Privacy Policy | SQF Consulting

1. Introduction and Information We Collect

SQF Consulting is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you access our food safety consulting services, website, and related services. By using our platform, you consent to the data practices described in this policy. We encourage you to read this document thoroughly to understand our commitment to your privacy.

We collect several categories of information to provide and improve our services. This includes personal identification information such as your name, email address, phone number, and corporate affiliation when you register an account, request a consultation, or book a gap assessment. We also collect technical data automatically, including your IP address, browser type, operating system, and usage patterns within the SQF Consulting website. This technical information helps us optimize system performance and maintain robust security.

Additionally, we process customer data uploaded or provided to our consultants, which may include facility floor plans, food safety plans, HACCP validation records, and quality audit logs. While this data is primarily proprietary business information, it may occasionally contain personal data of your employees or suppliers. We process this data strictly in accordance with our customer agreements and applicable data protection laws, acting as a data processor while our customers remain the data controllers.

Your Rights Under GDPR and CCPA

Under global regulations like GDPR and CCPA, you have specific rights regarding your personal data. You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, request the correction of inaccurate data, or request the deletion of your data under certain conditions. You can also object to or restrict the processing of your data, and request data portability. To exercise any of these rights, please contact our privacy team at privacy@sqfconsulting.com . We respond to all verified requests within 30 days.

2. How We Use and Share Your Information

We use the information we collect to operate, maintain, and improve SQF Consulting services. This includes processing transactions, managing user accounts, providing customer support, and sending technical notices or security alerts. We also analyze usage trends to develop new services and enhance the user experience. Our goal is to deliver a seamless, reliable, and highly secure food safety consulting experience that meets your operational needs.

SQF Consulting does not sell, rent, or lease your personal data to third parties. We may share your information with trusted third-party service providers who perform essential services on our behalf, such as cloud hosting, payment processing, and customer relationship management. These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your data and are prohibited from using it for any other purpose.

We may also disclose your information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with legal obligations, protect and defend the rights or property of SQF Consulting, or protect the personal safety of our users or the public. In the event of a corporate merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your personal data may be transferred as part of the business assets, subject to the commitments made in this Privacy Policy.

“Data privacy is not just a compliance checkbox for us; it is a core operational principle. We build our food safety consulting frameworks with end-to-end security and strict confidentiality to ensure your proprietary facility data remains yours alone.”

Marcus Vance

General Counsel at SQF Consulting

3. Data Security, Retention, and International Transfers

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. This includes end-to-end encryption of data in transit and at rest, multi-factor authentication, regular security audits, and strict access controls. Our digital infrastructure is hosted on secure servers with redundant backups and continuous monitoring to ensure high availability and resilience.

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. When personal data is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymize it in accordance with our data retention policies. For customer data uploaded or shared with our consultants, retention periods are governed by our specific customer agreements.

SQF Consulting is based in the United States, and your personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your country of residence. These countries may have data protection laws that differ from those of your jurisdiction. We take all necessary steps to ensure that international data transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for transfers from the EEA and UK.

4. Cookies, Tracking Technologies, and Third-Party Links

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to track activity on our website and hold certain information. Cookies are files with a small amount of data which may include an anonymous unique identifier. We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits, compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction, and deliver targeted advertisements based on your interests.

You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our website. We also use third-party services such as Google Analytics to monitor and analyze the use of our website. These third parties have access to your personal data only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for any other purpose.

Our website may contain links to other sites that are not operated by us. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that third party's site. We strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of every site you visit. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.

5. Children's Privacy, Policy Updates, and Contact Information

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 18. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately. If we discover that a child under 18 has provided us with personal data, we will take immediate steps to delete such information from our servers.

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, or if you would like to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer at:

SQF Consulting LLC Attn: Privacy & Compliance Department 100 Enterprise Parkway, Suite 500 Chicago, IL 60611 United States

Email: privacy@sqfconsulting.com Phone: +1 (800) 555-0199

Privacy & Data Protection FAQ

Quick answers to common questions about how we handle, protect, and manage your data.

No. SQF Consulting does not sell, rent, trade, or lease your personal data or proprietary facility information to any third parties. Your data is used strictly to deliver our consulting services and improve our platform.

You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your personal data at any time by emailing our privacy team at privacy@sqfconsulting.com . We verify all requests to protect your security and respond within 30 days.

All data is encrypted at rest using AES-256 and in transit using TLS 1.3. We host our digital infrastructure on secure, SOC 2-compliant cloud servers with multi-factor authentication and continuous security monitoring.

Yes. We comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for European users and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) for California residents, providing all required disclosures and data rights.