For internal use
LinQR Compliance Standard Operating Procedures
Operational guidelines for data protection, review moderation, customer support, and regulatory compliance.
🔐 Last Updated: August 2026
These procedures are reviewed and updated quarterly. All team members must acknowledge understanding of relevant sections.
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Data Protection & Privacy
Processor Register & DPA
- All data processors are documented and reviewed annually
- Sub-processors: Neon (PostgreSQL), Vercel (hosting), Resend (email), Stripe (payments), Anthropic (AI features)
- Each processor signed under EU Standard Contractual Clauses
- Data Processing Agreement on file for all client contracts
- Annual audit of processor compliance and certifications
Consent & Opt-Out
- Explicit opt-in required before any marketing email
- Unsubscribe link on every email (via Resend)
- No pre-ticked consent boxes
- Consent records stored with timestamp and version of consent text
- Annual refresh of consent for inactive users (>12 months)
Right to Access (GDPR Article 15)
- Response SLA: 2 working days to acknowledge; 30 days to fulfil
- Identify all systems containing subject data: business portal, analytics, email, payments, logs
- Export data in CSV/JSON format including review history, staff records, platform configs, analytics
- Log the access request with timestamp, requestor, and fulfilment date
- Redact third-party data where applicable (e.g., staff contacts if shared between businesses)
Right to Erasure (GDPR Article 17)
- Business deletion: remove business record, staff, platforms, QR codes, analytics, settings
- Personal data deletion within business: anonymise or erase individual review submissions, scan records
- SLA: acknowledge within 2 days; complete within 30 days or claim exception (legal hold, legitimate interest)
- Soft-delete in database first; hard-delete after 90-day retention period
- Confirm deletion to requestor in writing
Breach Notification (GDPR Article 33)
- Breach discovered → log with timestamp, scope, and impact assessment within 24 hours
- Notify supervisory authority (ICO for UK) within 72 hours if high risk
- Notify affected individuals if risk to their rights and freedoms
- Document remediation steps and system hardening
- Post-breach review with security team and processor audit
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Review Moderation & Platform Compliance
Review Integrity Policy
- No fake, incentivised, or misleading reviews permitted
- Platform ToS compliance: Google, Facebook, TripAdvisor, Instagram all prohibit paid or coerced reviews
- Monitor review content for patterns (same author, similar text, timing clusters)
- Remove reviews that violate platform rules or LinQR policy
- Escalate policy violations to business owner with 48-hour notice
Review Request Messaging
- Default prompt: neutral and factual, e.g., "Share your experience"
- Avoid: "Please leave a 5-star review", "Rate us highly", "Tell friends we're great"
- Allow customers to edit pre-filled review templates before posting
- No promise of incentives tied to review submission
- Comply with platform-specific rules (Google: no off-platform incentives; Facebook: transparent disclosure if rewarded)
Platform Integration Rules
- Google: use official API or web link only; no fake clicks or automated submissions
- Facebook: comply with Community Standards; no review manipulation
- TripAdvisor: TrustYou or official link integration only
- Instagram: manual sharing only; no automated post-to-Instagram flow
- Log all review submissions by platform, timestamp, and staff member for audit trail
Review Dispute & Removal
- Business requests review removal: verify identity, assess legitimacy, escalate to platform if terms violated
- Customer requests review removal: only via platform directly (we do not force removal on customer's behalf)
- Document reason for removal and retain audit log for 3 years
- Never delete a review because a business dislikes it — only for platform ToS violations
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Service Operations & SLA
Uptime & Availability
- Target SLA: 99.5% uptime for portal and public review pages
- Hosting on Vercel with automatic failover and CDN caching
- Database: Neon with automated backups and point-in-time recovery
- Status page updated within 30 minutes of incident detection
- Monthly uptime reports sent to Growth plan customers
Support Tiers
- Starter plan: email support, 48-hour response SLA
- Growth plan: email + phone, 24-hour response SLA + monthly performance review call
- Enterprise: dedicated account manager, custom SLA
- Critical issues (breach, data loss): 2-hour response, all tiers
Data Backup & Recovery
- Daily automated backups to Neon and separate encrypted S3 bucket
- Point-in-time recovery available for up to 30 days
- Disaster recovery test annually; recovery time objective <4 hours
- Backup logs audited monthly for integrity
- Business data export available on-demand via dashboard (Starter+)
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Cancellation & Data Retention
Subscription Cancellation
- Self-service cancellation available in portal or via support email
- No lock-in contract; monthly cancellation allowed
- Final invoice issued on cancellation date
- Access to portal remains for 7 days to export data
- QR codes become inactive immediately upon cancellation
Data Retention Post-Cancellation
- Business records: kept for 7 days, then soft-deleted (retained for legal hold if requested)
- Analytics & audit logs: kept for 12 months for compliance review
- Payment records: kept for 7 years (tax & financial regulation)
- Review submissions: anonymised after 12 months if not claimed by business
- Notifications to business owner on each retention milestone
Account Reactivation
- Cancelled account can be reactivated within 30 days with historical data intact
- After 30 days, data may be permanently deleted; business must re-subscribe as new customer
- Data from permanently deleted accounts cannot be recovered
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Staff & Team Access Control
Role-Based Access
- Business Owner: full access to dashboard, billing, team, platforms, analytics, deletions
- Staff Member: access to own QR code, review link, and view-only dashboard access
- Support Admin (LinQR team only): limited access for troubleshooting, no billing access
- All access grants logged with timestamp and reason
Access Revocation
- Business owner can remove staff member instantly; their QR codes are deactivated immediately
- Removed staff member loses access within 5 minutes
- Audit log records who removed which staff member and when
- If staff member was terminated, offboard within 24 hours
Password & Session Security
- Portal passwords: minimum 12 characters, no reuse of last 5 passwords
- Session timeout: 30 minutes of inactivity for sensitive pages (settings, deletions)
- Two-factor authentication available (email-based OTP)
- HTTPS only; no unencrypted traffic
- HMAC-signed session cookies with expiry
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Audit & Monitoring
Audit Trail Logging
- All business changes logged: staff added/removed, platform connected/disconnected, QR code updated, settings changed
- All user access logged: login, API calls, data exports, deletions
- All payment events logged: subscription created, renewed, upgraded, downgraded, refunded
- Retention: audit logs kept for minimum 2 years
- Compliance review: audit logs reviewed quarterly by legal/security team
Incident Reporting
- Any suspected breach, security issue, or data anomaly reported to security team within 24 hours
- Investigation completed within 7 days; report filed with ICO if required
- Affected customers notified within 72 hours if personal data at risk
- Post-incident review to prevent recurrence; mitigation steps documented
Third-Party Audits
- Annual SOC 2 Type II audit (if scaling to Enterprise customers)
- Annual penetration test by external security firm
- Quarterly code security scan via SAST tools
- Monthly review of dependency vulnerabilities
Incident & Compliance Contact
Data Protection Officer
compliance@linqr.dev
Response SLA: 48 hours for all data subject requests
Security & Incident Report
security@linqr.dev
Response SLA: 24 hours for critical incidents