YOUR
PRIVACY.

Who we are

ENGINE VLABS is operated by Max Smith, the data controller for personal information used to handle your enquiries. For privacy questions, email enginelightingcrew@gmail.com.

This policy covers enginevlabs.co.uk and enquiries submitted through its contact form. Using a service provider to hold enquiries does not remove our responsibility for how we use your information.

Information we use

If you contact us, we receive the name or company name, email address, project type, target date, project scale and brief that you enter. We also use information you choose to provide in follow-up correspondence.

The name, email and brief fields are required to submit the form; the project options have default selections. You can browse the website without sending an enquiry. Please do not include passwords, payment card details or sensitive personal information in your brief.

Our hosting and form providers also process technical information such as IP addresses, browser details and request times to deliver their services and protect against abuse.

Why we use it

We use enquiry information to understand your request, respond to you, discuss requirements and prepare a proposal where appropriate.

Where you ask us to take steps towards a contract with you personally, we rely on the contractual steps lawful basis. For general enquiries and enquiries made on behalf of a company, we rely on our legitimate interests in responding to requests and running our studio. We also have a legitimate interest in keeping the website and form secure.

Submitting a project enquiry does not subscribe you to a marketing mailing list. We do not use the website to make automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on you.

Where information goes

Formspree: your browser sends the form directly to Formspree, which processes and stores submissions for us. This website does not maintain its own enquiry database. Formspree may use service providers to operate its service, including email delivery and security.

Email: any enquiry notifications sent to our inbox, and our email correspondence with you, are processed and stored through Gmail. Those copies are separate from the submission held in Formspree. See Google\'s privacy policy.

Netlify: our website is hosted on Netlify, which processes requests and technical information needed to serve and protect the website.

These providers may process information outside the UK, including in the United States. Formspree states that it uses Standard Contractual Clauses as a processor. You can contact us for information about the safeguards relevant to your enquiry.

More information is available in Formspree's privacy policy, Formspree's security information and Netlify's privacy statement.

How long information is kept

For enquiries that do not become projects, we delete submissions and any related enquiry emails within six months of the last contact. This covers the Formspree dashboard and any copies in our inbox.

If an enquiry becomes a project, relevant correspondence may be needed for delivering the work, keeping required business records or handling legal claims. The retention period then depends on those purposes and applicable obligations. Contact us for the period relevant to your project.

Providers may retain limited backup, security or legal records under their own retention arrangements. Removing a submission from Formspree does not automatically delete any copies already delivered by email.

Cookies and Google Fonts

Our website code does not set advertising or analytics cookies and does not save enquiry details to browser local storage. Third-party services have their own privacy practices; this statement does not cover cookies on their separate websites.

We load fonts from Google Fonts. This requires your browser to contact Google's servers, which receive your IP address and request information. Google states that its Fonts API does not set or log cookies. See Google's explanation of Google Fonts privacy.

Your rights and contact

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask to access or correct your personal information, request deletion or restriction, object to processing based on legitimate interests, and request a portable copy where that right applies. These rights are subject to the conditions and exceptions in data protection law.

To make a request, email enginelightingcrew@gmail.com. Please give enough information for us to locate your enquiry. We may need to verify your identity before disclosing or changing information.

You can also complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.

We may update this policy if our services or data practices change. The date above shows when it was last updated.