Last updated 10 October 2026
Privacy Policy
The Oktane is built to collect as little as possible. There are no accounts, no forms, no analytics and no advertising. This policy explains, in full, the little we do process and why.
This Privacy Policy is for Oktay Caglikasap, doing business as The Oktane ("we", "us" or "our"). It describes how and why we may access, collect, store, use and share ("process") your personal information when you use our services ("Services"), including when you:
- visit our website at www.theoktane.co, including The Pass and the Inside Hospitality podcast pages, or any website of ours that links to this policy;
- contact us by email.
The Oktane is a personal hospitality brand website featuring the Inside Hospitality podcast and The Pass, a free library of practical guides for hospitality professionals.
Questions or concerns? We are responsible for deciding how your personal information is processed. If you have any questions, please contact us at contact@theoktane.com.
Summary of Key Points
- What we process. Your name and email address if you email us, and technical information (such as your IP address and browser type) that our hosting and font providers receive automatically when you visit.
- Sensitive information. We do not process sensitive personal information.
- Information from third parties. We do not collect information about you from other sources.
- How we use it. To deliver and secure the website, and to reply to you.
- Sharing. Only with the service providers that run the website and our email. We do not sell your information or share it for advertising.
- Your rights. You can ask us at any time what we hold about you, and ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing contact@theoktane.com.
1. What Information Do We Collect?
Information you give us
In short: only what you choose to send us by email.
The website has no accounts, sign-ups or forms. If you email us at contact@theoktane.com or podcast@theoktane.com, we receive your name, your email address and whatever you choose to include in your message. Please only share what is needed for your enquiry.
Sensitive information. We do not process sensitive information.
Information collected automatically
In short: basic technical information is received automatically when you visit.
When you visit, our hosting provider (Cloudflare) and our font provider (Google Fonts) automatically receive technical information needed to deliver the website and keep it secure. This may include:
- Log and usage data: your IP address, browser type and settings, the pages and files requested, and the date and time of the request.
- Device data: the type of device, operating system and browser you use.
This information does not reveal your name or contact details. We do not use it for analytics, profiling or advertising.
2. The Pass: Tools That Stay on Your Device
The Pass, our free library for hospitality professionals, works without collecting personal information. You do not need an account to use it.
- Practice tools. The Term of the Day and Guest Scenarios tickets remember the section you last chose and your practice streak (the days you practised and how many terms you have revealed). This is stored only in your browser's local storage on your own device. It is never sent to us or anyone else, and you can remove it at any time by clearing your browser's site data.
- Pre-Shift Briefing sheet. Nothing you type into the briefing sheet is saved or sent anywhere, including on your own device. It exists only while the page is open and is erased when you close or refresh it. Please do not enter guests' full names, contact details or other identifying information; refer to guests by table and seat number instead.
- Links to other services. Our website links to Apple Podcasts, Spotify and LinkedIn. These links share no information with those services until you choose to visit them; once you do, their own privacy policies apply.
3. How Do We Process Your Information?
In short: to run the website, keep it safe, and reply to you.
- To deliver the Services. Your device's technical information is needed to send the website to your browser.
- To respond to your enquiries. We use your name and email address to reply to messages you send us.
- To protect our Services. Our hosting provider uses technical information to keep the website secure, for example to block attacks and abusive traffic.
- To protect vital interests. Where necessary to prevent harm to any person.
We do not send marketing or promotional emails, and we do not use your information for any other purpose without your consent.
4. What Legal Bases Do We Rely On?
If you are in the EU or UK
The GDPR and UK GDPR require us to explain the legal bases we rely on:
- Consent. Where you have given us permission for a specific purpose. You can withdraw it at any time by contacting us.
- Performance of a contract. Where processing is needed to provide the Services you request, or to take steps at your request.
- Legitimate interests. To diagnose problems and prevent fraudulent or abusive activity on the website, where this does not override your interests and rights.
- Legal obligations. Where we must comply with the law, for example to cooperate with a regulator or law enforcement body, or to establish or defend legal claims.
- Vital interests. Where necessary to protect the safety of any person.
If you are in Canada
We process your information with your express or implied consent, which you can withdraw at any time, or where the law otherwise permits, for example for fraud prevention, to comply with a court order, or where it is clearly in your interests and consent cannot be obtained in time.
5. When and With Whom Do We Share It?
In short: only with the service providers that run the website and our email.
We share information only with service providers that work on our behalf, under terms that require them to protect it and use it only to provide their service to us:
| Provider | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Cloudflare, Inc. | Website hosting and security |
| Google LLC (Google Fonts) | Delivering the website's typefaces |
| Our email hosting provider | Receiving and storing emails sent to contact@ and podcast@theoktane.com |
We may also share information if required by law, or in connection with a merger, sale, financing or acquisition of all or part of our business.
We do not sell your personal information, share it for targeted advertising, or disclose it to business partners or affiliates.
6. Cookies and Similar Technologies
In short: we use no cookies and no tracking.
The website does not use cookies, analytics, advertising, tracking pixels or social media plugins, and we do not allow third parties to place tracking technologies on it. The only storage we use is the browser local storage described in section 2, which stays on your device and remembers your choices in The Pass. Because nothing is used to track you, no cookie banner is needed.
7. International Transfers
In short: your information may be processed outside your country.
We are based in the United Arab Emirates, and our service providers are located in the United States. Your information may therefore be processed in the United Arab Emirates, the United States and other countries where our providers operate.
If you are in the EEA, UK or Switzerland, these countries may not have data protection laws as comprehensive as yours. Where our service providers process your information, transfers are protected by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses included in their terms. Details are available on request.
8. How Long Do We Keep It?
We keep your personal information only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy, and no longer than 1 year after our last contact with you, unless the law requires a longer period. Technical logs are kept by our hosting provider for a much shorter time under its own policies. When information is no longer needed, we delete it.
9. How Do We Keep It Safe?
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) for the whole website and secured accounts with our service providers. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Minors
The Services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect information from, or market to, anyone under 18 or the equivalent age in your jurisdiction. If you believe we have received information from a minor, please contact us at contact@theoktane.com and we will delete it.
11. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live, including the EEA, UK, Switzerland, Canada and many US states, you may have the right to:
- access and obtain a copy of your personal information;
- correct or delete it;
- restrict or object to its processing;
- data portability, where applicable;
- withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting processing that took place before;
- not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing. We do not make such decisions.
We honour these requests for everyone, wherever you live. To make a request, email contact@theoktane.com. We will reply within 30 days and may ask you to confirm your identity first, for example by replying from the same email address.
If you are in the EEA or UK and are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to your national data protection authority or the UK Information Commissioner's Office. In Switzerland, you can contact the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner. We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first.
12. Do-Not-Track Signals
Some browsers send a "Do-Not-Track" or Global Privacy Control signal. Because we do not track you, sell your information or share it for advertising, there is nothing for these signals to switch off.
13. United States Residents
If you live in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah or Virginia, you have rights to know, access, correct, obtain a copy of and delete your personal information, and not to be discriminated against for using these rights.
Categories collected in the past 12 months
| Category | Examples | Collected |
|---|---|---|
| A. Identifiers | Email address, IP address | Yes |
| B. California Customer Records information | Name | Yes |
| C. Protected classification characteristics | Age, gender, nationality | No |
| D. Commercial information | Purchases, payments | No |
| E. Biometric information | Fingerprints, voiceprints | No |
| F. Internet or network activity | Pages requested on our website | Yes |
| G. Geolocation data | Device location | No |
| H. Audio, electronic or sensory information | Recordings | No |
| I. Professional or employment information | Job history | No |
| J. Education information | Student records | No |
| K. Inferences | Profiles of preferences | No |
| L. Sensitive personal information | Health, finances, government IDs | No |
We keep categories A, B and F for no longer than 1 year. We have disclosed these categories only to the service providers listed in section 5. We have not sold or shared any personal information in the past 12 months.
How to exercise your rights. Email contact@theoktane.com. You may use an authorised agent, who will need your signed permission. Appeals: if we decline your request, you can appeal by emailing the same address; we will respond in writing with our reasons, and if your appeal is denied you may contact your state attorney general.
California "Shine the Light". California residents may request, once a year, information about personal information disclosed to third parties for their direct marketing. We do not disclose personal information for direct marketing.
14. Updates to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we add new features. The "Last updated" date at the top will show when it last changed. We encourage you to check it occasionally.
15. Contact Us
For questions about this policy, or to review, update or delete your information, email contact@theoktane.com.
The Oktane
Dubai, United Arab Emirates