Privacy Policy

AEC Growth ("AEC Growth," "we," "us," or "our") is a lead generation agency serving founders and executives in the built environment: architecture, engineering, construction, and construction technology companies.

AEC Growth is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at privacy@growaec.com. Our website is www.growaec.com.

When we deliver services to a client, that client may be the controller of the data we process on their behalf. In those cases we act as a processor and follow the client's written instructions.

This policy applies to personal information we collect when you:

• Visit www.growaec.com or any page on it
• Submit a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form, or click one of our ads on LinkedIn or Google
• Book a call with us through our scheduling link
• Fill in a form on our site, including the SMS opt-in form
• Email us, message us on LinkedIn, or reply to our outreach
• Subscribe to our newsletter or receive our marketing messages

It does not apply to third party websites or platforms that have their own privacy policies, including LinkedIn, Google, Calendly, Substack, YouTube, and Podbean.

3.1 Information you give us

• Name, business email address, and phone number
• Company name, job title, company size, and industry
• LinkedIn profile URL and the profile fields you submit to us
• What you tell us about your goals, pipeline, and current marketing when you book or attend a call
• Communication and marketing preferences
• Consent records, including the date, time, and method of consent

3.2 Information collected automatically

• IP address and approximate location derived from it
• Browser type, device type, operating system, and language
• Pages viewed, referring URL, and time spent on the site
• Cookie identifiers and similar identifiers set by our analytics and advertising tags

3.3 Information from third parties

• Lead details passed to us by LinkedIn when you submit a Lead Gen Form
• Booking details passed to us by our scheduling provider when you book a call
• Business contact data and firmographic data from publicly available sources and business data providers, used to identify companies that fit our client profile

We do not intentionally collect special category data such as health information, biometric data, or government identifiers, and we ask that you do not send it to us.

We advertise on LinkedIn and Google. This section explains what that means for your data.

4.1 LinkedIn Lead Gen Forms

If you submit a LinkedIn Lead Gen Form attached to one of our ads, LinkedIn passes us the fields you chose to submit, which typically include your name, email address, job title, and company. We use that information to contact you about the offer in the ad, to qualify whether our services fit your business, and to follow up by email, phone, or LinkedIn message. If you checked a consent box on the form, we use it for the purpose described in that box. Submitting a form does not obligate you to buy anything, and you can ask us to stop contacting you at any time.

4.2 Advertising and measurement tags

Our website uses advertising and measurement tags that set cookies or similar identifiers in your browser:

• LinkedIn Insight Tag. Measures conversions from our LinkedIn ads, reports aggregated audience data, and allows LinkedIn to show you our ads. LinkedIn processes this data under its own privacy policy.
• Google tag (Google Ads). Measures conversions such as a completed booking so we can see which ads produce results.

These tags tell us that a conversion happened and give us aggregated reporting. We do not receive your LinkedIn or Google account credentials, and we cannot see your browsing history on other sites.

4.3 Your ad choices

• LinkedIn ad and data settings: linkedin.com/psettings/advertising
• Google ad settings: adssettings.google.com
• Browser controls: block or delete cookies through your browser settings
• Global Privacy Control: we treat a GPC signal from your browser as an opt-out request where the law requires it

• Respond to your enquiry and schedule calls with you
• Assess whether our services fit your business and prepare proposals
• Deliver, support, and improve the services our clients buy
• Send marketing emails, LinkedIn messages, and SMS messages where you have consented or where we are permitted to do so
• Measure which ads, pages, and campaigns lead to booked calls, and improve them
• Maintain records of consent and opt-out requests
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security incidents
• Meet our legal, tax, and regulatory obligations

We do not use your personal information to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you through automated means alone.

If you are in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area, or another region with similar law, we rely on these legal bases:

• Consent. Marketing SMS messages, marketing emails where consent is required, and non essential cookies. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Contract. Providing the services a client has engaged us for, and steps taken at your request before entering a contract.
• Legitimate interests. Business to business outreach to relevant professionals, securing our website, measuring campaign performance, and growing our business, where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
• Legal obligation. Keeping consent and opt-out records and meeting accounting and regulatory duties.

We share personal information only with the categories of recipients below, and only as needed:

• Hosting and infrastructure providers that run our website and store our data
• CRM, email, and outreach platforms we use to manage conversations and send campaigns
• Scheduling providers that handle call bookings
• SMS providers that deliver text messages you have opted in to receive
• Advertising and analytics providers including LinkedIn and Google, as described in section 4
• Professional advisers such as accountants and lawyers, under duties of confidentiality
• Authorities or other parties where we are required by law, or to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims
• A buyer or successor in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets

Our service providers are bound by contract to process personal information only on our instructions and to keep it secure.

We do not sell your personal information for money, and we do not rent or trade contact lists.

Under some United States privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended, the use of advertising cookies for cross context behavioral advertising can be treated as a "sale" or "share" even when no money changes hands. To opt out of that use, disable non essential cookies in your browser, enable a Global Privacy Control signal, use the ad settings linked in section 4, or email privacy@growaec.com with the subject line "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information".

We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of anyone under 16 years of age.

9.1 What we send

• Marketing and promotional messages
• Service updates and announcements
• Event and call reminders
• Support responses

9.2 Message frequency

You may receive up to 4 SMS messages per month. We will not exceed that frequency without asking you first.

9.3 Opting out

• STOP: reply STOP to any message to unsubscribe from all SMS communications
• HELP: reply HELP to any message for assistance and contact details
• Email: write to privacy@growaec.com to manage your preferences
• Opt-out requests are processed within 10 business days

We keep a record of your consent and of any opt-out, including the timestamp, the method used, and the IP address and user agent captured at the time, so that we can demonstrate compliance.

Mobile carriers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages. See our Terms of Service for the full mobile terms.

We use a small number of cookies and similar technologies:

• Strictly necessary. Needed to serve the site and keep it secure.
• Analytics. Tell us which pages are viewed and how people move through the site.
• Advertising. The LinkedIn Insight Tag and the Google tag, used for conversion measurement and ad delivery, as described in section 4.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking cookies may affect how parts of the site work. Third party embeds, such as our scheduling widget, may set their own cookies under their own policies.

• Leads and prospects: up to 24 months after your last interaction with us, then deleted or anonymised
• Clients: for the duration of the engagement and for 7 years afterwards, to meet contractual, tax, and accounting obligations
• SMS consent and opt-out records: at least 5 years after the consent or opt-out, to evidence TCPA compliance
• Suppression lists: kept indefinitely, so that we continue to honour your opt-out
• Website analytics and ad measurement data: per the retention settings of the relevant provider, typically 14 to 26 months

12.1 Rights available to you

• Access: ask what personal information we hold about you and get a copy
• Correction: ask us to fix inaccurate or incomplete information
• Deletion: ask us to delete your personal information
• Portability: receive your information in a portable, machine readable format
• Restriction and objection: ask us to pause processing, or object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing
• Withdraw consent: at any time, without affecting processing already carried out
• Opt out of sale or sharing: as described in section 8
• Non discrimination: we will not treat you differently for exercising your rights

12.2 How to exercise them

Email privacy@growaec.com and tell us which right you want to exercise. We may ask for information that lets us verify your identity and match your request to our records. We respond within 30 days, and within 45 days for requests under California law, and we will tell you if we need more time. An authorised agent may submit a request on your behalf with written proof of authority.

If you are in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area and you believe we have not handled your information properly, you may lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. We would appreciate the chance to address your concern first.

We operate internationally and our service providers are primarily located in the United States. If you are outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed there, where data protection law may differ from the law in your country.

Where we transfer personal information out of the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, together with additional measures where needed.

We use technical and organisational measures appropriate to our size and the sensitivity of the data, including encryption in transit, access controls on the systems that hold personal information, multi factor authentication on business accounts, and vendors selected for their security posture.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security, and we ask you not to send sensitive personal information to us by email or SMS.

Our services are for business professionals and are not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, email privacy@growaec.com and we will delete it.

Our site and our messages link to third party services, including LinkedIn, YouTube, Substack, Podbean, and our scheduling provider. We do not control those services and are not responsible for their content or their privacy practices. Read their privacy policies before providing information to them.

We may update this policy as our services, tools, or legal obligations change. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised. For material changes we will post a notice on our website and, where required, notify you by email or SMS. Continuing to use our services after an update means you accept the revised policy.

Questions about this policy, or about how we handle your information: