At Smart Yachts, we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about people who visit our website, how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.
Any questions regarding this policy and our privacy practices should be sent by email to sales@smartyachts.com or by writing to 2, Avenue de la Madone; Block A, 5th floor, Office 5A4, 98000 Monaco. Alternatively, you can telephone +33 7 89 31 82 62.
1. Who we are (controller)
Smart Yachts SARL ("we", "us", "our") is the data controller for the processing described in this notice.
Registered address: 2, Avenue de la Madone; Block A, 5th floor, Office 5A4, 98000 Monaco.
Contact: sales@smartyachts.com / +33 7 89 31 82 62.
Regulator in Monaco: Autorité de Protection des Données Personnelles (APDP). You may lodge a complaint with the APDP if you believe your rights have been infringed. If you are an EU resident, you may also contact your local supervisory authority in the EU.
2. Scope
This notice explains how we collect and use personal data when you:
- visit www.smartyachts.com and related pages,
- submit enquiries about yachts, brokerage or charter through any form on the Site,
- use the Site's AI-powered features (AI search, yacht assistant, comparison and estimate tools),
- subscribe to newsletters and marketing updates, where offered,
- interact with us on social media or at events,
- apply for roles (including captains and crew).
For cookies and similar technologies, see our separate Cookie policy.
3. Categories of personal data we process
- Identification and contact: name, email, phone, country, company or role.
- Enquiry and deal data: the message you write, the page and, where relevant, the yacht your enquiry concerns, the broker or brokers you asked us to have contact you, yacht preferences, budget, timeline, and our communications history with you. Where you use the estimate tool, this includes the details you enter about a yacht.
- AI query data: the text of the questions you type into the Site's AI features, the answer shown to you, the page you asked from and, where detected, the language of your question.
- Technical data: your IP address and basic request information, processed to operate and secure the Site (for example rate limiting and abuse prevention). Audience measurement is described in the Cookie policy; preferences such as saved yachts are stored only in your own browser and are not transmitted to us (see the Cookie policy).
- Marketing preferences: newsletter topics and interests (for example yachts for sale, charter, special offers).
- Recruitment (applicants and captains): CV details, qualifications and licences, experience, references, communications.
- Media: photos or videos you provide or allow us to use (separate consent or release where applicable).
- Usage data, only if you allow "Analytics" in the cookie banner: pages viewed, the referring page, coarse device and country information, and a random identifier stored in a cookie, collected through Google Analytics 4 as described in section 4 of the Cookie Policy.
We do not intentionally collect special categories of data unless you voluntarily provide them (for example medical information in recruitment). If provided, we will process them only where lawful and necessary.
4. Purposes and legal bases
We process data for the following purposes and legal bases under Monaco Law n° 1.565 and, where applicable, the GDPR:
- Respond to your enquiries and provide brokerage and charter services (contract or pre-contract measures, and legitimate interests);
- Manage client and lead relationships in our internal systems (legitimate interests);
- Provide the Site's AI features, keep a record of the questions asked so we can operate, secure and improve those features, and prevent abuse of them (legitimate interests);
- Send newsletters and updates you subscribed to, and personalise content based on your interests (consent; you can unsubscribe at any time);
- Operate and secure our website and services, including rate limiting (legitimate interests; in limited cases legal obligation);
- Handle recruitment, including captain applications (legitimate interests to assess candidates; where required, consent for optional information);
- Meet legal, accounting and compliance obligations, including KYC/AML where applicable (legal obligation and/or public interest as applicable, and legitimate interests).
- Audience measurement with Google Analytics 4. Legal basis: your consent, given in the cookie banner and withdrawable at any time from "Cookie settings" in the footer. Vercel Web Analytics, which sets no cookie, is our legitimate interest in knowing how the Site is used.
Where you select newsletter interests or engage with our emails, we may create simple audience segments to personalise the content you receive (for example yachts for sale, charter, special offers). We rely on consent for such non-essential personalisation. You can withdraw consent or object to profiling for direct marketing at any time (see section 11).
5. Where data comes from
Directly from you (forms, email, phone, events), from your use of the Site's forms and AI features as described in this notice and, if you apply for a role, from references you provide. We may also receive limited business contact data from partners or brokers with whom you have interacted.
6. How your enquiry is handled
When you send a form on this Site (a yacht enquiry, an event registration, an estimate request or the contact step of the AI search), the submission is checked and stored in Smart Yachts' internal enquiry database, where our team works from. The record holds the fields you filled in: your name, email, phone, message, the page and yacht the enquiry concerns, the broker or brokers you selected and, for the estimate tool, the details you entered.
If our database is temporarily unavailable when you submit, your enquiry may instead be delivered by email to a monitored Smart Yachts inbox, via an email delivery provider acting on our instructions, so that your message is not lost. That email contains the same fields you submitted and is handled under this policy in the same way.
The contents of your enquiry are not written into technical server logs.
7. AI features and query logs
Parts of the Site are powered by artificial intelligence: the AI search, the yacht assistant, the comparison tool and the estimate tool. When you use them:
- The text you type is sent to our AI model provider, acting as our processor, to generate the answer shown to you.
- We record the query in a dedicated logs database, separate from our enquiry systems: the question text, the answer shown, the page it was asked from, the detected language where applicable, and technical data including your IP address.
We keep these logs to operate, secure and improve the AI features and to detect and prevent abuse of them (for example automated flooding or attempts to misuse the models). We do not use AI query logs for marketing.
Retention: question text, answers and raw IP addresses are kept for 13 months and then deleted. Beyond that period we may retain only a keyed, one-way hashed identifier derived from the IP address, which does not reveal the address itself and cannot practically be reversed, solely so that repeat abuse can still be recognised.
8. Recipients (who we share with)
We share personal data only as necessary for the purposes described in this notice and subject to appropriate safeguards:
Service providers (processors): hosting and infrastructure, database hosting, the AI model provider that processes your questions to generate answers, email delivery (for the enquiry fallback described in section 6 and for newsletters you subscribed to), and IT security and maintenance. These providers process data solely on our instructions under written agreements and must implement appropriate security measures.
Business partners and counterparties: where you initiate or engage in brokerage or charter discussions, we may share relevant contact and enquiry details with owners, co-brokers or charter managers strictly for pre-contract and contract communications.
Professional advisers and insurers: legal, accounting, audit and insurance services.
Authorities and legal disclosures: where required by law, to protect our rights, prevent fraud, or respond to lawful requests.
International access (transfers) may occur (for example remote support or cloud hosting); see section 9 for the safeguards we use. We do not sell personal data.
Google Ireland Limited, as processor for Google Analytics 4, receives usage data described in section 4 of the Cookie Policy, only if you have allowed "Analytics" in the cookie banner.
9. International transfers
Your data may be accessed from or transferred to countries outside Monaco and the EEA (for example hosting, support, or remote access by staff or contractors).
- We rely on adequacy decisions published by the APDP (Monaco law) where available.
- For transfers to countries without an adequate level of protection, we use contractual safeguards recognised by Monaco Law n° 1.565 (and, where the GDPR applies, the EU Standard Contractual Clauses) and implement additional technical and organisational measures (encryption, access control, need-to-know).
- Remote access from a non-adequate country is treated as a transfer and covered by the safeguards above.
We maintain an internal record of our core processors and transfer safeguards; a high-level overview is available on request at sales@smartyachts.com.
Google Analytics data, if you have allowed it, may be processed by Google in the United States under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and Google's standard contractual clauses.
10. Retention
We keep data only as long as needed for the purpose collected, then delete or anonymise:
- Enquiries and brokerage or charter files: contract term plus up to 5 to 10 years (statutory limitation and finance).
- Leads and newsletter data: until you unsubscribe or after 24 months of no engagement (shorter if required by law).
- AI query logs: question text, answers and raw IP addresses for 13 months, then deleted; a hashed identifier as described in section 7 may be retained beyond that solely for abuse prevention.
- Recruitment (applicants and captains): active process plus 12 to 24 months for future openings (unless you object earlier).
- KYC/AML: per legal requirements.
11. Your rights
Subject to legal limits, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, object (including to direct marketing), and data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time (this will not affect past lawful processing).
To exercise your rights: sales@smartyachts.com. You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time via the link in each email or by contacting us. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the APDP (Monaco) or, if you are in the EU, with your local supervisory authority.
To protect your data, we may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. We aim to respond within one month (this may be extended where permitted due to complexity or number of requests). If we decline your request, we will explain why.
12. Security of personal data
We apply administrative, technical and physical measures appropriate to the risk, including TLS encryption in transit, role-based access, least privilege, logging and monitoring, regular backups, supplier due diligence and contractual security obligations for processors. The website itself connects to our enquiry and log databases through restricted credentials that can only submit records and cannot read anything back out.
If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will inform you without undue delay and take appropriate steps to mitigate the risks, in line with Monaco Law n° 1.565 (and the GDPR where applicable). Whether processing is carried out by us or by our processors and partners, equivalent security and confidentiality requirements apply.
13. Third-party links
Our website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins or social media pages. Clicking those links or enabling such connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party sites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every site you visit.
For cookies and embedded third-party content on our own site, please see our Cookie policy.
14. Children
Our services are not intended for children under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has provided us data, contact sales@smartyachts.com.
15. Changes to this notice
We may update this notice from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website with the effective date. Material changes will be signposted.
How to contact us
Smart Yachts SARL, 2, Avenue de la Madone; Block A, 5th floor, Office 5A4, 98000 Monaco.
Email: sales@smartyachts.com · Tel: +33 7 89 31 82 62.