Privacy Policy

Effective Date: [Insert Date]

Introduction

Welcome to Rubicon Tutors ("we," "our," or "us"). We are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy in compliance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you visit our website [https://www.rubicontutors.com], use our services, or interact with us in any other way. Please read this policy carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following data about you:

Personal Identification Information: Name, email address, phone number, postal address.
Account Information: Username, password, and other identifiers.
Payment Information: Bank account details, billing address, and transaction history.
Tutoring Information: Subjects of interest, tutoring preferences, Levels you can teach, Educational Qualifications, Tutoring Experience (online or in-person), Specializations or specific areas of expertise within a subject, Proof of Identity (e.g., passport, driving license) - often requiring a scanned copy or photo, Proof of Address (e.g., utility bill, bank statement), References (contact details of previous employers or individuals who can vouch for their skills and character), Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check, Photo for profile, availability, and feedback.
Technical Data: IP address, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform.
Usage Data: Information about how you use our website, products, and services.
Marketing and Communications Data: Your preferences in receiving marketing from us and your communication preferences.

To provide our services efficiently and in compliance with UK data protection laws, we collect the following categories of personal data.

Data Category	Examples	Purpose of Collection	Legal Basis (UK GDPR)
Identity Data	Full name, date of birth, gender	To create user accounts, verify identity	Article 6(1)(b) – Contract
Contact Data	Email address, telephone number, billing address	To communicate with users, process bookings	Article 6(1)(b) – Contract
Payment Data	Bank account details, Stripe payment IDs	To process payments and issue refunds	Article 6(1)(b) – Contract, Article 6(1)(c) – Legal obligation
Profile Data	Usernames, account preferences, tutoring subjects	To personalise the user experience	Article 6(1)(f) – Legitimate interests
Technical Data	IP address, browser type, device ID	To ensure platform security and performance	Article 6(1)(f) – Legitimate interests
Usage Data	Page views, session time, user interaction	To analyse user behavior and improve services	Article 6(1)(a) – Consent
Location Data	Approximate or specific location during use	To match tutors and learners for in-person sessions	Article 6(1)(a) – Consent
Marketing Data	Email preferences, marketing engagement	To deliver targeted promotions or newsletters	Article 6(1)(a) – Consent

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect in the following ways:

To Provide Services: Facilitate the connection between students and tutors, schedule sessions, and manage accounts.
Payment Processing: Process payments and refunds via Stripe Connect.
Communication: Send administrative information, respond to inquiries, and provide customer support.
Personalization: Customize user experience and deliver content relevant to your interests.
Marketing: Send promotional materials, subject to your preferences.
Legal Obligations: Comply with legal requirements, such as tax and accounting obligations.
Security: Maintain the safety and security of our services, including fraud detection and prevention.

Legal Bases for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we rely on the following legal bases for processing your personal data:

Consent: When you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose.
Contractual Necessity: Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
Legal Obligation: Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject.
Legitimate Interests: Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

Sharing Your Information

We may share your personal data with:

Tutors and Students: To facilitate tutoring sessions, we may share relevant information between students and tutors.
Service Providers: Third-party vendors who provide services on our behalf, such as payment processing (e.g., Stripe Connect).
Legal Authorities: When required by law or to protect our rights, we may disclose your information to regulatory authorities.
Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, your personal data may be transferred to the new entity.

International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the UK. When we transfer your data internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

Data Retention

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes we collected it for, including satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorized use or disclosure, and the applicable legal requirements.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

Access: Request access to your personal data.
Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to legal obligations.
Restriction: Request restriction of processing your personal data.
Data Portability: Request the transfer of your data to another service provider.
Objection: Object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
Withdraw Consent: Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [support@RuniconTutors.com].

Security Measures

Unfortunately, the sending of information via the internet is not totally secure and on occasion such information can be intercepted. Although we will take steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee the security of data that you choose to send us electronically and sending such information is entirely at your own risk. To ensure that all new features and changes to our service adhere to GDPR requirements we follow a design by data protection by design and default approach to all development of our website and service. This includes using submitting Privacy Impact Assessments to the ICO as needed.

We also implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk, including:

Encryption: Protecting data in transit and at rest.
Access Controls: Limiting access to personal data to authorized personnel.
Regular Testing: Assessing and evaluating the effectiveness of technical and organizational measures for ensuring the security of processing.

Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies on our website to provide a more streamlined, personalized, and secure user experience. These technologies help us understand how visitors interact with our platform, improve site functionality, tailor content, measure the effectiveness of our marketing, and provide users with relevant advertising.

Cookies are small text files that are stored on your browser or the hard drive of your device when you visit a website. They contain information that is transferred to your device and are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the site owners. Cookies can be "session” cookies (which expire once you close your web browser) or "persistent” cookies (which remain on your device for a set period or until deleted).

We use the following categories of cookies:

Strictly Necessary Cookies: These are essential to enable you to move around our website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas. Without these cookies, services you request (like logging into your account) cannot be provided.
Performance and Analytics Cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors use our website, such as which pages are visited most often, and whether users receive error messages. These are used only to improve how our site works.
Functionality Cookies: These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make (such as your username, language, or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personalized features.
Targeting or Advertising Cookies: These cookies are used to deliver adverts more relevant to you and your interests. They may also limit the number of times you see an advertisement and help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns.

We may also use third-party cookies, including but not limited to services provided by Google Analytics, Meta (Facebook), LinkedIn, and other analytics or advertising networks. These third-party services may use cookies to collect data about your browsing habits across websites and build profiles for targeted advertising or performance metrics.

You have full control over how cookies are used. Upon your first visit to our website, you will be presented with a cookie banner seeking your consent to use certain types of cookies in accordance with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and the UK GDPR. You can manage your cookie preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by visiting the cookie settings section, or by adjusting the settings in your browser to block or delete cookies.

Please note that if you disable cookies, some parts of our website may not function properly or may become inaccessible.

For a comprehensive overview of the cookies we use, including their names, purposes, and expiry periods, please see our full Cookie Policy located at [Insert Link to Cookie Policy].

We are committed to transparency in how we use cookies and other technologies, and we regularly review our use of tracking technologies in line with guidance from the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Cookie Overview Table

Below is a non-exhaustive list of the cookies used on our site. For the full list and current cookie settings, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

Cookie Name	Type	Purpose	Duration	First/Third Party
__cf_bm	Strictly Necessary	Helps Cloudflare distinguish between bots and legitimate users.	30 minutes	Third-party (Cloudflare)
sessionid	Strictly Necessary	Maintains user session across requests after login.	Session	First-party
_ga	Performance / Analytics	Tracks user behavior with Google Analytics.	2 years	Third-party (Google)
_gid	Performance / Analytics	Distinguishes users for Google Analytics.	24 hours	Third-party (Google)
csrftoken	Functionality	Protects against Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks.	1 year	First-party
locale	Functionality	Stores the user's language and region preferences.	1 year	First-party
fbp	Targeting / Advertising	Facebook pixel for delivering targeted ads.	90 days	Third-party (Meta)
stripe_mid	Strictly Necessary / Secure	Identifies and secures Stripe payment sessions.	1 year	Third-party (Stripe)

Third-Party Links

Our website may include hyperlinks to external websites, plug-ins, applications, and other services that are not operated or controlled by us. These third-party links are provided for your convenience and to provide additional information or services that may be relevant to your interests. Examples include links to educational resources, tutor profiles hosted on external platforms, government visa support sites, or social media platforms.

Clicking on these third-party links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not have control over these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy practices, terms and conditions, security standards, or how they handle your personal data. This includes any personal information you may provide to such sites, such as login credentials, payment data, or contact details.

We strongly encourage you to read the individual privacy policies, cookie policies, and terms of use of every third-party website you visit. These policies will outline how those third parties process personal data, including whether they share data with advertisers, transfer it internationally, or use it for profiling and tracking purposes. You should also be aware that third-party websites may have different data retention practices and legal bases for processing your data, which may not align with our practices or with the UK GDPR.

Although we strive to only link to reputable, secure, and relevant third-party sites, inclusion of a link does not imply endorsement or affiliation unless specifically stated. We are not responsible for any harm, loss, or damage that may result from your use of any third-party sites or services.

Should you suspect that a third-party link on our platform leads to malicious or inappropriate content, please notify us immediately at [support@RubiconTutors.com], and we will review the link promptly.

For your protection, we recommend using up-to-date antivirus software and enabling security features in your browser to help safeguard your information when browsing beyond our platform.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

Any changes to our Privacy Policy will be posted to the Website and, where appropriate, via e-mail.

Privacy-Related Inquiries and Complaint Procedures

Feel free to reach out to us by email at [support@RuiconTutors.com] if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy. If you're not happy with how we handle your concerns or think we're not processing your data legally, you can also get in touch with the UK's data protection authority, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk.