What we collect,
and why.

Who we are

Graphicl is a web design studio based in Mornington, Victoria, building websites for businesses across Australia. In this policy, "we" and "us" means Graphicl. We handle personal information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

What we collect

When you send an enquiry. Your name, business name, email, phone number if you give it, your current website if you have one, the package you are interested in, and anything you tell us about the site.

When you become a client. Through our onboarding brief we collect what we need to build and run your site: your business details and service area, contact details for the people we deal with, details of your domain, email host and booking system, a Google account email if you choose to give us one, and the content you want on the site. For invoicing we collect your legal business name, ABN and billing address.

Files you upload. Logos, photos and video you upload through the brief are stored with our hosting provider. Each file gets a long, unguessable web address, but anyone who has that address can open the file, so only upload material you are happy to have on your website.

When you email or call us. Whatever you choose to tell us.

Automatically, when you use this site. When a form is sent, our server records the time and the IP address it came from, so it can block spam and repeated sends. Google Analytics and Google Ads also collect information about your visit, and a scrambled copy of the email and phone number from our enquiry form, described in the next section.

We do not ask for sensitive information, such as health or financial account details, and we ask that you do not send it.

Cookies, Google Analytics and Google Ads

This site uses Google Analytics 4 to understand how people use it: which pages are visited, for how long, on what kind of device and browser, from roughly which region, and how visitors arrived, for example from a search or an ad. Google Analytics uses cookies and similar technologies to do this. It does not log or store IP addresses.

This site also uses Google Ads. We use it to measure whether a click on one of our ads led to an enquiry, and for remarketing, which means showing Graphicl ads to people who have visited this site while they browse Google and other websites. Google Ads uses cookies and identifiers to do this.

Enhanced conversions. When you send our enquiry form, the email address and phone number you entered are passed to Google with the record that an enquiry was made. Before they leave your browser they are scrambled with a one-way code (SHA-256 hashing), so Google receives a coded version, not the address itself. Google matches that code against people signed in to Google accounts, which tells us which of our ads led to enquiries. Google uses it to measure and improve our advertising and does not give it back to us or tell us who you are. Your name and the rest of what you write in the form are not sent.

Apart from that, we see Google Analytics and Google Ads information in aggregate, not as named individuals.

You can control this in several ways:

Block or delete cookies in your browser settings. The site still works without them.
Turn off personalised ads at adssettings.google.com.
Opt out of Google Analytics on every site with Google's browser add-on.
Read how Google uses information from sites like this one at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

How we use it

To reply to your enquiry and give you a price. To plan, write, build and launch your website. To run your hosting, make the changes you ask for. To invoice you and keep the records the law requires. To understand how this site is used and whether our advertising works, so we can improve both.

We do not sell your information, and we do not add you to a mailing list unless you ask to be on one.

Who we share it with

We use a small number of service providers to run the business. They handle your information on our behalf and only for that purpose:

Vercel hosts this website, processes our forms and stores files you upload.
Resend delivers the emails our forms send.
Google provides our email (Google Workspace), Google Analytics and Google Ads, including the scrambled email and phone number described above for enhanced conversions.

We may also share information with our accountant, and where the law requires us to.

Overseas. These providers store and process information outside Australia, mainly in the United States. We use established providers with strong security, but the information is held under the laws of those countries.

How we keep it safe

Everything on this site travels over an encrypted connection. Only the two people who run Graphicl can see what you send us, and access to our accounts is restricted to us. Our forms carry spam protection and limit how often they can be sent.

How long we keep it

Enquiries that do not go ahead are deleted once they are no longer useful, and within two years. Client records are kept while you are a client and for five years after, which is what the tax office requires for business records. Files you upload are deleted once your site is live and we no longer need them. Google Analytics data is kept for 14 months.

Seeing, correcting or deleting your information

You can ask what we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Email hello@graphicl.com.au. We will reply within 30 days and there is no charge. If we have to keep something, for example an invoice, we will tell you why.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, tell us first at hello@graphicl.com.au and we will respond within 30 days. If you are still not satisfied, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992.

Changes to this policy

When what we collect or who we use changes, we update this page and the date at the top.

Contact

Graphicl, Mornington, Victoria. Email hello@graphicl.com.au or call 0418 427 944.