Privacy Policy

The data controller is:

GUANGZHOU ML AND SON TRADING CO. LIMITED
Baiyun District, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
Email: contact@gmlandson.com
Phone (China): +86 20 3397 9019 · (Kinshasa): +243 829 103 771
Web: www.gmlandson.com

We collect the following categories of information:

• Contact details: full name, company name, role, email, telephone, WhatsApp number, WeChat ID, postal address, country of operation.
• Commercial information: goods description, HS codes, commercial invoices, packing lists, weights, dimensions, declared values, country of origin, supplier details, end-use information.
• Identity and compliance data (KYC/AML): passport or national ID, company registration certificate, tax ID, beneficial-owner information, when required by Chinese law, sanctions screening or destination customs.
• Payment information: bank account details, SWIFT codes, payment references. We do not store full credit-card numbers on our systems.
• Shipment data: origin/destination lanes, booking numbers, MAWB/HAWB, B/L numbers, tracking events, photographs of cargo, loading and delivery proofs.
• Communications: emails, WhatsApp messages, WeChat messages, call notes, support tickets.
• Quote-calculator inputs: selected origin, destination, freight type, weight, volume, dimensions. These are used to compute an indicative price.
• Website usage data: IP address, browser type and version, device type, operating system, referring URL, pages visited, timestamps, approximate geo-location derived from IP.
• Account data (admin users only): email, hashed password, role, login timestamps.

We collect information when you:

• Use our online quote calculator or contact form.
• Send us an email, WhatsApp, WeChat or phone enquiry.
• Sign a proforma invoice, booking confirmation or service agreement.
• Deliver cargo to our Guangzhou warehouse or appoint us as your forwarder.
• Provide KYC documentation for compliance and customs purposes.
• Visit our website (via cookies and server logs).
• Are introduced to us by a mutual partner, freight agent or supplier.

We process your information for the following purposes and on the following legal bases:

• Performance of a contract: to provide quotations, book cargo with carriers, clear customs, issue commercial documents and deliver consignments.
• Legitimate interests: to respond to enquiries, improve our services, prevent fraud, secure our website and pursue debt recovery.
• Legal obligations: to comply with Chinese export regulations, anti-money-laundering rules, sanctions screening, tax and accounting law, and destination-country customs requirements.
• Consent: for non-essential cookies, marketing communications and case-study publication. You may withdraw consent at any time.

We share information only with parties that need it to deliver the Services or that we are legally required to inform. These include:

• Ocean carriers, airlines, NVOCCs, trucking companies and last-mile couriers.
• Chinese suppliers and factories, when we source on your behalf.
• Inspection and certification bodies (SGS, BIVAC, INTERTEK, BSCI auditors).
• Customs brokers and clearance agents at origin and destination.
• Insurance underwriters, where you request marine/air cargo insurance.
• Banks and payment processors for invoicing and settlement.
• Government authorities, customs, tax and law-enforcement agencies, when legally required.
• IT, hosting and analytics providers (e.g. Cloudflare, Supabase, Google) acting as processors under appropriate contractual safeguards.
• Professional advisers (lawyers, auditors, accountants) bound by confidentiality.

We never sell your personal information to third parties.

Because we operate between China and Africa and use cloud infrastructure that may be located in Asia, Europe or North America, your information may be transferred to, stored in and processed in countries other than your own. Where required, we rely on the standard contractual clauses approved by the relevant authorities (including the PRC Personal Information Protection Law standard contract and EU SCCs) to provide appropriate safeguards.

We retain personal and commercial information only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out above and to comply with our legal obligations. As a general rule:

• Quote-calculator enquiries: up to 24 months.
• Shipment documentation, invoices and customs records: 10 years from the end of the relevant tax year, as required by Chinese accounting and customs law.
• KYC and AML records: 5 years after the end of the business relationship.
• Marketing contact details: until you unsubscribe or for 36 months of inactivity, whichever comes first.
• Website server logs: 12 months.

Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies to:

• Remember your preferred language (English, Français, Português, 中文).
• Keep administrator users signed in to the admin dashboard.
• Measure aggregate website performance and traffic in an anonymised form.

You can disable cookies in your browser settings. Doing so may affect language persistence and prevent the admin panel from functioning.

We apply technical and organisational measures appropriate to the risk, including TLS/HTTPS encryption for all website traffic, encryption-at-rest for the database, role-based access control, multi-factor authentication for administrator accounts, row-level security on sensitive tables, regular backups, and staff training on data protection and customer confidentiality.

No system is perfectly secure. Should we become aware of a personal-data breach affecting your information, we will notify you and the competent authorities without undue delay, in line with applicable law.

Subject to applicable law (including the PRC Personal Information Protection Law, the EU/UK GDPR and equivalent African legislation), you have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Request deletion of your information, subject to our legal retention obligations.
• Restrict or object to certain processing activities.
• Request portability of information you have provided to us.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent.
• Lodge a complaint with the competent data-protection authority.

To exercise these rights, email contact@gmlandson.com. We may ask you to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within thirty (30) days.

We may occasionally send you commercial updates about new lanes, rate changes, market insights and shipping advisories relevant to your business. You can opt out at any time by replying "STOP" on WhatsApp, by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email, or by writing to contact@gmlandson.com. Service messages (booking confirmations, shipment status, invoices) are not affected by an opt-out.

Our services are intended for businesses and adult professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 16. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we can delete it.

Our website may contain links to third-party websites (carriers, ports, government portals). We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites and encourage you to review their policies.

We may update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, technology or applicable law. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page indicates when the Policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically. The current version is always published at www.gmlandson.com/privacy.

For any question, request or complaint regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please contact:

GUANGZHOU ML AND SON TRADING CO. LIMITED
Attn: Data Protection
Baiyun District, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China
Email: contact@gmlandson.com
Phone (China): +86 20 3397 9019
Phone (Kinshasa): +243 829 103 771