form is read by a designer, not by an automated system. We may search our own records to see whether you have contacted us before, and we may discuss the enquiry internally in order to give you an accurate answer. We do not add enquiry contacts to a marketing list.

4.2 Delivering a project

During a project your data is used to produce drawings and schedules, to coordinate with consultants and contractors you have approved, to order materials, to issue invoices and to maintain a site record. We keep a project file that includes correspondence and decisions, because the ability to demonstrate what was agreed protects both parties.

4.3 Photography and publication

We photograph completed projects. Before publishing images of a private residence on this website, on social media or in a competition entry, we ask the owner for written permission and we agree what may be shown. We never publish a client's name, address or any identifying detail without explicit consent, and consent can be withdrawn — we will remove the images from material we control within thirty days of a request.

4.4 Course administration

For students we keep enrolment details, attendance, submitted exercises and certificate records. Course work you produce remains yours. We may ask separately for permission to show your project in promotional material; a refusal has no effect on your grade, your certificate or anything else.

5. Who we share data with

We do not sell personal data. We never have and we have no plans to. We share data only in the following circumstances:

• Consultants and contractors on your project — structural engineers, MEP consultants, joiners, and the main contractor, where sharing is necessary to deliver the work. We share the minimum needed.
• Suppliers — where an order must be delivered to your address, the supplier receives the delivery details only.
• Service providers — our website host, our email provider and our accountant. Each is bound by confidentiality obligations and processes data only on our instructions.
• Professional advisers — lawyers or auditors, where required and under a duty of confidence.
• Authorities — where we are legally obliged to disclose, for example to a tax authority or under a valid court order.
• A successor — if the business is reorganised or transferred, client records may pass to the successor entity, which would remain bound by this policy.

5.1 International transfers

Our email and file-storage providers may store data on servers outside Ethiopia. Where that happens we select providers that apply recognised security standards and contractual protections. If you would prefer that project files are exchanged only by a specific method, tell us at the start and we will accommodate it where technically possible.

6. How long we keep data

We keep project drawings for longer than the correspondence because buildings outlive projects, and a future owner or engineer may legitimately need to know how something was built. Those archive records are separated from the personal details of the original client after ten years.

7. Your rights

You may ask us at any time to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you, and receive a copy.
• Correct anything that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Delete data where we no longer have a valid reason to keep it.
• Restrict processing while a dispute about accuracy or legitimacy is resolved.
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests, explaining your particular situation.
• Withdraw consent where consent is the basis — for the newsletter, for photography, or for showing your coursework.
• Receive your data in a portable format where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
• Complain to the relevant supervisory authority if you believe your data has been mishandled.

7.1 How to make a request

Email [email protected] with the subject line “Data request”, or write to the studio address. We will acknowledge within five working days and respond substantively within thirty days. We may ask you to confirm your identity before releasing data — this protects you, not us. We do not charge for a first request.

8. How we protect your data

Security measures are practical rather than theatrical. What we actually do:

• Accounts are protected by unique passwords held in a password manager, with two-factor authentication on email and file storage.
• Project files are stored in access-controlled folders; team members can reach only the projects they work on.
• Devices used for project work are encrypted and lock automatically.
• This website is served over HTTPS and contains no third-party scripts that could read form input.
• Contact forms include a hidden honeypot field to reduce automated abuse without using a tracking-based CAPTCHA service.
• Paper records — printed drawings, signed approvals — are stored in a locked cabinet at the studio and shredded when the retention period ends.
• Access rights are reviewed when anyone joins or leaves the team.

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach occurs that is likely to affect your rights, we will tell you what happened, what data was involved, what we have done about it and what you should do, without unnecessary delay.

9. Children

Our services are directed at adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. Where a student under 18 enrols on a course, we require a parent or guardian to complete the registration and we hold the guardian's contact details as the primary record. If you believe a child has given us personal data without appropriate consent, contact us and we will delete it.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

This website uses a minimal set of cookies and stores no advertising or cross-site tracking identifiers. The details — which cookies exist, what they do, how long they last and how to control them — are set out in our cookie policy, which forms part of this privacy policy.

11. Changes to this policy

We review this policy at least once a year and whenever we change how we work. When we make a material change we will update the date at the top of this page and, where the change affects an active client or student, tell you directly by email.

Previous versions are archived and available on request, so you can see what applied at the time of your engagement.

12. How to contact us

For any question about this policy, about the data we hold, or to exercise a right:

• Email: [email protected]
• Telephone: +251 91 241 9005
• Post: Hanic Software Tutor and Interior Design PLC, Bole sub city, Wereda 04, House no. 281, first floor, office 1-10, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
• Hours: Monday to Saturday, 09:00 – 19:00 (EAT)

If you are not satisfied with our response you have the right to complain to the competent data protection authority in Ethiopia. We would rather you came to us first, and we take complaints seriously.