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Privacy Policy

Communicate-ed is a trading name of The Communicate-ed Partnership.
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Communicate-ed understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who shares personal data with us via email, post, phone or our website https://www.communicate-ed.org.uk (“Our Site”) and will only collect and use personal data in ways that are described here, and in a way that is consistent with our obligations and your rights under the law.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it.

You can download a copy of this privacy policy here (194 KB pdf)

1. Definitions and Interpretation

In this Policy the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“Cookie” means a small text file placed on your computer or device by Our Site when you visit certain parts of Our Site and/or when you use certain features of Our Site. Details of the Cookies used by Our Site are set out in Part 14, below; and

“Cookie Law” means the relevant parts of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003;

2. Information About Us

The Communicate-ed Partnership

A partnership registered in England, whose registered office is at 61 Switchback Rd South, Maidenhead, SL6 7QF, and whose main trading address is PO Box 2652, Maidenhead, SL6 8ZL.

Data Protection Officer: Katie Coles

Email address: katie at communicate-ed dot org dot uk

Telephone number: 0345 331 1492

Postal Address: PO Box 2652, Maidenhead, SL6 8ZL

3. What Does This Policy Cover?

This Privacy Policy explains how we use your personal data: how it is collected, how it is held, and how it is processed. It also explains your rights under the law relating to your personal data.

4. What Is Personal Data?

Personal data is defined by the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (collectively, “the Data Protection Legislation”) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier’.

Personal data is, in simpler terms, any information about you that enables you to be identified. Personal data covers obvious information such as your name and contact details, but it also covers less obvious information such as identification numbers, electronic location data, and other online identifiers.

5. What Are My Rights?

Under the Data Protection Legislation, you have the following rights, which we will always work to uphold:

  • The right to be informed about our collection and use of your personal data. This Privacy Policy should tell you everything you need to know, but you can always contact us to find out more or to ask any questions using the details in Part 15.
  • The right to access the personal data we hold about you. Part 13 will tell you how to do this.
  • The right to have your personal data rectified if any of your personal data held by us is inaccurate or incomplete. Please contact us using the details in Part 15 to find out more.
  • The right to be forgotten, i.e. the right to ask us to delete or otherwise dispose of any of your personal data that we hold. Please contact us using the details in Part 15 to find out more.
  • The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data.
  • The right to object to us using your personal data for a particular purpose or purposes.
  • The right to withdraw consent. This means that, if we are relying on your consent as the legal basis for using your personal data, you are free to withdraw that consent at any time.
  • The right to data portability. This means that, if you have provided personal data to us directly, we are using it with your consent or for the performance of a contract, and that data is processed using automated means, you can ask us for a copy of that personal data to re-use with another service or business in many cases.
  • Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling. We do not use your personal data in this way.

For more information about our use of your personal data or exercising your rights as outlined above, please contact us using the details provided in Part 15.

It is important that your personal data is kept accurate and up-to-date. If any of the personal data we hold about you changes, please keep us informed as long as we have that data.

Further information about your rights can also be obtained from the Information Commissioner’s Office or your local Citizens Advice Bureau.

If you have any cause for complaint about our use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. We would welcome the opportunity to resolve your concerns ourselves, however, so please contact us first, using the details in Part 15.

6. What Data Do You Collect and How?

We may collect and hold some or all of the personal and non-personal data set out in the table below, using the methods also set out in the table. Please also see Part 14 for more information about our use of Cookies and similar.

Data Collected How We Collect the Data
Identity Information including name and title. Received via course application or membership form filled in on Our Site. Received via contact form on Our Site. Names may be collected from school websites or when given by colleagues.
Contact information including address, email address, phone number. Received via course application or membership form filled in on Our Site. Received via contact form on Our Site. Business email addresses may be collected from school websites or when given by colleagues.
Business information including your job title, place of work, work address. Received via course application or membership form filled in on Our Site. Received via contact form on Our Site. Job titles may be collected from school websites or when given by colleagues.
Payment information including card details, finance officer email address (NB We do not store card details). Card details taken for course or resource payment through Our Site (not stored). Finance officer email address received via course application or membership form filled in on Our Site.
Profile information including dietary requirements/allergies, and details of disabilities/difficulties requiring reasonable adjustment. Received via email when requested for the purposes of attending a face to face course.
Technical information including IP address and URL string. Collected by Our Site (see part 14 for full information).


7. How Do You Use My Personal Data?

Under the Data Protection Legislation, we must always have a lawful basis for using personal data. The following table describes how we may use your personal data, and our lawful bases for doing so:

What We Do What Data We Use Our Lawful Basis
Enrolling you on one of our courses Name, date of birth, home address, work address, home phone number, work phone number, email address, place of work, role title, requiring reasonable adjustment. Consent
Enrolling you on our annual membership scheme Name, email address, work address, phone number, card details. Consent
Communicating with you Name, email address, address, phone number. Consent
Supplying our courses to you Name, email address, work address, details of disabilities/difficulties requiring reasonable adjustment Consent
Sending you course materials Name, address, email address Consent
Supplying refreshments at face to face courses Details of dietary requirements/allergies Vital Interests
Supplying you with information by email or post that you have opted-in-to (you may opt-out at any time by contacting us or clicking unsubscribe in the email). Name, role title, email address, address Consent
Supplying you with information by email or post related to your role or the course you completed with us if you did not opt out of communications (you may opt-out at any time by contacting us or clicking unsubscribe in the email). Name, role title, email address, address Legitimate Interests. It is Communicate-ed’s legitimate interest to supply you with update training information relevant to the course you completed.
Notifying you that we have collected your name, role title, work address and/or work email address, informing you of your rights and giving you an opportunity to opt out of communications. Name, role title, work email address, work address Legitimate Interests. To fulfil Communicate-ed’s aim to provide high-quality training to professionals working in the area of special needs, it is necessary for us to contact professionals in this area to let them know: a) That the training and resources existb) How they can access them
Invoicing you for our courses or resources. Name, email address, address Consent
Keeping a record of courses completed. Name, email address, place of work, address, result of course Consent


With your permission and/or where permitted by law, we may also use your personal data for marketing purposes, which may include contacting you by email and post with information, news, and offers on our courses and resources. You will not be sent any unlawful marketing or spam. We will always work to fully protect your rights and comply with our obligations under the Data Protection Legislation and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, and you will always have the opportunity to opt-out.

Third Parties (including Twitter and YouTube) whose content appears on Our Site may use third-party Cookies, as detailed below in Part 14. Please refer to Part 14 for more information on controlling cookies. Please note that we do not control the activities of such third parties, nor the data that they collect and use themselves, and we advise you to check the privacy policies of any such third parties.

We will only use your personal data for the purpose(s) for which it was originally collected unless we reasonably believe that another purpose is compatible with that or those original purpose(s) and need to use your personal data for that purpose. If we do use your personal data in this way and you wish us to explain how the new purpose is compatible with the original, please contact us using the details in Part 15.

If we need to use your personal data for a purpose that is unrelated to, or incompatible with, the purpose(s) for which it was originally collected, we will inform you and explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

In some circumstances, where permitted or required by law, we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent. This will only be done within the bounds of the Data Protection Legislation and your legal rights.

8. How Long Will You Keep My Personal Data?

We will not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. Your personal data will therefore be kept for the following periods (or, where there is no fixed period, the following factors will be used to determine how long it is kept):

Type of Data How Long We Keep It
Full Name 8 years from last course undertaken unless exclusions apply. There is an expectation by delegates that course providers keep a record of training undertaken. Name kept indefinitely if individual subscribes to mailing list or opts out of communications.
Email Address 8 years from last course undertaken unless exclusions apply. In cases where students request a record of training, email address acts as a more unique identifier than name alone. Email address is retained indefinitely if individual subscribes to mailing list or opts out of communications
Address and Phone Number 6 years after last course undertaken unless exclusions apply. Retained if individual subscribes to mailing list.
Role 6 years after last course undertaken unless exclusions apply. Retained if individual subscribes to mailing list.
Place of Work Indefinite unless exclusions apply. Retained for record keeping, accounting.
Dietary Requirements/Allergies 6 years from last course undertaken unless exclusions apply. Retained only on CRM.
Details of disabilities/difficulties requiring reasonable adjustment 6 years from last course undertaken unless exclusions apply. Retained only on CRM.
Transaction details Indefinite unless exclusions apply (Credit card details are not stored on the website)
IP Adress Indefinite unless exclusions apply. Stored with transaction data and forum posts. Used for fraud prevention.
URL String 1 minute – 2 years. Google analytics uses three cookies:

_gat – expires after 1 minute

_gid – expires after 24 hours

_ga – expires after 2 years


9. How and Where Do You Store or Transfer My Personal Data?

In fulfilling the tasks outlined in part 7, we may store some or all of your personal data in countries outside of the UK. These are known as “third countries”. We will take additional steps in order to ensure that your personal data is treated just as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the Data Protection Legislation as follows:

We will use specific approved contracts which ensure the same levels of personal data protection that apply under the Data Protection Legislation. For further information, please refer to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Please contact us using the details below in Part 15 for further information about the particular data protection safeguards used by us when transferring your personal data to a third country.

The security of your personal data is essential to us, and to protect your data, we take a number of important measures, including the following:

  • limiting access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties with a legitimate need to know and ensuring that they are subject to duties of confidentiality;
  • only storing personal data in password protected and/or secure locations;
  • using SSL to ensure data passed between our web server and browsers remains secure;
  • keeping all software up to date (including, but not limited to, applications and operating systems);
  • securely deleting and disposing of any personal data no longer needed; and
  • having procedures for dealing with data breaches (the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, your personal data) including notifying you and/or the Information Commissioner’s Office where we are legally required to do so;

10. Do You Share My Personal Data?

We do not sell, trade, rent or otherwise transfer your personal data to third parties. We may, however, share your personal data with selected third parties including:

  • Our associated company Include-ed Limited, a company registered in England & Wales, whose registered office is at 61 Switchback Road South, Maidenhead, Berkshire, SL6 7QF. If we share your personal data with Include-ed it will be for the purposes of record keeping and communicating with you according to your marketing preferences.
  • business partners, suppliers and sub-contractors for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you

If we sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or assets, your personal data may be transferred to a third party. Any new owner of our business may continue to use your personal data in the same way(s) that we have used it, as specified in this Privacy Policy.

In some limited circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain personal data, which might include yours, if we are involved in legal proceedings or complying with legal obligations, a court order, or the instructions of a government authority.

We may sometimes contract with the following third parties to supply certain products or services:

Recipient Activity Carried Out Sector Location
Stripe Payment Processing for courses, resources or membership Finance U.S. see DPA here
Digital Chalk (Sciolytix) Create and Host account in the OLE (name and email address) Education U.S. see Privacy Policy here
Exe-Squared Limited Website and CRM Hosting and Support IT UK, DPA signed
Online Storage: Microsoft, pCloud, Dropbox Storing Data IT DPAs linked below

Microsoft – U.S.

pCloud – EEA

Dropbox – U.S.

Mailchimp Email Marketing Communications U.S. see DPA here
Intuit Accounting vis Quickbooks Online Finance U.S. see DPA here
Printique Limited Envelope Printing Print UK, DPA Signed


If any of your personal data is shared with a third party, as described above, we will take steps to ensure that your personal data is handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the third party’s obligations under the law, as described above in Part 9.

If any personal data is transferred outside of the UK, we will take suitable steps in order to ensure that your personal data is treated just as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the Data Protection Legislation, as explained above in Part 9.

11. How Can I Control My Personal Data?

11.1 In addition to your rights under the Data Protection Legislation, set out in Part 5, when you submit personal data via Our Site, you may be given options to restrict our use of your personal data. In particular, we aim to give you strong controls on our use of your data for direct marketing purposes (including the ability to opt-out of receiving emails from us which you may do by unsubscribing using the links provided in our and at the point of providing your details).

11.2 You may also wish to sign up to one or more of the preference services operating in the UK: The Telephone Preference Service (“the TPS”), the Corporate Telephone Preference Service (“the CTPS”), and the Mailing Preference Service (“the MPS”). These may help to prevent you receiving unsolicited marketing. Please note, however, that these services will not prevent you from receiving marketing communications that you have consented to receiving.

12. Can I Withhold Information?

You may access Our Site without providing any personal data at all.

You may restrict our use of Cookies. For more information, see Part 14.

13. How Can I Access My Personal Data?

If you want to know what personal data we have about you, you can ask us for details of that personal data and for a copy of it (where any such personal data is held). This is known as a “subject access request”.

All subject access requests should be made in writing and sent to the email or postal addresses shown in Part 15.

There is not normally any charge for a subject access request. If your request is ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive’ (for example, if you make repetitive requests) a fee may be charged to cover our administrative costs in responding.

We will respond to your subject access request one month of receiving it. Normally, we aim to provide a complete response, including a copy of your personal data within that time. In some cases, however, particularly if your request is more complex, more time may be required up to a maximum of three months from the date we receive your request. You will be kept fully informed of our progress.

14. How Do You Use Cookies?

Our Site may place and access certain first-party Cookies on your computer or device. First-party Cookies are those placed directly by us and are used only by us. We use Cookies to facilitate and improve your experience of Our Site and to provide and improve our products and services.

By using Our Site you may also receive certain third-party Cookies on your computer or device. Third-party Cookies are those placed by websites, services, and/or parties other than us. Third-party Cookies are used on Our Site for the playback of embedded YouTube videos, the embedded Twitter feed and the Facebook share buttons.

In addition, Our Site uses analytics services provided by Google, which also use Cookies. Website analytics refers to a set of tools used to collect and analyse usage statistics, enabling us to better understand how people use Our Site.

For more details, including a full list of Cookies used on Our Site, please see our Cookie page at https://www.communicate-ed.org.uk/cookies.

All Cookies used by and on Our Site are used in accordance with current Cookie Law.

When you first visit Our Site, you will be shown a Cookie prompt informing you about Cookies and linking you to our Cookie page with information about how to change your Cookie settings. By clicking “OK” on the Cookie prompt and signalling consent to the placing of Cookies you are enabling us to provide the best possible experience and service to you.

15. How Do I Contact You?

To contact us about anything to do with your personal data and data protection, including to make a subject access request, please use the following details (for the attention of Katie Coles):

Email address: katie at communicate-ed dot org dot uk

Postal Address: PO Box 2652, Maidenhead, SL6 8ZL

16. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. This may be necessary, for example, if the law changes, or if we change our business in a way that affects personal data protection.

Any changes will be immediately posted on Our Site and you will be deemed to have accepted the terms of the Privacy Policy on your first use of Our Site following the alterations. We recommend that you check this page regularly to keep up-to-date. This Privacy Policy was last updated on 10th January 2023.