PRIVACY POLICY

1. Introduction

SCOTIA TRAINING ACADEMY LIMITED (“we”, “us” or “our”) is a UK-based provider of professional healthcare and social care training services. We offer online training courses, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programmes, webinars, workshops, leadership development training and corporate staff training packages.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, disclose and protect personal information when you visit our website, enquire about our services, enrol in a training programme or make a payment online.

We process personal information in accordance with applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, where applicable.

By using our website or providing personal information to us, you acknowledge that your information will be handled as described in this Privacy Policy.

2. Information We Collect

Depending on how you interact with our website and services, we may collect the following categories of information.

2.1 Personal Identification and Contact Information

When you submit an enquiry, register for a course or purchase a training service, we may collect your name, email address, telephone number, billing address and other contact details that you voluntarily provide.

2.2 Course Enrolment and Training Information

To administer our training services, we may collect information such as your selected course or programme, enrolment details, attendance records, learning progress, assessment results where applicable, and communications relating to your training.

For organisational training, we may also process relevant business contact information and training arrangements provided by employers or authorised representatives.

2.3 Payment and Transaction Information

When you purchase an online training course, CPD programme, webinar, workshop or corporate training package, we collect information necessary to process and manage the transaction, such as the service purchased, payment amount, transaction reference, payment status and billing details.

Online payments may be processed by Stripe or another payment service provider made available at checkout. Payment card details are generally collected and processed directly by the payment provider rather than stored on our website. The payment provider’s processing of personal information is also subject to its applicable privacy policy.

We do not intentionally store full payment card numbers or card security codes on our own systems.

2.4 Technical and Website Usage Information

When you visit our website, certain technical information may be collected automatically, including your IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, access times and website interaction data. This information may be collected through server logs, cookies and similar technologies, subject to applicable legal requirements and your cookie preferences.

2.5 Communications and Enquiries

If you contact us by email, telephone or through a website form, we may retain the information you provide and records of our communications to respond to your enquiry and maintain appropriate business records.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use personal information for legitimate business and operational purposes, including:

• Processing course registrations and enrolments.
• Delivering online training courses, CPD programmes, webinars and workshops.
• Administering corporate training arrangements and organisational bookings.
• Processing payments, confirming transactions and maintaining financial records.
• Communicating course information, enrolment confirmations, access instructions and relevant service updates.
• Responding to enquiries and providing customer support.
• Maintaining attendance records, learning progress and assessment information where relevant to the service purchased.
• Managing cancellations, refunds and payment-related queries in accordance with our applicable policies.
• Maintaining website security, preventing fraudulent transactions and protecting our services.
• Improving website functionality and the quality of our training services.
• Meeting applicable legal, regulatory, accounting and reporting obligations.

We do not use personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the purposes described in this policy unless we have an appropriate legal basis or are otherwise permitted or required by law.

4. Legal Bases for Processing

Where required under the UK GDPR, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases to process personal information:

Contractual necessity: To process enrolments, provide purchased training services, manage payments and fulfil our contractual obligations to customers.

Legal obligation: To comply with applicable tax, accounting, financial recordkeeping and other legal requirements.

Legitimate interests: To manage our business, respond to enquiries, maintain website security, prevent fraud and improve our services, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

Consent: Where required, including for certain non-essential cookies or direct marketing communications.

Vital interests or other lawful grounds: Where applicable in exceptional circumstances permitted by law.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

5. Online Payments and Stripe

We use third-party payment processing services, including Stripe where available, to facilitate secure online payments for training courses and related services.

When you make a payment, relevant information may be shared with the payment provider to authenticate, process and verify the transaction, prevent fraud, manage disputes and comply with applicable legal obligations.

The information processed may include your name, email address, billing information, transaction amount, payment status and other information required by the provider. Payment card information is handled in accordance with the payment provider’s systems and applicable security practices.

Stripe acts as a separate service provider in relation to its payment processing activities and may process personal information under its own applicable privacy terms. We do not control all processing activities carried out independently by Stripe.

For further information about Stripe’s privacy practices, please refer to Stripe’s official privacy policy at https://stripe.com/privacy.

6. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to support essential website functions, maintain security, remember relevant preferences and understand website usage.

Cookies may include:

• Essential Cookies: Necessary for core website functions, security and transaction-related processes.
• Preference Cookies: Used to remember settings and preferences where applicable.
• Analytics Cookies: Used to understand website traffic and improve website performance.
• Marketing Cookies: Used for advertising or marketing measurement where applicable.

Where legally required, we will request your consent before placing non-essential cookies or using similar technologies. You can manage your preferences through the website’s cookie settings, where available, or through your browser settings.

Disabling certain cookies may affect the availability or functionality of some website features.

7. Sharing Personal Information

We do not sell personal information to third parties. We may disclose relevant information where necessary to provide our services, operate our website or meet legal obligations.

Recipients may include:

• Payment Service Providers: Such as Stripe, for payment processing, fraud prevention and transaction management.
• Website and IT Service Providers: Providers supporting website hosting, security, communications and technical maintenance.
• Training Delivery and Administrative Providers: Third parties engaged to support course delivery, registration, learning platforms or related administrative functions, where applicable.
• Professional Advisers: Accountants, legal advisers and other professional service providers where reasonably necessary.
• Public Authorities and Regulators: Where disclosure is required by law or necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is shared only where appropriate and that relevant recipients are subject to suitable confidentiality, contractual or data protection obligations.

8. International Data Transfers

As we serve individuals and organisations across Europe, some service providers may process personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that the transfer complies with applicable data protection laws. Depending on the circumstances, these safeguards may include an adequacy decision, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, or another legally recognised transfer mechanism.

Further information about applicable safeguards may be requested using the contact details provided in this policy.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including providing training services, maintaining enrolment and transaction records, resolving disputes and complying with legal obligations.

Retention periods depend on the type of information and the circumstances of its collection. For example:

• Course and Enrolment Records: Retained for the period necessary to administer training, maintain relevant learning records and address related enquiries.
• Financial and Transaction Records: Retained for the period required by applicable tax, accounting and financial recordkeeping laws.
• Customer Communications: Retained for a reasonable period to respond to enquiries, manage service issues and maintain appropriate business records.
• Technical and Security Logs: Retained for a period appropriate to website security, troubleshooting and operational requirements.

When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to delete it or anonymise it, unless continued retention is legally required or otherwise permitted.

10. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, disclosure or destruction.

These measures may include access controls, secure website connections, restricted access to business records and the use of established third-party payment processing services.

However, no method of transmitting information over the internet or storing electronic information can be guaranteed to be completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, although we take reasonable steps to protect the information entrusted to us.

11. Your Data Protection Rights

Subject to applicable law and any relevant exemptions, you may have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Erasure: Request deletion of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Restriction: Request that we restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.
• Data Portability: Request a copy of certain personal information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, where the legal requirements are met.
• Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or to direct marketing, where applicable.
• Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent where processing is based on your consent.
• Complain: Lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal conditions or exemptions. For example, we may need to retain certain transaction records to comply with legal obligations even if a deletion request is made.

To exercise your rights, please contact us using the details in the Contact Information section below. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

12. Direct Marketing

We may send service-related communications necessary to manage your enrolment, payments or training arrangements.

We will send promotional emails or other direct marketing communications only where permitted by applicable law. Where consent is required, we will obtain it before sending such communications.

You may opt out of marketing emails at any time by using the unsubscribe mechanism provided in the message or by contacting us directly. Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending essential service or transaction-related communications.

13. Children’s Privacy

Our website and professional training services are primarily intended for adults and professional learners. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children in circumstances where such collection would be unlawful.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us unlawfully, please contact us so that we can review the circumstances and take appropriate action where necessary.

14. Third-Party Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites or services, including payment providers and external learning platforms.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of websites operated by third parties. We encourage you to review the relevant privacy policies before providing personal information to those services.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, website operations, payment arrangements or applicable legal requirements.

Any revised version will be published on this page with an updated revision date. We encourage you to review this page periodically to remain informed about how we handle personal information.