Your Trusted China Supplier Auditor
Privacy Policy
We take the privacy of your personal information seriously. This policy explains exactly what we collect, why, and how we protect it.
Who We Are
SourcInspecify ("we", "us", "our") is a China supplier verification and factory audit firm. We provide financial-grade due diligence services to overseas importers sourcing products from Chinese manufacturers. Our services include supplier background checks, sample reception and review, pre-order factory inspections, in-progress quality control, pre-shipment assurance audits, and seasonal audits.
For the purposes of applicable data protection law, SourcInspecify is the data controller of the personal information described in this policy.
Quick summary: We are a professional services firm, not a data business. We collect only the information we need to deliver your audit and communicate with you about it.
Information We Collect
Information you provide directly
When you submit a consultation request, place a service order, or communicate with us, we collect:
- Identity data: your full name, job title, and company name
- Contact data: email address, phone number (if provided), and messaging handles (e.g. WhatsApp)
- Order data: the services you request, your supplier's name and location, order value range, and any product specifications you share
- Payment data: billing address and transaction reference. We do not store payment card numbers — card processing is handled by our payment provider
- Communication data: the content of emails, messages, or form submissions you send us
Information collected automatically
- Usage data: pages visited, time on site, referring URL, browser type, and device type
- Technical data: IP address, approximate geographic location (country/region level), and session identifiers
Information we do not collect
We do not collect sensitive personal data such as racial or ethnic origin, health information, financial account details beyond transaction references, or information about children.
How We Use Your Information
| Purpose | Information used | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Deliver your service — conduct audits, prepare reports, communicate findings | Identity, contact, order data | Contract performance |
| Process payment — issue invoices, process transactions, handle refunds | Identity, contact, payment data | Contract performance |
| Respond to enquiries — answer questions before or after an order | Identity, contact, communication data | Legitimate interests |
| Improve our services — analyse usage patterns and service quality | Usage, technical data (aggregated) | Legitimate interests |
| Legal obligations — retain records as required by law, respond to lawful requests | All categories where applicable | Legal obligation |
| Marketing communications — occasional service updates or relevant content (only with your consent) | Identity, contact data | Consent (opt-in only) |
We will never sell your personal data to third parties or use it for any purpose not listed above.
Data Retention
We retain your personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes it was collected:
- Client records and audit reports: 5 years from the date of service, to support any follow-up, dispute resolution, or regulatory requirement
- Financial transaction records: 7 years, as required by applicable tax and accounting law
- Marketing consents: until you withdraw consent or unsubscribe
- Website analytics data: 26 months from collection, after which it is aggregated or deleted
- Enquiry records (non-clients): 12 months from the date of last contact
When retention periods expire, data is securely deleted or irreversibly anonymised.
Your Rights
Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data. We honour these rights regardless of where you are based.
- Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Correction: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
- Erasure: ask us to delete your data where we no longer have a lawful basis to hold it
- Portability: receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
- Object: object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing
- Restriction: ask us to pause processing while a dispute is resolved
- Withdraw consent: withdraw marketing consent at any time without affecting prior processing
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the details in Section 10. We will respond within 30 days. We may ask you to verify your identity before processing your request.
Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. These include:
- TLS encryption for all data in transit between your browser and our servers
- Access controls limiting data access to team members who need it to perform their role
- Confidentiality obligations binding all staff and audit partners
- Regular review of security practices
No data transmission over the internet is entirely secure. If you believe your interaction with us has been compromised, please notify us immediately.
Cookies
Our website uses a small number of cookies to function correctly and improve your experience.
| Cookie type | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Required for the site to function — session management, security tokens | Session / 1 year |
| Analytics | Google Analytics — aggregate page view data to improve content and navigation (anonymised IP) | Up to 26 months |
| Functional | Remember your preferences (e.g. language, modal dismissal) | Up to 1 year |
You can control cookies through your browser settings. Disabling non-essential cookies will not affect your ability to use our services.
International Data Transfers
SourcInspecify operates globally. Your data may be processed in China (where our audit operations are based), Hong Kong SAR, and the country where our hosting infrastructure is located. When transferring data internationally, we ensure adequate protections are in place through contractual safeguards and by using only reputable service providers with appropriate certifications.
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, or another jurisdiction with cross-border transfer restrictions, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent mechanisms to lawfully transfer your data.
Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights, or have a concern about how we handle your data, please contact us:
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We recommend reviewing this page periodically.
