Privacy policy

Information you give us

When you use one of our forms, we receive what you type in. On the free quote form that’s your name, business name, email, phone number, what you need help with, where your business is, and your message. On the PDF quote form it’s your name, organization, email, phone number, roughly how many PDFs you have, and what kind of documents they are. On the free website planner form it’s your first name, email, and, if you choose, where you are with your website. Name and email are required; everything else is up to you.

The form also records the date and time, the page you sent it from, and your IP address and browser type, which help us spot spam and know which page you were looking at.

If you call or email us directly, we receive whatever you share in that conversation.

Information collected automatically

Like most websites, ours uses a few tools to understand how the site is used and to keep spam out:

• Google Analytics (loaded through Google Tag Manager) counts visits and shows us which pages people read, how they found us, which links and buttons they click, how far they scroll, and whether they contact us. It collects things like pages viewed, device and browser type, approximate location (city level), and the site that sent you. It does not tell us who you are.
• Microsoft Clarity shows us heatmaps and anonymous session replays (how the pointer moves, where people click and scroll) so we can find confusing parts of the site. Clarity hides what you type into form fields; it never records it.
• Google reCAPTCHA checks form submissions for signs of automated spam. It looks at things like how the page is used and information about your device and browser. Use of reCAPTCHA is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.
• Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs (IP address, browser, pages requested, time) for security and troubleshooting.

We don’t use advertising or retargeting pixels, and we don’t build profiles of individual visitors.

Cookies

Cookies are small files a website stores in your browser. Ours are limited to:

• Your cookie choice (fws_consent): remembers whether you accepted or declined analytics, for up to 12 months.
• Google Analytics (_ga, _ga_*): tells repeat visits apart from new ones, for up to 2 years.
• Microsoft Clarity (_clck, _clsk, and Microsoft cookies such as MUID): groups page views into a visit, for up to 1 year.
• Google reCAPTCHA (_GRECAPTCHA): used for spam protection on pages with forms.

When you first visit, a banner lets you accept or decline analytics cookies. If you’re in the European Economic Area, the UK, or Switzerland, analytics cookies are only set after you accept. Elsewhere, analytics runs unless you decline; if you decline, we stop analytics and remove its cookies. You can change your mind any time with the Cookie settings link in the footer. If your browser sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as “decline.” You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the site will still work.

How we use information

• To reply to you, prepare a quote, and provide the services you ask for.
• To send the free website planner you ask for, followed by a few short emails with website tips. Every one of those emails has an unsubscribe link.
• To understand how the site is used and make it better.
• To keep the site and our forms secure and free of spam.
• To keep business records and meet legal, tax, and contract obligations.

We don’t sell your information, and we don’t share it for anyone else’s advertising. We won’t add you to a marketing list because you asked for a quote. The only form that signs you up for emails is the free website planner form, and it says so next to the button.

Who we share it with

We share information only with companies that help us run the site and the business, and only what they need:

• Hosting: our web host stores the website, including saved form submissions.
• Email delivery: Postmark sends form submissions to our inbox, and our email provider stores them there.
• Brevo: if you ask for the free website planner, your first name, email and answer are stored in Brevo, the email and contact management service we use to send the planner follow-up emails.
• Analytics and spam protection: Google (Analytics, Tag Manager, reCAPTCHA) and Microsoft (Clarity), as described above.
• ADAComply: if you use the PDF quote form, your request is also sent to ADAComply, our PDF remediation partner, so they can help prepare your quote.

We may also share information if the law requires it, to protect our rights or someone’s safety, or as part of a sale or transfer of the business.

How long we keep it

Form submissions saved on the website are deleted automatically after 2 years. If you asked for the planner, your contact record in Brevo is kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it. Copies in our email, and records for people who become clients, are kept as long as we need them to work with you and to meet legal, tax, and contract requirements. Google Analytics data is kept for up to 14 months. Clarity data is kept for up to 13 months, and individual recordings for a shorter time.

Your choices and rights

You can ask us to tell you what information we have about you, correct it, or delete it. Email hello@forwardweb.io and we’ll respond within 30 days. We may need to confirm it’s really you first. Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR (Europe and the UK) or U.S. state privacy laws, including the right to object to or limit how we use your information and to complain to your local data protection authority. We won’t treat you differently for using any of these rights.

You can opt out of Google Analytics on every site with Google’s opt-out browser add-on.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS, access to submissions and accounts is limited to our team, and we keep the site and its software up to date. No method of sending or storing data is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect what you send us.

Where information is processed

We’re based in Michigan, and our service providers mainly process data in the United States. If you contact us from another country, your information will be transferred to and handled in the U.S.

Websites we build or host for clients

This policy covers forwardweb.io only. For websites we build or host for our clients, each client decides what their site collects and is responsible for its privacy policy. We handle that data only on their behalf and as our agreement with them allows.

Children

Our site and services are for businesses and organizations. We don’t knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you think a child has sent us information, contact 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.

Contact us

Forward Web Solutions LLC
Auburn, Michigan
hello@forwardweb.io · (989) 941-6084