What Gold Strategics collects, why we collect it, who else can see it, and how to stop it. This covers both this website and the services we run for clients.
1. Who we are
Gold Strategics builds and manages websites and related tools for businesses. We are based in Lake County, Florida. For anything in this policy, email aaron@goldstrategics.com.
2. What this website records
We run our own analytics on our own server rather than handing your visit to a third-party analytics company. When you load a page here, we record the following.
| What we record | Why |
|---|---|
| Your IP address, and the approximate country, region and city worked out from it | To know roughly where inquiries come from, and to rate limit automated scanners |
| A random visitor identifier stored in a cookie | To tell a returning visit apart from a new one |
| Pages viewed, any query string, and the site or ad that sent you | To see which pages and which marketing bring people in |
| Device type, browser and user agent string | To catch layout problems on real devices |
| Time on page, scroll depth, and which buttons or links were clicked | To see whether a page gets read or abandoned |
| Form submissions and checkout clicks, flagged as goals | To measure whether the site produces inquiries |
This sits in a database on our own hosting. We do not sell it, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not share it with ad networks.
3. Cookies, and how to switch tracking off
This site sets two cookies. Neither is used for advertising.
gsvholds a random visitor identifier so a repeat visit is not counted as a new person.gs_notrackis the opt-out. While it is present we record nothing at all.
To opt out of analytics completely, visit goldstrategics.com/?notrack=1 once. That sets the opt-out cookie for a year and this site stops recording your visits. Clearing your cookies removes it, so you would need to visit that link again.
We do not show a cookie consent banner. The visitor identifier is not strictly necessary for the site to function, so if you are visiting from the UK or the European Economic Area and would rather not be counted, please use the opt-out above. You can also block cookies in your browser.
4. When you contact us
Our forms ask for your name, email address, business name, service area, and whatever you write in the message. The three-question box on the homepage asks for your email, your type of business, and what you are looking for.
Submissions reach us through Formspree, which processes and forwards them to our inbox. We use what you send to reply and to prepare a quote, and we keep it for as long as we may need it to answer you or to keep a record of who we have quoted. Sending a form does not add you to a marketing list.
5. Text messages
If you give us your mobile number and ask us to text you, or you text a business number we have given you, we will reply by text.
We do not sell, rent, or share your mobile number with anyone. No third party gets it for their own marketing, and no mobile number or the consent you gave to be texted is passed on to another company for any purpose.
Texts from us are one-to-one replies about your inquiry or your project. We do not run text marketing campaigns and we do not add you to a texting list. Message frequency varies and depends on the conversation, and in practice is only a handful of messages while we are sorting something out with you. Message and data rates may apply.
Reply STOP to any message and we will stop texting you. Reply HELP for help, or email aaron@goldstrategics.com. Opting out of texts does not affect anything else, and we will still answer you by email.
The line is carried by Twilio, which handles the calls and messages on our behalf and keeps the records that come with running a phone number.
6. Other companies involved
Running this site means a few other companies handle some data on our behalf.
- Bluehost hosts the website and its database, and keeps standard server logs.
- Cloudflare sits in front of the site, filters malicious traffic, and passes your IP address through to it.
- Formspree receives and forwards form submissions.
- Google Fonts serves the typefaces. Loading a font means your browser contacts Google, and Google can see your IP address.
- Calendly is used on some pages for booking a call, and collects whatever you enter when you book.
- Stripe handles payments. Your card details go to Stripe, not to us. We never see or store your full card number.
7. If you are a client
Building and running your website means we handle more than analytics.
Your business information
Your content, images, services, prices, contact details, any logins you give us, and your billing details. We use these to build and operate the thing you are paying for, and for nothing else.
Your customers' information
Inquiries submitted through your website, and, where you use our optional tools, the contact details and job records those tools handle. That information belongs to you, not to us. We process it on your instructions in order to run the service. We do not sell it, we do not market to your customers on our own behalf, and we never move it to another client. If you leave, you can have it, and we delete our copies on request.
Where a tool sends messages to your customers on your behalf, you are responsible for having a lawful basis to contact them. We will not send to a list you do not have permission to use.
8. How long we keep things
- Website analytics. Kept while useful for understanding traffic, then deleted or reduced to totals.
- Inquiries. Kept while we may still need to answer or follow up.
- Client business and customer data. Kept for as long as we run your service, and deleted on request once it ends.
9. Your choices
You can ask what we hold about you, ask for a copy, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it. Email aaron@goldstrategics.com and we will deal with it. Depending on where you live you may have formal rights under laws such as the GDPR or state privacy laws. We will honor those requests whether or not they apply to us by law, because there is no good reason not to.
10. Children
This site is aimed at businesses and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.
11. Security and its limits
The site runs over HTTPS, sits behind Cloudflare, rate limits automated traffic, and access to the database is restricted. No website is perfectly secure and we will not pretend otherwise. If something happens that affects your data, we will tell you.
12. Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it. Anything material that affects clients also goes out by email.
13. Contact
Gold Strategics, Lake County, Florida.
aaron@goldstrategics.com