Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 October 2026

This policy explains what personal information Hanksol collects when you visit hanksol.com or get in touch with us. It also covers why we collect it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what rights you have. If anything is unclear, email us at info@hanksol.com.

Who we are

Hanksol (also known as Hanksol Digital Business Agency) is a web development and digital agency based in Karachi, Pakistan. We decide how and why the personal information described in this policy is used. That makes us the “controller” of that information.

• Business name: Hanksol
• Address: Phase 2 Defence Housing Authority, Karachi, Sindh 75500, Pakistan
• Email: info@hanksol.com
• Phone and WhatsApp: +92 301 3763525

For any privacy question or request, email us and put “Privacy request” in the subject line.

What this policy covers

This policy covers visitors to hanksol.com, people who contact us or ask for a quote (including on behalf of a business), and people whose details we receive from our clients or enquirers.

It does not cover personal information we handle for our clients when we build or maintain their websites, such as their customers’ orders. That client is responsible for that information, and the client’s own privacy policy applies.

The information we collect

Information you give us through our forms

Our website has four forms. Fields marked * are required. The other fields are optional.

• Contact form (Contact page): name*, email address*, phone or WhatsApp number and your message*.
• Get a Quote form: name*, business email address*, company name, country*, phone or WhatsApp number, current website address, the service you need*, your budget range, your project timeline, your project details*, a link to any files you choose to share, your preferred contact method* and how you heard about us.
• Service page form (on our service pages): name*, business email address*, current website address and your message*.
• Free Website Audit form: name*, business email address*, the address of the website you want us to review*, your main concern* and any extra details you choose to add. We use these details to review that website and email you a short written summary.

Each form submission is saved in our website’s database and sent as an email notification to info@hanksol.com. Our forms do not store your IP address. They record the general type of browser and operating system you used (for example, “Chrome” and “Windows”) with your submission, and they do not place tracking cookies.

Until 25 October 2026, our Get a Quote form also let you upload a file. We no longer accept uploads through our forms. Files sent to us before then are kept and protected as described in this policy.

Please do not put sensitive information (for example about your health, religion or finances) in your message or in files you share with us. If a file contains information about other people, such as your staff or customers, only send it if you are allowed to share it with us.

Information you give us in other ways

You might email us, call us, message us on WhatsApp, contact us through Microsoft Teams or message us on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. If you do, we receive your contact details (such as your name, email address, phone number or profile name) and whatever you choose to tell us.

If you become a client, we also keep records of our work together, such as contracts, invoices and project correspondence.

Information we receive from others

Sometimes we receive your details from someone else. For example, a colleague may contact us on your behalf, a client may name you as a contact for a project, or someone may send us a file that includes your details. This may include your name, job title, work email address, phone number and anything else they choose to tell us about you. We use this information for the purposes and on the lawful bases described below.

Information collected when you browse our website

• Security checks: We use the Imunify Security plugin, and our hosting server uses bot protection. These tools check your IP address and basic browser information to block attacks, spam and automated traffic. Sometimes you may see a short “verifying your request” page before our site loads.
• Server logs: Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs that record your IP address, the pages you request, the date and time, and your browser details.
• Fonts: Our website fonts are stored on our own server, so loading our pages does not send your information to Google Fonts.

Website analytics (only with your consent): If you click “Accept” in our cookie banner, or allow “Statistics” in its preferences, we use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our website so we can improve it. Until you do, the Google tag that loads Google Analytics is not run and no analytics cookies are set. This applies to every visitor, wherever you are. If your browser sends a “Do Not Track” or Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as a refusal.

With your consent, Google Analytics collects information such as the pages you visit, how long you stay, how you arrived (for example from a search engine or another website), your approximate location (country and city), your device type, browser, operating system and screen size, and interactions such as scrolling, clicks on links to other websites, file downloads and form submissions. It records that a form was submitted, not what you wrote in it. Google Analytics does not store your IP address. We have switched off Google signals and Google Analytics data sharing, so Google may not use this data for its own purposes or for advertising.

We do not use Google Ads, Google Tag Manager containers, the Meta Pixel, the LinkedIn Insight Tag or any advertising cookies.

How we use your information and our lawful bases

If you are in the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA), the law requires us to have a “lawful basis” for each way we use your information. Here is what we do and the basis we rely on.

• To reply to your enquiry, prepare a quote or proposal you asked for, or carry out a free website audit you asked for. Basis: taking steps you asked for before entering into a contract. If you contact us on behalf of a business, the contract would be with that business, so we rely on our legitimate interests in responding to business enquiries.
• To follow up on a quote or proposal you asked for. Basis: legitimate interests (finding out whether you would like to go ahead).
• To keep a record of enquiries that do not lead to work, so we can continue the conversation if you come back to us and deal with any complaint. Basis: legitimate interests.
• To provide our services if you become a client, and to manage our working relationship. Basis: performing our contract with you. Where the contract is with your business, we rely on our legitimate interests in working with our clients’ contacts.
• To keep accounting, tax and business records about our clients. Basis: legitimate interests in complying with the tax and accounting laws of Pakistan that apply to us.
• To keep our website secure and working. Basis: legitimate interests in protecting our website, our visitors and the information you send us.
• To understand how our website is used and improve it (Google Analytics). Basis: your consent, which you give through our cookie banner. You can withdraw it at any time (see “Cookies” below).
• To deal with legal claims or requests from authorities. Basis: legitimate interests in establishing, exercising or defending legal claims and in responding to lawful requests, including from authorities in Pakistan. Where a UK or EEA law requires it, legal obligation.

We rely on your consent only for website analytics. If we ever want to send you marketing, we will ask for your consent where the law requires it, and you can withdraw that consent at any time.

Do you have to give us your information? No law requires you to. We need your name and email address to reply to you. Some forms also require details such as the service you need, your country or the website you want us to review, so that we can do what you asked. If you leave out a required field (marked *), the form cannot be sent. If you become a client, our contract may require you to give us the information we need to do the work and to invoice you.

Who we share your information with

We only share your information when we need to for the purposes above.

• Our web hosting provider, InterServer, Inc. (United States): stores our website, form entries and uploaded files on its servers, keeps server logs and runs the security checks described above.
• Our email provider, InterServer, Inc. (United States): runs our info@hanksol.com mailbox, which receives form notification emails.
• Google (Google Drive): stores our website backups, which include form entries.
• Google (Google Analytics): only if you consent to statistics cookies. Google provides Google Analytics to us as a service provider (processor) under the Google Ads Data Processing Terms, which we have accepted.
• Accountants, lawyers and other professional advisers: when we need their help, for example to prepare our accounts and tax returns or to get legal advice.
• Authorities and courts: only if the law requires it or if we need to protect our legal rights.

Third-party services you choose to use

Our website links to WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. These are ordinary links, and our pages do not load content from these services. If you click one of these links, you leave our website and that service’s own privacy policy applies. If you message us on one of these services, the service also processes your messages.

• WhatsApp Privacy Policy (users in the EEA: WhatsApp EEA Privacy Policy; users in the UK: WhatsApp UK Privacy Policy)
• Microsoft Privacy Statement (Microsoft Teams)
• Meta Privacy Policy (Facebook and Instagram)
• LinkedIn Privacy Policy

A change we are planning

We plan to start using a lead-tracking tool, such as a Google Sheet or a CRM system, to keep track of enquiries. We will update this policy, including naming the provider, before we start.

International transfers

Hanksol is based in Pakistan, and our team accesses enquiries and client information from Pakistan.

Our website backups are stored in Google Drive, and if you consent to analytics, Google Analytics data is processed by Google. Google may store this information in the United States and other countries. Google LLC participates in the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension.

Our website, including form entries and uploaded files, is stored by our hosting provider, InterServer, Inc., on servers in the United States. Our emails are stored by the same provider in the United States. The United States does not have a general UK or EU adequacy decision. The EU-US Data Privacy Framework and its UK Extension cover only US companies certified under them, and we have not confirmed that our host is certified.

If you are in the UK or EEA: when you send us your details through our forms, by email or on WhatsApp, you are giving them directly to a business outside the UK and EEA. Pakistan does not have a UK or EU “adequacy” decision. That means its laws have not been formally recognised as protecting your information to the same standard as UK or EU law. Wherever your information is handled, we still follow this policy.

Contact us if you would like more information about how your information is protected when it is stored outside the UK or EEA.

How long we keep your information

• Enquiries and quote requests that do not lead to work (form entries, uploaded files, emails and messages): 12 months after our last contact with you. After that, we delete them.
• Client records (contracts, invoices and project correspondence): 6 years after our work together ends, or longer if Pakistani tax law requires it, to meet tax, accounting and legal requirements.
• Security and server logs kept by our hosting provider: for the period set by our hosting provider’s standard settings.
• Google Analytics data (only if you consented): Google Analytics keeps visit-level data for 2 months and visitor-level data for 14 months. After that, only aggregated reports remain, which do not identify you.
• Website backups: we make automatic backups of our website, including form entries, and store them in our Google Drive account. We keep daily database backups for 14 days and weekly full backups for 4 weeks. Occasionally we keep a specific backup for longer, for example before major changes to the website. Our hosting provider also keeps backups for the period set by its standard settings. Information we delete may remain in these backups until they are overwritten or deleted.

If you ask us to delete your information sooner, we will, unless we need to keep it for a legal reason.

How we protect your information

• Our website uses HTTPS, so information you send through our forms is encrypted between your browser and our website.
• We use the Really Simple Security and Imunify Security plugins, and our hosting server uses bot protection, to help block attacks and spam.
• We limit access to form entries, uploaded files and our mailbox to the people who handle enquiries and projects for Hanksol. Our hosting and email providers can also access this information when they provide their services to us.

No website or email system is completely secure. If you think your information has been put at risk, please contact us straight away.

Cookies

Cookies are small files that a website stores in your browser. Our website currently uses only these:

• Security cookie (strictly necessary): Our hosting server’s bot protection (Imunify and LiteSpeed) may set a cookie to confirm you are a genuine visitor and not an automated attack. It is used only for this check. Our site may not load properly without it. We consider this cookie strictly necessary, so under UK and EU cookie rules it does not need your consent.
• Consent cookies (strictly necessary): Our cookie banner (Complianz) remembers your choice in cookies whose names start with “cmplz_” for 365 days, and the WP Consent API plugin shares it with our other plugins in cookies whose names start with “wp_consent_” for 30 days. They contain only your choice, so we do not ask you again on every page.
• WordPress login cookies: WordPress sets these only for our own team when we log in to manage the website. Ordinary visitors do not receive them.
• Analytics cookies (only with your consent): Google Analytics sets “_ga” and “_ga_” followed by an ID. They let it count visits and recognise returning visitors, and last up to 2 years.

We do not use advertising or social media tracking cookies. Our Cookie Policy lists the consent and analytics cookies in more detail.

You can change or withdraw your consent at any time on our Cookie Policy page, which is linked at the bottom of every page. Withdrawing consent does not affect analytics collected before you withdrew it.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. If you block the security cookie, our website may not load.

Your rights

If you are in the UK or EEA, you have the right to:

• Access: get a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Rectification: ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete.
• Erasure: ask us to delete your information.
• Restriction: ask us to limit how we use your information.
• Portability: where we use information you gave us for a contract or with your consent, ask us to send it to you or to another organisation in a common electronic format.
• Withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent (website analytics), you can withdraw it at any time on our Cookie Policy page.

Your right to object

Where we use your information on the basis of our legitimate interests, you can object at any time. We will then stop, unless we have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests or we need the information for legal claims. If we ever use your information for direct marketing, you can object at any time and we will stop.

How to make a request

Email info@hanksol.com with “Privacy request” in the subject line. We may ask you to confirm your identity.

In most cases there is no fee. We will reply within one month. If your request is complex or you have made several requests, we can take up to two more months. If so, we will tell you within the first month and explain why.

Some rights have limits. For example, we may have to keep client records for tax purposes. If a limit applies, we will explain it.

If you live outside the UK and EEA, you can still contact us with any of these requests, and we will do our best to help. The laws where you live may give you extra rights.

How to complain

If you have a concern, please contact us first at info@hanksol.com so we have a chance to put it right. You also have the right to complain to a data protection regulator:

• UK: the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
• EEA: the data protection authority in the country where you live or work, or where you think the problem happened. The European Data Protection Board website lists them all.
• Elsewhere: your local data protection regulator, if there is one.

Children

Our services are for businesses, and our website is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you think a child has sent us their details, please contact us and we will delete them.

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when the way we handle personal information changes. For example, we will update it before we add a lead-tracking tool or any new tracking technology. The date at the top of this page shows when we last updated it. If we make a significant change, we will make it clear on our website.