1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how W.S. Engineering Limited, a computer systems design and computer integrated systems design company, handles personal information when you visit the website at https://www.wsengineer.lat or otherwise interact with our firm. We respect your privacy and we are committed to protecting the personal data that you share with us in a transparent and lawful manner.
The website and all associated digital services are developed and operated by the developer WSEngineer on behalf of W.S. Engineering Limited. This Policy describes the categories of information we may collect, the reasons we collect it, the ways we use it, the circumstances in which we share it, and the rights you have in relation to your own information. Please read this document carefully. By using the website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood the practices described below.
This Policy applies to all visitors of the website, whether you are a potential client, an existing client, a supplier, a job applicant, or simply someone who wishes to learn more about our services. The protections described in this document extend to every individual whose personal information we handle, regardless of the capacity in which they interact with us.
2. Scope of This Policy
This Privacy Policy governs personal information collected through the website, through email correspondence with our team, through telephone calls with our staff, and through any project-related documentation that you share with us during the course of a business relationship. It also governs personal information that we process when you enquire about our services, request a consultation, or subscribe to any communications we may offer in the future.
This Policy does not apply to third-party websites that may be linked from our pages. If you click a link that takes you to another website, that website has its own privacy practices, and we encourage you to review the privacy policy of every website you visit. We are not responsible for the content or the privacy practices of any external site.
The Policy also does not cover information that is processed by our clients in the course of their own business. When we provide engineering services to a client, that client remains the controller of their own business data, and we act as a processor on their instructions. In such cases, the relevant agreement between us and the client governs the processing, and this Policy applies to our own handling of the information we need to deliver the work.
3. About the Developer
The website and its underlying digital services were designed, developed, and are operated by the developer WSEngineer. WSEngineer is the engineering practice of W.S. Engineering Limited and is responsible for the technical architecture, the security controls, and the day-to-day operation of the platforms that support our website and client services.
W.S. Engineering Limited is a company engaged in computer systems design and related services within the professional, scientific, and technical services sector, with a focus on computer integrated systems design. Our registered business address is Rm D 8/F SKYLINE TWR, 18 TONG MI RD, Mong Kok, Hong Kong. References in this Policy to the Company, to us, or to our team mean W.S. Engineering Limited and its authorised personnel, including the engineering staff of WSEngineer.
If you have any question about the developer of this website, about the company behind the services, or about this Privacy Policy, you may contact us at any time using the details provided in the Contact Us section at the end of this document. We respond to all privacy enquiries within a reasonable time.
4. Information We Collect
We collect information that you provide directly to us, information that we observe automatically when you use the website, and in limited cases information that we receive from business partners or publicly available sources. We collect only the information that is reasonably necessary to run the website, to respond to your enquiries, and to provide our engineering services.
The categories of personal information we may collect include the following. Identity and contact information, which means your name, your email address, your telephone number, your job title, and the name of your organisation. This is the information you give us when you fill in a contact form, send us an email, call us on the telephone, or otherwise introduce yourself to the team.
Project and correspondence information, which means the content of messages you send to us, the subject lines you use, notes that our engineers record during calls and meetings, and any documents or specifications that you share with us while we evaluate a potential engagement. We treat all such material as confidential and use it only for the purpose for which you provided it.
Technical and usage information, which means data collected automatically when you browse the website, including your internet protocol address, the type and version of the browser you use, the operating system of your device, the pages you view, the time and date of your visit, the links you click, and the website that referred you to us. This information is typically collected by cookies and similar technologies and is described in greater detail in the Cookies section of this Policy.
5. How We Collect Information
We collect information through three principal channels. First, direct collection, which takes place when you voluntarily provide information to us. This occurs when you complete the contact form on our website, when you send an email to help@wsengineer.lat, when you telephone us at +17658065693, or when you speak with a member of our team at a meeting or event. Everything you choose to share with us through these channels is collected with your knowledge and consent.
Second, automatic collection, which takes place when your device interacts with our website. Our servers and analytics tools record standard technical data about each visit, including your internet protocol address, browser type, device type, and browsing behaviour. This information helps us understand how the website is used, diagnose technical problems, and improve the experience for every visitor.
Third, collection from other sources, which we use only in rare and carefully considered circumstances. For example, if you introduce us to a colleague, if a business partner refers you to our firm, or if we need to verify a professional detail about an existing client through a public company register. When we receive information about you from a third party, we confirm that the third party was entitled to share it and that they have informed you of the disclosure where required by law.
7. Legal Basis for Processing
We process personal information only where we have a valid legal basis to do so. The principal legal bases on which we rely are consent, contract, legitimate interest, and legal obligation.
Consent. When you voluntarily provide information through a form or in correspondence, you consent to our use of that information for the purpose you provided it. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time by contacting us, and we will stop the relevant processing without affecting the lawfulness of processing that happened before your withdrawal.
Contract. Where you enter into an agreement with us for engineering services, we process the personal information necessary to perform that agreement, including contact details for invoicing, project communication, and delivery. We cannot provide our services without processing this information.
Legitimate interest. We process certain technical and usage information, and we may send communications about our services to business contacts, on the basis of our legitimate interest in operating the website, understanding our audience, and growing our professional practice. When we rely on legitimate interest, we weigh our interest against your rights and freedoms and we never process more information than is needed for the purpose.
Legal obligation. In some situations the law requires us to process personal information, for example to comply with tax and accounting regulations, to respond to a lawful request from a regulator, or to detect and prevent fraud. Where such an obligation applies, we will process only the information required to meet it.
8. How We Use Your Information
We use personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, and for closely related purposes that you would reasonably expect. The main ways we use your information are described below.
- To respond to your enquiries. When you contact us, we use your name, email address, and the content of your message to reply to you, to answer your questions, and to provide the information you requested.
- To evaluate and deliver services. When you engage us for a project, we use your contact details and project information to prepare proposals, to plan and execute the work, to communicate progress, and to invoice and collect payment.
- To operate and improve the website. We use technical and usage information to maintain the security and reliability of the website, to diagnose faults, and to understand which content is useful to visitors.
- To comply with the law. We use personal information where necessary to meet our legal, regulatory, tax, and accounting obligations.
- To protect our business. We may use information to detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, or security incidents, and to enforce our Terms of Service and other agreements.
We do not sell personal information to any third party. We do not use personal information for automated decision-making that produces legal effects on you, unless we inform you otherwise and provide appropriate safeguards.
10. International Data Transfers
W.S. Engineering Limited operates from Hong Kong and serves clients across Asia Pacific and beyond. When you send information to us, that information may be processed and stored in locations other than the place where you are located, including our servers and the servers of our service providers.
Where we transfer personal information across borders, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the information continues to receive an equivalent level of protection. This may include relying on approved transfer mechanisms, standard contractual clauses, or other safeguards recognised by the applicable data protection laws of your jurisdiction.
By submitting your information to us through the website or by email, you understand that your information will be handled in accordance with this Policy and may be transferred to and processed in countries that do not have the same data protection laws as your country of residence. Where we are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union or the United Kingdom, we comply with the obligations applicable to transfers of personal data outside those regions.
11. Data Retention
We retain personal information only for as long as it is needed for the purposes described in this Policy, and for any additional period required or permitted by law. When the information is no longer needed, we delete it or anonymise it in a way that means it can no longer be linked to you.
The retention period varies depending on the type of information. Enquiry correspondence is typically retained for a short period after the enquiry is closed, unless it leads to a business relationship. Project records, including contracts, invoices, and technical documentation, are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law, which in Hong Kong and many other jurisdictions is several years after the end of the relevant financial year. Security logs and technical records are retained for a limited period sufficient to support incident investigation and system management.
At the end of the retention period, information is securely deleted or destroyed. Paper records are shredded, and digital records are removed from live systems, from backups, and from any archive in a manner consistent with the sensitivity of the data. If you believe that we are holding information about you for longer than is appropriate, you may ask us to review the retention of that information using the contact details in this Policy.
12. Security of Your Information
We take the security of personal information seriously and apply a range of technical, administrative, and physical controls to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, and destruction. These controls are designed and maintained by the engineering team of WSEngineer and are reviewed on a regular basis.
Technical controls include encryption of data in transit using secure protocols, encryption of sensitive data at rest, access controls based on the principle of least privilege, firewalls and intrusion detection, logging and monitoring of access to systems, and secure software development practices. Administrative controls include staff confidentiality obligations, regular security training, incident response procedures, and vendor due diligence. Physical controls include restricted access to our offices and equipment in Mong Kok, Hong Kong.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of information against every possible threat. However, we will notify you and the relevant authorities promptly if we become aware of a data breach that creates a risk to your rights and freedoms, in accordance with applicable law and our contractual commitments.
13. Your Privacy Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have a number of rights in relation to the personal information that we hold about you. We honour these rights wherever they apply and we will respond to valid requests without undue delay.
- Right of access. You may ask us to confirm whether we hold personal information about you and to provide you with a copy of that information.
- Right to rectification. You may ask us to correct personal information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Right to erasure. You may ask us to delete personal information about you where the legal conditions for deletion are met.
- Right to restriction. You may ask us to limit how we process your information in certain circumstances, for example while a dispute about accuracy is being resolved.
- Right to data portability. Where we process your information by automated means on the basis of consent or contract, you may ask us to provide your information in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Right to object. You may object to processing that is based on legitimate interest, and to any processing carried out for direct marketing purposes.
- Right to withdraw consent. Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time.
- Right to complain. You may lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your country of residence if you believe that your rights have been infringed.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in the Contact Us section. We may need to verify your identity before we act on your request, and we may need to ask you for additional information to help us locate the records you are asking about. We aim to respond to all requests within one month, and we will tell you if we need more time.
14. Privacy for Children
This website and the services of W.S. Engineering Limited are directed at businesses and professionals and are not designed for, and are not intended to be used by, children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without the consent of a parent or guardian.
If you are a parent or guardian and you believe that a child has provided personal information to us through the website or by any other means, please contact us immediately using the details in the Contact Us section. We will take reasonable steps to delete that information from our records, to the extent that we are able to verify the situation, and to prevent any further collection from the child.
Because our services are business oriented, we do not operate features such as games, competitions, or social communities that would be attractive to children, and we do not market any products or services to children. This section is intended to reassure parents and guardians that the privacy of children is protected in all of our activities.
15. Third-Party Services and Links
The website may contain links to external websites and may rely on third-party services, such as web analytics tools, that are operated by other companies. These third-party services and linked websites have their own privacy policies, which govern their handling of information that they collect directly from you.
When you leave our website and visit an external site, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of that site before providing any personal information. We are not responsible for the content, the privacy practices, or the security of any third-party website, even if we have provided a link to it from our pages.
Where we use third-party services to support the operation of the website, we select providers that offer appropriate levels of security and that agree to process information in accordance with applicable law. You may find the privacy policies of these providers on their own websites, and you may control some of the information that they collect through the settings they provide.
16. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, changes in technology, or changes in legal requirements. When we make a material change, we will revise the effective date at the top of this document and, where appropriate, we will provide a notice on the homepage or notify you directly by email.
We encourage you to review this Policy periodically so that you are aware of how your information is being protected. Your continued use of the website after the posting of a revised Policy constitutes acceptance of the revised terms, to the extent permitted by law. If we make changes that require your consent under applicable law, we will obtain that consent before the change takes effect.
The date at the top of this document indicates when the Policy was last revised. Each version of the Policy is dated, so you can see at a glance whether the Policy has changed since you last read it. Significant changes will also be summarised briefly in the announcement area of the website for a reasonable period.
17. Contact Us
If you have any question about this Privacy Policy, about how we handle your personal information, or about any privacy right described above, please do not hesitate to contact us. We are happy to explain our practices in plain language and to help you understand how your information is protected.
You may reach the privacy team of W.S. Engineering Limited by email at help@wsengineer.lat or by telephone at +17658065693. You may also write to us at our registered business address: Rm D 8/F SKYLINE TWR, 18 TONG MI RD, Mong Kok, Hong Kong.
When you contact us about a privacy matter, please describe the concern in as much detail as you can, including any relevant dates and the nature of the information involved. This helps us locate the correct records and respond efficiently. We will acknowledge your request promptly and aim to resolve it within one month.