Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Sterling Forensic(“we”, “us”, or “our”) is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data when you visit our website at sterlingforensic.co.uk or contact us.

We are the data controller for the personal data we process. For data protection enquiries, contact us at cases@sterlingforensic.co.uk.

2. Data We Collect

We may collect the following personal data:

• Contact information: name, email address, telephone number, organisation
• Enquiry details: nature of instruction, message content
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited
• Cookie data: as described in our Cookie Policy below

3. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

• Respond to your enquiries and provide our services
• Improve our website and user experience
• Comply with legal obligations
• Analyse website usage (with your consent for analytics cookies)

Our lawful bases for processing include consent, legitimate interests, and contractual necessity.

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We may share data with trusted service providers who assist us in operating our website (such as form processing and analytics providers), subject to appropriate data processing agreements.

5. Data Retention

We retain enquiry data for as long as necessary to respond to your enquiry and for a reasonable period thereafter for business records. Analytics data is retained in accordance with the relevant provider's retention policies.

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing, data portability, and to object to processing. You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time where processing is based on consent.

To exercise your rights, contact us at cases@sterlingforensic.co.uk. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

7. Cookie Policy

Our website uses cookies to ensure proper functionality and, with your consent, to analyse usage and improve our services.

Cookie Categories

Managing Cookies

You can manage your cookie preferences at any time using the “Cookie Settings” link in the website footer. You can also configure your browser to block cookies, though this may affect website functionality.

Google Consent Mode

We implement Google Consent Mode v2. Analytics and advertising tags are blocked by default until you provide consent. When you update your preferences, consent signals are updated immediately without requiring a page reload.

Cookie Retention

Your cookie consent preferences are stored in localStorage for 365 days. After this period, you will be asked to provide consent again.

8. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.