1. Introduction & Who We Are

Sun Time Tea Co. ("we", "our", or "us") is a tea export company legally registered in the People's Republic of China. We operate the B2B platform at suntimetea.com, serving wholesale buyers, distributors, and importers around the world.

We are committed to protecting your personal and business information. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use and store it, and what rights you have. We align our practices with the core principles of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to ensure international buyers can engage with us with full confidence.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Inquiry & Contact Form Data

When you submit a business inquiry or contact us, we collect:

• Your full name and job title
• Company name and country / region
• Business email address and phone number (optional)
• The content of your message, including product interests, quantity requirements, and any attachments you voluntarily provide

This data is collected solely to respond to your business inquiry, provide product quotations, and manage our B2B commercial relationship with you.

2.2 Newsletter & Subscription Data

If you subscribe to our newsletter or B2B insights digest, we collect your:

• Business email address
• Company name (optional, if provided)
• Subscription date and source page

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the "Unsubscribe" link in any email we send, or by contacting us directly at info@suntimetea.com. We will process your removal within 5 business days.

2.3 Automatically Collected Technical Data

When you browse our website, our server and analytics tools may automatically collect:

• IP address (anonymized after 24 hours)
• Browser type, operating system, and device type
• Pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URL
• General geographic location (country / city level — never precise location)

This information is used exclusively for website performance analysis, security monitoring, and improving the user experience. It is never used to build personal profiles for advertising.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the data we collect for the following lawful purposes:

• Responding to inquiries: To answer your questions, provide product specifications, prepare quotes, and facilitate sample requests.
• Order & contract fulfillment: To process purchase orders, coordinate logistics, and maintain accurate business records (where applicable in Phase 2).
• Marketing communications: To send you newsletters, harvest updates, and B2B market insights — only if you have explicitly opted in. You may withdraw consent at any time.
• Website improvement: To analyse traffic patterns and optimise the user experience.
• Legal obligations: To comply with applicable laws and regulations in China and the jurisdictions where we operate.

We will never sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR-Aligned)

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA) and other jurisdictions with similar data protection laws, our processing activities are based on the following legal grounds:

• Contractual necessity: Processing your inquiry data to enter into a commercial relationship.
• Legitimate interests: Website analytics to improve our services, provided this does not override your fundamental rights.
• Consent: Sending marketing newsletters and promotional communications. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting prior processing.
• Legal obligation: Retaining financial and trade records as required by Chinese law.

5. Cookies & Tracking Technologies

Our website uses a minimal, privacy-first approach to cookies. We deploy the following categories:

• Strictly Necessary Cookies: Required for basic website functionality (e.g., form submission security tokens). These cannot be disabled.
• Analytics Cookies: We may use privacy-focused analytics (e.g., Plausible Analytics or an anonymized Google Analytics configuration) to understand aggregate traffic patterns. No cross-site tracking is performed.

We do not use advertising cookies, social media tracking pixels, or any third-party retargeting technologies on this website.

You can configure your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. Disabling analytics cookies will not affect your ability to use any part of this website.

6. How We Share Your Information

We may share your data with carefully selected third parties only as necessary:

• Email & CRM service providers (e.g., Mailchimp, HubSpot or similar) — to manage newsletter subscriptions and inquiry follow-ups. These processors are contractually bound to handle your data only on our behalf.
• Logistics & freight partners — for order fulfilment (name, company, shipping address only — never financial or sensitive data).
• Legal or regulatory authorities — when required to do so by applicable law or a court order.

All third-party service providers are required to implement appropriate security measures and are prohibited from using your personal data for any purpose beyond the services they provide to us.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:

• Inquiry records: Retained for up to 3 years to manage ongoing business relationships and respond to follow-up queries.
• Newsletter subscriptions: Retained until you unsubscribe, after which we delete your email within 30 days.
• Business transaction records: Retained for up to 10 years in compliance with Chinese accounting and tax regulations.
• Website analytics data: Aggregated, anonymized data retained for up to 26 months.

8. Your Data Rights

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data. We will honour all valid requests regardless of your jurisdiction, as part of our commitment to international data protection standards:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Request deletion of your data where there is no compelling reason for us to continue processing it.
• Right to Restrict Processing: Ask us to pause processing your data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Object: Object to processing based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent for marketing at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@suntimetea.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. International Data Transfers

As a company based in China serving global buyers, your data may be stored on servers located in China and/or other jurisdictions where our service providers operate (e.g., the United States or the European Union). Where data is transferred outside of your home jurisdiction, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for EEA transfers.

10. Data Security

We implement industry-standard technical and organizational security measures to protect your data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These include HTTPS encryption for all data in transit, access controls limiting who can view personal data, and regular security reviews.

However, no method of transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. If you have reason to believe that your interaction with us is no longer secure, please notify us immediately at info@suntimetea.com.

11. Children's Privacy

This website is a B2B platform intended exclusively for business professionals. We do not knowingly collect or process personal data from individuals under the age of 18. If you believe a minor has submitted information through our site, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. When we make significant changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact our data point-of-contact:

Sun Time Tea Co.
Data & Privacy Enquiries
Email: info@suntimetea.com
Website: suntimetea.com/contact

If you are located in the EEA and believe we have not adequately addressed your concern, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority (Data Protection Authority).