Privacy & Legal Notice

Transparency First

This page explains, in plain language, what information this portfolio website collects, how it is used, and your choices. The goal is clarity: no third-party analytics trackers, no cookies walls, and no server-side form storage.

Privacy Notice

1. Who is responsible for this website

This website is operated by Muhammad Rutaab Ali as a personal portfolio. Contact for any privacy or legal questions:

• Email: rutaabali3@gmail.com
• Website: https://rutaabali3-portfolio.vercel.app/

2. Data the website collects automatically

This static portfolio site is hosted on Vercel. As with most web hosts, Vercel's infrastructure may record standard server-log entries during a visit, including: visitor IP address, request timestamp, requested URL, referrer, and User-Agent string. These logs are used for brief-term operational and abuse-detection purposes and are governed by Vercel's Privacy Policy ↗.

No Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Hotjar, or other third-party tracking scripts are embedded on this website. The site sets no marketing, advertising, or analytics cookies.

3. Contact form — exactly how it works

The contact form on this site does not submit data to a backend, database, or third-party form service. Instead, it works entirely in the visitor's browser:

1. You enter your name, email address, and a message into the form.
2. When you click Send, the page reads the values locally in your browser using JavaScript.
3. The page opens a new tab to mail.google.com with a pre-filled email draft addressed to rutaabali3@gmail.com, using the mailto: / Gmail compose URL pattern.
4. Nothing is transmitted until you press "Send" inside Gmail yourself.

In short: the form never sends the data anywhere by itself. The content only reaches me if and when you choose to send the draft email from your own email account. If you abandon the draft, no submission has occurred.

4. Chat assistant

The optional “Ask Rutaab” widget sends the message you type to a serverless function on Vercel, which then calls Groq to generate a reply. Replies are grounded in this portfolio’s published content. Messages are not stored in a database on this site. Groq and Vercel may process the request under their own privacy policies (Groq Privacy Policy ↗). Do not send passwords or sensitive personal data in the chat.

5. Retention of messages you send

If you choose to send the completed email, the message is stored in standard email storage at the email providers involved (yours and mine — e.g., Gmail). I keep project-related correspondence for as long as the project or legitimate business need requires, and longer only when required by law. To request access to, correction of, or deletion of any message you have sent to me, email rutaabali3@gmail.com.

6. Cookies and local storage

• This portfolio uses no authentication, no shopping basket, and no personalization layer that writes cookies.
• The optional page loader and navbar JavaScript do not persist data to localStorage or sessionStorage for tracking purposes.
• Third-party CDNs used (Google Fonts, jsDelivr / Bootstrap Icons) may set their own cookies per their providers' policies when their resources are fetched.

7. External links

This site links to external destinations (GitHub, Vercel, learning portals, social profiles, and other third-party sites). These destinations have their own privacy and legal terms — please review them when you visit.

8. Your rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or port personal information that is processed about you. Because this website does not operate a database that stores submissions from the site, most requests can be resolved simply by emailing me at rutaabali3@gmail.com.

Terms of Use

9. Content ownership

Unless otherwise noted, the blog articles, portfolio copy, project case studies, learning-world content, and selected graphics on this website are authored by Muhammad Rutaab Ali and are provided for informational, portfolio-display, and educational purposes. You may quote or link to them with attribution; you may not republish full articles or substantial portions without prior written permission. Trademarks, logos, and brand marks of third parties shown in the "Tech stack" grid remain the property of their respective owners.

10. No warranty

All content on this site is provided "as is" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Advice in blog posts reflects personal experience and is offered as general information, not professional or legal advice tailored to your specific circumstances.

11. Liability limitation

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Muhammad Rutaab Ali shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your access to, use of, or inability to use this website or its content, including any external links.

12. Changes to this page

I may update this Privacy & Legal page from time to time to reflect site changes, new features, or legal requirements. Changes will be posted here with a revised "Last updated" date at the top of the page.