Privacy Policy

The short version

This site collects as little as possible. Analytics cookies only run if you say yes, and you can change your mind any time with the Cookie settings link at the bottom of every page. Videos don’t load anything from YouTube until you press play. No advertising or social trackers. The only personal information we get is what you choose to send us, like a brief, an email, a call booking or a signup for our email list, and we use it for exactly that. We don’t sell it or share it for advertising. Ever. These rules are the same for everyone, wherever you live.

Who we are

Designedby.Agency is a logo and brand identity studio in Deltona, Florida, USA, operated by Michael Fantauzzi. In this policy, “we,” “us” and “our” mean Designedby.Agency. We decide how and why your information is used, which makes us the “controller” under laws like the GDPR. This policy covers designedby.agency and any page on it. Questions go to Michael@designedby.agency.

What we collect

What you send us. When you fill out the brief on the contact page or send a brief through the site chat, we collect your name, email address, business name (if you give one), what you need, your budget range, your timing, how you found us, and anything you write about your brand. When you email us, we get whatever is in that email.

Call bookings. The “Pick a time” button opens Google Calendar’s booking page. The details you enter there, like your name, email and chosen time, are collected by Google and shared with us so we can hold the call.

Email list. If you sign up on the Bookmarked page to unlock the full list and hear when new links are added, we collect your email address. That’s all we ask for.

Basic technical information. Like almost every website, our server sees your IP address, browser type and the pages you request. We use this only to keep the site running, secure and protected from spam, for example to limit how many times a form can be submitted.

We don’t ask for sensitive information (like health, religion or financial account details) and we ask you not to send it.

Cookies and similar tech

You choose. The first time you visit, a small banner asks if we can use analytics cookies. Reject and Accept are the same size and do what they say. Until you accept, Google Analytics doesn’t load at all and nothing is sent to Google. We remember your answer for 12 months, then ask again. You can change it any time with the Cookie settings link in the footer. Turning analytics off stops it right away and deletes its cookies.

Privacy signals. If your browser sends Global Privacy Control or Do Not Track, we treat that as a no and don’t show the banner.

Analytics (only if you accept). Google Analytics shows us how many people visit, which pages they read, how they found us (for example a search or a social post), and general details like device type and rough location (city or country). It sets two cookies, _ga and _ga_<ID>, to tell visits apart. They last up to 13 months. Google Analytics doesn’t store IP addresses, and we’ve turned off Google signals and ad personalization, so the data isn’t used for advertising. We see totals in reports, not named people. Google processes this data under its privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy) and explains how it uses data from sites like ours at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

Needed to run the site (no consent needed). A few things are saved only in your own browser because you asked for them: your cookie choice (dba-consent, 12 months), day or night mode if you pick one (dba-theme), the shelf you last opened and whether you unlocked the full list on Bookmarked, and the site chat conversation, which sits in temporary session storage and disappears when you close the tab. None of these are sent to us or anyone else.

Videos. Videos on the site load from YouTube’s privacy-enhanced mode (youtube-nocookie.com), and only after you press play. Until then, nothing loads from YouTube. Once a video plays, YouTube may store information on your device under Google’s privacy policy.

We don’t use advertising, remarketing or social tracking tools. The fonts and images load from our own server. If we add any other analytics or cookies, we’ll update this policy and ask again first.

The site chat is a set of pre-written answers, not an AI. Nothing you type in it is sent to us unless you finish and send a brief.

How we use your information, and why we’re allowed to

Privacy laws like the GDPR ask us to name a legal reason (a “lawful basis”) for each use. Here they are:

To reply to your enquiry, quote, book calls and do the project. Because you asked us to, or because we have a contract with you (contract and the steps before one).

To keep normal business records, invoices and tax files. Because the law requires it (legal obligation).

To keep the site secure and stop spam. Because we have a fair reason to protect the site that doesn’t override your rights (legitimate interests).

Analytics and the Bookmarked email list. Only because you said yes (consent). You can take that back any time, and it doesn’t affect anything we did before.

The only marketing email we send from our own list goes to people who joined the Bookmarked list, and it’s only about new links and resources. You can unsubscribe anytime by replying to any email or writing to Michael@designedby.agency. Unsubscribing removes you from the list. Our newsletter runs on Substack: if you subscribe there, Substack collects your email address and sends the newsletter, and Substack’s privacy policy applies to that signup.

We don’t make decisions about you by automated means alone, and we don’t profile you.

Who we share it with

We don’t sell, rent or trade your information, and we don’t “share” it for targeted advertising as California law uses that word. We only use service providers that help us run the business, and only give them what they need:

Google Cloud, which hosts the site and stores the briefs you send (servers in the United States). Google Workspace, which runs our email, delivers a copy of each brief to our inbox, and sends list emails. Google Calendar, which handles call bookings. Google Analytics, only if you accept analytics cookies. If we add or change a provider, we’ll name it here first.

We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect our rights or someone’s safety, or as part of selling or reorganizing the business, in which case this policy would still apply to your information.

If you’re outside the United States

We’re based in the US, and so are our providers’ main servers, so your information is handled in the United States. Where the law requires a safeguard for that transfer, we rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework (and its UK and Swiss extensions) where the provider is certified, as Google is, or on the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.

How long we keep it

We keep briefs and emails for as long as we need them to reply to you, and delete enquiries that didn’t turn into a project after 2 years. If you become a client, we keep project records for the length of the project and as long as needed afterward for accounting, tax and legal reasons. Google Analytics keeps visit data for up to 14 months, then deletes it. Email list addresses stay until you unsubscribe. You can ask us to delete your information at any time, and we will unless the law requires us to keep it.

How we protect it

Briefs are stored on our own server and in our business email, behind secure connections and account security. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect what you send us. If a breach ever affects your personal information, we’ll notify you and the right authorities as the law requires, including Florida law and the GDPR where it applies.

Your rights

Everyone gets the same rights here, wherever you live. You can ask us to:

See what information we have about you and get a copy, in a format you can take elsewhere. Correct anything that’s wrong. Delete it. Limit how we use it, or object to a use. Take back consent for analytics or the email list at any time.

Email Michael@designedby.agency. We’ll answer within 30 days, free of charge. We may ask you to confirm it’s you, usually by replying from the same email address. Someone you authorize can ask for you. Using these rights will never change how we treat you, price our work or answer your enquiry.

Europe and the UK. These rights come from the GDPR and UK GDPR. If you’re not happy with how we handled something, you can complain to your local data protection authority (in the UK, the ICO), though we’d like the chance to fix it first.

California and other US states. Under the CCPA and similar state laws you have the right to know, delete, correct and opt out of the sale or sharing of your information. We don’t sell or share it, or use it for targeted advertising, so there’s nothing to opt out of, but we honor Global Privacy Control anyway. In the last 12 months we collected the categories listed under “What we collect” (identifiers like name and email, business details you send, and website usage if you accepted analytics), for the purposes listed above.

Canada, Brazil, Australia and elsewhere. The same rights and contact apply under PIPEDA, the LGPD, the Australian Privacy Act and similar laws.

Children

This site is for businesses and isn’t meant for anyone under 16. We don’t knowingly collect information from children. If you think a child has sent us information, email us and we’ll delete it.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle information, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. Big changes will be clearly noted here, and if they affect cookies, we’ll ask for your choice again.

Contact

Designedby.Agency, operated by Michael Fantauzzi, Deltona, Florida, USA
Michael@designedby.agency