Linard Privacy Policy

Last updated: 10 June 2026

This is the privacy policy for the Linard alpha, an early, experimental version of the platform. Linard is under active development and is offered to a small group of invited users who help test it and give feedback. Because the product is changing quickly, this policy will change too. The version that applies is always the one published here.

1. Who is responsible

Linard is a project in the process of being founded. The company Linard AG is planned but not yet incorporated. Until it is, the joint data controllers for the personal data described in this policy are:

• Flurin Schmid
• Manu Drijvers
• Samuel Burri

all domiciled in Switzerland, acting together as "Linard".

When Linard AG is incorporated, the company will become the sole data controller and succeed the joint controllers named above. Personal data will continue to be protected on the same terms, and affected individuals will be informed of the change.

Contact. No postal address is published at this pre-incorporation stage. Correspondence relating to this policy, including any data-subject request, should be sent to privacy@linard.ai. A registered postal address will be added once Linard AG is incorporated.

2. What this policy covers

This policy covers personal data handled through:

• the Linard marketing site at linard.ai, the public landing page that describes the product; and
• the Linard alpha at alpha.linard.ai, the early-access application where invited users sign in and run training conversations.

These two are currently separate sites; the plan is to merge them into one over time. This policy applies to both. It does not cover third-party websites or services that are linked to, which have their own policies.

3. What is collected

Account data

When an account is created or used to sign in, Linard collects:

• Name and email address.
• For sign-in with Google or Microsoft, the basic profile information those providers return to confirm identity. Linard does not receive the Google or Microsoft password.
• For sign-in with email and password, an encrypted (hashed) version of the password. It is never stored in readable form.
• The access code or invitation used to join the alpha.

Conversation data

This is the heart of the product, so it is worth being clear about it. When a training conversation runs:

• Microphone audio is captured by the browser and streamed in real time to power the conversation. It is transcribed to text and used to generate the AI counterpart's spoken replies.
• A transcript of the conversation (what the user said and what the AI counterpart said) is recorded and stored against the session.
• The briefing, scenario, and preparation content for the session, along with any notes or inputs the user provides.
• The analysis and feedback that Linard generates from the conversation (for example, the structured feedback shown in the debrief).
• Technical details of the session, such as which scenario and counterpart were used, timestamps, and the environment that handled the call.

Audio is used only to run the live conversation and produce the transcript. Raw audio is not stored.

Voice is processed to understand and respond to what is said, not to identify the speaker. Voice data is not used for biometric identification.

Technical and usage data

When the website or platform is used, basic technical information is collected automatically: IP address, browser and device type, pages or screens viewed, and similar log data. This is used to keep the service running and secure and to understand how it is used.

Communications

Records are kept of emails, feedback, and any feedback conversations.

4. Why it is collected, and the legal basis

Where consent is the basis, it can be withdrawn at any time by email. Withdrawing consent does not affect anything done before the withdrawal.

5. How information is used

Personal data is used only to run and improve Linard and to stay in contact with alpha participants about it.

Linard does not, and will not:

• Sell personal data to anyone.
• Share personal data with other businesses for their own marketing, sales, or research.
• Make conversations, transcripts, or feedback visible to other users.

On improving Linard. Session data, including transcripts and the feedback the system produced, may be reviewed to debug problems, improve the scenarios, and improve the quality of the analysis. During the alpha this work is done by the people behind Linard. If conversation content is to be used for broader product development, it will stay within the protections described in this policy, and any material change of approach will be communicated.

On anonymised and aggregated data. Linard may create anonymised and aggregated data from how the platform is used and from conversation content, in a form that can no longer be linked to any individual. Because data in this form is no longer personal data, it may be used to improve current and future products, to build benchmarks, and for research, including after an account or its personal data has been deleted. Personal data itself is never sold.

Only the people behind Linard (currently the three individuals named in section 1) can access personal data, and only where needed.

6. Who it is shared with (sub-processors)

Personal data is not shared with other businesses for their own use. To operate the platform, Linard relies on a small number of trusted providers ("data processors"). They act on instruction, under data-processing terms, and are required to protect the data and use it only to provide their service. These providers fall into the following categories:

• Cloud hosting and database: operating the application and storing accounts, sessions, transcripts, and feedback. Processed in the EU.
• Real-time conversation and AI voice and language services: powering the live training conversations and the animated counterpart. Processed in the EU and the United States.
• Email delivery: sending account emails such as verification and password reset. United States.
• Sign-in and identity providers: for users who choose to sign in with Google or Microsoft. United States.
• Internal productivity tools: the email and document tools used by the people behind Linard. EU and United States.

A current list of the specific sub-processors used can be provided on request to privacy@linard.ai.

Personal data may also be disclosed where the law requires (for example, a valid court order) or where strictly necessary to protect legal rights.

If Linard is ever acquired, merges, or sells part of its business, personal data may transfer to the acquiring entity, in which case affected individuals will be notified. The same applies on incorporation: data will transfer from the joint controllers to Linard AG.

7. International data transfers

The individuals behind Linard are based in Switzerland, and the preference is to keep data within Switzerland or the EU. However, some of the providers above are based in the United States, and running a live conversation necessarily involves transferring audio and transcript data to them.

Where personal data is transferred outside Switzerland or the EEA, appropriate safeguards are relied on, typically the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, the Swiss-US Data Privacy Framework, or equivalent measures, so that the data remains protected.

Please note during the alpha: because the live conversation pipeline currently routes audio and transcripts through providers including ones in the United States, this version of Linard does not keep all data within Switzerland. If full Swiss or EU data residency matters to you, please raise it before using the platform.

8. Please do not put real confidential information into the alpha

Linard is a training tool, and this is an early test version. Please do not enter, say, or upload real confidential, secret, or personally sensitive information during a session, for example real client names and details, non-public business information, or special categories of personal data (such as health data) about yourself or others.

Use realistic but invented details for practice conversations. The alpha cannot offer the same controls that a finished, contracted product would provide.

9. How long it is kept

Session history is part of what makes Linard useful. Past conversations, transcripts, and feedback let users see how they are progressing over time, so account and session data is kept for as long as the account is active.

Users can ask for their data to be deleted at any time by emailing privacy@linard.ai, and it will be removed, subject to limited legal exceptions. When an account is closed, its data is deleted or anonymised within a reasonable period afterwards.

Raw audio is not stored. It is processed only to run the live conversation and is not retained afterwards.

10. Your rights

Under the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP), the GDPR where it applies, and equivalent laws, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data held about you
• Correct data that is wrong or out of date
• Delete your data, subject to limited exceptions
• Restrict or object to certain uses of your data
• Port your data to another service in a structured, machine-readable format
• Withdraw consent where it is the basis for processing

To exercise any of these, email privacy@linard.ai. Requests are answered within one month.

If you believe personal data is being mishandled, you can complain to the Swiss Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) at edoeb.admin.ch, or, where the GDPR applies, your local supervisory authority. A chance to put things right first would be appreciated.

11. Items still being confirmed

This is an early policy for an early product. The precise data-handling terms of each provider relied on are still being finalised. This policy will be updated as those are settled, and the "Last updated" date will reflect any change.

12. Cookies

The Linard sites use a small number of cookies and similar technologies that are essential for the service to work, for example to keep a user signed in. No third-party advertising or cross-site tracking cookies are used. If website analytics are added in future, this policy will be updated and a cookie banner added where one is required.

13. Security

Reasonable technical and organisational steps are taken to protect personal data, including encrypted transmission (HTTPS / TLS), access controls limiting who can see the data, and contractual security requirements on providers. No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affecting personal data comes to light, affected individuals and the relevant authority will be notified where the law requires.

14. Children

Linard is a professional tool and is not directed at children. Data is not knowingly collected from anyone under the age of 18.

15. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated from time to time. The "Last updated" date shows the most recent version. Material changes, for example changes to how data is used, will be flagged and, where appropriate, communicated directly to affected individuals.

Questions? Email privacy@linard.ai.