Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

a. Information You Provide Directly

We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide when you interact with our Site, including:

• Contact form submissions — your name, email address, phone number, company name, and any message content you submit through our contact or inquiry forms (processed via GoHighLevel, our CRM platform).
• Newsletter subscriptions — your email address when you subscribe to receive our marketing communications.
• Cookie consent preferences — your choices regarding which categories of cookies you allow on our Site.

b. Information Collected Automatically

When you visit our Site, certain information is collected automatically, including:

• Analytics data — page views, click events, scroll depth, time spent on pages, referring URLs, UTM campaign parameters, and session identifiers.
• Device and browser information — device type, operating system, browser type and version, screen resolution, and viewport dimensions.
• Network information — your IP address is collected and cryptographically hashed before storage. We do not store raw IP addresses in our analytics database.
• Session recordings and heatmaps — Microsoft Clarity may record anonymized user sessions, including mouse movements, clicks, and scrolling behavior, to help us understand how visitors interact with our Site. This data collection requires your consent via our cookie banner.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To respond to your inquiries — when you submit a contact form or reach out via email, we use your information to respond and follow up.
• To send marketing communications — with your consent, we may send newsletters, updates, and promotional materials. You may opt out at any time.
• To improve our website experience — we analyze aggregate analytics data to understand which pages and content are most useful, identify usability issues, and optimize our Site.
• To analyze website performance — we monitor page load times, Core Web Vitals, and other technical metrics to ensure a fast and reliable experience.
• To generate aggregate reports — we compile anonymized, aggregate data about Site usage trends. These reports do not identify individual users.
• To protect our Site — we use rate limiting, origin validation, and other security measures to prevent abuse and unauthorized access.

3. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services that may collect information about you when you visit our Site:

• Google Analytics 4 — for website traffic analysis and audience insights. Google Privacy Policy
• Microsoft Clarity — for session recordings, heatmaps, and behavioral analytics. Microsoft Privacy Statement
• Vercel Analytics — for Core Web Vitals monitoring and real-user performance measurement. Data is processed by Vercel in accordance with their privacy policy.
• GoHighLevel — our customer relationship management (CRM) platform used to process contact form submissions and manage communications.
• Resend — our email delivery service used to send transactional and marketing emails on our behalf.

Each of these services has its own privacy policy governing the data they collect. We encourage you to review those policies. We do not sell your personal information to any third party.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Our Site uses cookies and similar technologies. Cookies are small data files placed on your device that help us improve your experience and understand Site usage.

a. Necessary Cookies

These cookies are essential for the Site to function and cannot be disabled. They include session cookies and your cookie consent preferences. No personal data is tracked by these cookies beyond what is required for basic functionality.

b. Analytics Cookies

With your consent, we set analytics cookies from Google Analytics 4 and our custom analytics system. These cookies help us understand how visitors use our Site, which pages are most popular, and how users navigate between pages.

c. Marketing Cookies

With your consent, Microsoft Clarity may place cookies on your device to enable session recording and heatmap functionality. These cookies help us understand user behavior and improve our Site design and content.

d. Managing Your Cookie Preferences

When you first visit our Site, a cookie consent banner allows you to accept or decline non-essential cookies. You can update your preferences at any time by clicking the cookie settings link in our website footer. You may also configure your browser to refuse cookies, though this may affect Site functionality.

5. Data Retention

• Analytics data — retained for up to 26 months from the date of collection, after which it is automatically deleted.
• Contact and CRM data — retained for as long as the business relationship exists or as necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy. You may request deletion at any time.
• Newsletter subscription data — retained until you unsubscribe or request deletion of your information.
• Cookie consent preferences — stored locally on your device and retained for 12 months, after which you will be prompted to confirm your preferences again.

6. Your Privacy Rights (California Residents — CCPA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides you with specific rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to know — you have the right to request that we disclose what personal information we have collected, used, disclosed, and sold about you.
• Right to delete — you have the right to request that we delete any personal information we have collected about you, subject to certain exceptions.
• Right to opt-out of tracking — you may opt out of non-essential tracking at any time using our cookie consent banner or by contacting us directly.
• Right to non-discrimination — we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights. You will not receive a different level of service or pricing for exercising your rights.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@groundworkstudio.co. We will respond to verifiable requests within 45 days.

7. Do Not Track Signals

Our Site respects the Do Not Track (DNT) browser setting. If your browser sends a DNT signal, our custom analytics system will not track your activity. Please note that third-party services such as Google Analytics may handle DNT signals according to their own policies.

8. Children's Privacy

Our Site is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information as promptly as possible. If you believe we may have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at hello@groundworkstudio.co.

9. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal information, including:

• IP addresses are cryptographically hashed before storage — we do not retain raw IP addresses.
• All connections to our Site are encrypted using HTTPS (TLS/SSL).
• Sensitive credentials and API keys are stored as environment variables and are never committed to our codebase or exposed to the client.
• Administrative access is protected by authenticated sessions with secure, HTTP-only cookies.
• API routes are protected by rate limiting and origin validation to prevent abuse.

While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Third-Party Links

Our Site may contain links to third-party websites, services, or resources that are not operated by us. We have no control over the content, privacy policies, or practices of these third-party sites and assume no responsibility for them. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of every site you visit.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or for other operational, legal, or regulatory reasons. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Your continued use of the Site after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

12. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, your personal data, or wish to exercise your privacy rights, please contact us:

• Email: hello@groundworkstudio.co
• Business: Groundwork Studio
• Location: Tucson, Arizona, United States