GDPR Information

GDPR Compliance Statement

meta-ridge is committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This page provides specific information about how we comply with these regulations.

Data Controller

meta-ridge acts as the data controller for personal information collected through this website and our educational services. We determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.

Contact details:
meta-ridge
42 Leopold Street
Sheffield, S1 2GZ
United Kingdom
Email: [email protected]

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only when we have a lawful basis to do so. The lawful bases we rely on include:

Consent

When you voluntarily submit information through our enrollment forms or contact forms, you provide explicit consent for us to process that data for the stated purposes.

Contract Performance

Processing is necessary to fulfill our contractual obligations when you enroll in our educational programmes.

Legitimate Interests

We process certain data based on our legitimate interests in operating our business, improving our services, and communicating with prospective and current participants, provided these interests do not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.

Legal Obligations

We may process data to comply with legal requirements, such as maintaining records for regulatory purposes.

Your GDPR Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right to Access

You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and, if so, to access that data along with specific information about the processing.

Right to Rectification

You can request correction of inaccurate personal data and completion of incomplete data.

Right to Erasure

Also known as the "right to be forgotten," you can request deletion of your personal data under certain circumstances, such as when data is no longer necessary for the purposes it was collected or when you withdraw consent.

Right to Restrict Processing

You can request limitation of processing in specific situations, such as when you contest the accuracy of data or object to processing.

Right to Data Portability

You have the right to receive personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller.

Right to Object

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.

Rights Related to Automated Decision-Making

You have the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling, that produce legal effects or similarly significantly affect you. We do not currently employ such automated decision-making.

How to Exercise Your Rights

To exercise any of your GDPR rights, please submit a request by email to [email protected]. Include sufficient information to allow us to identify you and specify which right you wish to exercise.

We will respond to valid requests within one month of receipt. In complex cases, we may extend this period by two additional months and will inform you of any extension.

We may request additional information to verify your identity before fulfilling requests, particularly for access or deletion requests.

Data Protection Principles

We process personal data in accordance with the following principles:

• Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: We process data lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner
• Purpose limitation: We collect data for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes only
• Data minimization: We collect only data that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary
• Accuracy: We take reasonable steps to ensure data accuracy and keep it up to date
• Storage limitation: We retain data only as long as necessary for the purposes collected
• Integrity and confidentiality: We implement appropriate security measures to protect data
• Accountability: We are responsible for and can demonstrate compliance with these principles

Data Security Measures

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

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Regular security assessments and updates
• Access controls limiting who can view personal data
• Staff training on data protection practices
• Incident response procedures

Data Breach Notification

In the event of a personal data breach that poses a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify the appropriate supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach. If the breach poses a high risk, we will also notify affected individuals without undue delay.

International Data Transfers

We primarily process and store data within the United Kingdom. If we transfer personal data outside the UK or European Economic Area, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as:

• Standard contractual clauses approved by the UK authorities
• Adequacy decisions recognizing equivalent data protection standards
• Other legally recognized transfer mechanisms

Data Retention Periods

We retain personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes it was collected:

• Enrollment inquiries: Two years from submission
• Course participant records: Duration of enrollment plus seven years
• Website analytics: Anonymized after six months
• Marketing communications: Until consent is withdrawn

Children's Data

We do not process personal data of children under 16 without verifiable parental consent. Enrollment forms for junior programmes must be completed by a parent or legal guardian who provides their own contact information.

Complaints

If you believe we have not handled your personal data appropriately or have not responded adequately to your requests, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority:

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
United Kingdom
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk

Updates to GDPR Practices

We regularly review our GDPR compliance practices and update our procedures as necessary to reflect changes in law, technology, or our business operations. Material changes will be communicated through this page.

Contact for GDPR Matters

For questions specifically related to GDPR compliance, data protection rights, or our data processing practices, contact us at [email protected] with "GDPR Inquiry" in the subject line.