Legal — Data Protection

Privacy Policy

Effective date: 1 January 2026Last updated: 15 May 2026

This Privacy Policy describes how Sargodha Guide Online ("we," "us," or "our"), operating the website at sargodhaguide.online(the "Website"), collects, uses, retains, and discloses information when you access or use our services. We are an independent civic information portal registered in Pakistan, serving residents of Sargodha District, Punjab.

By accessing our Website, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with any part of it, please discontinue use of the Website. This policy is written in plain language and complies with international data protection standards including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), and Pakistan's Personal Data Protection Bill framework.

1. Data Controller

Entity: Sargodha Guide Online

Website: sargodhaguide.online

Location: Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan

Privacy Contact: privacy@sargodhaguide.online

General Contact: info@sargodhaguide.online

Response Time: Within 30 days of receipt

2. Information We Collect

Information You Provide

Full name submitted via contact form
Email address submitted via contact form
Message content of inquiries
Voluntary feedback or suggestions

Automatically Collected

IP address (anonymised after 26 months)
Browser type, version, and language
Device type and operating system
Pages visited, time on page, exit page
Referring URL and search query (if applicable)

Cookie & Tracking Data

Session cookies (expire on browser close)
Persistent preference cookies
Google Analytics cookies (_ga, _gid)
Google AdSense DART advertising cookies
Consent management cookie

3. Lawful Basis for Processing (GDPR Article 6)

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and United Kingdom, we rely on the following lawful bases under GDPR Article 6:

Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): Advertising cookies, Google AdSense DART cookies, and non-essential analytics. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Legitimate Interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): Basic website analytics (page view counting), security monitoring, and fraud prevention. Our interest in understanding how the site is used does not override your fundamental rights.

Contract Performance (Art. 6(1)(b)): Processing contact form submissions to respond to your inquiries.

Legal Obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)): Complying with applicable laws, court orders, or regulatory requirements.

4. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

Full Cookie Disclosure

Cookies are small text files stored on your device. They help us recognise your browser and remember certain information. We use both first-party and third-party cookies. The table below describes the cookies used on this Website.

Cookie	Provider	Type	Retention
_ga	Google Analytics	Analytics	2 years
_gid	Google Analytics	Analytics	24 hours
_gat	Google Analytics	Analytics	1 minute
DART (IDE)	Google AdSense	Advertising	13 months
1P_JAR	Google	Advertising	30 days
consent_v2	sargodhaguide.online	Functional	1 year
session	sargodhaguide.online	Strictly Necessary	Session

Managing cookies: You can control and delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling cookies may affect website functionality. For browser-specific instructions, visit allaboutcookies.org.

5. Google AdSense and Third-Party Advertising

Google AdSense Disclosure

Third-party advertising and DART cookie information

We use Google AdSense to display advertisements on this Website. Google AdSense is operated by Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Google AdSense uses the DART cookie to serve interest-based advertisements to visitors of this Website and other websites across the Internet. The DART cookie is stored under the domain .doubleclick.net.

Google, as a third-party vendor, uses cookies to serve advertisements based on your prior visits to this Website or other websites. Google's use of advertising cookies enables it and its partners to serve advertisements based on interest profiling derived from your browsing activity. No personally identifiable information (name, email, address) is shared with Google AdSense.

Opt-out options:

6. Data Retention Schedule

How Long We Keep Your Data

Contact form submissions12 months from receipt, then permanently deleted

Server access logs (IP, user-agent)90 days for security purposes, then deleted

Google Analytics data (aggregated)26 months, as per Google Analytics data retention settings

Google AdSense DART cookies13 months (controlled by Google, not us)

Email correspondence24 months, unless ongoing legal matter requires longer retention

7. How We Use Your Information

Purposes of Processing

Responding to Inquiries: To answer questions submitted through our contact form
Website Analytics: To understand aggregate traffic patterns and improve content quality (Google Analytics)
Advertising: To display contextually and interest-based advertisements through Google AdSense
Security: To detect and prevent abuse, scraping, DDoS attacks, and fraudulent activity
Legal Compliance: To fulfil obligations under applicable Pakistani law and international data protection regulations
Service Improvement: To identify broken links, error pages, and content gaps based on user navigation patterns

8. Data Security

Security Measures

We implement the following technical and organisational measures to protect your data:

HTTPS encryption (TLS 1.2+) for all data in transit
Secure hosting infrastructure with regular security patches
Access controls — only authorised personnel access personal data
Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments
No storage of payment or financial data on our servers

No method of internet transmission is 100% secure. In the event of a data breach affecting your personal data, we will notify affected individuals within 72 hours of becoming aware, in compliance with GDPR Article 33/34 obligations.

9. Your Privacy Rights

GDPR Rights (EEA/UK Residents)

Right of Access — obtain a copy of your personal data
Right to Rectification — correct inaccurate data
Right to Erasure ('Right to be Forgotten')
Right to Restrict Processing
Right to Data Portability
Right to Object to processing
Right to withdraw Consent at any time
Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

CCPA Rights (California Residents)

Right to Know — categories and specific data collected
Right to Delete — request deletion of personal data
Right to Opt-Out of sale of personal information
Right to Non-Discrimination for exercising CCPA rights
Right to Correct inaccurate personal information
Right to Limit use of Sensitive Personal Information

CCPA Notice:

Sargodha Guide Online does not sellpersonal information to third parties. We do share data with Google for analytics and advertising purposes as described in Section 5. This constitutes "sharing" under CPRA, and you may opt out via Google Ad Settings.

To exercise any of the above rights, email privacy@sargodhaguide.online with subject line "Privacy Rights Request" and describe your request. We will respond within 30 days (GDPR: within one calendar month; CCPA: within 45 days with one possible 45-day extension).

10. Children's Privacy

This Website is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or 16 in the EEA under GDPR). We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, we will delete it immediately. If you believe a minor's data has been collected, contact us at privacy@sargodhaguide.online.

11. International Data Transfers

Our Website is hosted on infrastructure operated by Vercel Inc. (USA). Visitor data including IP addresses and analytics may be processed in the United States or other countries outside your jurisdiction. Google Analytics and Google AdSense also process data in the USA.

For EEA/UK users, transfers to the USA are covered by Google's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) as approved by the European Commission under GDPR Chapter V. More information is available in Google's Privacy Policy.

12. Third-Party Websites

Our Website links to third-party websites including government portals (Punjab IT Board, NADRA, FESCO, University of Sargodha), educational institutions, and utility providers. These external sites operate under their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for their data practices. We recommend reviewing the privacy policy of any external website you visit.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. Material changes will be announced by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top and, where required by law, by notifying users via a prominent notice on the homepage. We encourage you to review this page quarterly. Continued use of the Website after any update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

Privacy Contact

For all privacy rights requests, data access inquiries, or complaints regarding our data practices:

Privacy Email: privacy@sargodhaguide.online

General Email: info@sargodhaguide.online

Postal Address: Sargodha, Punjab, Pakistan

Response Time: Within 30 days (GDPR) / 45 days (CCPA)