Privacy policy
Last updated 22 September 2026
NicheSME connects organizations with independent experts. This policy explains what we collect, why, who can see it, and what control you have.
What we collect
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| Account details Name, email, password |
To create and secure your account. Passwords are stored only as salted hashes and are never readable by us. |
| Expert profile Headline, summary, domains, skills, experience, location, rate, availability, certifications, languages |
This is what makes you findable. Everything in a published profile is visible to anyone who can view the site. |
| Documents CV, certificates, portfolio, case studies |
Shared only according to the visibility you set on each document: private to you, visible to signed-in organizations, or public. |
| Organization details Company name, industry, size, location, requirements posted |
To let experts see who is hiring and for what. |
| Messages | Stored so conversations persist. Readable by the two participants, and by our administrators where needed to investigate abuse or a support request. |
| Enquiries Contact form submissions |
To answer you. Stored on the platform and forwarded to our support inbox. |
| Technical data IP address on contact submissions, sign-in cookies, server logs |
To keep you signed in, prevent abuse, and diagnose faults. |
Search and AI
Search is powered by a matching engine that reads your published profile text and the text of posted requirements, turns them into numerical representations, and ranks results by similarity. When the platform is configured to use a hosted AI service, that profile and requirement text is sent to it for this purpose. Your documents, private messages and password are never sent to any AI service. The engine does not make decisions about you on its own - it orders search results, and people decide who to contact.
Who can see what
- Your published profile is visible to visitors of the site. Unpublish it at any time from your profile page and it disappears from search.
- Your documents follow the per-document visibility you choose. The default is signed-in organizations only.
- Your contact details are never shown to other members. Conversations happen through in-app messaging, and you decide whether to share an email or phone number.
- We do not sell your data, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers.
Where your data is held
The platform runs on Microsoft Azure in the Central India region. Data may be processed by sub-processors we rely on to run the service, including Microsoft Azure for hosting and storage.
How long we keep it
Account and profile data is kept while your account is open. Delete your account and we remove your profile, documents and account details. Messages are retained for the other participant's record, with your name replaced. Enquiries are kept for two years.
Your rights
You can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete your account and its contents. Write to us through the contact page and we will respond within 30 days. If you are in the EU or UK you also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
Cookies
We use one essential cookie to keep you signed in, and an antiforgery cookie to protect forms against cross-site request forgery. There are no advertising or analytics cookies, and no third-party trackers.
Security
Traffic is encrypted with TLS. Passwords are hashed. Access to the production database is limited to administrators. No platform is perfectly secure - if you believe your account has been compromised, contact us immediately.
Changes
If we change this policy materially we will update the date above and, for significant changes, notify account holders by email.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: use the contact page.
This policy describes how the platform actually handles data today. It is a starting point, not legal advice - have it reviewed against the jurisdictions you operate in before you take real users, particularly for GDPR if you accept members in the EU or UK.