Privacy Policy

Overview

This policy explains what personal information Leadstones ("we", "us") collects through leadstones.com, why we collect it, and the choices you have. We are the data controller for the information described here.

Information We Collect

• When you get in touch: your name, email address, phone number, business name and anything you tell us about your business, when you fill in our enquiry form, email or call us.
• Client portal accounts: if you work with us, the name, email address and job title of each person with access to your organisation's portal, and a record of when they last signed in.
• Advertising and analytics: if you accept our cookie banner, we use Google Analytics (GA4), Meta Pixel and the LinkedIn Insight Tag to understand which pages and ads lead to someone getting in touch. These record the pages you visit and when you send an enquiry, along with identifiers from your browser (such as cookies and IP address); Google Analytics also records when you reveal our phone number or email address. Your enquiry is sent to Meta from our server as well as from your browser, so it isn't lost to ad blockers. When you send an enquiry, this includes one-way cryptographic hashes of the email address, phone number and name you entered (never the plain text), which Meta uses to match the enquiry to the ad you saw. When you arrive from an advertisement, the identifiers in its link (such as Google's or Meta's click ID) are held in your browser's memory, and passed only to the platform that issued them, and only if you accept. Meta and LinkedIn may also match your visit to your account with them, and LinkedIn may use it to show us anonymised, aggregated information about our visitors, such as job titles and industries. If you choose "Necessary only", Meta Pixel and the LinkedIn Insight Tag don't load and no analytics or advertising cookies are set. Google Analytics may still receive a basic, cookie-less signal that a page was viewed, which can't be linked back to you.

Enquiries We Handle for Clients

Some clients have us collect and manage the enquiries made through their own websites and adverts, and view them in our client portal. For that information we act on the client's behalf as a data processor, and the client's own privacy policy applies.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information above to:

• Reply to your enquiry and arrange a discovery call
• Keep spam out: we check enquiries for obvious signs of automated or bulk sending, for example whether an email address's domain can receive mail. To limit repeated sending the server keeps your IP address in memory for ten minutes, and your email address for an hour. Your IP address is never saved.
• Deliver the services you've engaged us for and give your team access to the portal
• Understand how the Site is used and measure how well our advertising works
• Meet our legal and accounting obligations

How We Share Information

We don't sell your personal information. We share it only with the service providers that help us run the Site, on a need-to-know basis:

• Amazon Web Services - to host the Site and the client portal, and to store enquiries.
• Microsoft - for our email (Microsoft 365), including the alert we receive when you send an enquiry.
• Google, Meta and LinkedIn - if you accept our cookie banner, to measure and improve our advertising (Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag).

We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of Leadstones or others.

Cookies

Advertising and analytics cookies are only set if you accept them. We remember your choice in your browser so we don't ask on every visit. You can change your mind at any time - this clears your choice and any analytics cookies already set, and shows the banner again.

If you sign in to the client portal we also set a cookie that keeps you signed in for up to seven days. It is strictly necessary for the portal to work, so it doesn't depend on the banner, and we don't use it for advertising or analytics.

International Data Transfers

Our service providers may process and store data in countries other than the UK, including the United States. Where this involves transferring data out of the UK, we rely on those providers' standard contractual safeguards for international transfers.

Data Retention

We keep enquiry correspondence for as long as it's useful for following up with you, and client records for as long as we're working together and afterwards as needed for legal, tax and accounting obligations. You can ask us to delete your information at any time, subject to records we're required to keep.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain uses of it. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Children's Privacy

The Site is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes take effect once posted here with an updated "Last updated" date.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or want to exercise your privacy rights? Email us at hello@leadstones.com.