Privacy notice
[DRAFT — awaiting WBS details and solicitor review]
Draft for solicitor review — not yet in force.
Who we are
British Summer Schools (britishsummerschools.com) is run by Which Independent Schools Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 09287591), registered office 71–75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ, trading as Which British School ("WBS", "we"). We are the controller of the personal data described here. ICO registration number: ZB688394.
Contact for anything in this notice: info@britishsummerschools.com.
What we collect
When you send an enquiry: your name, email address, phone number and WeChat ID (if given), country of residence, your child's age, your preferred way to be contacted, the course or school you are interested in, and anything you write in your message.
When you pay a deposit: the details above plus your child's full name, preferred course length and your acceptance of our booking terms. Card payments are handled by Stripe; we never see or store your full card number.
When you browse the site: basic technical information (such as IP address and browser type) in our hosting provider's security logs. Analytics (Google Analytics on English pages, Baidu Tongji on Chinese pages) runs only if you click "Accept" on our cookie banner.
Information about children: we only collect what we need about a student to arrange a place on a course, and we collect it from their parent or guardian.
Why we use it, and our lawful basis
Purpose | Lawful basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|
Replying to your enquiry and advising you | Legitimate interests (helping families find a course they asked about); steps you asked us to take before a contract |
Passing your enquiry to the school or course organiser you are interested in | Your consent, given on the enquiry form |
Taking and managing deposits and bookings | Performance of a contract with you |
Keeping financial records | Legal obligation |
Website analytics | Your consent (cookie banner) — you can withdraw it at any time |
We use your contact details to answer your enquiry and manage your booking, not for marketing. We will only send you newsletters or promotional emails if you have separately and actively agreed to receive them (for example by ticking an unticked box). Every marketing email will include an unsubscribe link, and you can also opt out at any time by emailing info@britishsummerschools.com. Opting out does not affect any enquiry or booking.
Who we share it with
- The school or course organiser you enquire about or book with, so they can confirm availability and process the application.
- Service providers who run the site for us: Vercel (website hosting), Supabase (database and file storage, hosted in Ireland), Stripe (payments), Resend (email delivery), and — only with your consent — Google (Analytics) and Baidu (Tongji).
- Our professional advisers, and authorities where the law requires it.
We do not sell your personal data.
International transfers
Our database, file storage and website servers are in Ireland. Some of our service providers are based in, or use staff and systems in, the United States. When your personal data is transferred outside the UK, we make sure it is protected in one of these ways:
- European Economic Area (including Ireland): the UK recognises these countries as providing adequate protection (UK adequacy regulations).
- United States: where the provider is certified under the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (the "UK–US data bridge"), we rely on that. Otherwise we use the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, together with a transfer risk assessment.
- China (Baidu Tongji, Chinese pages only): Baidu Tongji only runs if you click "Accept" on our cookie banner. It receives pseudonymised information about how the site is used (such as pages viewed and device type), not your enquiry or booking details. China does not have UK adequacy status, so this transfer is based on your consent. You can decline and the site works in full.
If you contact us from mainland China, your enquiry is sent to us in the UK so that we can reply to you. Chinese personal-information law (PIPL) may also apply to that transfer.
You can ask us for more information about these safeguards, or a copy of them, by emailing info@britishsummerschools.com.
How long we keep it
- Enquiries: 12 months after our last contact with you.
- Deposit and booking records: 6 years after the end of the financial year, for tax and accounting.
- Analytics: no longer than 14 months (the retention period set in Google Analytics / Baidu Tongji).
Your rights
You can ask us to access, correct, delete or restrict your data, object to how we use it, or receive a copy to take elsewhere. Where we rely on consent you can withdraw it at any time. Contact info@britishsummerschools.com.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113.
Cookies and similar storage
No non-essential cookies or analytics are set until you click "Accept". Your choice is stored in your browser so we don't ask again. You can change it by clearing your browser's site data.
Changes
We will post any changes on this page. Last updated: 8 October 2026.