Privacy notice

Last updated 26 September 2026

This site is run by Ibtisam Ahmed Khan, a sole trader based in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, who decides how the personal information described here is used. Questions about it go toinfo@materialsdecoded.com.

What I collect and why

• Enquiry and contact forms: your name, email, business name and whatever you tell me about your product or question. I use it to reply and, if we work together, to provide the service you asked for. The sourcing enquiry forms also send which page of this site you came from, the first page of your visit and the website or campaign that brought you, so I know which pages help. This is kept in your browser tab only until you send a form.
• Email subscription: your email address, used only to send new articles. You can unsubscribe at any time.
• Call bookings: if you book a call, your name, email, the time and any notes you add, so the call can happen.
• Clients: the details needed to deliver the work and to invoice it.

The legal basis is my legitimate interest in answering people who contact me, taking steps at your request before a contract, performing the contract when we work together, and your consent for the email subscription. I do not sell your information or use it for advertising.

Services that handle it

• Netlify hosts this site and receives the form submissions.
• Cal.com handles call bookings.
• WhatsApp (Meta) and WeChat (Tencent) carry any messages you choose to send me there, under their own privacy terms.
• Cloudflare Web Analytics counts visits to this site without cookies and without tracking you across other sites. It records things like the page viewed, the site you came from and your browser type, and I only see them as totals.
• Google hosts my email. The fonts on this site are served from this site itself, not from Google.

The free tools

The tools run in your browser. The landed-cost calculator and the quote comparer send your product search or commodity code to the UK Trade Tariff service (HMRC) to get the rates; the prices and other details you enter stay in your browser. The supplier check, the payment safety check and the container planner never send what you type anywhere. The request for quotation builder and the Canton Fair companion keep your drafts and notes in your own browser only, and nothing you type into them reaches me. The spec sheet builder also keeps its draft in your browser only. The Chinese translation in the request for quotation builder is done by your own browser, where it offers one, and nothing is sent anywhere. The import plan, the margin calculator and the container number check work in your browser; the plan uses the UK Trade Tariff like the calculator. The price check and the UK–China trade data page send the commodity code (and nothing else) to this site’s server, which asks HMRC for the figures; the product rules checker and the material swap checker send nothing. The Canton Fair companion also stores a copy of its own page on your device so it works offline. The sourcing page loads the latest Trade Remedies Authority news from GOV.UK.

How long I keep it

• Enquiries that do not lead to work: deleted within 12 months.
• Client and invoice records: kept for as long as HMRC requires, at least 5 years after the 31 January Self Assessment deadline for the tax year.
• Subscription: until you unsubscribe.

Your rights

You can ask for a copy of the information I hold about you, ask me to correct or delete it, object to how I use it, or withdraw consent at any time. Email info@materialsdecoded.com. If you are unhappy with the answer, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk.