At Copper Tutoring, we are committed to protecting and respecting the privacy of our students and their families. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal data when you visit our website (coppertutoring.co.uk), register for our services, or use our student management platform (TutorCore).
1. Who We Are
Copper Tutoring is a private tutoring service based in Devon, UK. For the purposes of data protection laws, we are the “Data Controller” of the personal information you provide to us. If you have any questions about this policy, you can contact us at [email protected].
2. Information We Collect
We only collect information that is necessary to provide a high-quality, safe, and efficient tutoring service.
Information Provided by Parents/Guardians:
Contact Details: Name, email address, phone number, and home address.
Student Details: Name, email address, date of birth, year group, school attended, and exam boards. Any medical concerns which might arise during a session.
Academic Information: Current grades, learning requirements, Special Educational Needs (SEN) details, and lesson progress notes.
Financial Information: Payment history and billing details (processed securely via Stripe or bank transfer).
Information Collected Automatically:
Lesson Video Recordings: For safeguarding purposes, all online tutoring sessions are video and audio recorded.
Platform Usage: Technical data when you log into TutorCore, such as your IP address, browser type, and log-in times, to ensure platform security and functionality.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use your data to run our business safely and effectively. Specifically, we use it to:
Set up and manage your TutorCore portal account.
Schedule lessons, track student progress, and share feedback with parents.
Process payments and issue invoices.
Safeguard children and tutors through the mandatory recording of online lessons.
Communicate with you regarding lesson changes, updates, or administrative queries.
Comply with our legal, tax, and accounting obligations.
4. The Legal Basis for Processing Your Data
Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful reason to use your data. We rely on the following bases:
Contractual Necessity: We need your information to fulfill our contract with you (e.g., scheduling lessons and processing payments).
Legitimate Interests: To run Copper Tutoring efficiently, secure our systems, and maintain academic records.
Legal Obligation: For tax accounting and robust child safeguarding. We process data (specifically mobile numbers and message history) via WhatsApp/BACS under contractual necessity, and we process video recordings under the lawful basis of Legal Obligation/Public Interest (for child safeguarding).
Consent: For holding sensitive data (such as specific health or learning needs), which you provide voluntarily to help us tailor our teaching.
5. Safeguarding & Online Lesson Recordings
Because we teach children, safeguarding is our top priority.
Recording: Copper Tutoring does not ordinarily record tutoring sessions for its own purposes. The only exception is where an agency or other organisation engaging Copper Tutoring expressly instructs us to record a particular session on its behalf — for example, so that an absent student can access the session later.
Where an agency determines why a recording is made, that agency is ordinarily the data controller for the recording and Copper Tutoring acts only as its data processor, on the agency’s documented instructions and under appropriate data-processing terms. The agency is responsible for giving students and parents the relevant privacy information for that recording.
We will not use an agency-instructed recording for our own independent purposes — including advertising, social media or training AI models — unless required by law or a separate lawful basis applies.
Storage & Access: These files are encrypted and stored in a secure cloud environment. They are not accessible to the public, nor are they used for marketing or performance evaluations.
Review: Video files are only reviewed if a safeguarding concern, billing dispute, or code-of-conduct issue is raised by a parent, student, or tutor.
Retention: Copper Tutoring does not set a general retention period for lesson recordings, because lessons are not routinely recorded. Where an agency has instructed an exceptional recording, it is retained, returned or deleted in accordance with that agency’s documented instructions.
6. How We Share Your Data
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data with third parties. We only share information with trusted service providers essential to running our business:
TutorCore Platform Providers: Our secure infrastructure that hosts your data, schedules, and lesson notes.
Payment Processors: Stripe handles your card transactions securely. Copper Tutoring never stores your raw credit or debit card details.
Legal Authorities: We will only share data externally if strictly required by law, or if necessary to protect the immediate safety of a child.
WhatsApp (Meta Platforms, Inc.) A third-party data processor, communications are secured and used solely for logistics.
7. Data Retention (How Long We Keep It)
We only keep your personal data for as long as necessary:
Active Accounts: We keep your data while your child is actively tutoring with us.
Inactive Accounts: If you stop using our services, we will securely archive your data. Academic and contact logs are kept for up to 3 years in case you wish to return.
Financial Records: Invoices and payment logs are kept for 6 years to comply with UK tax law (HMRC).
Lesson Videos: Deleted automatically after 7 days (as detailed in Section 5).
8. Your Rights
Under UK data protection law, parents (and students, depending on their age) have significant rights over their data. You have the right to:
Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you or your child.
Correction: Ask us to fix any inaccurate or incomplete information.
Erasure (“Right to be Forgotten”): Request that we delete your data (provided it does not conflict with our legal or tax obligations to retain it).
Restrict Processing: Ask us to stop processing your data while a dispute is being resolved.
To exercise any of these rights, simply email us at [email protected].
Copper Tutoring is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office, registration number ZC228367.
9. Updates to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our platform features or UK data laws. If we make any major changes to how we handle your data, we will alert you via email or a notification inside your TutorCore dashboard.
Last Updated: October 2026 aligned with Policy Pack v2.1