Privacy Policy

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1. Who We Are

StrataByte IT Solutions Ltd ("StrataByte", "we", "us", "our") is a company registered in England and Wales. We provide IT consultancy, network infrastructure, CCTV and surveillance systems, access control, and managed services to businesses across the UK.

For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, StrataByte IT Solutions Ltd is the data controller for personal information collected via this website.

You can contact us regarding data protection matters at: info@stratabyte.co.uk

2. Information We Collect

We collect personal information only when you actively provide it to us. This includes information submitted through our contact form:

• Name — first and last name
• Email address — to respond to your enquiry
• Phone number — if provided, for follow-up contact
• Company name — if provided
• Service of interest — to route your enquiry appropriately
• Message content — the details of your enquiry

We do not collect any special category data (such as health information, political opinions, or biometric data) through this website.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information you provide solely for the following purposes:

• Responding to your enquiry or request for information
• Providing you with a quote or proposal for our services
• Following up on ongoing discussions about a potential engagement

We do not use your information for unsolicited marketing, sell it to third parties, or share it with any organisation outside of what is necessary to deliver our services.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR Article 6:

• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)) — processing your enquiry and responding to you is in our mutual legitimate interests as prospective business parties.
• Pre-contractual steps (Article 6(1)(b)) — where your enquiry relates to a specific service or project, processing is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering a contract.
• Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)) — where we are required to retain certain records for legal or regulatory compliance.

5. Data Sharing and Third Parties

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. Your information is transmitted to us via our email hosting provider (mail.stratabyte.co.uk) and is stored within our internal email systems.

This website is hosted on infrastructure provided by Fasthosts Technology Ltd, a UK-based hosting provider. Website traffic is routed through Cloudflare, Inc., which acts as a reverse proxy and content delivery network. As a result, Cloudflare may process visitor IP addresses and HTTP request metadata as part of delivering and securing the site. Cloudflare's privacy policy is available at cloudflare.com/privacypolicy. Fasthosts' privacy policy is available at fasthosts.co.uk/legal/privacy-policy.

We may disclose your information if required to do so by law, court order, or in connection with legal proceedings.

6. Data Retention

Enquiry data is retained for up to 2 years from the date of your last contact with us. If no engagement results from an initial enquiry, data will be deleted within this period. Where a contractual relationship is established, data may be retained for up to 7 years to satisfy legal and accounting obligations.

You may request earlier deletion of your data at any time (see Your Rights below).

7. Cookies & Tracking

This website uses a Meta (Facebook) Pixel for analytics and advertising measurement. The Pixel sets cookies and sends limited information about your visit, such as the pages you view, to Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd, which we use to understand how the site is used and to measure our advertising.

The Meta Pixel is not loaded until you consent. On your first visit a banner lets you Accept or Reject non-essential tracking. If you reject, no Pixel or tracking cookies are loaded. Your choice is stored locally on your device; you can change it at any time by clearing this site's browser storage. Our lawful basis for this processing is your consent (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(a)).

We do not use Google Analytics or any other third-party analytics beyond the Meta Pixel described above. Cookies that are strictly necessary for the website to function may be used without consent.

8. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. Data submitted via our contact form is transmitted over an encrypted TLS connection.

No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access — you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure — you can ask us to delete your data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
• Right to restriction — you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability — you can request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to object — you can object to processing based on legitimate interests.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@stratabyte.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month.

10. Complaints

If you believe we have not handled your personal data appropriately, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection supervisory authority:

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the ICO — please reach out to us first.

11. StrataByte Mail (Webmail & Mobile Apps)

In addition to this website, StrataByte operates StrataByte Mail: a secure email service consisting of a webmail application and native mobile apps for Android and iOS. This section describes how we handle data within that service. It applies to holders of a StrataByte Mail account and to users who connect an external email account (such as Gmail, Outlook, or another IMAP provider) through our apps. For the StrataByte Mail service, StrataByte IT Solutions Ltd is the data controller for your account and the data processor acting on your instructions when handling your mailbox contents.

11.1 Account & Authentication Data

To sign you in and keep you connected, we process:

• Email address and password: for StrataByte Mail accounts, authenticated against our own mail servers.
• Third-party sign-in tokens: where you connect a Gmail or Microsoft/Outlook account, we use OAuth access and refresh tokens issued by Google or Microsoft. We never see or store your Google or Microsoft password.
• IMAP/SMTP credentials: where you connect another provider, the host, port, and credentials you enter to reach that provider.
• Session identifiers: a long-lived session cookie so you stay signed in.

On mobile devices, credentials and tokens are held in the platform's encrypted keystore (Android EncryptedSharedPreferences / iOS Keychain) and are transmitted only over encrypted TLS connections.

11.2 Mailbox Contents

To provide the service we access and display the contents of the mailboxes you connect, including message bodies, subjects, headers, sender and recipient addresses, attachments, folders, and contacts derived from your correspondence. For StrataByte Mail accounts this data is stored on our own servers in the United Kingdom. For external accounts, message data is fetched directly from your provider (Google, Microsoft, or your chosen IMAP host) and is not copied to our servers except as needed to deliver features you enable (such as push notifications). We do not read, sell, share, or use your mailbox contents for advertising or any purpose other than operating the service for you.

11.2a Google User Data (Gmail & Google Calendar)

If you connect a Google account, StrataByte Mail accesses your Gmail over IMAP and SMTP (to read, search, send, and organise your email at your request) and your Google Calendar via the Google Calendar API (to display your calendars and to create, edit, respond to, and delete events at your request). Google user data is used only to provide these user-facing features to you. We do not use Google user data for advertising, we do not sell it, we do not transfer it to third parties except as necessary to provide the service (see Sub-Processors below), with your consent, or where required by law, and no humans read it except with your explicit permission, where necessary for security or legal compliance, or where the data has been aggregated and anonymised. Mail and calendar data from your Google account is fetched on demand and displayed to you; it is cached only on your own device for offline use and is not copied to our servers except transiently to deliver features you enable. Revoking access (in the app, or at myaccount.google.com/permissions) immediately ends all access.

Limited Use disclosure: StrataByte Mail's use and transfer to any other app of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

If we ever change how StrataByte Mail uses Google user data, we will update this policy and notify affected users before the change takes effect.

11.3 On-Device Storage

Our mobile apps cache messages and attachments locally on your device so you can read mail offline and open it instantly. This cache stays on your device, is protected by the device's app sandbox, and is cleared when you sign out of the account.

11.4 Push Notifications

To alert you to new mail we use Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM), a service provided by Google. When you enable notifications, a device push token is generated and shared with Google in order to route messages to your device; a new-mail notification may include the sender and subject line. We share no other mailbox content with Google for this purpose. You can disable notifications at any time in the app or your device settings.

11.5 Read Tracking (Optional)

Our apps offer an optional open-tracking feature. When you enable it for a message you send, a small invisible image is included so you can see when the recipient opens your email. This feature is off unless you turn it on, and applies only to mail you choose to send with it enabled.

11.6 Biometric App Lock

If you enable fingerprint, face, or passcode lock, that authentication is performed entirely on your device by the operating system. We do not receive, transmit, or store your biometric data.

11.7 Sub-Processors for the Mail Service

Delivering StrataByte Mail relies on the following providers, each acting only to the extent necessary to run the service:

• Google LLC: Firebase Cloud Messaging for push notifications, OAuth if you connect a Gmail account, and Firebase Crashlytics, which collects crash reports and basic device information (device model, OS version, and a per-installation identifier) from our Android app to help us fix stability problems. Crash reports never include your messages or credentials.
• Microsoft Corporation: OAuth if you connect an Outlook/Microsoft 365 account.
• Your chosen email provider: where you connect an external IMAP/SMTP account, that provider handles the underlying mail on its own terms.
• Our hosting providers: UK-based servers on which the StrataByte Mail service runs.

Where these providers are located outside the UK, transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards under UK GDPR.

11.8 Retention & Deletion

Mailbox data for StrataByte Mail accounts is retained for as long as your account is active. You can delete individual messages at any time within the app. To close your account and have your data deleted, contact info@stratabyte.co.uk. Disconnecting an external account removes its stored credentials and clears its on-device cache. Uninstalling the app removes all locally cached data from your device.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any changes. We encourage you to review this page periodically.