Privacy Policy
What we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it — including under the EU and UK GDPR.
Sections in This Policy
1. Who We Are
Welcome to QSCivilCalc.com ("we", "our", or "us"). This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose and safeguard your information when you visit www.qscivilcalc.com, use our engineering calculator tools, or download our Survey GeoLink mobile app.
Data Controller
For the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR, the data controller responsible for your personal data is:
- [[LEGAL_ENTITY]]
- [[POSTAL_ADDRESS]], [[COUNTRY]]
- Email: info@qscivilcalc.com
Please read this policy carefully. If you disagree with its terms, please discontinue use of the site.
2. Information We Collect
2.1 Information You Provide Voluntarily
- Contact form submissions — name, email address, phone number and message content when you contact us
- Account registration — email, username and password if you create a free or Pro account
- App download form — your name and email address when you request a download of the Survey GeoLink app. We also record the page you downloaded from, the app version, the date and time, and your IP address for abuse prevention
- Professional enquiries — any project details you choose to send us when requesting a quotation
- Payment information — processed entirely by third-party payment providers. We never see or store your card details
2.2 Information Collected Automatically
- Usage data — pages visited, time on site, which calculators you use
- Device information — browser type, operating system, screen size, device type
- IP address — for security monitoring, rate limiting and approximate location
- Cookies and similar technologies — see Section 6
2.3 What Happens Inside the Calculators
2.4 What We Never Collect
- We do not collect special category data (health, biometrics, religion, political opinions, and similar)
- We do not buy personal data from data brokers
- We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects
3. How & Why We Use Your Information
- To provide and maintain our calculator tools and website features
- To reply to your messages and professional enquiries
- To deliver the Survey GeoLink app download you requested, and to notify you about important updates to that app (such as a critical fix or a new version)
- To send transactional emails — account confirmations, invoices, delivery of anything you ordered
- To improve our tools based on real, aggregated usage patterns
- To display advertising through Google AdSense
- To detect and prevent fraud, spam, abuse and security threats
- To comply with legal and regulatory obligations
We do not send unsolicited marketing, and we do not share your details with advertisers or data brokers.
4. Legal Bases for Processing (EU/UK)
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we must have a lawful basis for each use of your personal data. Ours are:
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Running the website and delivering the tools you asked for | Legitimate interests — operating and securing our service |
| Replying to your contact form or enquiry | Legitimate interests, or steps prior to a contract where you are requesting a quotation |
| Sending you the app download and related update emails | Consent, given when you submit the download form |
| Accounts, orders, invoices | Performance of a contract |
| Analytics and advertising cookies | Consent, collected through our cookie banner before any non-essential cookie is set |
| Security, rate limiting and fraud prevention | Legitimate interests — protecting the service and its users |
| Keeping records required by law (e.g. tax) | Legal obligation |
Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time — see Section 10. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing carried out before you withdrew it.
6. Cookies & Advertising
Cookies are small text files stored in your browser. We use these categories:
- Essential — required for the site to work (session handling, login security, CSRF protection). These cannot be switched off.
- Preference — remembers choices such as metric or imperial units.
- Analytics — Google Analytics, to understand which tools are actually useful.
- Advertising — Google AdSense and its partners, to select and measure ads.
6.1 Google AdSense & Third-Party Vendors
- Third-party vendors, including Google, use cookies to serve ads based on your prior visits to this website or other websites.
- Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve ads to you based on your visit to our site and/or other sites on the Internet.
- You may opt out of personalised advertising by visiting Google Ads Settings.
- You can opt out of some third-party vendors' use of cookies for personalised advertising at aboutads.info/choices or youronlinechoices.eu (EU).
- Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on: tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
6.2 Consent in the EEA, UK and Switzerland
6.3 Managing Cookies Yourself
You can also control or delete cookies in your browser settings. Disabling cookies may break some features, including saved unit preferences. Because there is no industry-agreed standard for handling them, our site does not currently respond to browser "Do Not Track" signals.
7. International Data Transfers
We operate from [[COUNTRY]], and some of our providers (including Google and FormSubmit) process data in the United States and other countries outside the EEA and UK. This means your personal data may be transferred outside the country where you live.
Where personal data of EEA or UK residents is transferred internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards, which may include:
- Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission (and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum where applicable)
- Adequacy decisions, where the destination country is recognised as providing adequate protection
- Certification of the recipient under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, where relevant
You may request a copy of the relevant safeguards by emailing info@qscivilcalc.com.
8. How Long We Keep Your Data
We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected for:
| Data | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Contact form messages | 24 months from last contact |
| App download records (name, email, IP) | 24 months, or until you ask us to delete them |
| Account data | For as long as your account is active, then 6 months after closure |
| Invoices and tax records | As required by applicable tax law (typically 6–7 years) |
| Server and security logs | Up to 12 months |
| Analytics data | As configured in Google Analytics (maximum 14 months) |
When a retention period ends, data is deleted or irreversibly anonymised.
9. Data Security
- SSL/TLS encryption for all traffic (HTTPS)
- Passwords stored only as salted hashes, never in readable form
- Regular security updates and vulnerability monitoring
- Access to personal data restricted to authorised people who need it
- Rate limiting and spam protection on all public forms
10. Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you have the following rights over your personal data:
How to exercise your rights
Email info@qscivilcalc.com with the subject line "Data Rights Request". We will respond within 30 days (extendable by a further two months for complex requests, in which case we will tell you). We may ask you to verify your identity first. Exercising your rights is free unless a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
Right to complain
If you are unhappy with how we handled your data, you may complain to your local supervisory authority. In the UK, that is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk). In the EEA, you can find your authority via the European Data Protection Board. We would appreciate the chance to resolve it with you first.
11. Survey GeoLink Mobile App
This section covers the Survey GeoLink Android app and satisfies the privacy disclosure required by Google Play.
INTERNET permission, so it is technically incapable of sending your information anywhere.
11.1 What the app stores on your device only
- Projects — name, client, site, surveyor, units and coordinate settings
- Survey points and GNSS observations — latitude, longitude, elevation, accuracy, timestamp
- Optional app PIN — stored only as a salted hash; the PIN itself is never stored
- Imported/exported coordinate files — kept in the app's cache and deleted automatically after 24 hours
11.2 Location permission
The app requests precise and approximate location (ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION, ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) and uses it only while the app is open — never in the background. Your position is displayed on screen, used to compute UTM values and grid convergence, and saved locally only for points you deliberately choose to save. It is never transmitted off your device.
11.3 What we do collect — the download form
To download the app from this website you provide your name and email address. That is collected by this website, not by the app, and is used to deliver the download and to tell you about important app updates. You can unsubscribe or request deletion at any time.
11.4 Deleting app data
Delete individual projects inside the app, or uninstall it to remove all of its data from your device. Because we never receive that data, there is nothing for us to delete on our side.
11.5 Accuracy notice
12. Children's Privacy
QSCivilCalc.com and the Survey GeoLink app are professional tools intended for a general, adult audience. They are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16 (or under 13 where local law sets that threshold).
If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact info@qscivilcalc.com and we will delete it promptly.
13. 
US State Privacy Rights
If you are a resident of California or another US state with comprehensive privacy legislation, you may have the right to know what personal information we collect, to request deletion or correction, to receive a copy, and not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights.
To exercise these rights, email info@qscivilcalc.com. An authorised agent may submit a request on your behalf with written proof of authorisation.
14. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy to reflect changes in our practices, technology or legal obligations. When we do, we will:
- Post the updated policy here with a new "Last Updated" date
- Display a prominent notice on the homepage for 30 days after a material change
- Email registered users and app subscribers if a change materially affects how we handle their data
- Ask for fresh consent where the law requires it
15. Contact Us
For any question, concern or request about this policy or our data practices:
Privacy & data rights: info@qscivilcalc.com
Survey GeoLink app support: support@qscivilcalc.com
Website: qscivilcalc.com/contact-us
Postal: [[LEGAL_ENTITY]], [[POSTAL_ADDRESS]], [[COUNTRY]]
