Privacy Policy | HB Web Development

01 Who We Are

HB Web Development is a sole trader business based in Ashford, Kent, providing web design, web development, and SEO services to clients across the UK.

Business name: HB Web Development
Location: Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom
Email: info@hbwebdevelopment.co.uk
Phone: 07496 060776

For the purposes of UK data protection law, HB Web Development is the data controller for personal information collected through this website.

02 What Information We Collect

We may collect the following personal information when you use our website or contact us:

Contact information such as your name, email address, and phone number when you submit a contact form or enquire about our services.
Project details you voluntarily provide when describing your requirements.
Technical data such as your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on the site, collected automatically via cookies and analytics tools.
Communication records including emails and messages you send to us.

We do not collect sensitive personal data (such as health information or financial data) through this website.

03 How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to your enquiries and provide the services you have requested.
To manage our business relationship with you as a client.
To improve our website and services based on how visitors use the site.
To comply with legal obligations.
To send you relevant information about our services where you have given consent or where we have a legitimate business interest.

We will never sell your personal data to third parties or use it for purposes unrelated to the services you have contacted us about.

04 Cookies

Our website uses cookies to improve your experience. A cookie is a small text file stored on your device when you visit a website.

We use the following types of cookies:

Essential cookies: Required for the website to function correctly. These cannot be disabled.
Analytics cookies: Help us understand how visitors interact with our website so we can improve the experience. We may use tools such as Google Analytics for this purpose.
Preference cookies: Remember your settings and choices, such as accessibility preferences.

When you first visit our website, you will be asked to accept or decline non-essential cookies. You can change your preference at any time by clearing your browser cookies and revisiting the site.

You can also manage or disable cookies in your browser settings. Disabling certain cookies may affect how the website functions.

05 Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal grounds under UK GDPR:

Contract: To fulfil a contract with you or take steps to enter into a contract.
Legitimate interests: To operate and improve our business where this does not override your rights.
Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent, for example when accepting analytics cookies.
Legal obligation: Where we are required to process your data to comply with the law.

06 Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information with trusted third parties only where necessary to deliver our services, including:

Email and communication providers used to manage correspondence.
Analytics providers such as Google Analytics, which may process data in accordance with their own privacy policies.
Hosting providers that store and serve our website.

All third parties we work with are required to handle your data securely and in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

07 Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law.

Contact enquiry data is retained for up to 2 years unless you become a client, in which case it is retained for the duration of our business relationship and up to 6 years afterward for legal and accounting purposes.
Analytics data is retained in accordance with the analytics provider's data retention settings.

08 Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right to access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: Request that we delete your personal data where there is no legitimate reason to continue processing it.
Right to restriction: Ask us to restrict processing of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: Request your data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@hbwebdevelopment.co.uk. We will respond within 30 days.

09 Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. These include secure email communication, limited data access, and use of reputable third-party platforms.

While we take all reasonable steps, no method of data transmission over the internet is 100% secure. If you have concerns about the security of your data, please contact us directly.

10 Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to make a complaint to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

ICO website: ico.org.uk
ICO helpline: 0303 123 1113

We would appreciate the opportunity to resolve any concerns directly before you contact the ICO, so please reach out to us first.

11 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Any updates will be posted on this page with a revised date at the top. We encourage you to check this page periodically.

If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us at info@hbwebdevelopment.co.uk.