Privacy Policy | ZED Localization

Effective date: October 27, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how ZED Localization LLC ("ZED Localization" or "ZED") collects, uses, shares, retains, and protects personal information through the website at zedloc.com (the "Website") and in connection with the language services ZED provides, including translation, localization, on-site interpretation, over-the-phone interpretation (OPI), video remote interpretation (VRI), multilingual desktop publishing, and multimedia services (the "Services"). It also describes the rights available to individuals under applicable data protection laws and how to exercise them.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with the Terms and Conditions. In this Privacy Policy, "personal information" means any information that identifies, relates to, or can reasonably be linked to an individual, and includes "personal data" as defined by applicable law.

1. Who Is Responsible for Personal Information

ZED Localization LLC, 7901 4th Street North, Suite 300, St. Petersburg, FL 33702, United States, is responsible for the personal information described in this Privacy Policy. ZED operates from the United States and works with team members and linguists in other countries. ZED acts in two distinct roles:

As a controller for personal information collected through the Website and in the course of handling inquiries, including contact form and quote form submissions, related correspondence, and business contact and billing records. In this role, ZED determines why and how the information is used.
As a processor or service provider for personal information contained in documents, audio, video, and other materials that business clients supply for translation, interpretation, or other Services under a service agreement ("Client Materials"). In this role, ZED processes Client Materials only on the documented instructions of the client, which remains the controller (or the "business" under California law), and in accordance with the service agreement and any data processing terms agreed with that client.

Individuals whose personal information appears in Client Materials supplied by an organization should direct their privacy requests to that organization. ZED will assist its clients in responding to such requests as required by law and by contract. Where a client is an individual who engages ZED for personal purposes, for example to translate their own records, ZED handles the personal information in those materials as described in this Privacy Policy and responds to that individual's requests directly.

2. Personal Information ZED Collects

2.1 Information Provided Directly

Contact and quote form data: name, email address, company or organization, country, telephone number with country dialing code, the Service requested, source and target languages, requested deadline, and the content of the message.
Uploaded files: optional documents or media files of up to 20 MB attached to a quote request. These files may contain personal information about the person submitting them or about other people, including sensitive information such as identity, immigration, medical, financial, educational, or legal records.
Correspondence: information contained in emails, telephone calls, WhatsApp messages, and other communications with ZED.
Service and booking information: details needed to deliver a Service, such as project instructions, reference materials, and, for interpreting assignments, participant names, appointment dates, times, locations, subject matter, and accessibility or logistical requirements.
Business and billing information: for clients, billing contact details, billing address, purchase order references, tax identifiers where required, and records of invoices and payments. The Website does not collect payment card information.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

Server log data: when the Website is visited, the hosting provider's servers automatically record technical information such as IP address, browser type and version, operating system, referring page, pages requested, and the date and time of the request. This information is used to deliver, secure, and troubleshoot the Website.
Map requests: fonts are hosted on ZED Localization's own server, so no font requests go to third parties. The Contact Us page embeds a Google Maps map; when that page loads, the visitor's browser connects to Google's servers, which receive the visitor's IP address and standard browser information.
Language preference: the Website may store the visitor's chosen language in the browser's local storage so that the preference is remembered on later visits.

At launch, the Website does not use analytics cookies, advertising cookies, tracking pixels, or similar technologies, and it does not track visitors across other websites.

2.3 Information Received from Others

ZED receives personal information from clients when they provide Client Materials or identify individuals who will take part in an interpreting session, and from an individual's employer or organization when that organization engages ZED and designates the individual as a contact.

3. How ZED Uses Personal Information and the Legal Bases

ZED uses personal information for the purposes listed below. For individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, and other jurisdictions that require a legal basis for processing, the corresponding legal basis under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR is shown for each purpose.

Responding to inquiries and preparing quotes: to review requests, assess files, prepare quotes, and communicate about potential projects. Legal basis: taking steps at the individual's request before entering into a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) and ZED's legitimate interest in responding to business inquiries (Article 6(1)(f)).
Providing the Services: to plan and manage projects, assign qualified linguists and interpreters, deliver translations and other work products, schedule interpreting sessions, and handle revisions and support. Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) or, for Client Materials, the client's instructions under the service agreement.
Billing, accounting, and record keeping: to issue invoices, collect payment, and keep business records. Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)) and compliance with legal obligations such as tax and accounting rules (Article 6(1)(c)).
Operating and securing the Website: to deliver Website content, remember language preferences, detect and prevent abuse, spam, fraud, and security incidents, and maintain the Website's availability. Legal basis: ZED's legitimate interests in operating a secure and functional Website (Article 6(1)(f)).
Quality assurance and improvement: to review service quality, handle feedback, and improve ZED's processes. Legal basis: ZED's legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)).
Legal compliance and protection of rights: to comply with applicable laws, respond to lawful requests from public authorities, enforce agreements, and establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. Legal basis: compliance with legal obligations (Article 6(1)(c)) and ZED's legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)).
Business communications: to send service-related messages and, where permitted, information about ZED's Services. ZED sends marketing messages only where the law permits, including with consent where consent is required (Article 6(1)(a)), and every marketing email includes a way to opt out.

Where ZED relies on legitimate interests, it has balanced those interests against the rights and freedoms of the individuals concerned. Further information about this balancing is available on request. Where ZED relies on consent, consent may be withdrawn at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before the withdrawal.

ZED does not use personal information for automated decision-making, including profiling, that produces legal or similarly significant effects on individuals.

4. Sensitive Information and Uploaded Files

Files submitted for translation may contain special categories of personal data or sensitive personal information, such as health information, immigration status, government identification numbers, financial details, or information about legal proceedings.

Where ZED handles such information as a controller, for example when an individual submits their own records with a quote request, ZED processes it only to the extent necessary to respond to and fulfill the request, on the basis of the individual's explicit consent (GDPR Article 9(2)(a)), which may be withdrawn at any time, or, where applicable, for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims (Article 9(2)(f)).
Where ZED handles such information as a processor or service provider, the client is responsible for ensuring that a valid legal basis exists and that any required notices have been given and consents obtained.
To limit exposure, ZED recommends submitting only the files needed to prepare a quote. Where possible, a representative sample or a redacted copy is sufficient for quoting. For highly sensitive materials, ZED can arrange a more secure method of transfer on request.
Organizations subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) should not submit protected health information through the Website forms before a Business Associate Agreement is in place (see Section 10).

5. How ZED Shares Personal Information

ZED does not sell personal information and does not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising or targeted advertising. ZED discloses personal information only as follows:

Linguists and project personnel: employees, contractors, and freelance translators, editors, and interpreters who need access to perform the Services, including team members and, where a language combination requires it, qualified linguists located outside the United States. Each is bound by written confidentiality obligations, such as non-disclosure agreements, and receives access only on a need-to-know basis.
Service providers: providers that support ZED's operations under contracts that limit their use of personal information, including the Website hosting provider (Hostinger), email and communications providers, file storage and transfer providers, and professional software used to deliver the Services.
Professional advisers: lawyers, accountants, auditors, and insurers, where necessary and subject to professional or contractual confidentiality duties.
Recipients designated by the client: for example, when a client asks ZED to deliver a certified translation directly to a government agency, court, university, or other third party.
Legal requirements and protection of rights: courts, regulators, law enforcement, or other authorities where disclosure is required by law, subpoena, or court order, or where reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of ZED, its clients, or others. Where the law permits, ZED will notify the affected client before disclosing Client Materials so that the client may seek a protective order or other remedy.
Business transfers: a successor or acquirer in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, or sale of all or part of ZED's business, subject to confidentiality commitments and to protections consistent with this Privacy Policy.

Independent third parties, such as Google when displaying the map on the Contact Us page and WhatsApp when a visitor chooses to message ZED, process information under their own privacy policies (see Section 12).

6. International Data Transfers

ZED is based in the United States and works with team members, service providers and linguists in other countries. Personal information may therefore be processed in the United States and in the other countries where they operate. These countries may not offer the same level of data protection as the country where the information was collected.

Where personal information subject to the GDPR or the UK GDPR is transferred to a country that has not been recognized as providing an adequate level of protection, ZED relies on appropriate safeguards, principally the Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission and, for UK data, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to those clauses, together with supplementary measures where needed. In limited cases, ZED may rely on a derogation permitted by law, such as a transfer that is necessary to perform a contract requested by the individual. Where other laws impose conditions on cross-border transfers, ZED complies with those conditions. A copy of the relevant safeguards may be requested using the contact details in Section 18.

7. Data Retention

ZED keeps personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer period is required or permitted by law. In general:

Inquiries that do not lead to a project: form submissions and related correspondence are kept for up to 24 months after the last communication, then deleted or anonymized.
Files uploaded with a quote request that does not lead to a project: deleted within 90 days after the quote is issued or the inquiry is closed, or sooner on request.
Client Materials: kept as provided in the service agreement. Without specific instructions, Client Materials are kept for as long as needed to complete the project, handle revisions, and reissue deliverables on request, and are deleted within 12 months after final delivery, or sooner on request.
Contracts, invoices, and business records: kept for the duration of the client relationship and afterward for as long as required by tax, accounting, and other legal obligations, generally up to seven years.
Server log data: kept by the hosting provider for a limited period in line with its standard security and operational practices.

Information may be kept longer where needed to comply with a legal obligation, resolve a dispute, or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

8. Security

ZED uses reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, and disclosure. These measures include encrypted connections (HTTPS) for the Website, access controls that limit Client Materials to personnel who need them, written confidentiality obligations for all linguists and project personnel, and secure file transfer options for sensitive materials.

No method of transmission over the internet or method of storage is completely secure, and ordinary email is not a fully secure channel. Individuals who need to send highly sensitive materials are encouraged to contact ZED to arrange a secure transfer method. If a personal data breach occurs, ZED will notify affected clients, individuals, and authorities as required by applicable law.

9. Confidentiality of Client Files

ZED treats all Client Materials and the work products created from them as confidential. ZED uses Client Materials only to provide the Services requested, does not disclose them to anyone other than the personnel and service providers described in Section 5, and does not publish them or use them in marketing without the client's written permission. Linguists and interpreters are bound by confidentiality obligations that continue after their assignment ends. Clients that require a separate non-disclosure agreement, a data processing agreement, or specific handling, storage, or deletion instructions may request one before sending materials.

10. Health Information and HIPAA

ZED provides language services to healthcare organizations and other entities that may be subject to HIPAA. Where ZED creates, receives, maintains, or transmits protected health information on behalf of a covered entity or business associate, ZED handles that information in accordance with a Business Associate Agreement. A Business Associate Agreement is available on request. This statement describes ZED's contractual availability; it is not a certification, as HIPAA does not provide for one.

ZED also handles health information that individuals or other clients supply for translation only to provide the requested Service, and does not sell it or use it for advertising.

11. Cookies and Local Storage

At launch, ZED does not place analytics or advertising cookies on visitors' devices. The Website uses only technologies that are strictly necessary to provide the Website or a feature the visitor has requested. A remembered language preference may be stored in the browser's local storage; this information stays on the visitor's device, is not used to track the visitor, and can be cleared at any time through the browser settings.

Because ZED does not track visitors across websites, the Website does not need to respond differently to "Do Not Track" signals. If ZED introduces analytics or other non-essential technologies in the future, it will update this Privacy Policy and, where the law requires, request consent before using them.

12. Third-Party Services and Links

Google Maps: the map on the Contact Us page is delivered by Google, which receives the visitor's IP address and browser information when a page loads. Google's handling of that information is governed by the Google Privacy Policy. ZED relies on its legitimate interest in presenting the Website consistently across devices.
WhatsApp: the Website offers a link to contact ZED's business number on WhatsApp. Using WhatsApp is optional. Messages sent through WhatsApp are subject to the terms and privacy policy of WhatsApp and its parent company, and ZED receives the information shared in the conversation, such as the sender's name, phone number, and messages.
Social media profiles: the Website links to ZED's profiles on social media platforms. The Website does not embed social media plugins that collect data on page load. When a visitor follows a link, the platform's own privacy policy applies.
Other websites: links to third-party websites are provided for convenience. ZED is not responsible for the privacy practices of websites it does not operate.

13. Children's Privacy

The Website and Services are not directed to children under 16, and ZED does not knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 16 through the Website. If ZED learns that it has collected such information without appropriate authorization, it will delete it. Documents concerning minors, such as birth certificates or school records, may be submitted for translation by a parent, legal guardian, or authorized organization; ZED processes those documents only to provide the requested Service. Concerns about a child's information may be raised using the contact details in Section 18.

14. Privacy Rights

Depending on where an individual lives, applicable law may provide the rights described below. These rights are subject to conditions and exceptions set by law.

14.1 European Economic Area and United Kingdom

Under the GDPR and the UK GDPR, individuals have the right to:

access their personal information and receive a copy of it;
have inaccurate or incomplete personal information corrected;
have personal information erased in certain circumstances;
restrict the processing of their personal information in certain circumstances;
receive personal information they provided in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and have it transmitted to another controller (data portability);
object to processing based on legitimate interests and, at any time, to processing for direct marketing;
withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent; and
lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the country of their habitual residence, place of work, or place of the alleged infringement. In the United Kingdom, this is the Information Commissioner's Office.

14.2 California

To the extent the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (together, the "CCPA"), applies to ZED, California residents have the rights described in this section. This Privacy Policy serves as ZED's notice at collection.

In the preceding 12 months, ZED has collected the following categories of personal information, from the sources and for the business purposes described in Sections 2 and 3:

Identifiers: such as name, email address, telephone number, and IP address.
Customer records described in California Civil Code Section 1798.80(e): such as name, address, telephone number, and billing information.
Commercial information: such as Services requested, quotes, and transaction records.
Internet or other electronic network activity information: such as server log data.
Professional or employment-related information: such as company name and job role.
Sensitive personal information: only as contained in files that individuals or clients choose to submit, such as government identification numbers, immigration records, or health information.

ZED discloses each of these categories for business purposes to the service providers, contractors, and linguists described in Section 5, and keeps each category for the periods described in Section 7. ZED has not sold or shared personal information, as those terms are defined by the CCPA, in the preceding 12 months, and has no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of consumers under 16. ZED uses and discloses sensitive personal information only for purposes permitted by the CCPA, such as providing the Services requested, and not to infer characteristics about consumers.

California residents have the right to:

know what personal information ZED has collected about them, including the categories of personal information, its sources, the purposes for collecting it, the categories of third parties to whom it is disclosed, and the specific pieces of personal information collected;
request deletion of their personal information;
request correction of inaccurate personal information;
opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (ZED does not sell or share personal information);
limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information (ZED uses such information only for permitted purposes); and
not receive discriminatory treatment for exercising any of these rights.

ZED treats a Global Privacy Control signal as a valid request to opt out of sale and sharing. An authorized agent may submit a request on a California resident's behalf with written permission signed by that resident, and ZED may ask the resident to verify their identity directly. California residents may also request information about disclosures of personal information to third parties for those third parties' direct marketing purposes; ZED makes no such disclosures.

14.3 Other U.S. States

Residents of other states with comprehensive consumer privacy laws, such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, and others, may have the right to confirm whether ZED processes their personal information, to access, correct, and delete it, to obtain a portable copy, and to opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal information, and profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects. ZED does not engage in targeted advertising, sale, or such profiling.

If ZED declines to act on a request, the individual may appeal the decision by emailing info@zedloc.com with the subject line "Privacy Appeal." ZED will respond to the appeal within the period required by applicable law. If the appeal is denied, the individual may contact the attorney general of their state.

14.4 Other Jurisdictions

Individuals in other jurisdictions may have similar rights under their local laws. ZED will respond to those requests in accordance with the law that applies.

15. How to Exercise Privacy Rights

To make a request, email info@zedloc.com with the subject line "Privacy Request." The request should describe the right being exercised and include enough information for ZED to locate the relevant records.

Verification: ZED will take reasonable steps to verify the requester's identity before acting, which may include matching information already held. ZED uses information provided for verification only for that purpose.
Timing: ZED responds within the period required by applicable law, for example within one month under the GDPR and the UK GDPR, or within 45 days under the CCPA. These periods may be extended where the law allows, and ZED will explain the reason for any extension.
Fees: requests are handled free of charge, unless they are manifestly unfounded or excessive, in which case ZED may charge a reasonable fee or decline the request as permitted by law.
Client Materials: requests about personal information in materials supplied by an organization will be forwarded to that organization, and ZED will assist it as required.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

ZED may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in its practices, the Website, or applicable law. The updated version will be posted on this page with a new effective date. Where changes are material, ZED will provide additional notice as appropriate, and, where the law requires, will seek consent.

17. Language

This Privacy Policy is available in English and Arabic. If there is any inconsistency between the two versions, the English version prevails to the extent permitted by applicable law.

18. Contact ZED

Questions, requests, or complaints about this Privacy Policy or ZED's privacy practices may be directed to:

ZED Localization, 7901 4th Street North, Suite 300, St. Petersburg, FL 33702, United States
Email: info@zedloc.com