Privacy policy

Who we are

Northern Search Co. is the trading name of Thabo Mhlanga, a sole trader based in Leeds, West Yorkshire. Thabo Mhlanga is responsible for your personal data. For any privacy question, email hello@northernsearch.co.uk or call 07375 101636.

What we collect

• Our enquiry form: your name, business name, email, phone number, website, the service you're interested in and your message.
• Email, phone and WhatsApp: your contact details and whatever you choose to tell us.
• Client work: the business and contact details we need to provide our services and bill you.
• Website visits: our hosting provider and font provider receive technical details such as your IP address and browser type when a page loads.
• Website analytics, only if you accept: Google Analytics records things like the pages you view, how you found us, your device and browser, your approximate location, and actions such as clicking to call us or sending our form. It doesn't record what you type into the form.

How we use it, and why we're allowed to

• To reply to your enquiry and carry out your free audit: because you asked us to, and it's in our legitimate interests to respond to people who contact us.
• To provide and bill for our services: because it's needed for our contract with you.
• To keep financial records: because the law requires it.
• To keep our website running securely: because it's in our legitimate interests.
• To understand how our website is used and improve it: because you've given your consent. You can withdraw it at any time.

We don't sell your data, and we won't add you to a marketing list without your permission.

Who we share it with

We use trusted providers to run the business, and they only handle your data to provide their services:

• Google: stores enquiry form responses, provides our website fonts and, if you accept analytics, provides Google Analytics.
• Microsoft, through GoDaddy: provides our business email.
• Vercel: hosts this website.
• WhatsApp: carries your messages if you contact us that way.

We may also share data if the law requires it. Some of these providers may process data outside the UK. Where that happens, we rely on the safeguards that UK data protection law requires.

How long we keep it

If you enquire but don't become a client, we keep your details for up to 12 months and then delete them. If you become a client, we keep your records for as long as we work together, and financial records for 6 years after that. Google Analytics keeps detailed event data for 2 months and data linked to a visitor for 14 months after their last visit. Overall figures that don't identify anyone may stay in our reports for longer.

Cookies and website statistics

We don't use advertising cookies. We only use Google Analytics cookies if you click Accept analytics. If you click No thanks, they aren't set and Google Analytics doesn't load. These are the cookies it uses:

• _ga: tells visitors apart, and lasts up to 2 years.
• _ga_GWPLS58YNL: keeps track of your visit, and lasts up to 2 years.

We've turned off Google's optional data sharing and advertising features for our account. Your cookie choice is saved in your own browser. You can change it at any time using Cookie settings at the bottom of any page.

We use Google Search Console to see how our website appears in Google Search, such as which searches it shows up for and how many clicks it gets. This gives us overall figures and doesn't identify individual visitors to us.

Links to other websites

Our website links to other services, including WhatsApp, Instagram and the Information Commissioner's Office. If you use those links, their own privacy policies apply to what they collect.

Your rights

You can ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it or delete it. You can also object to how we use it, ask us to limit its use, or ask us to transfer it. To do any of these, email hello@northernsearch.co.uk. We'll normally reply within one month.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this page if the way we use your data changes, and we'll change the date at the top when we do.