AKASHA INNOVATION HUB

• Cancel

PRIVACY POLICY
AKASHA Innovation Hub Limited
Version 2.0
Effective Date: 8 November 2026
Last Updated: 8 November 2026
1. INTRODUCTION
AKASHA Innovation Hub Limited ("we", "us", "our", or "AKASHA") respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you visit our website at www.akasha.ie ("Website") or use our services, including incubation, consultancy and our blockchain forensics and compliance practice, AKASHA Forensics.
We are a company registered in Ireland with company number 654651 and our registered office is at 72 Francis Street, Dublin 8, Ireland. We are the data controller responsible for your personal data.
This Privacy Policy is written to meet the requirements of:
The General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR)
The Data Protection Act 2018 (Ireland)
The ePrivacy Directive 2002/58/EC (as amended)
The European Communities (Electronic Communications Networks and Services) (Privacy and Electronic Communications) Regulations 2011 (S.I. No. 336 of 2011)
2. DATA PROTECTION CONTACT
Questions about this Privacy Policy or our use of personal data should be sent to our data protection contact.
Contact Details:
Email: [email protected]
Postal Address: Data Protection, AKASHA Innovation Hub Limited, 72 Francis Street, Dublin 8, Ireland
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Data Protection Commission (DPC), the Irish supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.dataprotection.ie). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the DPC.
3. INFORMATION WE COLLECT
We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you:
3.1 Identity Data
First name, last name, title
Company/organisation name
Job title/role
3.2 Contact Data
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
3.3 Technical Data
Internet Protocol (IP) address
Browser type and version
Time zone setting and location
Operating system and platform
Device information
3.4 Usage Data
Information about how you use our Website, products, and services
Pages visited, time spent on pages, page interaction information
Referral source (how you arrived at our Website)
3.5 Marketing and Communications Data
Your preferences in receiving marketing from us
Your communication preferences
Records of your correspondence with us
3.6 Service-Related Data
Information provided in enquiry forms or applications, including the subject and message you send through our contact form
Details of services you are interested in
Information relevant to incubation/acceleration applications
Consultancy service requirements
Information you give us about a forensic, investigation or compliance matter, such as what happened, transaction details, wallet addresses, exchange accounts and supporting documents
3.7 Data Processed in Forensic and Compliance Work
When we carry out forensic, investigation or compliance work for a client, we may process personal data about people who are not our clients, such as counterparties, company officers or account holders. This data comes from information our client provides, from public blockchain records and from public registers. Section 7 explains how we handle it.
3.8 Special Categories of Data
We do not generally collect special categories of personal data (such as data concerning health, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, genetic or biometric data, or data concerning sex life or sexual orientation). If we do process such data, we will do so only where the law allows it, for example with your explicit consent or where it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, and with appropriate safeguards.
4. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We use different methods to collect data from and about you:
4.1 Direct Interactions
You may provide data by:
Filling in forms on our Website (contact forms, application forms, consultancy or forensics enquiries)
Corresponding with us by post, phone, email, or otherwise
Subscribing to our newsletters or publications
Requesting marketing materials
Applying for our programmes or services
Attending our events or webinars
4.2 Automated Technologies
As you interact with our Website, we may automatically collect Technical Data and Usage Data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns using:
Cookies set by Google Analytics (see Section 14)
Server logs kept by our hosting and network providers
4.3 Third Parties and Public Sources
We may receive personal data about you from:
Analytics providers such as Google
Publicly available sources, such as the Companies Registration Office, other company registers, public blockchain records and LinkedIn
Our clients, where you are connected to a matter we have been instructed on
Business partners and subcontractors
Referral partners who recommend our services
5. LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING
Under GDPR, we must have a legal basis to process your personal data. The legal bases we rely on are:
Responding to your enquiries: performance of a contract or pre-contractual steps at your request
Providing consultancy and forensic services to our clients: performance of a contract
Processing personal data of people who are not our clients in forensic and compliance work: legitimate interests (our client's interest in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims and in preventing fraud), or legal obligation
Processing applications for programmes: performance of a contract or legitimate interests
Website operation and security: legitimate interests (network and information security)
Marketing communications: consent or legitimate interests (B2B marketing)
Website analytics: consent or legitimate interests
Legal compliance: legal obligation
Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims: legitimate interests
6. HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We use your personal data only when the law allows, most commonly:
6.1 Service Provision
To respond to your enquiries and provide information about our services
To process applications for our incubation, acceleration, or consultancy programmes
To deliver consultancy and forensic services you have requested
To manage our relationship with you, including notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy
6.2 Website and Technical
To administer and protect our business and Website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting, and hosting of data)
To use data analytics to improve our Website, products/services, marketing, customer relationships, and experiences
6.3 Marketing and Communications
To make suggestions and recommendations to you about services that may be of interest to you
To send you newsletters, event invitations, and updates about the blockchain/DLT ecosystem
To conduct market research and analysis
6.4 Legal and Compliance
To comply with legal obligations (e.g., tax, accounting, anti-money laundering or regulatory requirements)
To establish, exercise, or defend our legal rights
7. FORENSIC AND COMPLIANCE SERVICES
When we carry out forensic, investigation or compliance work, we may process personal data contained in information our clients provide, in public blockchain records and in public registers. We process this data to perform our contract with the client, to comply with legal obligations, or for the legitimate interests of our client in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims and in preventing or investigating fraud.
We collect only what the engagement needs. We keep it only for as long as the engagement and any related legal proceedings require, and we share it only with the client and their professional advisers, with courts, or with law enforcement and regulators where our client instructs us to or the law requires.
Where informing the people concerned would seriously impair the purpose of the investigation or prejudice legal proceedings, we may rely on the exemptions available under Article 14(5) GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. We assess this case by case.
We never contact victims of fraud or theft first. If someone claiming to be AKASHA contacts you about recovering funds, it is not us. Please report it to [email protected].
8. DATA RETENTION
We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes we collected it for, including legal, accounting and reporting requirements.
Typical Retention Periods:
Enquiry data: 2 years from last interaction
Programme applicants: 3 years from application date
Client/consultancy data: 7 years (to comply with Irish tax/accounting laws)
Forensic case files: 6 years from the end of the engagement, or longer while related legal proceedings are ongoing
Marketing consent records: Until consent is withdrawn, then 2 years
Website analytics: up to 14 months (our Google Analytics retention setting)
9. DATA SECURITY
We use appropriate security measures to protect your personal data, including:
Encryption of data in transit (TLS/SSL)
Password protection and access controls
Restricting forensic case files to the people working on the matter
Regular security reviews
Only people with a business need can access your data, and they are bound by confidentiality. We will notify you and the Data Protection Commission of a personal data breach where the law requires.
10. DATA SHARING AND THIRD PARTIES
We may share your personal data with the following categories of recipients:
10.1 Service Providers
Website hosting and network providers (Carrd, Cloudflare)
Website fonts (Google Fonts), which receive your IP address when the Website loads
Analytics providers (Google Analytics)
Email and productivity providers
Blockchain analytics and investigation tool providers used in forensic work
Professional advisers (lawyers, bankers, auditors, insurers)
Email marketing services (if applicable)
10.2 AKASHA Network and Partners
Other independent AKASHA hubs (for networking and referral purposes)
Partner organisations delivering joint programmes
Mentors and advisors participating in our programmes (limited information only)
10.3 Clients and Their Advisers
In forensic and compliance work, our client and their professional advisers (see Section 7)
10.4 Legal and Regulatory
Regulatory authorities (e.g., Data Protection Commission)
Law enforcement agencies (where required by law or where our client instructs us to report)
Courts and legal advisors (to establish, exercise, or defend legal rights)
10.5 Business Transfers
If we are involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your personal data may transfer as part of that transaction. We will tell you of any change in ownership or use of your data.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
11. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
Some of our service providers are based outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Where we transfer personal data outside the EEA, we rely on a European Commission adequacy decision (including the EU-US Data Privacy Framework) or Standard Contractual Clauses. Contact us for details of the safeguard used.
12. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS
Under the GDPR you have the right to:
Access the personal data we hold about you (Article 15)
Have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected (Article 16)
Have your data erased where there is no good reason for us to keep it (Article 17)
Restrict our processing in certain circumstances (Article 18)
Receive your data in a portable format where processing is based on consent or contract (Article 20)
Object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing at any time (Article 21)
Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting earlier processing
Complain to the Data Protection Commission (see Section 2)
Some of these rights are not absolute and may be restricted where the law allows, for example where we must keep data by law, need it for legal claims, or where disclosure would prejudice an investigation or legal proceedings.
13. EXERCISING YOUR RIGHTS
Contact us using the details in Section 2. We may ask for information to confirm your identity before we act on a request. We aim to respond within one month, and will tell you if a complex request needs longer.
14. COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES
Our Website uses Google Analytics, provided by Google Ireland Limited, to understand how visitors use the Website. Google Analytics sets the following cookies:
_ga: distinguishes visitors (expires after 2 years)
Session cookie (named _ga plus our site ID): keeps track of the session (expires after 2 years)
These cookies collect information such as pages visited, time on site, approximate location and device type.
You can block or delete cookies through your browser settings, or install the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on (tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout). Blocking these cookies does not affect your use of the Website.
15. THIRD-PARTY LINKS
Our Website links to third-party websites, including our social media accounts. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for their privacy practices. Please read their privacy policies.
16. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY
Our Website and services are not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect their personal data, and will delete it if we learn we have.
17. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by email. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.
Version history: 1.0 published 18 February 2025. 2.0 published 8 November 2026 (added forensic and compliance services, updated cookies, service providers and retention periods).
18. CONTACT US
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:
AKASHA Innovation Hub Limited
72 Francis Street, Dublin 8
Dublin, Ireland
Email: [email protected]