PRIVACY POLICY

Privacy Policy for Sonrisa Spanish Bristol

Last Updated: April 2, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how Sonrisa Spanish Bristol ("we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and shares personal information of individuals who interact with our business, including website visitors, students, prospective students, and other contacts.

1. Who We Are

Sonrisa Spanish Bristol is a  language tutoring service, Spanish language school located in Bristol, England, United Kingdom.

2. Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal information:

• Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number, postal address.   
• Enrollment and Learning Information: Course enrollment details, learning progress, assessment results (if applicable), feedback.
• Payment Information: Billing address, payment details (processed securely by third-party payment processors; we do not directly store full credit card details).
• Website Usage Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, referring website, pages visited, and dates/times of access (collected through cookies and similar technologies).
• Marketing Preferences: Whether you have consented to receive marketing communications from us.
• Communications: Records of correspondence with us, including emails and phone calls.
• Other Information: Any other information you voluntarily provide to us.

3. How We Collect Your Information

We collect your personal information in the following ways:

• Directly from you: When you fill out forms on our website, enroll in a course, contact us via email or phone, or provide information during in-person interactions.
• Automatically: When you visit our website, through the use of cookies and similar tracking technologies.
• From third parties: In limited circumstances, such as when you sign up for our services through a partner organization (with your consent or where legally permitted).

4. How We Use Your Information

We may use your personal information for the following purposes:

• To provide our services: To process enrollments, deliver language lessons, track progress, and provide support.
• To communicate with you: To respond to your inquiries, provide updates about courses or services, and send important notices.
• To process payments: To manage billing and collect payments for our services.
• To improve our website and services: To analyze website usage data and feedback to enhance our offerings and user experience.
• For marketing purposes: To send you promotional materials about our courses and services (only with your consent where required by law). You can opt-out of marketing communications at any time.
• To comply with legal obligations: To meet our legal and regulatory requirements.
• For internal administrative purposes: Such as record-keeping and business planning.

5. Legal Basis for Processing Your Information

Our legal basis for processing your personal information will depend on the specific purpose. These bases may include:

• Consent: Where you have given us explicit consent to process your personal information for a specific purpose (e.g., marketing). You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
• Contract: Where processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you (e.g., providing language lessons).
• Legal Obligation: Where processing is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation.
• Legitimate Interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party), provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Our legitimate interests may include improving our services, marketing our business, and preventing fraud.   

6. Sharing Your Information

We may share your personal information with the following categories of recipients:

• Service Providers: Third-party companies that provide services on our behalf, such as website hosting, payment processing, email marketing, and analytics. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your information.   
• Instructors and Staff: Our instructors and staff members who need access to your information to provide our services.
• Business Partners: In limited circumstances, with partners who offer related services (only with your consent or where legally permitted).
• Legal Authorities: If required by law or legal process, we may disclose your information to law enforcement agencies, government bodies, or other relevant authorities.
• In connection with a business transfer: If we sell or transfer all or part of our business, your information may be transferred to the buyer.

7. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures include:   

• Using secure servers and encryption technologies.   
• Implementing access controls to limit who can access your information.
• Providing training to our staff on data protection practices.

However, please note that no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure.   

8. Data Retention

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.   

The specific retention period will depend on the nature of the information and the purpose for which it is processed. For example, we may retain student records for a certain period after course completion to comply with educational regulations. Marketing contact information will be retained until you unsubscribe.   

9. Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have certain rights regarding your personal information, including:

• The right to access: You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.   
• The right to rectification: You can ask us to correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• The right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"): You can request that we delete your personal information in certain circumstances.   
• The right to restrict processing: You can ask us to limit the way we use your personal information in certain circumstances.
• The right to data portability: You can request to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller.   
• The right to object: You can object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, including for direct marketing purposes.
• Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling: You have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.   
• The right to withdraw consent: If we are processing your personal information based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.   

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided below. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.   

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your browsing activities. You can manage your cookie preferences through your browser settings. Please refer to our separate Cookie Policy (if applicable) for more detailed information.   

11. Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other websites that are not operated by us. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party websites you visit.   

12. Children's Privacy

Our services are [Specify if your services are directed towards children and any specific measures you take - e.g., not directly targeted at children under 16, or if you have specific consent procedures for children]. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under [Specify age, e.g., 16] without verifiable parental consent. If you believe we have collected personal information from a child without such consent, please contact us immediately, and we will take steps to remove the information.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We will post any changes on our website and update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.   

14. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at Sonrisa Spanish Bristol  - info@sonrisaspanishbristol.co.uk  

15. Right to Lodge a Complaint

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues, if you believe that we have infringed your data protection rights. You can find more information on the ICO website: https://ico.org.uk/