Privacy notice

Who is responsible for your data

The controller is ProAudium Limited, company number 06785185, registered in England. Registered office: c/o Bentley's Chartered Certified Accountants, 5 Hazelgrove Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 3PH. Trading address: Newhaven Enterprise Centre, Denton Island, Newhaven, East Sussex, BN9 9BA.

ProAudium Limited is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a fee-paying controller, registration reference ZA495237. The Data Protection Officer is Nigel Williams: nigel.williams@proaudium.com, 01273 034 630. For anything about your data, email contactus@proaudium.com or nigel.williams@proaudium.com, or write to the trading address.

A personal data breach that is likely to put your rights at risk is reported to the ICO within 72 hours of ProAudium becoming aware of it.

What data the site collects, and when

The site collects personal data only through the forms below. Each form is submitted through Netlify Forms (see Processors). None of them is required to use any page, tool or article on the site. Giving your details is voluntary. Without a name and an email address ProAudium cannot reply to a form.

Each form has a hidden "bot-field" that only automated scripts fill in; a submission with that field completed is discarded.

If you email or phone ProAudium instead of using a form, the same applies: your details are used to deal with your enquiry and kept as set out under "How long data is kept".

Form confirmations and replies come from a person at ProAudium, not from an automated sequence. The details you give on a tool or contact form are not added to any mailing list.

The calculator usage counter

When a calculator or checker is opened or used, your browser sends two words to a function on this site: the event (for example "opened") and the calculator's name. The function adds one to that day's count for that calculator and stores nothing else. It does not read or record your IP address, browser, device, or any identifier, and it sets no cookie. The counts are read only by ProAudium, to see which tools are used. The hosting provider's own server logs are separate from this counter and are described under Processors.

Cookies, local storage and analytics

• Cookies: the site sets none. The browser storage described below is used only to provide the tool you are using, which the law allows without a consent banner.
• Analytics: none. No Google Analytics, no tag manager, no pixels, no session recording.
• Local storage: the Maintenance Navigator and some calculators save your work in your own browser, on your device, so it survives a refresh. Nothing in local storage is sent to ProAudium. Your browser's "clear site data" removes it, and the Maintenance Navigator has its own Clear data control.
• Share links: some tools let you copy a link that carries your inputs in the web address so you can return to them. Anyone you send that link to can see those inputs. Do not put a client's name in a tool field if you intend to share the link.
• Embedded content: none. The site loads no third-party fonts, videos or scripts that would see your visit.

Why the law allows this (lawful bases)

• Arranging a visit or quote you have asked for: steps before entering a contract (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b)).
• Answering general enquiries and returning a calculation sheet, estimate or summary: ProAudium's legitimate interest in responding to people who contact it about their systems (Article 6(1)(f)).
• The usage counter: legitimate interest in knowing which tools are used (Article 6(1)(f)). Because it records nothing about you, the interest is easily balanced.
• Newsletter and waitlist: your consent (Article 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time by emailing contactus@proaudium.com or using the unsubscribe link in any message.

No special-category data is asked for. Please do not include it in a message.

Who processes your data (processors)

• Netlify, Inc. (San Francisco, USA) hosts the site, stores form submissions and runs the usage-counter function. As host, Netlify keeps short-term server logs of requests, which include IP addresses, for security and operation. Netlify has said it keeps these logs for no more than 30 days. Form submissions are held in Netlify's form dashboard and forwarded by email to ProAudium. Netlify processes data on ProAudium's instructions under its data processing terms. Where data leaves the UK, Netlify's data processing agreement relies on the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, under which Netlify, Inc. is certified, and on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses for any transfer the Extension does not cover.
• Spam filtering: Netlify Forms passes form content through a third-party spam-filtering service before it reaches ProAudium. Netlify's documentation names that service as Akismet, run by Automattic, Inc., which Netlify lists as a sub-processor located in the United States.
• Email: replies and forwarded submissions pass through Google Workspace, ProAudium's business email service. Google's data processing terms allow it to process data in any country where Google or its sub-processors have facilities. For UK data sent to the United States, Google relies on its certification to the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework; for other transfers out of the UK, on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Client records: if an enquiry becomes a client relationship, contact details are kept in Capsule CRM, ProAudium's customer relationship management (CRM) system, and contact and billing details are held in Xero, the accounting software, for invoicing. ProAudium's accountants do not receive client records. Capsule and Xero both host their data with Amazon Web Services in the United States. Capsule relies on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework for that transfer, and Xero on the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.

No personal data is sold, rented or shared with advertisers.

How long data is kept

• Form submissions in Netlify and enquiry emails: no fixed deletion period has been set yet, and these records are not at present deleted on a schedule. Where an enquiry leads to work, the records are kept for at least the life of the contract and for as long as accounting, tax and legal obligations require.
• Retention is reviewed every January, alongside ProAudium's Data Protection Policy Statement.
• Newsletter and waitlist details: until you unsubscribe or ask for removal.
• Usage counts: indefinitely; they contain nothing about you.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you can ask to see the personal data held about you, have it corrected or deleted, restrict how it is used, receive it in a portable form, and withdraw any consent you gave. Email the Data Protection Officer at contactus@proaudium.com or nigel.williams@proaudium.com. You will get a reply within one month, and no fee is charged unless a request is clearly unfounded or excessive.

Your right to object. Where ProAudium relies on legitimate interests (answering general enquiries, returning a calculation sheet, estimate or summary, and the usage counter), you have the right to object at any time. Email contactus@proaudium.com and the processing will stop unless there is a compelling reason that overrides your interests.

Complaints

To complain about how your data has been handled, email the Data Protection Officer, Nigel Williams, at contactus@proaudium.com or nigel.williams@proaudium.com with "Data protection complaint" in the subject. Complaints are acknowledged within 30 days, investigated, and answered with the outcome.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or on 0303 123 1113, at any time. Raising it with ProAudium first usually gets it fixed faster.

Children

The site is for people responsible for buildings and systems. It is not aimed at anyone under 18 and does not knowingly collect their data.

Changes to this notice

This notice is reviewed every January, alongside ProAudium's Data Protection Policy Statement, and whenever the processing changes. Changes are made here, with the "Last updated" date revised. Significant changes are also noted on the contact page for a month.