Privacy notice

Who we are

Spark Home Education Ltd (“Spark”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is a company registered in England and Wales (company number 15695980), with its registered address at Furlong House, 2 Willie Snaith Road, Newmarket, England, CB8 7SG.

We run an online platform that helps home-educating families keep track of their children's learning. Through our platform, you can upload records of the education activities your child has completed, as well as images of their work and, where relevant, images of your child.

We are the data controller for the personal information you provide to us. This means we are responsible for deciding how and why that information is used, and for keeping it safe.

If you have any questions about this notice or about how we handle your information, you can contact us at:

Email: [email protected]
Post: Furlong House, 2 Willie Snaith Road, Newmarket, England, CB8 7SG

What this notice covers

This privacy notice explains:

what personal information we collect about you and your child;
why we collect it and what we use it for;
who we share it with, and when;
how long we keep it;
your rights; and
how to get in touch with us or make a complaint.

Please read this notice carefully. By using our platform, you confirm that you have read and understood it.

The information we collect

Information about you (the parent or guardian)

When you create an account or use our platform, we collect:

your name and contact details (email address, phone number);
your login credentials (username and password);
your communications with us (for example, support messages); and
technical information about how you use our platform (such as your IP address, device type, and browser — see the Cookies section below).

Information about your child

When you upload content to your child's profile, we collect:

your child's name, age, and year group;
records of the education activities your child has completed;
samples of your child's work (for example, documents, drawings, or written assignments); and
photographs or images of your child and/or their completed work, where you choose to upload these.

We only collect information about your child because you choose to provide it. You are in control of what you upload.

A note on children's data: We take the privacy of children very seriously. We do not collect information about your child directly from your child. All information is provided by you, the parent or guardian. We will never use your child's information for advertising or marketing purposes.

Why we use your information

We use your information for the following reasons:

To provide our service: We need your information and your child's information to create and manage your account and to allow you to use the platform features — including uploading education records and images. The legal basis for this is that it is necessary to perform our contract with you.
To share information with Tutors and Local Authorities: If you give us your approval, we will share your child's education records and images with the Tutors or Local Authorities you have selected. We will only ever share this information with your explicit consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time (see “Your rights” below).
To keep our service safe and running: We use technical information to monitor the security of our platform, fix problems, and improve how it works. The legal basis for this is our legitimate interest in operating a safe and reliable service.
To communicate with you: We may send you service-related messages, such as updates to this privacy notice or important account notifications. The legal basis for this is our legitimate interest in keeping you informed about your account.
To comply with legal obligations: We may need to use or retain certain information to comply with a legal obligation, such as responding to a lawful request from a public authority.

Sharing your information

We do not sell your information or your child's information to anyone.

We share information only in the following circumstances:

Tutors: If you choose to share your child's education records and images with a Tutor, we will make that information available to the Tutor you have selected. We only do this once you have given your approval.
Local Authorities: If you choose to share your child's records with a Local Authority, we will share the information you have approved for sharing with that Local Authority. We only do this with your explicit consent.
Our service providers: We use trusted third-party companies to help us run our platform (for example, cloud storage providers and IT support). These companies only process your information on our instructions and are not allowed to use it for their own purposes. A list of our current service providers is available on request.
Legal requirements: We may share information if we are required to do so by law or by a court order, or if we need to protect the safety of a child or another person.

We will tell you before we share your information in any new way that is not described in this notice.

How long we keep your information

We keep your information for as long as you have an active account with us.

If you close your account, or do not log in for a period of 3 years, we will delete your personal information and your child's information within 30 days, unless we are required by law to keep it for longer.

Information shared with a Tutor or Local Authority is held as per their retention schedule; requests for information deletion should be addressed directly to the Tutor or Local Authority.

You can ask us to delete your information at any time (see “Your rights” below).

Keeping your information safe

We take the security of your information seriously. We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it from unauthorised access, loss, or misuse.

However, no online service is completely secure. If you have any concerns about the security of your account, please contact us immediately.

Cookies

Our platform uses cookies (small files stored on your device) to help it work properly and to understand how people use it. For more information about the cookies we use and how to manage them, please see our cookie policy.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights:

The right to access the personal information we hold about you or your child — you can ask us for a copy at any time.
The right to correct any information that is wrong or out of date.
The right to delete your information (sometimes called the “right to be forgotten”) — you can ask us to erase your information and your child's information from our systems.
The right to restrict how we use your information — for example, if you think the information is inaccurate.
The right to data portability — you can ask us to send you your information in a format you can use elsewhere.
The right to object to us using your information where we rely on legitimate interests as our legal basis.
The right to withdraw consent at any time — if you have given us consent to share your child's information with a Tutor or Local Authority, you can withdraw that consent at any time by logging into your account and changing your sharing settings, or by contacting us directly. Withdrawing your consent will not affect anything that has already been shared.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in the “Who we are” section above. We will respond to your request within one month.

Changes to this notice

We may update this privacy notice from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will let you know by email or by displaying a notice on our platform. The date at the top of this notice tells you when it was last updated.

How to make a complaint

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first and we will do our best to resolve the issue.

If you are still not satisfied, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator:

Website: www.ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF