GDPR Policy

Introduction

The GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) started on 25 May 2018. It aims to make data controllers more accountable, secure and transparent, and to strengthen and standardise the rights of European citizens to data privacy.

Key Terms

Data

Information that can be processed, either by computers or manually.

Personal Data

Information about a living person that can identify them.

Data Controller

The person who decides how and why personal data is processed.

Data Processor

The person who processes personal data as per the Data Controller's instructions.

Personal Data Handling

Bilingual Learning Consultancy handles personal data according to the following principles.

Lawfulness, Fairness and Transparency

Data is processed legally, fairly and clearly.

Purpose Limitation

Data is collected for specific, clear and legitimate reasons, and is not used for anything else.

Data Minimisation

Only the data we actually need is collected.

Accuracy

Data is kept accurate and up to date.

Storage Limitation

Data is stored only for as long as it is needed.

Integrity and Confidentiality

Data is kept secure to prevent unauthorised access and accidental loss.

Who We Are

Bilingual Learning Consultancy is an online Polish language learning service located in Newbridge, Co. Kildare. This policy is written for our clients. You can read more about the person behind the courses or send us a message at any time.

Our Policy

We collect only the necessary data, using forms or contracts. What you send us that way is processed only for its intended purpose, stored securely, and accessed only by management. All data is kept electronically, and staff are regularly trained on data protection.

Website measurement is the one place where anyone else is involved. If you switch on the statistics or marketing categories in the cookie banner, Google also receives information about your visit. That happens only with your consent, and you can withdraw it at any time. There is more on this under Cookies and Consent below.

The Contact Form

When you send an enquiry from the contact page, the form collects your name, your email address, the course you are asking about and your message. We use them for one purpose: to answer you. We do not add you to a mailing list, and we do not pass them to anyone for marketing.

The lawful basis is your consent, which is why the form asks you to tick the box before it will send. Two processors are involved in delivering that one message:

• Resend transmits the enquiry to our mailbox. Your name, email address and message pass through their systems in order to be delivered.
• Cloudflare Turnstile checks that the form was filled in by a person rather than a bot. It runs silently, with nothing shown on screen, and to do that it reads a few technical signals: your IP address, your browser's TLS fingerprint and user-agent, and which site the form sits on. Cloudflare processes those on our instructions to protect the form, and separately as its own controller to improve the tool. It is not used to identify you, profile you, or follow you to other websites. The full detail is in Cloudflare's Turnstile Privacy Addendum.

The enquiry we receive also carries a short record of the consent itself: the exact wording you agreed to, the date and time you sent the form, confirmation that the bot check passed, and the IP address the form was sent from. We keep it because the GDPR requires us to be able to show that consent was given, and for nothing else. It is never used to profile you or to work out where you live.

Enquiries live in our email account afterwards, and are kept only as long as the conversation is useful. Ask us to delete yours and we will; the consent record goes with it.

Booking a Consultation

When you book a consultation through Google Calendar, Bilingual Learning Consultancy receives the information required to organise and administer the appointment.

This normally includes your name, email address, mobile phone number, selected appointment time and information generated through the calendar booking.

This information is used to create and manage the appointment, send booking information, contact you about changes, conduct and follow up on the consultation, and maintain appropriate business records.

There is no newsletter attached to consultation booking.

The Waiting List

Joining the waiting list sends us the student’s name, an email address, a mobile number, the school year, the preferred programme, the days and times the student could attend, a short description of their current Polish and, if you give one, a parent contact. Every field exists so that we can judge whether a workable group could be timetabled at all.

We use it only to contact you if a suitable group opens. It is not used for marketing, it is not shared, and there is no newsletter attached to it. Ask us to remove your entry at any time and we will; the consent record goes with it.

Data Retention

You can request the deletion of your personal data at any time. Otherwise we keep data for the following periods.

• Student data is destroyed one year after courses finish.
• Employee data is kept until they stop working with us.
• Client data is kept for the duration of their courses.

Your Rights

Right of Access

You can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

Right of Rectification

You can request corrections to data that is wrong or out of date.

Right to Erase

You can ask us to delete your personal data.

Right to Object

You can object to certain kinds of processing.

Right to Data Portability

You can request your data in a portable format.

Cookies and Consent

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when a website loads. A few strictly necessary first party cookies keep this website working. They are always on, because without them the site cannot do its job.

Everything else is optional, and grouped into three categories: functional, statistics and marketing. None of them load until you switch them on in the cookie banner. Before you choose, nothing optional runs.

You can change your mind at any time. The Cookie Settings link in the footer of every page reopens your choices, and turning a category off takes effect straight away.

Your decision is saved in your own browser, in its local storage, under the key cookie-consent. It stays on your device, it never reaches us, and it is never sent to anyone else. Under the GDPR our lawful basis for the optional categories is your consent, Article 6(1)(a), and that stored record is what evidences it. It lasts 12 months, after which the banner asks again.

Google is the only third party involved. If you allow statistics or marketing, information about your visit, such as the pages you look at, goes to Google. The consent controls are live now, but the Google advertising and analytics accounts behind them are not set up yet, so nothing is being measured on this site today.

The full detail, including what each category does and how to manage cookies in your browser, is set out in our Cookie Policy.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way we handle your personal data, please contact us directly so that we can put it right. You can also complain to the Data Protection Commission in Ireland.

Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other websites. This policy does not cover those sites, and we are not responsible for their content or their data practices.

Changes to Policy

If we change this policy, we will inform you before the changes are implemented, and you will have the option to opt out.

Related Pages

• Cookie Policy, the cookies this website uses, the optional ones you control, and how to manage them.
• Terms and Conditions, booking, payment and course participation rules.
• Collaboration with schools, partnership options for institutions.