We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data openly and lawfully. This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect when you visit our website at openalliancelearning.com, create an account, enrol on a course, or otherwise interact with us. It also explains how we use and protect your data, and the rights you have over it.

We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

OALHub Limited is the "data controller" responsible for your personal data.

• Legal entity: OALHub Limited (trading as Open Alliance Learning)
• Company number: 17262306
• Registered office: 111, 80 Cumberland House, Scrubs Lane, London, NW10 6RF, United Kingdom
• Contact for data protection queries: admin@oalhub.co.uk

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Identity data – your name and, where you provide it, date of birth and gender.
• Contact data – email address, telephone number and postal address.
• Account data – your username, password (stored in encrypted form) and profile details.
• Enrolment and learning data – the courses you enrol on, your progress, assessment submissions and results, certificates, and your communications with tutors.
• Payment data – billing details and a record of your transactions. Card payments are processed by our payment provider; we do not store full card numbers on our systems.
• Technical and usage data – IP address, device and browser information, and details of how you use our website, collected via cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookie Policy).
• Marketing and communications data – your preferences for receiving marketing from us.
• Correspondence – messages you send to our support team or tutors.
• Optional support information – any information you choose to share so we can make reasonable adjustments or provide learning support. This may include information about a health condition, disability or learning difficulty, which is "special category" data and is only processed with your explicit consent (see section 5).

• Directly from you – when you fill in a form, create an account, enrol on a course, contact us, or respond to a survey.
• Automatically – as you use our website, through cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookie Policy).
• From third parties – for example our payment provider (to confirm payment), and, where you enrol on an accredited course, the relevant awarding body (in connection with registration and results).

We are a private, independent online provider. We do not rely on "public task" or government-funding obligations. We rely on the following lawful bases:

• Performance of a contract – to deliver the courses you purchase, manage your account, process payments and provide support.
• Consent – for sending you marketing communications, for setting non-essential cookies, and for processing any special category data you choose to share for learning support. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Legitimate interests – to operate, improve and secure our website and services, respond to enquiries, prevent fraud and understand how our services are used. We balance these interests against your rights.
• Legal obligation – to comply with our legal duties, such as keeping financial and tax records and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

We use your personal data to:

• create and manage your account and deliver the courses you enrol on;
• process payments and administer any agreed payment arrangements;
• provide tutor support, mark assessments and issue certificates;
• where applicable, register you with an awarding body and obtain certification;
• respond to your questions and provide customer support;
• send you service messages (for example, confirmations and important updates about your course);
• send you marketing where you have consented;
• improve, personalise and secure our website and services; and
• comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

We will only send you marketing communications where you have consented. Every marketing email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time by clicking it or emailing admin@oalhub.co.uk. Opting out of marketing does not stop service messages that we need to send you about your course or account.

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:

• Service providers (processors) acting on our instructions, such as our website hosting and IT providers, our payment provider, email and customer-relationship tools, and analytics providers. They are bound by contract to keep your data secure and use it only as instructed.
• Awarding bodies, where you enrol on a course that leads to an externally awarded qualification, so that you can be registered and certificated.
• Tutors and assessors who deliver and assess your course.
• Professional advisers, such as our accountants, auditors and lawyers, where necessary.
• Authorities, regulators or law enforcement, where we are legally required to do so.

We aim to keep your data within the UK. Where a service provider processes data outside the UK, we ensure an appropriate safeguard is in place, such as UK adequacy regulations or an International Data Transfer Agreement / Standard Contractual Clauses, so your data receives an equivalent level of protection.

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary:

• Financial and transaction records – generally six years, to meet HMRC and accounting requirements.
• Account and learning records – for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards. Certification records may be kept longer so that achievements can be verified.
• Marketing data – until you withdraw your consent.

When data is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymise it.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, including access controls, encryption in transit and restricting access to staff who need it. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we take your security seriously and review our measures regularly.

Under data protection law you have the right to:

You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

You will not normally have to pay a fee, and we aim to respond within one month. To exercise any of these rights, email admin@oalhub.co.uk.

Our courses and services are intended for adults aged 18 and over. Where a course permits enrolment by someone under 18, we require the consent of a parent or guardian. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13.

We do not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you based solely on automated processing.

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies. Please see our Cookie Policy for full details and to manage your preferences.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top shows when it was last revised. Where changes are significant, we will take reasonable steps to notify you.

If you have any questions or wish to exercise your rights, contact us at admin@oalhub.co.uk.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns first.