Legal notices,
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Terms of Service

These Terms of Service govern engagements between HC Core Tech, an independent Dutch practice operated by Hilary Azimoh, and clients who commission work through this website, a written scoping document, or a signed proposal.

1. Engagements are contract-based

Every engagement begins with a written scoping document that defines: the work in scope, the work out of scope, the fixed price or hourly rate, the timeline, the milestones, the deliverables, and the payment schedule. Nothing is binding until captured in the written scope. If it is not in the written scope, it is not in the engagement.

2. Payment

Payment terms are stated in the scoping document. Standard terms are 50 percent upfront and 50 percent on completion, unless otherwise agreed. Invoices are payable within 14 days of issue. Late payment may incur statutory interest as permitted under Dutch law (Article 6:119a BW).

For engagements longer than six weeks, milestone-based invoicing is used, with each milestone invoiced on delivery.

Pricing is in EUR, and payment is accepted in most major currencies through international payment providers. Any currency conversion is handled at prevailing market rates and reflected on the invoice.

3. Intellectual property

All custom work (code, designs, written content, brand assets, documentation) produced during an engagement transfers to the client on receipt of final payment. HC Core Tech retains no rights to specifically commissioned work once paid for.

HC Core Tech may reuse non-client-specific techniques, patterns, and know-how developed during the engagement in other client work. This does not include client-specific code, data, brand assets, or confidential information.

Third-party components (open-source libraries, paid software, fonts, stock imagery) remain licensed under their respective licences. HC Core Tech will disclose all such components in the handover documentation.

4. Confidentiality

Any information marked as confidential, or reasonably understood to be confidential, will be treated as such indefinitely. HC Core Tech will not disclose, publish, or reuse confidential client information outside of the engagement. A mutual non-disclosure agreement is available on request, and HC Core Tech is open to signing the client's own NDA where the terms are reasonable and mutual.

5. Warranties and limitation of liability

HC Core Tech warrants that work will be performed with professional competence and reasonable care. HC Core Tech makes no other warranties, express or implied. This includes any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose beyond what is specified in the scoping document.

Total liability under any engagement is limited to the fees actually paid by the client for that engagement. HC Core Tech is not liable for indirect, consequential, or lost-profit damages. This limitation does not apply to damages caused by gross negligence or wilful misconduct.

6. Termination

Either party may terminate an engagement with 14 days written notice. On termination, the client pays for all work completed and in progress up to the termination date. Client-owned assets and documentation delivered before termination remain the client's property.

If the client is unresponsive or fails to provide inputs required to proceed for more than 30 consecutive days, HC Core Tech reserves the right to invoice for work completed and pause the engagement until inputs are received.

7. Handover and post-engagement

On completion of an engagement, HC Core Tech provides a written handover document listing all deliverables, credentials, code repositories, and any third-party services used. Custom builds ship to the client's own infrastructure, credentials are registered in the client's name, and repositories live in the client's own version control account, so any competent engineer can pick up the codebase and continue the work without missing a beat.

HC Core Tech provides one round of post-launch clarifications (up to two hours of consultation) at no charge within 30 days of completion. Ongoing support is available under a separately quoted retainer.

8. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by Dutch law. Any dispute arising from an engagement will first be attempted to be resolved through good-faith negotiation. Failing that, disputes fall under the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of the Netherlands.

9. Changes to these Terms

These Terms may be updated from time to time and will be posted on this page with a last updated date. Changes do not apply retrospectively to engagements already in progress under an executed scoping document.

Privacy Policy

HC Core Tech takes data protection seriously. This policy explains what personal data is collected, why, how it is used, how long it is kept, and the rights of the individual under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This policy applies to hccoretech.com and to enquiries and engagements initiated through this site. The CoreDesk platform has a separate privacy policy at hccoredesk.com.

1. Who is responsible

HC Core Tech, operated by Hilary Azimoh in the Netherlands, is the data controller for personal data collected through this website and during client engagements. For any privacy question, email hc@hccoretech.com.

2. What is collected on the website

When you submit the enquiry form on this website, HC Core Tech collects the information you provide. This typically includes name, email address, company (optional), services requested, budget, timeline, and project brief. This data is used only to respond to your enquiry.

When you visit this website, the hosting provider collects minimal technical logs (IP address, browser type, referring page). These are used to prevent abuse and are retained for a maximum of 30 days.

HC Core Tech uses cookieless analytics to understand aggregate website traffic (page views, top pages, referring sources, country-level location). No personal data is collected through analytics, and no individual visitor is tracked across sessions.

HC Core Tech does not use Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, or any other tracking service that would send visitor data outside the EU. Tracking cookies are not used. No cookie consent is required because nothing is done that would require it.

3. What is collected during engagements

During a client engagement, HC Core Tech may process personal data provided by the client. This may include contact information for the client's team, credentials for shared services, business information necessary to deliver the work, and any data the client shares for processing (which is governed by a separate Data Processing Agreement, see below).

4. Legal basis

Under GDPR Article 6, personal data is processed on the following legal bases:

• ·Contract performance (Article 6(1)(b)) for all engagement-related processing
• ·Legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f)) for enquiry form submissions, technical logs, and cookieless analytics
• ·Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) for retention required under Dutch tax law

5. Who data is shared with

HC Core Tech uses the following processors to operate this website and respond to enquiries:

• ·Vercel (hosting and cookieless analytics): EU region where configurable
• ·Resend (transactional email delivery for enquiry form responses): EU region (Ireland)
• ·Zoho Mail (operational email inbox): EU region

HC Core Tech does not sell, rent, or share personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

6. How long data is kept

• ·Enquiry form submissions: 24 months from receipt, then deleted unless an active engagement follows
• ·Contracts and invoices: 7 years, as required by Dutch tax law (Article 52 AWR)
• ·Engagement correspondence not tax-relevant: 24 months after engagement completion
• ·Website server logs: 30 days maximum
• ·Analytics data: retained by the analytics provider per their policy, with no personal identifiers

7. Your rights

Under GDPR, you have the right to:

• ·Access the personal data held about you
• ·Correct inaccurate data
• ·Request deletion, subject to legal retention obligations
• ·Restrict processing
• ·Data portability
• ·Object to processing based on legitimate interest
• ·Withdraw consent where consent was the legal basis

To exercise any of these rights, email hc@hccoretech.com. HC Core Tech responds within 30 days.

If you believe your data has been mishandled, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch Data Protection Authority): autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl.

8. International transfers

All processors listed above are configured to process data within the European Economic Area where possible. Where a processor operates from a third country, HC Core Tech relies on Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission.

9. Changes to this policy

This policy may be updated from time to time. Material changes will be communicated to active clients by email. The updated policy will be posted on this page with a new last updated date.

Data Processing Agreement

This Data Processing Agreement (DPA) applies when HC Core Tech processes personal data on behalf of a client ("Controller") during an engagement. It complements and forms part of the Terms of Service and the specific scoping document for the engagement.

1. Subject matter and duration

HC Core Tech acts as a Processor for personal data provided by the Controller for the purpose of delivering the services described in the engagement scoping document. Processing continues for the duration of the engagement plus 30 days for handover, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

2. Nature and purpose of processing

Processing includes storage, access, transformation, deletion, and any other operations necessary to deliver the agreed services. Processing purposes are limited to those necessary to fulfil the engagement.

3. Categories of data subjects and personal data

The specific categories are defined per engagement in the scoping document. Common categories include the Controller's employees, the Controller's clients or customers, and any other individuals whose data the Controller shares for processing.

4. Controller obligations

The Controller warrants that personal data shared with HC Core Tech has been collected lawfully, with the necessary legal basis under GDPR Article 6, and that the Controller has provided all required notices to data subjects. The Controller is responsible for responding to data subject requests, unless separately agreed.

5. Processor obligations

HC Core Tech will:

• ·Process personal data only on documented instructions from the Controller
• ·Ensure persons authorised to process the data (currently only the founder) have committed themselves to confidentiality in writing
• ·Implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure the data (see Section 7)
• ·Assist the Controller in responding to data subject requests
• ·Notify the Controller without undue delay upon becoming aware of a personal data breach
• ·Return or delete all personal data at the end of the engagement, unless retention is required by law

6. Sub-processors

HC Core Tech may engage sub-processors to assist with the engagement. Current standing sub-processors are:

• ·Vercel Inc. (hosting for HC Core Tech website infrastructure)
• ·Resend (transactional email)
• ·Hetzner Online GmbH (hosting for CoreDesk platform, where the engagement uses CoreDesk)
• ·Supabase Inc. (database for CoreDesk platform, where the engagement uses CoreDesk)
• ·Anthropic PBC and/or OpenAI (LLM providers, where the engagement uses AI; the specific provider is disclosed in the scoping document)
• ·Additional infrastructure (any Azure, ChromaDB, or similar deployment used to deliver a specific engagement, disclosed in the scoping document)

Additional or replacement sub-processors will be communicated to the Controller in writing with reasonable notice. The Controller may object to specific sub-processors, in which case the parties will discuss alternatives in good faith.

7. Security measures

HC Core Tech implements the following technical and organisational measures:

• ·Encryption of data in transit (TLS 1.2 or higher) and at rest where supported by the underlying platform
• ·Access control with unique credentials, multi-factor authentication where available
• ·Regular software updates and vulnerability monitoring
• ·Documented incident response procedure
• ·Physical security through use of certified data centre providers (Vercel, Hetzner)
• ·Written retention and deletion policies

8. Personal data breaches

HC Core Tech will notify the Controller in writing without undue delay, and in any event within 24 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach involving Controller data. This is designed to give the Controller sufficient time to fulfil its own 72-hour notification obligation under GDPR Article 33. Notification will include the nature of the breach, categories and approximate number of data subjects affected, likely consequences, and measures taken or proposed.

9. International transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the European Economic Area, HC Core Tech will ensure appropriate safeguards under GDPR Chapter V, including Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the European Commission.

10. Audit

On written request with reasonable notice (typically 30 days), HC Core Tech will provide the Controller with information reasonably necessary to demonstrate compliance with this DPA. On-site audits are available for engagements exceeding a value threshold agreed in the scoping document.

11. Return or deletion of data

On termination of the engagement, HC Core Tech will, at the Controller's choice, return or securely delete all personal data. HC Core Tech may retain personal data where required by law, in which case HC Core Tech will continue to protect it as described in this DPA.

12. Liability

Liability under this DPA is subject to the limitations set out in the Terms of Service, except where GDPR mandates otherwise.

13. Governing law

This DPA is governed by Dutch law and the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts of the Netherlands, consistent with the Terms of Service.