Square Waves LLC ("Square Waves," "we," "us") collects only the information needed to run our website and serve our clients, and we do not sell personal information. This policy explains what we collect, how we use and protect it, and the choices you have.
Square Waves is a web design, digital marketing, and technical services company based in St. Charles, Illinois. This policy applies to squarewaves.com, our related websites, our marketing communications, and the business information we collect from clients and prospective clients.
Information we collect
Information you give us
- Contact and inquiry details: name, email address, phone number, company name, job title, and anything you include in a contact form, email, or call.
- Client account and billing information: billing contacts, addresses, invoices, and payment records. Card and bank payments are processed by our payment providers (Intuit QuickBooks Payments and Stripe). We do not store full card numbers on our systems.
- Project information: content, files, brand assets, and account access you share so we can deliver our services.
- Job and contractor applications: information you send us when applying to work with us.
Information collected automatically
- Website usage data: pages viewed, referring website, approximate location, browser and device type, and IP address, collected through cookies and analytics tools.
- Email engagement: whether our emails are opened or links are clicked.
Information from other sources
- Publicly available business contact information, such as company websites and professional profiles, and business contact data from prospecting tools, used to reach people who may be interested in our services.
How we use information
We use information to:
- Respond to inquiries and provide proposals
- Deliver, manage, and bill for client services
- Send updates, insights, and marketing emails (you can opt out at any time)
- Understand how our website is used and improve it
- Review job and contractor applications
- Protect our systems, prevent fraud, and meet legal obligations
How we share information
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
We share information only in these cases:
- Service providers that help us run our business, under agreements that require them to protect it. These include website hosting (Webflow), email and file storage (Google Workspace), customer relationship management (HubSpot), accounting and payments (Intuit QuickBooks and Stripe), project management (Bonsai), cloud hosting (Amazon Web Services, Vercel, Supabase), and website analytics.
- Contractors who work on client projects under our direction and are bound by written confidentiality agreements.
- Legal and safety reasons: to comply with law, respond to legal requests, or protect the rights and safety of Square Waves, our clients, or others.
- Business transfers: as part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case this policy continues to apply to the transferred information.
Cookies, analytics, and your choices
You can opt out of marketing emails and non-essential cookies at any time.
- Cookies and analytics. Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the site and measure traffic, including Google Analytics. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and you can opt out of Google Analytics at tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout. Blocking cookies may affect some site features.
- Marketing emails. We send marketing emails to clients, people who contact us, and business contacts who may be interested in our services. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. You can also opt out by emailing privacy@squarewaves.io. Opting out does not stop service or billing emails related to an active engagement.
- Contact forms. Submitting a form is your choice. We use what you submit to respond to you and follow up about our services.
- Do Not Track. Browsers offer Do Not Track signals, but there is no common standard for them, so our site does not currently respond to them.
How we protect information
We protect information with administrative, technical, and physical safeguards set out in our written information security policy, which every employee and contractor signs. These include:
- Multi-factor authentication on company systems
- Access limited to people who need it for their work, with access reviews and prompt removal when someone leaves
- Encrypted devices and a company password manager
- Encryption in transit (HTTPS) on our website
- Reputable, secure cloud providers for hosting and storage
- Security training for our team, and a written incident response plan
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects your personal information, we will notify you as required by law.
How long we keep information
We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes in this policy:
- Inquiries and prospects: until you ask us to delete it or opt out, or after 3 years without contact
- Client records: for the engagement and as long as needed afterward for tax, accounting, and legal purposes, generally 7 years
- Applications: up to 2 years
When information is no longer needed, we delete or anonymize it.
Information we handle for our clients
When we build or manage websites, CRMs, marketing campaigns, and business systems for clients, we may access personal information those clients hold, such as their customers' contact details or records in their systems. In that role we act on our client's behalf and follow their instructions and our contract with them. Their privacy policy governs how that information is collected and used.
We use client data only to perform the services, keep it confidential, and return or delete it when the engagement ends, as our contracts require. If you have a question about information a Square Waves client holds, please contact that client directly. We will help them respond.
Your rights
You can ask us to:
- Tell you what personal information we hold about you
- Correct information that is inaccurate
- Delete your information, unless we need to keep it for legal, tax, or contract reasons
- Stop sending you marketing emails
Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under state privacy laws. To make a request, email privacy@squarewaves.io. We will verify your identity before acting and respond within 45 days. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights.
Children
Our website and services are intended for businesses and are not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
We review this policy at least once a year and update it when our practices change. The effective date at the top shows when it was last updated. If we make material changes, we will post the updated policy on this page.
Contact us
Square Waves LLC
St. Charles, Illinois
privacy@squarewaves.io
