Privacy Notice
The Actor’s Lounge Privacy Notice
Summary
We (The Actors Lounge Ltd) collect and use personal information to: deliver our courses and services; support your wellbeing; communicate with you; manage payments and operations; improve our website and marketing (with your consent where required); and meet our legal obligations (including safeguarding). We never sell your data. You can access, correct, or delete your data, object to certain uses, and withdraw consent at any time.
1. Introduction
This Privacy Notice explains how The Actors Lounge Ltd collects, uses, and protects your personal information. This Privacy Notice also describes your rights regarding the personal data that we hold about you including how you can access, correct, and request erasure of your personal data.
We are committed to maintaining accurate and up-to-date information. While we take steps to ensure the accuracy of the data we hold, it is also your responsibility to notify us if any details are incorrect or if your personal data changes during your relationship with us. If any details we hold about you are incorrect, please email us so we can put them right.
2. Data Controller
The Actors Lounge Ltd is the data controller responsible for your personal information described in this notice. This means we determine how and why your information is used.
3. Contact Details
If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights (Section 14), please contact our Data Protection Lead using the information below.
Data Protection Lead: Abigail Boyd tal@theactorslounge.co.uk
4. What Information We Collect and Why
The Actors Lounge Ltd works exclusively with adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect or process any personal data relating to children under the age of 18.
We collect personal information when you enquire, apply, or enrol on our programmes, and when you interact with us as a student, alumni member, staff member, visiting tutor, or contractor. We collect only the information necessary for the purposes described in this notice. All data is stored and processed securely, and our practices are reviewed regularly.
We use limited automated tools, which may include AI, to analyse enquiry patterns and place people into broad interest categories. These processes do not make decisions about you or have any legal or significant effects. All decisions about participation are made by human staff. You can object to this type of analysis at any time by contacting us.
Any targeting carried out by social-media platforms is based on their own data and not on information we hold about you.
Our legitimate interests include: ensuring the quality of education and operations; maintaining accurate records; safeguarding individuals; improving our services; promoting our work responsibly; and protecting our legal and financial interests.
5. Categories of Personal Data We Collect
Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. The types of personal data we collect includes:
5.1 Student Education and Welfare
- Names, addresses, and contact details
- Emergency contact details
- Gender and pronoun preferences
- Racial or ethnic origin (optional)
- Photographs and video recordings (see Section 6)
- Date of birth
- First language or other languages spoken
- Financial information and payment details
- Access and support needs (including disabilities and reasonable adjustments)
- Welfare and safeguarding information (where relevant)
- Health information (where relevant)
- Attendance and absence records
- Progress reports and relevant previous experience
- Compliments, concerns, surveys and feedback
- Communications you send to us
5.2 Recordings of Lessons, Showcases and Creative Work
We routinely record some lessons, rehearsals, creative projects, and showcases as part of our educational provision. These recordings support learning, track and assess progress, provide feedback, maintain accurate records of achievement, and ensure the quality of delivery.
- Educational recordings and photographs are processed on the basis of our legitimate interests in delivering high-quality education.
- Promotional use of photographs or recordings is based on freely given consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
- Recordings and photographs are stored securely and accessed only by authorised staff.
5.3 Queries, Concerns and Claims
- Names and contact details
- Addresses
- Witness statements
- Incident and accident information
- Correspondence
- Relevant access needs and attendance information (where necessary)
5.4 Information Updates, Website and Marketing
- Names and contact details
- Addresses
- Marketing preferences and records of consent
- Photographs and filmed footage (for marketing only with consent)
- Website usage data and IP addresses
- Alumni records
- User-generated and customer-service communications
- Technical and customer data from third parties (e.g. analytics providers, payment platforms, social media services)
5.4.1 Cookies
We use essential cookies (to make the site work) and analytics cookies (to help us improve it). Analytics cookies are used only with your consent. Some analytics or social-media tools may transfer limited data outside the UK/EEA; where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. See our full Cookie Policy on our website for further details.
5.5 Staff, Visiting Tutors and Contractors
For people working with or for The Actors Lounge Ltd, including employees, freelancers, visiting tutors, and contractors - we process: identity and contact details; right-to-work and tax information; contractual and payment data; safeguarding or rehabilitation declarations (where appropriate); references; qualifications/experience; and performance/feedback records.
5.6 Website Forms
When you submit information through forms on our website, data is transmitted securely and used only for the purpose for which it was provided.
5.7 Special Category Data
As part of our commitment to providing an inclusive and supportive learning environment, we ask all students and staff to provide certain special category data. This may include information relating to ethnicity, gender and pronoun preferences, disability, access or health needs, and any other details that help us ensure equality of opportunity, make reasonable adjustments, and meet our safeguarding responsibilities.
You are not required to provide this information and may choose to respond “information refused.”
We process this information only where:
- you have given explicit consent; or
- it is necessary for safeguarding, equality of opportunity, or another condition is met under Article 9(2) of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018.
All such information is treated in the strictest confidence, stored securely, and used only by authorised staff for legitimate educational and welfare purposes.
5.8 Telephone Call Recording and Monitoring
We may record or monitor telephone calls for training, quality assurance, and accurate handling of queries, enrolment matters, and concerns raised during your time with us.
- Recordings are processed on the basis of our legitimate interests in ensuring high standards of service.
- Recordings are stored securely, accessed only by authorised staff, and are not used for automated decision-making.
- Recordings are kept for up to two years, or longer where required for an ongoing complaint, safeguarding matter, or legal claim.
5.9 Surveys and Feedback Forms
We may collect information you choose to provide in surveys or feedback forms. This helps us review and improve our courses and operations. Participation is always optional. Where surveys request contact details for follow-up or prize draws, this information is processed only for that purpose.
6. Our Lawful Basis for Processing
The law requires us to have a legal basis for collecting and using your personal data. We rely on one or more of the following legal bases:
- Performance of a contract with you: Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
- Legitimate interests: We may use your personal data where it is necessary to conduct our business and pursue our legitimate interests, for example to prevent fraud and enable us to give you the best and most secure customer experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you and your rights (both positive and negative) before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law).
- Legal obligation: We may use your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to. We will identify the relevant legal obligation when we rely on this legal basis.
- Consent: We rely on consent only where we have obtained your active agreement to use your personal data for a specified purpose, for example if you subscribe to an email newsletter.
We have set out below a description of all the ways we plan to use the various categories of your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so.
- Student Education and Welfare: Legitimate interests, performance of contract, and legal obligations. In limited cases, vital interests may apply where information is required to protect someone’s life or wellbeing.
- Safeguarding data: Legal obligation (and where applicable vital interests), with relevant conditions under Article 9(2) UK GDPR and Schedule 1 DPA 2018.
- Queries, Concerns and Claims: Legitimate interests and/or legal obligations.
- Information Updates, Website and Marketing: Consent, legitimate interests, and performance of contract (e.g. service messages). You may withdraw consent at any time.
- Staff, Tutors and Contractors: Performance of contract, legitimate interests, legal obligations (e.g. tax, right-to-work), and relevant Schedule 1 conditions where special category data is processed.
7. Consent and Preferences
You can opt in or out of communications at any time by contacting us or using the unsubscribe link in emails. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.
8. Data Security
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep personal data secure, including role-based access controls, password protection, encryption (where appropriate), secure systems, and regular reviews of our data-handling practices. Personal information is stored on secure systems hosted within the UK or EEA, or in countries without UK adequacy status only where appropriate safeguards are in place.
9. Sources of Personal Data
- Directly from you
- Publicly available sources
- Third-party processors acting on our behalf (see Section 11)
10. How Long We Keep Information
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this notice and in line with our legal, safeguarding, and operational responsibilities. Unless otherwise stated, most student and operational records are kept for seven years from the end of your course or from the conclusion of the matter. This includes:
- student course records (applications, attendance, progress notes, adjustments, welfare notes where appropriate)
- Concerns and associated correspondence
- incident and accident reports
- operational and administrative records linked to your participation
- contractual records (student agreements, tutor/contractor agreements, delivery and scheduling documents)
Financial records are retained for six years to meet statutory requirements, including accounting and tax obligations. Certain short-term operational data is retained for up to two years, including:
- educational recordings used for feedback, assessment, and quality assurance
- call recordings used for training, query resolution, and monitoring quality, or longer only where needed for an ongoing enquiry, complaint, or safeguarding matter
Some categories must follow flexible retention periods and cannot be fixed at seven years. These include:
- safeguarding information, kept for as long as required by statutory guidance, which may exceed seven years
- promotional photographs and recordings, retained until consent is withdrawn or the material is no longer in use
- alumni contact details, kept until consent is withdrawn
Where a longer retention period is required for legal or operational reasons, data will be securely deleted or anonymised once that period ends.
Enquiry and sales-related information, including website form submissions, is retained for up to two years, or longer only where there is ongoing interest or active communication.
In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data, see Section 14 for further details.
11. Who We Share Information With
- Staff and contractors of The Actors Lounge ltd
- Visiting tutors
- Insurance providers
- Organisations involved in safeguarding
- Social services and emergency services
- Professional advisers
- Government bodies requiring reporting
- Third parties involved in legal claims
- IT and system administration providers
- Third parties to whom we may transfer or merge business assets
All sharing is carried out only where necessary and lawful, for example to fulfil contracts, meet legal obligations (such as safeguarding), or pursue legitimate interests. With your consent, we may nominate you for external opportunities or awards.
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
12. Data Processors
We use trusted third-party service providers to support our operations (e.g. IT systems, communication tools, payment processing, cloud storage, marketing platforms, and CRM systems). All such processors act on our instructions, keep your data secure, and comply with UK GDPR.
Where our processors are located outside the UK, or use sub-processors or hosting outside the UK, we ensure appropriate transfer safeguards as set out in Section 13.
13. International Transfers
Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, the International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), or transfers within the EEA.
We store certain personal information on cloud servers provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) located in Australia for cybersecurity purposes. As UK data protection law does not yet treat Australia as offering the same level of protection as the UK, we implement appropriate safeguards, including the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and, where applicable, the International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA).
You can obtain a copy of, or access to, information about the safeguards we use for international transfers by contacting our Data Protection Lead at tal@theactorslounge.co.uk. We may redact commercially sensitive details where necessary but will provide sufficient information to explain the nature of the safeguards.
14. Your Data Protection Rights
You have the right to:
- be informed about how your data is collected and used (this notice fulfils that right)
- access your personal data
- correct inaccurate information we hold about you
- request erasure of your personal data
- restrict processing of your personal data
- object to processing (including where based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing)
- request data portability
- withdraw consent at any time (where processing is based on consent)
To exercise these rights, contact our Data Protection Lead Abigail Boyd at tal@theactorslounge.co.uk.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
We will respond within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
Right to lodge a complaint: You may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe we have not complied with data protection law.
15. Complaints (ICO Contact)
You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection issues, details below. Before contacting the ICO, please make sure you have first made your complaint to us or asked us for clarification if there is something you do not understand. The ICO will expect you to have done this before reviewing your complaint.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Online: www.ico.org.uk/concerns
16. Updates to This Notice
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website, and significant changes will be communicated where appropriate.
Accessibility Statement
This notice can be provided in alternative formats or large-print versions on request by contacting our Data Protection Lead Abigail Boyd at tal@theactorslounge.co.uk.