Privacy policy

Who we are

Websites & Systems Co is a web and software studio based in Lilongwe, Malawi, working with clients in Malawi, the UK and elsewhere. We decide how the information described here is used. Questions about your data: websitesandsystems@gmail.com.

What we collect

• When you fill in a form (quick quote, discovery call or free audit): your name, email, phone, organisation, website, what you need and your message. The discovery form can also ask for team size, timeline, budget and the tools you use now, and every form asks how you heard about us. Only fill in what you’re happy to share.
• When you message us on WhatsApp, by email or in the chat window: what you send us.
• When you book a call in the calendar: your name, email and the time you choose.
• When you visit: anonymous visit statistics (pages viewed, rough country, device type, where you came from, and clicks on our call, WhatsApp and email links). Our analytics doesn’t use cookies and doesn’t build a profile of you.
• Technical data: your IP address is used briefly to stop spam on our forms, and our hosting providers keep standard server logs for security.

Why we use it

• To reply to you, prepare a quote, audit or demo, and do the work if you become a client.
• To keep the site secure and free of spam.
• To see which pages help people, so we can improve the site.

We rely on your request (steps you ask for before a contract), the contract itself once you’re a client, and our legitimate interest in running a secure, useful website. We never use your details for marketing emails unless you ask us to.

Who helps us

We use a few trusted services to run the business. They only process your data to provide their service to us:

• Vercel hosts the website.
• Our own server stores form submissions in a private database that only our team can log in to.
• Google (Gmail) delivers form alerts and our email.
• Tawk.to runs the chat window.
• Cal.com runs the booking calendar.
• WhatsApp (Meta), if you choose to message us there.
• Our analytics provider counts visits without cookies.

Some of these services store data outside Malawi and the UK, for example in the USA or the EU. We choose providers that protect personal data under recognised safeguards. We never sell or rent your data.

Cookies and similar

• Our analytics uses no cookies.
• The chat window (Tawk.to) only loads when you click “Chat with us”. From then on it uses cookies to keep your conversation going between pages.
• The booking calendar (Cal.com) may use cookies when you open it to book.
• Your browser remembers the currency you pick on the pricing page. This stays on your device.

How long we keep it

Enquiries that don’t lead to work: up to 2 years after our last contact, then deleted. Client records: for as long as we work together, and afterwards as long as the law requires for accounts and contracts. Anonymous statistics may be kept longer.

Your rights

You can ask us for a copy of your data, to correct it, to delete it, or to stop using it. Email websitesandsystems@gmail.com and we’ll reply within one month. If you’re not happy with our answer, you can complain to the data protection authority where you live: in the UK the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk), in Malawi the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA), or your local authority elsewhere.

Changes

If we change how we use your data, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. See also our terms of use.