Privacy & Cookie Policy
“We”, “us” and “our” mean Ink Academy Limited trading as Ink Academy. “You” and “your” mean the person using this website (www.inkacademy.co.uk). This Privacy Policy, together with the Terms and Conditions, sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. By visiting this website, and continuing to browse and use the website, you are accepting the terms of this Privacy Policy.
It is our stated policy that we will act in accordance with current legislation and aim to meet current best practice with regard to the processing of personal data. We are registered as data controllers in the United Kingdom under the Data Protection Act 1998. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. We are required under data protection legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy policy.
We take your online privacy seriously. You may visit this site anonymously as often as you like without providing any personally identifying information (such as your name, address or email address). We do not collect personally identifying information from you except when you specifically provide it, and we protect the information we receive. With your consent we may gather personal information from you through website sales, competitions and prize draws, and newsletters. We do not share your information with third parties without obtaining your consent in an open and explicit manner first.
We do not generally link your name to cookies unless you specifically provide your name to us in relation to a service that makes use of cookies. Please read below for a further explanation of the information we gather and how we use it.
Content on this site is maintained by Ink Academy Limited.
1 The information we collect and how we use it
As you explore our website, you will come across certain activities for which we request some personal information. These activities are outlined and explained below. We will not use your name or email address for any purpose other than as stated. We do not collect payment information.
1.1 Application Form: On application to an Ink Academy Course, you will ask your name, email address, and contact telephone number for the purposes of processing your enrolment. We will collect, hold and process that information as is necessary for the purpose. We will not share your information with a third party.
1.2 Email newsletters: If you register to be sent information about our writing courses, group workshops and author masterclasses we will ask you for personal information (name and email address) in order to provide you with the service you are requesting. We may also use this email address for marketing purposes, for example, to let you know about any special offers or discounts we might be offering. We will not pass information provided for the purposes of receiving the newsletter to third parties unless necessary for providing the newsletter. You will be able to unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time.
1.3 Email, Queries and Feedback: In some places in this site, we ask for your feedback, opinions, suggestions, or invite enquiries and provide you with a link or other means for contacting us. We will only use the contact address we receive from you and any other information that you provide for the purposes of responding to your enquiries or suggestions. We will not share the information with third parties.
1.4 Competitions / Prize draws: We may ask for your name, email address and address so that we can contact you in the event that you win. The information will be stored in our internal database and will not be shared with third parties.
2 Storage and Disclosure of Personal Data
2.1 By providing your personal data to us, you agree to us storing that information to support additional customer service to you and for using it to process your orders. We will do all we can to ensure that all reasonable measures are taken to ensure that your data is kept secure. As with any data transfer on line we can never guarantee total security.
2.2 You have the right at anytime to request that your data be erased from our systems.If you no longer wish for us to hold your data please email enquiries@inkacademy.co.uk and we will remove you from our records. We will retain the data we hold concerning you for as long as it is necessary to do so – we would normally remove data from our systems if it has not been used within 3 years.
2.3 We will not pass your data onto third parties unless you have given us express consent or we are required to by law.
2.4 We try to keep the number of locations where your data is saved to a minimum. As well as our internal database, for specific functions as outlined below, we will save data in password-protected accounts on third party service providers:
2.4.1 MailChimp: for newsletters and general communications, we use the marketing platform MailChimp. Where permitted by you, we save your name and email address in a password-protected account. You can read their privacy policy here.
2.4.2 Xero: for billing and accounting purposes, we use the accounting software Xero. If you become a client of Ink Academy (if you sign up for a course, one-off consultation, masterclass, or any other service or product we may provide at a cost), your name and email address will be saved in a password-protected account. You can read their privacy policy here. We do not ask for, process or store any of your financial information ourselves.
2.4.3 PayPal: for some services (masterclasses, for example) we use PayPal to collect payment. You are also able to request to pay through PayPal, although this incurs an administration fee. For payment requests, we will need to share your email address with PayPal. You can read their privacy policy here.
2.4.4 Contact lists: for direct communications with you, we will save your name, email address and phone number, as well as your address if relevant (for example, for the delivery of anthologies or manuscripts), on email and contact list applications. We will share this information with course tutors, in order to assist you with your studies. The applications will be accessible on any device used for Ink Academy business.
3 Cookies
3.1 Cookies are electronic tags that most websites place on your computer in the process of sending your computer a file, such as a web page. They are how websites gather information about consumer’s internet activity. It is all statistical and non personal data. It allows Google to give us Analytics of consumer behaviour which when used correctly helps a good business enhance the whole customer experience. Most commercial websites will use cookies in one form or another, even the bodies that govern Data Protection use them.We use them as well.
3.2 A cookie can tell us when a computer that has previously visited our site returns, and what pages it requests on each of its visits. Cookies help us keep track of how our visitors (or, more accurately, their computers) use our site, including such things as the type of browsers they use, the frequency of their visits and the pages that are most popular. They can help smooth your travel through our site by keeping track of information that has already been procured by your computer so that you do not need to re-enter it. In no event does the cookie we place on your computer tell us anything about your visits to other websites (except those you enter through a link on our site), or your use of the internet in any other way.
3.2 If you would rather this information was not collected, most browsers can be set to refuse cookies or to alert you when one is being sent. Please note, however, that some portions of this site might not function properly if the cookies are disabled.
3.3 Please see the list below for an overview of the cookies that we use:
Session cookies – these last only for the duration of your visit and are deleted when you close your browser. They allow a website to identify that a user is navigating from page to page, supporting website security or basic functionality. They contain no personal information that can be used to identify an individual. Basically, they remember what you’ve done during the course of your browsing session on our website.
Persistent cookies – these last after you have closed your browser and allow a website to remember your actions and preferences. However, they can be manually deleted. The persistent cookies that we use are:
- Preference cookies – these store information on how you’ve previously chosen to display the website so that when you view it again, those choices stay in place.
Analytics – we use Google Analytics to help us analyse our web traffic. These cookies gather anonymous demographic information which we use to tell us what we’re doing right and what we’re not doing so right on our websites.
For a full explanation of Google Analytics Cookies, please visit their website.
First and Third-party cookies – whether a cookies is a first or third-party cookie depends on which website the cookie comes from. First-party cookies are those set by or on behalf of the website visited. All other cookies are third-party cookies. We use both first and third-party cookies.
4 Links to other sites
4.1 On occasion we include links to third parties on this website. Where we provide a link it does not mean that we endorse or approve that site’s policy towards visitor privacy, even where they may use our name and logo on their site through an agreement with us. Other sites do not necessarily follow our privacy policy, and may place their own cookies on your computer. This practice is standard on the Web. We do not control cookies placed on your computer by third parties whose advertising or links appear on our site. You should review their privacy policy before sending them any personal data.
5 Security of private information
5.1 We would like to be able to tell you that the personal information you provide us with is absolutely safe. Unfortunately, several well-publicised instances of computer security breaches make it impossible for anyone to be so confident. However, we take reasonable steps to protect the information you provide us from theft, alteration or unauthorised inspection.
6 Access to information
6.1 In accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 you have the right to access any information that we hold relating to you.
6.2 It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during your working relationship with us.
6.3 If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact enquiries@inkacademy.co.uk.
7 Parents and guardians
7.1 We encourage you to get involved with your children’s online usage and to be aware of the activities in which they are participating. We also ask you to check back here regularly to see what our latest policies are, particularly those relating to children. You should be aware that if your children voluntarily disclose their names, email addresses or other information on bulletin boards or chat area of other websites, such disclosures may result in unsolicited messages from other parties. We suggest that you discourage your child from providing such information on this site or elsewhere unless you are confident that the information will not be misused.
Ink Academy Limited incorporated in England and Wales.
Company number: 10053315
Registered office: 3rd Floor, 3 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 6EF
