CQANET Privacy Policy

CQANET LTD is responsible for personal information collected through cqanet.com and used to manage enquiries, customers and services. This notice explains that use under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

For privacy enquiries or to exercise your rights, email info@cqanet.com or write to the address at the end of this page. Where we handle personal data on a business customer's instructions as part of IT support or another service, that customer may be the controller and separate processing arrangements may apply.

• Enquiries and project forms: your name, email, telephone number, company and any project details, requirements or message you submit.
• Support bookings: contact and company details, selected service, appointment time, message and an address for onsite visits.
• Client accounts and tickets: account email, authentication information, profile name and company, service requests, ticket messages, replies and status information.
• Payments and accounting: customer name, email and telephone number, selected service, amount, payment status and provider reference; invoice or receipt details where applicable.
• Technical and security information: information processed by hosting, authentication and security providers, such as IP addresses, browser or device details, session information and reCAPTCHA signals.
• ASK CQANET: the question you submit and information needed to generate an answer. Do not include passwords, confidential records or sensitive personal information.

We use information to respond to enquiries, assess and deliver services, arrange appointments, manage accounts and support tickets, process and reconcile payments, send service communications and receipts, maintain accounting records and protect the website from misuse.

• Contract and pre-contract steps: answering a requested quotation, arranging a booking, supplying services and handling related payments.
• Legitimate interests: managing business enquiries, maintaining service records, supporting customers and protecting the website and accounts, balanced against your rights.
• Legal obligations: tax, accounting and other records or disclosures required by law.
• Consent: where required, including optional marketing or non-essential cookies. Any consent can be withdrawn without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

A service enquiry is not consent to unrelated promotional messages. CQANET does not use ASK CQANET to make decisions about your eligibility for services or access your private portal tickets.

Public enquiry answers are sent to CQANET by email. Support bookings and authenticated client requests are also saved as service records; a failed email notification does not erase a saved booking or request. Information included in an email may remain in our business correspondence.

The client portal stores profiles, requests, ticket conversations and payment activity. Clients are restricted to their own private records; authorised staff can access the information required to manage customer services. Please only include information relevant to your request and avoid supplying another person's details without authority.

Stripe and PayPal collect payment credentials on their own checkout pages. CQANET's checkout does not collect or store your full card number or card security code. We send the customer and service details needed to create checkout, then use provider-confirmed information to verify a payment and prepare a receipt.

When QuickBooks is connected, confirmed payments and the associated customer and transaction details may be transferred to Intuit QuickBooks to create accounting sales receipts. A payment can complete even if that accounting transfer or an email notification fails.

These providers also process information for their own payment, fraud-prevention and legal purposes. See Stripe's Privacy Policy, PayPal's Privacy Statement and Intuit's Privacy Statement.

ASK CQANET sends your question to an AI service through Lovable's AI gateway, with web search enabled to help generate sourced answers. CQANET does not save visitor questions in its customer database or use them to read private tickets. This does not mean that the AI, gateway or search providers process no technical data or keep no operational logs; their own policies apply.

If you choose voice input, your browser may use a speech-recognition service to convert audio to text. Processing depends on your browser and its provider; it is not necessarily confined to your device. Voice input is optional. Avoid sharing confidential or sensitive information in questions or recordings.

The website uses browser storage or session mechanisms to support account sign-in and security. Google reCAPTCHA v3 loads across the website to help identify automated abuse and verify public submissions. Google may process device, interaction and network information and use cookies or similar technologies in accordance with its policies.

Use of reCAPTCHA is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The website also requests hosted web fonts, which can disclose technical request information to the font provider.

You can manage cookies and site storage in your browser, although disabling essential storage or security services may prevent sign-in or form submissions. Where consent is legally required for non-essential technologies, it must be obtained before they are used; this notice is not a substitute for consent.

Information is shared only as needed for the relevant purpose, including with authorised CQANET staff and providers of website hosting, Lovable Cloud account and record storage, business email and transactional email delivery, remote-support software, AI and web search, Google security services, Stripe, PayPal and Intuit QuickBooks.

Some providers act on CQANET's instructions; others, such as payment providers, may be independent controllers for their own purposes. We may also disclose information to professional advisers or authorities when necessary for legal obligations, the protection of rights or the investigation of misuse. Personal information is not sold by CQANET.

Some technology providers operate internationally and may process information outside the United Kingdom. Where UK data protection law requires safeguards for a transfer, these must be provided through an applicable adequacy decision or approved contractual safeguards, with additional measures where required.

Contact us for information about the arrangements applicable to your data. Providers' own privacy notices describe their processing locations and transfer arrangements.

Information is kept for as long as necessary for its purpose, taking account of the service relationship, outstanding enquiries or disputes, legal accounting requirements and security needs. Different records require different periods; a completed enquiry need not be retained for as long as an accounting record. You can request information about retention for a specific record.

Access controls, authenticated portal access and restricted staff permissions help protect private information. Payment credentials are handled by payment providers. No website, email system or transmission method can be guaranteed completely secure. Contact CQANET promptly if you believe your account or information has been compromised.

Depending on the circumstances, you may request access to your information, correction of inaccurate information, deletion, restriction of processing or a portable copy of information. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests and to direct marketing, and withdraw consent where consent is the basis used.

Email info@cqanet.com with your request. We may need proportionate information to verify your identity. Requests are normally answered within one month; the law allows extensions for complex or multiple requests, and we will explain if one applies. Some rights have exceptions, for example where records must be kept by law.

You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. You do not have to contact CQANET first, although we welcome the opportunity to address your concern.

The website and client accounts are intended for adult customers and authorised business users, not directed at children. If a child has supplied personal information without appropriate authority, contact us so it can be reviewed.

External websites and services have their own privacy policies; this notice does not cover their independent processing. We may update this notice as services or legal requirements change. The date at the top identifies the latest revision. Our Terms & Conditions cover website and service use.