Privacy Policy
This policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and the rights you have over it.
1.About this policy
This policy explains how [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] (“9science”, “we”, “us”) handles personal information when you visit our website or use our revision platform.
We are the data controller for the information described here, which means we are responsible for deciding how and why it is used. Our contact details are at the end of this policy.
We have written this policy to be readable by students as well as parents. If anything is unclear, please ask us.
2.Information we collect
We collect the following categories of personal information:
- Account details — your name, email address, password, year group, exam board and the subjects you study. You give us these when you register.
- Subscription details — your plan, billing period, payment status and transaction references. These come from you and from our payment provider.
- Revision activity — the questions you attempt, the answers you give, your scores, the topics you study, your flashcard reviews, and how your progress changes over time. This is created as you use the service.
- Technical information — your IP address, device and browser type, and session identifiers. These are collected automatically when you visit.
- Messages — anything you send us through the contact form or by email.
We do not receive or store your full card details. Card payments are handled directly by our payment provider.
3.How and why we use your information
We only use your personal information where the law allows, and we must have a legal basis for each purpose. The purposes we use it for, and the basis we rely on for each, are set out below.
To provide the service you have signed up for
We use your information to create and run your account, to provide questions, textbook content and mock papers, to show you your progress, statistics and weakest topics, and to take payment and manage your subscription. Our legal basis for all of this is performance of a contract — we need this information to give you the service you have asked for.
To keep the service running well
We use your information to keep the service secure, to prevent misuse, and to fix problems and improve what we offer. Our legal basis for this is our legitimate interests in running a reliable and secure service.
To send you marketing, where you have asked for it
Where you have opted in, we use your email address to send you marketing messages. Our legal basis for this is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
To meet our legal obligations
We keep certain records, such as payment records, to comply with tax, accounting and other legal requirements. Our legal basis for this is legal obligation.
4.Children and young people
Our service is designed for students in Years 9 to 11, so we expect many of our users to be under 18. We take extra care with their information.
In practice this means we collect only what we need to run the service, we do not use profiling to serve advertising, and settings that affect privacy default to the more protective option.
There is a minimum age for holding an account. Below that age, a parent or guardian must set up and hold the account.
5.Parent and student accounts
Where a parent or guardian holds the account, they can see information about the student’s use of the service, such as progress by subject and topic.
We tell students what is visible to the account holder, so they know when their activity is being shared.
6.Cookies and similar technologies
We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember your preferences and understand how the service is used.
Cookies that are strictly necessary to provide the service are always active. Any other cookies are only set if you agree to them, and you can change your choices at any time through our cookie settings.
7.Who we share information with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with service providers who help us run 9science, and only so far as they need it:
- our hosting and infrastructure provider, which stores the platform and its data;
- our payment provider, which processes subscriptions;
- our email provider, which sends account and service messages;
- analytics and error-monitoring tools, which help us keep the service working.
These providers act on our instructions and are not permitted to use your information for their own purposes. We may also disclose information where the law requires it.
8.Where your information is stored
Your information is stored on servers provided by our hosting partner. Where information is transferred outside the UK, we make sure an appropriate safeguard recognised under UK data protection law is in place.
9.How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it:
- Account details — kept for [PERIOD] after the account is closed.
- Revision activity and progress — kept for [PERIOD] after the account is closed.
- Payment and transaction records — kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires.
- Contact form and support messages — kept for [PERIOD] after your query is resolved.
- Backups — information you have deleted may still exist in our backups for up to [PERIOD] before those backups are overwritten.
10.How we keep information secure
We use technical and organisational measures to protect personal information, including encryption in transit, access controls, and restricting staff access to what is needed.
No online service can be completely secure, but we review our measures regularly and will notify you and the regulator where required if a serious breach occurs.
11.Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
- ask us to delete information, in certain circumstances;
- ask us to restrict how we use your information, in certain circumstances;
- object to processing we carry out on the basis of legitimate interests;
- ask us to transfer certain information to another provider;
- withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details below. We will respond within the time limit set by law. A request may come from a student or from a parent holding the account, and we may need to check who is making it.
12.Marketing
We only send marketing emails where we are allowed to, and every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link. Unsubscribing does not stop essential service messages such as billing or security notices.
13.Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. We will publish the updated version on this page and change the date shown at the top, and where a change is significant we will tell you directly.
14.Contact us and how to complain
If you have any questions about this policy, or want to exercise your rights, contact us at binu@9science.co.uk.
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to address your concerns first.