Last updated 16 October 2026
Privacy policy
Welcome to Ringzel ("we", "our" or "us"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise process personal information when you visit https://ringzel.com (the "Website"), when you build, test or subscribe to a Ringzel receptionist, and when you call or chat with a business that uses Ringzel. It also explains your rights under UK data-protection law and, where they apply, other data-protection laws.
1. Who we are
We are responsible for deciding how and why we hold and use your personal data in the cases described below. If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or want to exercise your rights, contact us using the details above.
- Name of entity: Shipstack LLC (the data controller for the data described in this section)
- Legal form: a Wyoming limited liability company
- Address: 30 N Gould St, Suite #68891, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA
- Contact email: hello@ringzel.com
- Data protection contact: privacy@ringzel.com
Our role: controller and processor
We are the controller for personal data we collect when you visit the Website, build or test a receptionist, create or use a Ringzel account, subscribe and pay, or communicate with us directly, including for support and marketing.
When people call or chat with a business that uses Ringzel, we process their personal data on that business's behalf and on its instructions. This includes call audio, recordings, transcripts, summaries, check reports, telephone numbers, call details, messages, enquiry details, booking details where bookings are enabled, and website chat conversations, transcripts and summaries. For that data, the business (our subscriber) is the controller and we are a processor. If the subscriber is itself acting as a processor for another organisation, we act as a sub-processor.
If you called or chatted with a business that uses Ringzel and have a request about that conversation, please contact the business directly. It is responsible for responding. If you contact us, we will pass your request to the business.
2. What information we collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:
Identification and contact details
- Name, business name, email address, telephone number and postal or business address.
Business information used to build your receptionist
- Information from your public business listing (such as name, address, phone number, website, hours) and from your public website (such as services, prices, areas covered and frequently asked questions), and the information and instructions you give us.
Call, chat and communication information
- Call audio and recordings, transcripts, AI-generated summaries and check reports, Caller telephone numbers, call details (time, duration, routing and outcome), messages, enquiry details, booking details where enabled, and website chat conversations, transcripts and summaries.
- Where this data relates to people contacting a Ringzel subscriber, we process it as a processor on the subscriber's behalf (see section 1).
- When you test a receptionist in your browser, the audio of your test call and its transcript are processed in the same way.
Enquiries and demo contact details
- If you use the contact form on the Website, we collect your name, email address, company (if you give it), the topic you choose and your message.
- If you give us your name, mobile number or email address when you build or claim a demo receptionist, we collect those details.
Account and login information
- Account identifiers, login credentials (stored in protected form), account settings and the users you authorise.
Financial information
- Billing details, subscription and payment history. Card details are handled by our payment provider; we do not store full card numbers.
Marketing and communications data
- Your preferences for receiving updates and marketing from us, and the content of your communications with us.
Technical and usage data
- IP address, browser and device information, pages requested, and log information our hosting provider records when you use the Website and the Services.
- If you accept analytics cookies, we use Google Analytics to understand how the Website is used: for example the pages you view, how you arrived, your device and browser type and your approximate location. We do not send it your name, email address, phone number or anything you type into our forms. We do not use advertising pixels or session-replay tools. See our Cookie Policy for the cookies and browser storage the Website uses.
Other information you provide
- Any other personal data you choose to share with us, for example in support requests.
Special category data
We do not intentionally collect special category data (such as health, religious or ethnic information). Callers may nonetheless volunteer it, for example when calling a dental practice, clinic or vet. Where they do, it is processed as part of the call content on the subscriber's behalf, and the subscriber is responsible for having an appropriate lawful basis and condition for that processing.
3. How we collect your data
- Direct interactions: you give us data when you search for your business on the Website, build or test a receptionist, create an account, subscribe, forward calls, configure the Services, send us an enquiry through the contact form, or contact us in any other way.
- Calls and chats: Callers and website visitors give data to the Services when they speak to or chat with a subscriber's receptionist. At the start of each call, Callers are told they are speaking to an AI receptionist and that calls are recorded.
- Automated technologies: our hosting provider records technical information when you use the Website and the Services and, if you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics collects information about how you use the Website.
- Third parties and public sources: we receive business information from public business listings and from the business's public website, and payment information from our payment provider.
4. Why we process your data (legal bases)
We use personal data only where the law permits. Where we are the controller, our lawful bases are:
- Contract: to provide the Services you have asked for, including building and testing a receptionist, your Trial and your Subscription.
- Legitimate interests: to operate, secure and improve the Website and the Services; to prevent fraud and abuse; to understand how the Services perform; to build a receptionist from publicly available business information; and to market our Services to businesses, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
- Legitimate interests (enquiries): to read and reply to messages sent through our contact form.
- Legal obligation: to comply with legal, regulatory, tax and accounting requirements.
- Consent: where we ask for it, for example for analytics cookies on the Website or optional marketing. You can withdraw consent at any time.
5. How we use your data
- Provide the Services: build and run your receptionist and website chat, answer and handle calls and chats on your behalf, produce recordings, transcripts, summaries and check reports, deliver bookings, transfers, routing and integrations where enabled, maintain your account and process payments.
- Check calls: run an automated check on each call and report the result to you.
- Customer support and enquiries: handle your enquiries, troubleshoot problems and respond to requests, including messages sent through our contact form.
- Marketing and communications: send you service updates and, where permitted, information about our Services. You can opt out at any time.
- Security and improvement: keep the Services secure, investigate problems, prevent abuse and improve reliability and quality.
- Website analytics: with your consent, understand how visitors find and use the Website so that we can improve it.
- Legal and compliance: comply with legal requirements, respond to lawful requests and enforce our rights.
8. Where we process your data
Shipstack LLC is a Wyoming limited liability company, and several of our service providers are based in, or process data in, the United States. We may add, change or remove processing locations from time to time, and we are not required to give individual users advance notice of such a change, except as set out in our Data Processing Addendum for subscribers. If your business requires personal data to stay in a specific country, you must agree that with us in writing before you subscribe.
What is processed where
- Call recordings, transcripts, summaries, check reports, messages, chat content and call details: processed and stored in the United States and in other locations used by our providers.
- Account, billing and support data: processed in the United States and other locations used by our providers, with payment data also processed by our payment provider in its operating regions.
- Website technical data: processed by our hosting provider in the United States and in the locations of its network.
- Website analytics data (only if you accept analytics cookies): processed by Google in the United States and other locations it uses.
Legal mechanisms for transfers outside the UK and EEA
Shipstack LLC is based in the United States, so personal data is processed in the United States.
Where data-protection law requires a transfer mechanism for personal data sent to a country that has not been found adequate by the UK government or the European Commission, we rely on one or more of these safeguards, as applicable to the transfer and the recipient:
- the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses;
- the EU Standard Contractual Clauses (2021); or
- where the recipient is certified, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension.
Supplementary measures
Where appropriate, we maintain supplementary technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit, private storage and contractual limits on further use. You can ask for a summary of the safeguards for a particular transfer by contacting privacy@ringzel.com. We are not required to disclose commercially sensitive contract terms, and any summary is provided without warranty.
Notice of sub-processor changes
For data we process as a processor on a subscriber's behalf, we will use reasonable efforts to give the subscriber prior notice before adding or replacing a sub-processor that handles that data, as set out in our Data Processing Addendum. Failure to give notice in time does not, by itself, give rise to liability beyond the limitations and exclusions in our Terms of Service.
9. How we protect your information
We use technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss or disclosure, including:
- encryption in transit: the Website and Services are served only over HTTPS, and plain HTTP requests are redirected to HTTPS;
- private storage: the demo records we hold are kept in private storage that is not publicly accessible; and
- protected credentials: service credentials are held in our hosting platform's protected environment settings, not in our code.
No system is entirely secure
Despite our efforts, no system is entirely secure. If you suspect your data or your account is no longer secure, contact us immediately at privacy@ringzel.com.
10. Data retention
We keep personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary to:
- fulfil the purposes for which it was collected;
- meet legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements; and
- resolve disputes and enforce our agreements.
Specific periods
- Call recordings, transcripts, summaries and check reports: kept for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the Services to the subscriber, then deleted or anonymised in line with this section and applicable law.
- Other call and chat data we process for a subscriber: kept for the duration of the subscriber's Subscription and a reasonable period afterwards, or as otherwise set out in our Data Processing Addendum. The subscriber, as controller, decides how long this data should be kept.
- Demo receptionists and test calls made on the Website: kept for as long as reasonably necessary to provide the demo and deal with any follow-up, and then deleted.
- Contact enquiries: kept for as long as we need them to respond to you and to keep a record of our correspondence, and then deleted.
- Account and billing records: kept while you are a subscriber and for up to six years afterwards where tax or accounting law requires it.
- Website analytics data: kept by Google Analytics for the retention period set in our account, which is no longer than 14 months, and then deleted.
Deletion
When a retention period ends, we securely delete or anonymise the personal data in line with applicable law.
11. Your rights
Under the UK GDPR and other applicable laws, you may have the right to:
- access your data: obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
- erasure: ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances;
- restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data;
- data portability: receive your data in a structured, commonly used format;
- objection: object to certain processing, including direct marketing; and
- withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time.
How to exercise your rights
Contact us at privacy@ringzel.com. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request, and we will respond within one month, or within any other period the law allows. If your request is about a call or chat with a business that uses Ringzel, we will refer it to that business, because it controls that data.
How to complain to us
If you are unhappy with how we have used your personal data, you can complain to us directly by emailing privacy@ringzel.com. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, look into it, and give you our response without undue delay.
If your complaint is about a call or chat with a business that uses Ringzel, that business controls the data and is responsible for dealing with it. We will pass your complaint to the business and let you know we have done so.
If you are not happy with our response, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk, helpline 0303 123 1113. The ICO usually expects you to have raised your complaint with us first.
12. Children's privacy
The Website and the Services are intended for businesses and are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 through the Website. Callers of any age may call a business that uses Ringzel; that data is processed on the business's behalf. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us so that we can investigate and delete it where required.
13. Links to other websites
The Website may contain links to third-party websites that we do not operate. We are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of any third-party site before giving it personal information.
14. Updates to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The "Last updated" date shows when it was last revised. We will tell subscribers by email about material changes. Your continued use of the Website or the Services after an update means you accept the revised policy.
15. Additional information for California residents
If you are a California resident and the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CCPA/CPRA"), applies to our handling of your personal information, the following applies in addition to the rest of this policy. Nothing in this section creates rights or obligations beyond those the CCPA/CPRA requires.
- Categories we collect: identifiers (name, email, phone, IP address); commercial information (subscription and transaction records); audio information (where you call a business that uses the Services, the call recording and transcript); internet or network activity (technical and log data); approximate geolocation derived from IP address; professional information (business details); and inferences drawn from the above.
- Sources: directly from you, automatically when you use the Website and Services, from public business listings and websites, and from our payment provider.
- Purposes: to provide and operate the Services, process payments, communicate with you, comply with law, and as otherwise described in this policy.
- Categories of third parties: hosting, telephony, voice, AI, website-reading, business-listing, website analytics, payment and support service providers, and government bodies where required by law.
- Sale and sharing: we do not sell personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
- Sensitive personal information: we do not use or disclose sensitive personal information for purposes other than those the CCPA/CPRA permits.
- Your rights: to know, access, correct and delete, to limit the use of sensitive personal information, and not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. You may use an authorised agent. Contact privacy@ringzel.com.
- Retention: see section 10.
16. Additional information for Australian residents
If you are in Australia, the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) apply to our handling of your personal information to the extent that Act applies to us.
- Cross-border disclosure (APP 8): as described in section 8, we disclose personal information to recipients in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate. We take reasonable steps to ensure overseas recipients handle personal information consistently with the APPs, including through contractual safeguards, but those steps are not a guarantee of the recipient's compliance. To the extent the consent exception in APP 8.2(b) or any other exception in APP 8.2 applies, we are not accountable under APP 8.1 for the recipient's acts or practices.
- Complaints: you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.
17. Additional information for Canadian residents
If you are in Canada, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and applicable provincial privacy laws (including Quebec's Law 25) apply to our handling of your personal information to the extent those laws apply to us.
- Cross-border processing: we process personal information in the United States and in other countries where our service providers operate. While it is there, it is subject to local law, including possible lawful access by authorities. The safeguards described in section 8 protect your data, subject to those legal requirements.
- Complaints: you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca or, in Quebec, the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec at cai.gouv.qc.ca.
18. Additional information for New Zealand residents
If you are in New Zealand, the Privacy Act 2020 applies to our handling of your personal information to the extent it applies to us. Under Information Privacy Principle 12, before disclosing personal information overseas we take reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that the recipient is subject to comparable safeguards, as described in section 8. You may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.
19. Additional information for residents of Ireland and the EEA
If you are in Ireland or another European Economic Area country, the EU GDPR (and, in Ireland, the Data Protection Act 2018) apply in addition to, and where they conflict in place of, the UK GDPR references above, in each case only to the extent those laws apply to us. References to the UK Information Commissioner's Office should be read as also referring to your local supervisory authority. You may complain to the Data Protection Commission (Ireland) at dataprotection.ie, or to the supervisory authority in the EEA country where you live, work or where the alleged infringement took place.
20. Limitations and order of precedence
Nothing in this policy limits any statutory rights you have under applicable data-protection law that cannot lawfully be limited. Subject to that:
- this policy describes our practices and is not a contract; it does not create rights or obligations beyond those required by applicable data-protection law or expressly agreed in our Terms of Service or Data Processing Addendum;
- to the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability arising out of or in connection with our processing of personal data and our compliance (or alleged non-compliance) with this policy is subject to the limitations, exclusions and aggregate cap on liability in our Terms of Service;
- where this policy conflicts with our Terms of Service or Data Processing Addendum, the Terms of Service or the Data Processing Addendum (as applicable) prevail; and
- statements in this policy about specific countries, regulators, providers, retention periods or technical measures are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the date above and may change.
21. Contact us
For data protection matters, please use the data protection address. You can also contact the ICO directly at ico.org.uk.
- General: hello@ringzel.com
- Data protection: privacy@ringzel.com
- Post: Shipstack LLC, 30 N Gould St, Suite #68891, Sheridan, WY 82801, USA