Privacy Policy | Synatel

SYNATEL Instrumentation Limited ("we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it and your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Data Controller: SYNATEL Instrumentation Limited
Registered address: Walsall Road, Norton Canes, Cannock, Staffordshire, WS11 9TB, United Kingdom
Company Registration No: 1495116
VAT No: GB 592 6046 25
Email: webmail@synatel.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 1543 277003

We are registered in England and Wales and are part of the 4B Group.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process the following categories of personal data:

2.1 Account & Identity Data

Name and email address (provided when you register or sign in)
Authentication credentials managed via Clerk (our identity provider)
Profile preferences and communication settings

2.2 Order & Transaction Data

PCB specifications, Gerber files and BOM (bill of materials) details
Delivery and billing addresses
Order history, quotes and correspondence
Payment information (processed by our payment provider — we do not store full card details)

2.3 Contact & Enquiry Data

Name, email address, phone number and message content submitted via contact forms
Company name and job title (if provided)

2.4 Appointment & Consultation Data

When you book a free consultation appointment via our website, we collect:

Full name and email address
Phone number
Business name (if provided)
Address, city and country / region
Preferred meeting format (phone call or video call)
Discussion topic and any additional notes you provide
Chosen appointment date and time slot

This data is used solely to schedule, manage and conduct your consultation and to send you relevant appointment notifications. By booking an appointment and ticking the consent checkbox, you give us explicit consent to contact you regarding that booking.

2.5 Technical & Usage Data

IP address, browser type and version, operating system
Pages visited, time spent on pages, referral source
Device identifiers and cookie data
Analytics data collected via Google Analytics 4

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

Purpose	Legal basis (UK GDPR)
Processing PCB orders and quotes	Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b))
Managing your account	Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b))
Scheduling and conducting appointment consultations	Consent (Art. 6(1)(a))
Sending appointment confirmation and reminder emails	Consent (Art. 6(1)(a))
Responding to contact enquiries	Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f))
Sending transactional emails (order updates)	Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b))
Marketing communications (newsletter)	Consent (Art. 6(1)(a))
Website analytics and improvement	Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f))
Legal and compliance obligations	Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c))
Fraud prevention and security	Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f))

4. Who We Share Your Data With

We may share your personal data with the following categories of third parties:

ALLPCB: our PCB procurement and assembly fulfilment partner. Order data (PCB files, specifications, delivery address) is shared as necessary to fulfil your order.
Clerk: authentication and identity management provider. Processes account and sign-in data.
Amazon Web Services (AWS): cloud hosting, email delivery (SES) and file storage infrastructure (eu-west-2 region).
Google Analytics: website usage analytics. Data is anonymised where possible.
Payment processor: payment card data is handled by our PCI-compliant payment provider.
4B Group: affiliated entities within our group for component sourcing and operational purposes.
Professional advisers: solicitors, accountants and insurers under confidentiality obligations.
Regulatory authorities: HMRC, ICO or law enforcement where legally required.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

5. International Transfers

Some of our service providers (including ALLPCB, which operates from China) may process your data outside the UK. Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the UK ICO or adequacy decisions, to protect your data to the same standard as under UK GDPR.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected:

Account data: for the duration of your account, plus 2 years after closure
Order and transaction records: 7 years (HMRC legal requirement)
Appointment and consultation records: 2 years from the appointment date
Enquiry / contact form data: 2 years from the date of last contact
Marketing consent records: until you withdraw consent
Analytics data: 14 months (Google Analytics default)

7. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
Erasure: request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten")
Restriction: ask us to restrict processing in certain circumstances
Portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
Object: object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing
Withdraw consent: withdraw consent at any time where we rely on it, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing

To exercise any of these rights, please email webmail@synatel.co.uk with the subject line "Data Rights Request". We will respond within 30 days.

8. Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on this website. For full details of what cookies we set and how to control them, please see our Cookie Policy.

9. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction. These include encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS), access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no internet transmission is completely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Children

Our services are directed at businesses and individuals aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe we hold data about a child, please contact us immediately.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be notified by email or a prominent notice on our website.

12. Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

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

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the ICO. Please email us first at webmail@synatel.co.uk.