Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: September 4, 2026
1. Overview
IBM Storage Field Companion (“the Application”) is an IBM Internal productivity tool built to help IBM Storage sales engineers prepare for customer engagements. It is not an official IBM Corporation product. Access is restricted to IBM employees authenticating via IBM w3id SSO.
This Privacy Policy describes what data is collected, how it is stored, and how it is used. By accessing the Application you acknowledge this policy.
2. Who Can Access This Application
Access is limited exclusively to IBM employees with valid IBM w3id credentials. No external users, contractors without IBM w3id accounts, or non-IBM parties are permitted. The application enforces this at the authentication layer — only @ibm.com email addresses can be provisioned.
3. Data We Collect and Store
3.1 Account Data (from IBM w3id SSO)
On first sign-in, the Application receives your IBM display name, IBM email address, and an opaque IBM SSO subject identifier. This is stored in our database to identify your account and personalise your workspace. No passwords are stored — authentication is handled entirely by IBM's identity provider.
3.2 Customer Account Data You Enter
You may enter information about your customer accounts: company names, industry, website, account summaries, current environment details, strategic initiatives, meeting notes, and contacts. This data is stored in a private database and is associated with your user account. It is classified Customer Confidential and is never shared with third-party AI providers except in the aggregate de-identified form described in §4.
3.3 Intelligence Signals
The Application fetches publicly available news articles about companies you watch using third-party search APIs (Tavily Search, Google News RSS). Article titles, URLs, and publication dates are stored and associated with your watched accounts. Only public information is fetched — no proprietary or non-public data sources are used.
3.4 AI-Generated Content
AI-generated summaries (briefings) are produced using IBM watsonx and stored alongside your account data. These are classified IBM Internal. AI-generated analysis of public news articles may also be produced using the Groq API — in this case only the public article text is sent to Groq; no customer-confidential data is transmitted.
3.5 Usage and Digest Data
The Application records when your daily email digest was last sent (digestSentAt). Standard server-side logs (error logs, request logs) may be retained for debugging purposes.
4. Third-Party Services and Data Boundaries
The Application integrates with the following external services. Data sent to each service is strictly limited as described:
| Service | Purpose | Data Sent | What Is NOT Sent |
|---|---|---|---|
| IBM watsonx | AI briefing generation | Customer industry, account context (summaries, initiatives), public article titles | Customer name, contacts, meeting notes |
| Groq | Public article analysis | Public news article text only | Any customer-confidential data |
| Tavily Search | News signal fetching | Company name / search query (public information) | Account details, contacts, internal data |
| AWS SES | Daily email digest | Your IBM email, AI digest text (IBM Internal), public signal titles | Customer-confidential fields, meeting notes, contacts |
| IBM w3id | Authentication | OIDC authentication flow only | No application data is sent to IBM w3id |
5. Data Classification
All data handled by the Application is classified according to the following scheme:
- Public — Publicly available news articles and signals. May be processed by any permitted third-party service.
- IBM Internal — AI-generated briefings and digest content. Shared only with IBM employees via IBM w3id–gated access or @ibm.com email. Never sent to non-IBM external parties.
- Customer Confidential — Account summaries, current environment, strategic initiatives, meeting notes, contacts. Stored in the private database only; never transmitted to external AI providers with customer name attached.
- Personal — Your IBM name, email, and IANA timezone. Timezone is detected from your browser on first login and used only to schedule your digest email at 9 AM your local time. You can update it at any time in your profile settings.
6. Data Retention and Deletion
Your data is retained for as long as your account is active. You may request deletion of your account and all associated data by contacting the application administrator. Intelligence signals older than 90 days may be pruned automatically. No data is sold or shared with marketing parties.
7. Email Communications
The Application may send a daily intelligence digest email to your @ibm.com address at approximately 9 AM in your local timezone. Your timezone is detected from your browser automatically and stored on your account. This email is classified IBM Internal, contains only AI-generated summaries and public news signal titles, and includes an “IBM Internal — Not for External Distribution” banner. You can update your timezone or opt out of digest emails via your profile settings. Emails are sent only to verified IBM addresses.
8. Security
Access is protected by IBM w3id SSO. The database is hosted on a private server with restricted network access. All data in transit uses TLS. AWS credentials used for email are scoped toses:SendEmail only. The application does not store any IBM w3id tokens beyond what is needed for the active session.
9. Your Rights
As an IBM employee you retain rights over your personal data under applicable law (including GDPR where applicable). You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of your data by contacting the application administrator. For IBM-managed data handling obligations, refer to IBM's internal data privacy policies.
10. Changes to This Policy
This policy may be updated as the Application evolves. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent revision. Continued use of the Application after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact
Questions about this policy should be directed to the application administrator via internal IBM channels. This Application is not an official IBM product and questions should not be directed to IBM Corporation support channels.