Privacy Policy
This page explains what happens to information when you visit this website, email me, or book a call. It is written in plain language, not legal language. If anything here is unclear, email me and I will explain it.
Who Steph Forward is, and who to contact about privacy
Steph Forward is an independent AI consulting practice founded and led by Stephanie "Steph" Zhou in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a one-person practice, so there is no separate privacy team.
If you have a question about privacy, or about information you have already sent me, email me at stephforward2025@gmail.com. Your question comes to me directly.
What this website actually collects
This website is static HTML. There are no accounts, logins, payments, or e-commerce on it, and nothing for the site itself to save about you. The one place you can type anything is the cost calculator on the AI automation page. Calculations happen in your browser. The calculator does not send the values you enter to a server or save them.
The site is hosted by Vercel. Vercel serves the pages and, like any web host, processes request data such as your IP address in order to deliver them.
Pages use the fonts already on your device. No web fonts are loaded from Google or anyone else.
What happens to information you send when you contact me, book a call or request the free framework
Anything you send me leaves this website, because the website has no way to receive it. There are three ways it can reach me.
My contact address is currently a Gmail address. If you email me, your message and your email address sit in that inbox. I use them to reply to you and to keep track of our conversation.
Booking a call
Booking is handled off-site by cal.com. Following "Book a free discovery call" leaves this website. Whatever you enter on the booking page is entered on cal.com, and cal.com’s own terms apply to what you enter there. I use the booking details to hold the call with you.
The Free AI Decision Framework
The free framework is delivered through Kit, a third-party email platform. Following the link leaves this website. The form on Kit asks only for your email address. Kit stores it so the framework can be sent to you and so I can manage your request, and Kit’s own terms apply to what you enter there.
What analytics collects, and only after you agree
This website uses Google Analytics 4 for website analytics.
It loads only after you agree to it. Before you agree, it does not load and it sends nothing. That is the whole point of asking first.
If you do agree, Google Analytics collects information about how this site is used and sends it to Google. I use it to see which pages are worth keeping and which are not.
Once it is on, Google Analytics records things like which pages you view, roughly where you are (city and country, not your address), the type of device and browser you use, and how you arrived at the site, such as a search or a link. It does not record anything you type into the cost calculator.
User and event data in Google Analytics is kept for 14 months, which is the retention period set on this site’s Analytics property. Aggregated reports, such as monthly page view totals, can remain after that.
The third-party services actually used
These are the outside services this site and this practice actually rely on today.
- Vercel: hosting. Serves the pages, and processes request data such as your IP address in order to deliver them.
- Google Analytics 4: website analytics. Loads only after you agree.
- cal.com: booking. Booking happens on cal.com, not here.
- Gmail: email. My contact address is currently a Gmail address.
- Kit: email delivery of the Free AI Decision Framework. The request form is on Kit, not here.
- YouTube: this site links out to my YouTube channel. Following a link takes you to YouTube, where YouTube’s own terms apply.
Cookies and local storage
Your consent choice is stored in your own browser, not on a server. I do not have a copy of it.
Google Analytics sets its own cookies, and only after you agree. Before that it is not loaded, so it sets nothing.
This site links to YouTube but does not embed a YouTube player, so YouTube sets no cookies here. YouTube’s own cookies apply once you are on YouTube.
After you agree, Google Analytics sets two cookies on this site: _ga, which tells one visitor from another, and _ga_KB92DSZKFL, which keeps track of the current visit. Google sets both to expire after two years, and some browsers shorten that. Clearing your cookies removes them sooner. No other cookies are set by this site.
How long information is kept
Emails sit in my inbox and bookings sit in my cal.com account while I am working with you, and afterwards while I still need them for my own records.
Google Analytics data is kept for 14 months, as described above.
I have not set fixed retention periods for emails, booking records or framework requests yet. I would rather say that than publish a number I do not actually follow. I will put the real periods on this page once they are set.
If you want your emails, booking records or framework request deleted before then, email me and I will delete them.
Personal information is not sold
I do not sell your personal information. I do not rent or trade it either.
The only places it goes are the services listed above that are needed to run the site, receive your email, and hold a call with you.
How to withdraw analytics consent
You can change your mind at any time, and you do not have to give a reason.
- Use the Cookie Settings control in the footer of every page to change your choice.
- Because your choice is stored in your own browser, clearing this site’s cookies and site data in that browser also clears it. You will simply be asked again on your next visit.
Withdrawing consent stops Google Analytics loading on later visits. It does not by itself remove what was already collected while consent was on. If you want that removed, email me and tell me, and I will do what the tools allow.
How to ask for access to, or correction of, your personal information
Email me at stephforward2025@gmail.com and tell me what you are asking about: an email thread, a booking, or both.
I will tell you what I hold, correct anything that is wrong, or delete it if that is what you want. The reply comes from me, because there is no one else to pass it to.
I will respond within 30 business days, as British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act requires. If I need more time in a case the Act allows, I will tell you why and when to expect a reply.
How this policy gets updated
This page describes what the site does today, not what it might do one day. If that changes (a new tool, a different contact route, a change to how analytics loads), I update this page rather than leave it stale.
Where I have written above that something is not set yet, that is a real gap, and it will be filled in here once it is.
Last updated: 9 October 2026