Privacy Policy

1. Scope of This Policy

This policy covers information that we collect through the public website, through the contact form, through direct email sent to our published address and through the normal course of a drafting engagement. It does not cover information that a client chooses to publish independently, nor information held by a supplier, carrier or platform that operates its own privacy program.

Where a client engagement requires the handling of confidential material such as network diagrams, system inventories or vendor contracts, that material is governed first by the engagement agreement and second by this policy. If the two documents conflict, the engagement agreement controls because it describes a narrower and more specific purpose.

We draft systems for organisations rather than for individual consumers, so most of the personal information we hold is business contact information: names, job titles, work email addresses, work telephone numbers and the details of the brief a client sends. We do not intentionally seek sensitive categories of personal information, and we ask clients not to send such material through the public website.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in three broad groups. The first group is the information a visitor chooses to send, typically through the contact form or through email. The second group is technical information generated automatically when a browser requests a page from our server. The third group is information created during an engagement, such as meeting notes, drawing revisions and integration letters.

Information you provide directly

• Your name and the organisation you represent
• Your email address and, if you choose to give it, a telephone number
• The subject line and message of your enquiry
• Any attachment or link you include in an email
• Billing and contract details provided during an engagement

Information created during an engagement

• Drafting notes, marked drawings and revision logs
• Integration letters exchanged with named vendors
• Load review findings and the client responses to those findings
• Scheduling records for design windows and draft sittings

We do not ask for payment card numbers through this website. Invoice and payment arrangements are handled through the commercial channels described in the engagement agreement, and we ask clients to share bank details only through a confirmed and trusted channel.

3. Details You Send Through Enquiries

The contact form on this website is deliberately simple. It asks for a name, an email address, a subject and a message. When a visitor submits the form, the site prepares a message in the visitor email application so the visitor can review and send it. We do not store form content on the web server itself for this route, which means the first copy of an enquiry lives in the email system that receives it.

Please consider what you write in a first enquiry. A short description of the system you want drafted, the constraints you already know about and the deadline you are working toward is enough. There is no need to include credentials, passwords, private keys or full network inventories in a public form. Once we have replied and agreed on a next step, we can create a secure route for any sensitive material.

If you send an enquiry on behalf of a colleague, please make sure that colleague knows you have done so. We treat the name and contact details in an enquiry as information about the person named, and we prefer to correspond with that person directly rather than through an intermediary.

4. Technical Data and Logs

Like most websites, our server records technical data each time a page is requested. This data typically includes the internet protocol address of the requesting device, the date and time of the request, the address of the page requested, the referring page if one is present, and the general browser and operating system description. Logs of this kind help us keep the site available, detect abuse and understand which pages visitors find useful.

We retain server logs for a limited period that is sufficient to investigate a fault or a security incident. We do not attempt to identify individual visitors from log data except where a security investigation reasonably requires it, and we do not combine log data with enquiry information to build a profile of a visitor.

Hosting infrastructure may also record diagnostic information such as error codes and response times. This information is technical in nature and is not used for advertising or for behavioural analysis.

5. Cookies and Local Storage

The public pages of this website are designed to work without advertising cookies or tracking pixels. We do not use cross site advertising networks, and we do not sell behavioural data to brokers. The small amount of client side storage used by the site serves functional purposes such as remembering a navigation state or supporting an interactive element during a single visit.

If a future version of the site introduces a cookie for a genuinely necessary purpose, we will disclose that purpose in this policy before the cookie is used. You can block or delete cookies through the settings of your browser, and doing so should not prevent you from reading the pages or contacting the practice by email or telephone.

Some browsers offer a do not track preference. Because our site does not engage in cross site tracking, the presence or absence of that preference does not change how our pages behave.

6. How We Use Information

We use information for a small number of clearly defined purposes. Each purpose is tied to a task that a visitor or a client would reasonably expect when approaching a drafting practice.

• To respond to an enquiry and to continue a conversation about a potential engagement
• To prepare a draft brief, a truss drawing run or a spec sheet bay for an active client
• To issue integration letters and to track the responses from named vendors
• To schedule design windows, load review rounds and draft sittings
• To issue invoices and to maintain the commercial records required by law
• To keep the website available, secure and free from abuse
• To comply with a legal obligation or to respond to a lawful request

We do not use contact information for unrelated marketing, and we do not pass enquiry details to a vendor as a referral. If a client asks us to introduce them to a specific vendor, we will say so in writing before sharing any detail beyond the name of the vendor.

7. Legal Basis for Processing

Where a legal framework requires a stated basis for processing personal information, we rely on the following. We process enquiry information because it is necessary to take steps at the visitors request before entering a contract. We process engagement information because it is necessary to perform the contract we have signed with the client. We process server logs and security records because we have a legitimate interest in keeping the website reliable and safe. We process billing and tax records because we must comply with a legal obligation.

When we rely on consent for a specific activity, such as an optional newsletter or a testimonial, we will ask for that consent explicitly and we will make it easy to withdraw. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that occurred before the withdrawal, and it does not affect any processing that rests on a different lawful basis.

A jurisdiction that does not use the concept of a legal basis may instead use the concept of a lawful purpose. Our practices remain the same in either case: we collect only what we need, we use it for the purpose we stated, and we do not stretch that purpose without telling you.

8. Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell personal information. We do not trade it for advertising. The circumstances in which we share information are narrow and are listed in full below.

• With a service provider that helps us operate the website or the email system under a contract that limits its use of the data
• With a professional adviser such as an accountant or a lawyer where the information is genuinely needed for professional advice
• With a named vendor only when the client has asked for the introduction and has approved the share in writing
• With a public authority where we are legally required to respond to a valid request
• With a successor organisation if the practice is reorganised, provided the successor accepts the same commitments

We treat drawing content and integration letters as client confidential material. We do not publish those documents, we do not describe them on a public page without approval, and we do not use them as references unless a client gives written permission. If a client wishes to appear in a case note, we will agree the exact wording before anything is published.

9. Service Providers

Running a professional website and a drafting practice requires the support of hosting, email and office providers. Each provider is chosen with care, is bound by its own confidentiality commitments and receives only the information needed to deliver its function. A hosting provider, for example, may see server logs but does not see the content of a client drawing. An email provider may carry an enquiry but does not receive a copy of the drafting archive.

We review the practices of our providers from time to time and we will replace a provider if its commitments no longer meet the standard we require. We remain responsible for the information we hand to a provider, which is why we limit the scope of each handover to the minimum that the service requires.

10. International Data Handling

Our practice is based in North Ogden, Utah, in the United States. If you contact us from another country, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States. Depending on your jurisdiction, this transfer may be subject to specific rules such as the requirement for a contractual safeguard or an adequacy decision. Where such a safeguard is required, we will use a recognised mechanism and we will describe it if you ask.

A client engagement that involves an overseas vendor may require a written integration letter that addresses the transfer of technical data between jurisdictions. In that case the letter will identify the jurisdictions involved, the responsible party at each end and the safeguard that applies. The drafting desk treats that letter as part of the system it is drawing, not as a separate legal document added at the end.

11. Data Retention

We keep personal information only for as long as a defined purpose requires. Enquiries that do not lead to an engagement are retained briefly so we can reconnect if a client returns, and then they are removed. Active engagement records are retained for the duration of the engagement and for a further period that reflects the practical life of a drawing, so a client can come back to revise a system two or three years later and find the original specification sheet in its context.

Billing records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting rules. Security logs are retained for a shorter period and are discarded once an investigation has closed or the risk of an incident has passed. When a retention period ends, we delete or de identify the record rather than keeping it indefinitely.

If you ask us to delete information before a retention period ends, we will take that request seriously. We may be unable to remove a billing record while a legal obligation is active, but we will explain the limit and we will remove every part of the record that is not subject to that obligation.

12. Security Measures

We protect information with a layered approach. Access to the drafting archive is limited to the persons who need it for the engagement, and each person works from a device that carries a current operating system and a protected login. Documents are held in a controlled folder, and revisions are named so an older version cannot quietly replace a newer one.

No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and no storage system is immune to every risk. We therefore combine technical controls with written procedure: a habit of confirming the identity of a correspondent before sending sensitive material, a habit of using a separate channel for credentials, and a habit of closing an engagement file when the work is done. If we become aware of an incident that affects personal information, we will investigate promptly and notify affected parties where the law requires us to do so.

We ask clients to help. Use a strong and unique password on any account you create for our collaboration tools, avoid sending credentials by ordinary email, and tell us immediately if you suspect that a message claiming to be from the practice is not genuine.

13. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may hold a set of rights over the personal information we hold about you. We honour these rights for every visitor and every client, regardless of where the request originates, because uniform practice is easier to trust than a patchwork of jurisdictional exceptions.

• The right to know whether we hold information about you
• The right to receive a copy of that information
• The right to correct an inaccurate record
• The right to ask for deletion in defined circumstances
• The right to restrict or object to a processing activity
• The right to withdraw consent where consent was the basis
• The right to complain to a supervisory authority

To exercise a right, write to tech@hartrobertstech.buzz and describe the request as clearly as you can. We may ask for proof of identity so we do not release information to the wrong person. We will respond within the period required by applicable law, and we will explain any limit if a request cannot be met in full.

14. Access and Correction

An access request lets you see what we hold and why. When we respond, we will describe the categories of information, the purpose of the processing, the recipients of the information, the retention period and the source of the information if we did not collect it directly from you. If a drawing contains information about several parties, we may redact the parts that belong to another party, and we will explain any redaction that we apply.

A correction request lets you fix a detail that is wrong. If you have moved to a new role or a new address, please tell us so that our correspondence reaches the right person. We will update the record and, where the detail appears in an integration letter, we will issue a revised letter so the change is visible at the point of use.

15. Deletion Requests

You may ask us to delete personal information that is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected. We will act on a genuine request and we will confirm when the deletion is complete. Some records cannot be removed while a legal obligation is active, such as a tax record or a signed contract that must be retained for a statutory period. In those cases we will keep only the part of the record that the law requires and we will delete the remainder.

Deleting information can affect an active engagement. If a client asks us to delete a drawing that a build team still relies on, we will explain the consequence before we act and we will offer an alternative such as archiving the file with restricted access. A deletion that breaks a live system serves nobody, so we prefer to agree the timing with the client.

16. Privacy for Children

This website and the drafting practice serve working professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and the site is not directed at a young audience. If a parent or guardian believes that a child has submitted information through the site, please contact tech@hartrobertstech.buzz and we will remove the record.

Where a client engagement indirectly touches a system that serves a young audience, such as a school network, we design the privacy of that system with the client and we do not collect end user information from it ourselves. The drafting desk draws the structure; the client decides who may use it.

17. Marketing and Communications

We do not run a mass marketing program. Messages from the practice fall into three groups: a reply to an enquiry, an update on an active engagement, and an occasional short note that we send because a client has asked to hear about new drafting services. Every commercial message will identify the practice, will contain a clear way to stop receiving it and will respect your inbox.

You can opt out of any note at any time by replying with a short instruction or by writing to tech@hartrobertstech.buzz. We will remove your address from the list and we will confirm the removal. An opt out does not prevent us from sending transactional messages that are necessary to deliver an active engagement.

18. Third Party Links

A page on this site may link to a vendor, a standard body or a reference document that we found useful while drafting. Those destinations operate under their own privacy policies, and we do not control what they collect. We encourage you to read the policy of any site you visit from a link before you share information there.

A link does not imply an endorsement of the entire destination, and it does not imply that we have reviewed every page of a third party site. We review the destinations we link to when we place a link, and we remove a link if a destination changes in a way that no longer fits the purpose of the reference.

19. Automated Decisions and Profiling

We do not make decisions about you that carry legal or similarly significant effects through automated processing alone. Our drafting work is carried out by people who read a brief, draw a truss and review the result with the client. Software supports the desk, but it does not replace the judgement of the person at the drawing board.

If a future tool introduces a limited automated scoring step, such as a rough effort estimate, that step will be advisory only. A client will always be able to speak with a person before an estimate becomes a commitment, and the client will be told which factors fed the advisory result.

20. Changes to This Policy

We revise this policy when a practice changes, when a legal requirement moves or when we add a service that affects how information flows. When a revision is material, we will update the date at the top of the page and we will describe the change in plain terms. We do not use a revision to retroactively expand how we use information that was collected under an earlier version.

You can always find the current version of this policy at the privacy page of this website. If you would like a copy in a durable format, contact us and we will provide one.

21. Contacting the Practice

Questions about this policy, a request to access or correct information, or a deletion request are welcome at the addresses below. We treat a privacy query with the same care as a client brief and we aim to answer each one promptly and clearly.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your jurisdiction. We would appreciate the chance to resolve the matter with you first, because a direct conversation is usually the fastest route to a clear answer.

This policy takes effect on the date shown at the top of the page and remains in force until a revised version is published here.