1. Who we are

ALM MEDIA LLC (“ALM Media”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a creative production and strategy company registered in the Sharjah Media City (SHAMS) free zone, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. We run the website almano.media and we decide how and why your personal data is used, which makes us the “controller” of that data.

This policy covers our website, our emails, calls and messages, and the services we provide. Talent OS (talent.almano.media) and the CutFast plugin have their own privacy policies, listed in Our policies at a glance.

Questions about this policy or your data: legal@almano.media.

2. The data we collect

When you contact us. Our contact form asks for your first and last name, whether you are a person or a company, your email, your mobile number (optional), the type of project and your message. Our digital business card form asks for your name, email, phone, where we met and, if you choose, your company and role. Our free guide form asks for your name and email. Waitlist and newsletter forms ask for your email. We also keep the emails, WhatsApp messages and chat messages you send us.

When you work with us. Contact details of you and your team, company details, proposals, contracts, invoices and payment records, and the briefs, logos, footage, files and feedback you send. We do not see or store full card numbers: card payments are handled by the payment provider.

Calls and meetings. We record and transcribe our calls and online meetings, sometimes with AI note-taking tools, so we keep accurate notes. We tell you at the start of the call. If you do not want a call recorded, tell us and we will not record it.

People in our productions. When we film or photograph people (actors, models, crew or your staff), we collect their image and voice and the details on their written release form. For anyone under 18 we collect the written consent of a parent or guardian. For filming permits, authorities may ask for identity details of crew and talent; we pass these only to the authority that asks for them.

Job applications. Your CV, portfolio, contact details and anything else you choose to send us.

When you visit our website. Our hosting provider records your internet (IP) address, browser and device type, the pages you visit and the time of your visit in security logs. Google reCAPTCHA checks form submissions for spam. Cookies are explained in our Cookie Policy.

From other people. A client may give us the contact details of their team, a partner may introduce you to us, and we may look at public business information (such as your company website or LinkedIn profile) to prepare for a project.

3. Why we use your data, and our legal reasons

• To reply to your enquiry and prepare a quote. Reason: steps you asked us to take before a contract, and our legitimate interest in answering business enquiries.
• To deliver our services, run projects, invoice and get paid. Reason: our contract with you or with your employer.
• To keep tax, accounting and legal records. Reason: our legal obligations.
• To record and transcribe calls. Reason: our legitimate interest in accurate notes. You can object at any time.
• To show our work in our portfolio, showreel and social media, including the people who appear in it. Reason: our legitimate interest, and the releases signed by the people filmed.
• To email our clients news, offers and updates about our own services. Reason: our legitimate interest in keeping in touch with our clients. You can opt out when you book and at any time.
• To email news and offers to people who are not yet clients. Reason: your consent, given by ticking the box on our forms or by joining a waitlist. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• To keep the website safe and stop spam. Reason: our legitimate interest.
• To use chat, statistics and advertising cookies. Reason: your consent, given in our cookie banner.
• To review job applications. Reason: steps before a possible contract.
• To protect our rights in a dispute. Reason: our legitimate interest.

We do not make decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects. You do not have to give us your data, but without contact details we cannot reply, and without project details we cannot deliver the work.

4. Who we share it with

We never sell your personal data. We share it only when needed, with:

• Website hosting and email: Hostinger (hosting, content delivery network and email delivery).
• Email marketing: MailerLite, only if you joined a waitlist or newsletter.
• Spam protection: Google reCAPTCHA. The Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
• Live chat: tawk.to, only if you accept chat cookies.
• Embedded videos: YouTube, in its privacy-enhanced mode.
• Client portal: our client portal provider (proposals, contracts, invoices and card payments at clients.almano.media).
• File storage and transfer: Dropbox and Jottacloud, and our own office computers and drives.
• Messaging: WhatsApp (Meta).
• Payments: our banks, card processors and Stripe (for online course payments).
• AI tools: providers of the AI software we use to create and edit content, transcribe calls and organise our work. Files you send us may be processed by these tools.
• Our team, freelancers and production partners (such as crew, editors and drone pilots) who work on your project and keep it confidential.
• Authorities and venues, when we apply for permits or location access on your behalf.
• Professional advisers (such as accountants and lawyers), and authorities or courts when the law requires it.

If we add statistics or advertising tools in the future (such as Google Analytics, Google Ads, Meta, LinkedIn or TikTok), they will receive data only after you accept those cookies.

5. Sending data abroad

Some of these providers store or process data outside the UAE, the EU or the UK, for example in the United States. When we send data abroad we rely on safeguards the law accepts, such as the provider’s standard contractual clauses, or on the transfer being needed to deliver the service you asked for.

6. How long we keep it

• Enquiries and form messages: 24 months after our last contact. Older messages are removed automatically.
• Spam messages: 30 days.
• Project files (footage and edits): 30 days after delivery. We keep copies of the final work for our portfolio.
• Contracts, invoices and payment records: as long as UAE tax and commercial laws require (usually 5 to 7 years).
• Call recordings and transcripts: up to 12 months, or longer while a project they relate to is still running.
• Release forms: as long as the content they cover is in use, plus the time allowed for legal claims.
• Mailing list (clients, newsletter and waitlist sign-ups): until you unsubscribe.
• Job applications: 12 months.
• Website security logs: kept by our hosting provider for a short time, usually days to weeks.

7. Your rights

Under UAE data protection law, and under the EU and UK GDPR where they apply to you, you can:

• ask for a copy of your data;
• ask us to correct it;
• ask us to delete it;
• ask us to limit how we use it;
• object to how we use it, and at any time to direct marketing;
• ask for your data in a portable format;
• withdraw your consent at any time (this does not affect what we did before).

Email legal@almano.media. We may ask you to confirm your identity, and we reply within 30 days. Some data we must keep by law, even if you ask us to delete it.

You can also complain to the UAE Data Office or, if you live in the EU or the UK, to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office). We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.

8. Emails from us

Service emails. While you are our client, we email you about your projects, quotes, invoices and changes to our policies.

News and offers. When you buy from us, we may also email you news, offers and updates about our own services. We tell you this when you book, and you can say no then or at any time. If you are not yet a client, you receive these only if you ticked the box on one of our forms or joined a waitlist.

Every news and offers email has an unsubscribe link, and you can also unsubscribe by emailing us. We remove you straight away and never add you back without your OK.

9. Children

Our website and services are for people aged 18 or over, and we do not knowingly collect children’s data online. When children appear in our productions, we work only with the written consent of a parent or guardian, who stays on set.

10. Security

We use access controls, encrypted connections and trusted providers to protect your data. No system is completely secure. If a data breach puts you at risk, we will tell you, and the authorities, as the law requires.

11. Other websites

Our website links to other websites, such as Talent OS, Trustpilot, Gearbox and social media. Their own privacy policies apply when you visit them.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The date at the top shows the latest version. If we make important changes, we will tell our clients by email.

13. Contact

ALM MEDIA LLC, Sharjah Media City (SHAMS), Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Email: legal@almano.media