Privacy & cookie policy
How we collect, use and look after your personal data, and how we use cookies on this website.
Last updated:
1. Who we are
This website is run by MicroConnect Systems LLP, trading as MicroConnect Systems (“MicroConnect”, “we”, “us”). We are the controller of the personal data described in this policy, which means we decide how and why it is used.
- Legal name: MicroConnect Systems LLP, a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales
- Registration number: OC349168
- Registered office and trading address: Prospect House, 121 Bury Old Road, Manchester M45 7AY
- Email: support@microconnect.co.uk
- Phone: 0161 767 9966
- ICO registration number: C2070553
We handle personal data in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). If you have any questions about this policy, please contact us using the details above.
2. What we collect
When you use our contact form
Your name, company name (optional), email address, phone number (optional), the topic you choose and your message, plus your confirmation that you are happy for us to contact you.
When you phone or email us
Your name, contact details and whatever you tell us about your enquiry, along with records of our replies.
When you use our live chat
Your messages, plus your name and email address if you give them to us. Our chat provider also processes technical data such as your IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you visit while the chat is open.
When we provide IT services to your organisation
To support our clients we may need to access or handle personal data held on their systems, such as staff names, user accounts and email. Where we do this on a client’s behalf we act as their processor, under the terms of our agreement with that client, and only as needed to provide the service.
When you browse this website
If you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics collects information about how you use the site, such as the pages you visit, the device and browser you use, your approximate location and how you arrived. See Cookies and analytics. Our hosting provider also keeps basic technical logs (such as IP addresses) to run and protect the site.
3. How we use it and our lawful bases
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Responding to enquiries made through our form, by phone or by email, including arranging a free IT review | Legitimate interests – replying to people who contact us and growing our business |
| Providing IT support and services to clients, managing the account, invoicing and keeping records | Contract – to enter into and perform our contract with you or your organisation. Legal obligation, for accounting and tax records |
| Answering your questions through live chat | Legitimate interests – responding to people who contact us. The chat cookies are only set with your consent (when you start a chat or accept cookies) |
| Understanding how the website is used, with Google Analytics | Consent – only if you choose “Accept cookies”. You can withdraw it at any time |
| Keeping the website and our systems secure | Legitimate interests – protecting our business and our visitors |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed them against your rights and expectations. We do not sell your personal data or use it for automated decision-making that has legal or similarly significant effects on you.
4. Cookies, analytics and live chat
Cookies are small files stored on your device. Under PECR, we only use non-essential cookies if you agree to them.
We use Google Analytics 4 to understand how visitors use the site so we can improve it. We use Google’s consent mode, with all analytics and advertising storage set to “denied” by default. The Google Analytics script is only loaded after you click “Accept cookies”, so no analytics cookies are set before you agree. We do not use advertising cookies, and Google’s advertising features stay switched off.
| Name | Type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Analytics cookie (Google) | Distinguishes one visitor from another so visits can be counted | About 2 years |
_ga_DQF0V1MYZ8 | Analytics cookie (Google) | Keeps track of your session on this site for Google Analytics | About 2 years |
mc_cookie_consent | Local storage (strictly necessary) | Remembers whether you accepted or rejected analytics, so we don’t ask on every page. Stored with the date of your choice | Until you clear your browser storage |
crisp-client/session/… | Live chat cookie (Crisp) | Keeps your chat conversation linked to you as you move between pages and when you come back | About 6 months, renewed when you return |
crisp-client/socket/… | Live chat cookie (Crisp) | Manages the chat connection | About 2 days |
crisp-client/session/… | Local storage (Crisp) | Stores chat session details in your browser so the chat works properly | Until you clear your browser storage or reset chat consent |
mc_chat_consent | Local storage (strictly necessary) | Remembers that you chose to start a chat, so live chat loads on later pages. Stored with the date of your choice | Until you clear your browser storage or reset chat consent |
Live chat
Our live chat is provided by Crisp (Crisp IM SAS, based in France). The chat isn’t loaded, and sets no cookies, until you click “Start chat” or “Chat with us now”, or accept cookies in our banner. Crisp says its chat cookies are used to run the chat, not for tracking.
Changing your cookie choices
You can change your mind at any time. If you withdraw consent, Google Analytics is switched off and the _ga cookies are deleted from this site.
Changing your cookie settings doesn’t switch off live chat if you started a chat yourself. To do that, reset your chat consent. This removes the chat cookies from this site, and the chat will only load again if you start a new chat or accept cookies.
You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings.
5. Who we share it with
We only share personal data where we need to, with:
- Netlify, which hosts this website and processes basic technical data (such as IP addresses) to deliver and secure it.
- Google, which provides Google Analytics as our processor, only if you accept analytics cookies.
- Crisp IM SAS (France), which provides our live chat as our processor, only if you use the chat or accept cookies.
- Service providers we use to run our business, such as email, IT, form-handling and accounting providers, who act on our instructions.
- Professional advisers (such as accountants or lawyers), and authorities where the law requires it.
6. International transfers
Crisp, our live chat provider, is based in the European Union (France), which the UK recognises as providing adequate protection for personal data. Some of our providers, including Netlify and Google, may process data outside the UK, for example in the United States. Where this happens, we rely on appropriate safeguards under UK data protection law. These include the UK–US “data bridge” for certified organisations, or the International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. Contact us if you would like more information.
7. How long we keep it
- Enquiries (form, phone and email) that don’t lead to work: up to 2 years after our last contact.
- Client records (contracts, correspondence, invoices): up to 6 years after the end of our relationship, for legal and accounting purposes.
- Client data we handle while providing IT services: as set out in our agreement with the client, and no longer than needed to provide the service.
- Live chat conversations: up to 2 years after our last contact, like other enquiries, or longer if they become part of a client record. If you open the chat but don’t send a message, Crisp deletes the temporary session automatically after about 30 minutes.
- Google Analytics data: kept for 14 months, in line with the data retention setting in our Google Analytics account.
After that, we securely delete or anonymise the data.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- access the personal data we hold about you
- have inaccurate data corrected
- have your data erased in certain circumstances
- restrict how we use your data in certain circumstances
- object to us using your data on the basis of legitimate interests
- data portability, where the processing is based on consent or contract and is automated
- withdraw your consent at any time, for example to analytics cookies, without affecting anything we did before
To exercise any of these rights, email support@microconnect.co.uk or call 0161 767 9966. There is normally no charge, and we will respond within one month. If your request is about data we handle for one of our clients, we will pass it to that client.
9. Security
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, such as access controls, secure configuration and encrypted connections (HTTPS) on this website. Only people who need personal data to do their work can access it. No system is completely secure, but we work to keep risks low and will act promptly if something goes wrong.
10. Children
Our services are for businesses and this website is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.
11. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first and we will try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s data protection regulator:
- Website: ico.org.uk
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
12. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, with the date it was last updated at the top.