Privacy Policy

I treat personal data with the same considered discipline I bring to every other dimension of the work. This policy sets out, in plain language, what personal data is collected, why it is collected, how it is held, and the rights you hold as the person it concerns.

1. Who this policy concerns

This policy concerns personal data submitted to the work through:

• The enquiry form at /contact/
• The direct email route [email protected]
• Any other written or digital communication addressed to my office

The data controller is James Won, operating from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2. What personal data is collected

I collect only what is necessary to respond well to your enquiry:

• Name (first name and last name)
• Email address
• Organisation or affiliation (where relevant)
• Country or region
• Enquiry type (Private Dining, Brand, Cultural, Press, Speaking, Editorial, Other)
• Subject and message content
• Preferred response window
• Any additional context you choose to include

I do not collect tracking cookies for marketing purposes. Standard server logs (IP address, browser type, timestamp) may be retained for technical diagnostic purposes for a limited period.

3. Why the data is collected

I collect personal data only to:

• Read and respond to your enquiry
• Hold context for the considered reply your enquiry deserves
• Where you have explicitly agreed, follow up with related information you have asked for

I do not collect personal data to:

• Build a marketing list
• Send unsolicited newsletters
• Profile users for advertising
• Sell or share data with third parties

There is no newsletter. There is no marketing list.

4. How the data is held

Personal data is held on infrastructure operated by reputable service providers (currently Hostinger, Cloudflare, and the email provider serving [email protected]). Data is held only for as long as the purpose requires — typically the duration of the enquiry conversation plus a reasonable record-keeping period for institutional and contractual continuity.

Where an enquiry results in an active engagement (a private dining commission, a brand collaboration, an institutional partnership), the relevant correspondence is retained as standard business record-keeping. Where an enquiry does not progress, the personal data is retained only for the period needed to confirm a courteous decline and to protect against duplicate submissions.

5. Sharing and disclosure

Personal data is not shared with third parties for marketing purposes. Limited disclosure may occur in the following considered circumstances:

• Service providers — email, hosting, and infrastructure providers necessarily process data in the technical sense; they are bound by their own contractual data-protection commitments.
• Legal compliance — where required by law, regulation, or valid legal process.
• Project partners — where you have explicitly agreed, certain enquiry details may be shared with named project partners (for example, a maison co-host or a Sarawak community partner) to allow the considered reply.

Beyond these, personal data is not shared.

6. Your rights under PDPA and GDPR

Under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Malaysia), and where applicable the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (European Union), you hold the following rights:

• Right of access — to know what personal data the work holds about you
• Right of rectification — to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — to request deletion of your personal data, subject to legitimate retention requirements
• Right of restriction — to request limitation of processing in certain circumstances
• Right to object — to object to processing in certain circumstances
• Right to portability — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format

To exercise any of these rights, write to [email protected] with DATA REQUEST in the subject line. I will respond within thirty days.

7. Children

I do not knowingly collect personal data from individuals under sixteen years of age. Enquiries should be submitted by adults; institutional enquiries on behalf of educational programmes should be submitted by the responsible institution.

8. Changes to this policy

This policy may be revised from time to time. Material changes will be reflected in an updated effective date and, where appropriate, by notice on the home page or directly to active correspondents.

This policy is effective from May 2026.

9. Contact for privacy matters

For any question about this policy, or to exercise your rights, write to:

[email protected] Subject: PRIVACY

I read carefully. I reply thoughtfully.