Privacy Policy and California Privacy Notice for Second Star Group

1. Scope

This Policy applies to personal information collected through:

• The SSG website.
• Contact form submissions.
• Cookie and consent banner interactions.
• Business communications related to inquiries, prospective engagements, and vendor or client contact.

This Policy does not apply to information that is publicly available, deidentified, aggregated, or otherwise excluded from applicable law.

2. Information Collected

SSG may collect the following categories of personal information:

• Identifiers, such as name, email address, telephone number, IP address, and online identifiers.
• Internet or network activity, such as cookie data, browser information, device information, and interactions with the website or consent banner.
• Professional or commercial information, such as company name, job title, business inquiry details, and communications submitted through the contact form.

SSG currently understands the website to collect only limited contact and website-use information, including the information a visitor voluntarily submits through the contact form: name, email address, phone number, company, and message contents.

3. Sources of Information

SSG collects personal information from the following sources:

• Directly from website visitors when they submit the contact form or otherwise contact SSG.
• Automatically from browsers or devices through cookies and similar technologies, subject to the visitor's consent choices where applicable.
• From service providers that support website hosting, analytics, consent management, security, or communications.

4. Purposes for Use

SSG may use personal information for the following business purposes:

• To respond to inquiries and communicate with prospective clients, partners, or vendors.
• To operate, secure, maintain, and improve the website.
• To honor cookie preferences and privacy requests.
• To detect, prevent, or investigate fraud, misuse, technical issues, or security incidents.
• To comply with legal obligations and enforce rights.

California requires a notice at or before the point of collection that identifies the categories of personal information collected and the purposes for which they are used.

5. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

SSG uses cookies or similar technologies on the website. These technologies may be used for site functionality, security, analytics, and consent preference management. California law requires disclosure of how the website responds to Do Not Track signals and whether third parties may collect personally identifiable information about users' online activities over time and across different websites.

Current Cookie Stack

SSG currently uses a consent banner and may use some combination of the following categories of cookies or similar technologies, depending on the final website configuration:

• Strictly necessary cookies for core site functionality, security, and form submission handling.
• Preference cookies to remember consent choices or site preferences.
• Analytics cookies if enabled for traffic measurement, performance monitoring, or website improvement.
• Security or anti-spam tools used to protect the contact form or prevent abusive traffic.

Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Browsers may offer a "Do Not Track" setting. Because there is not yet a universally accepted standard for Do Not Track responses, SSG currently does not respond to browser Do Not Track signals in a separate technical manner. However, where legally required, SSG intends to honor valid opt-out preference signals, including Global Privacy Control, for any processing that constitutes a sale or sharing of personal information under applicable California law.

Third-Party Tracking

SSG currently does not knowingly allow third parties to collect personal information about visitors' activities across different websites through the website except as may occur through ordinary website service providers such as hosting, analytics, security, anti-spam, or consent management tools. This statement should be updated if advertising, remarketing, or cross-site tracking tools are later enabled.

6. Disclosure of Personal Information

SSG may disclose personal information to:

• Website hosting providers.
• IT, security, and website support vendors.
• Analytics, consent management, or communications vendors.
• Professional advisers such as legal, accounting, or insurance advisers.
• Government authorities or other parties when required by law or reasonably necessary to protect rights, safety, or property.

SSG does not sell personal information for money. SSG also does not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising unless explicitly stated elsewhere in this Policy. If that changes, SSG will update this Policy and provide any required California notices and opt-out mechanisms.

7. Retention

SSG retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Policy, including responding to inquiries, maintaining business records, meeting legal obligations, resolving disputes, and enforcing agreements. California privacy disclosures commonly describe retention by category or by reference to business need and legal obligations, and retention periods should align with actual practice.

As a practical best-practice baseline for a consulting firm contact website, SSG intends to retain contact-form submissions and related correspondence for up to 24 months after the last substantive communication, unless a longer retention period is reasonably necessary for legal, compliance, tax, insurance, security, records-management, or dispute-resolution purposes.

8. Security

SSG uses reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, or disclosure. No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed to be fully secure, so SSG cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. California Privacy Rights

If SSG is subject to the CCPA for a given period, California residents may have the following rights, subject to verification and applicable exceptions:

• The right to know the categories and specific pieces of personal information collected, the sources, the purposes of use, and categories of third parties disclosed to.
• The right to delete personal information collected from the consumer, subject to exceptions.
• The right to correct inaccurate personal information.
• The right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information, including through Global Privacy Control where applicable.
• The right to limit the use and disclosure of sensitive personal information, where applicable.
• The right to non-discrimination for exercising California privacy rights.

10. How to Submit Privacy Requests

To submit a privacy request, contact SSG at: privacy@secondstargroup.com

Please specify whether the request is to know, access, delete, correct, or opt out. SSG may need to verify identity before completing a request and may request additional information solely for verification purposes.

SSG will respond within the time required by applicable law. California guidance states that businesses generally must respond to requests within 45 calendar days and may extend by an additional 45 days when reasonably necessary with notice to the requester.

11. Authorized Agents

California residents may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on their behalf where permitted by law. SSG may require proof of the agent's authority and may also require the consumer to verify identity directly with SSG.

12. Notice at Collection for Website Forms

SSG collects the personal information you provide in this form, such as your name, email address, phone number, company, and message details, to respond to your inquiry, communicate with you, operate the website, maintain business records, and comply with legal obligations. SSG does not sell personal information.

13. Third-Party Services

The website may use service providers for hosting, security, analytics, cookie consent management, spam prevention, email routing, or form handling. These providers may process personal information on SSG's behalf under contractual or operational controls.

14. Children's Privacy

The website is intended for business audiences and is not directed to children under 13. SSG does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 through the website.

15. External Links

The website may contain links to third-party websites or services. SSG is not responsible for the privacy, security, availability, or content practices of third-party sites.

16. Accessibility and Contact

SSG is committed to making its website reasonably accessible and usable. Visitors needing assistance accessing this Policy or making a privacy request may contact SSG at privacy@secondstargroup.com.

17. Changes to This Policy

SSG may update this Policy from time to time by posting the revised version on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date above. If SSG makes a material change to this Policy, SSG may also provide additional notice on the website or through another appropriate method where required or appropriate.

18. Contact Information

Second Star Group (SSG)
Email: privacy@secondstargroup.com