Privacy policy

Who we are

Finale Music School ("we", "us") runs this website and its booking system. We decide how your information is used, so we're the "data controller" under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018). You can contact us about anything in this policy:

• Email: info@finalemusicschool.com
• Phone: 07857 941972
• Post: Finale Music School, 629 Chesterfield Road, Sheffield, S8 0RX

Our instructors are self-employed. When you book with one, they see the details they need to teach you (see below) and must look after them in line with this policy.

What we collect

• Your contact details: name, email address and phone number, when you book, buy something, create an account or get in touch.
• Student details: the name of the person having lessons (often a child), the instrument, and any notes you add to a booking.
• Bookings and purchases: lessons, blocks of lessons, group places, online courses and gift certificates, with dates, times and amounts, and any changes or cancellations.
• Payments: payments are made through PayPal. We receive confirmation that you've paid and a PayPal reference. We never see or store your card or bank details.
• Your account: your login email and, if you set one, your password (stored only in scrambled, "hashed" form). You can also log in with an emailed link instead.
• Messages: anything you send us or an instructor through the website.
• How you found us: if you choose to tell us when you book.
• Online course progress: which lessons of a course you've completed.
• Reviews: if you leave a review of an instructor, your name, rating and comments (shown on the website once approved).
• Instructors' lesson notes: instructors can keep private notes about their students to prepare for lessons, for example what you've been working on. Only that instructor and the school can see them; they're never shown publicly.
• Gift certificates: the buyer's details and, if given, the recipient's name, email address and personal message.

How we use it, and why we're allowed to

• To arrange and deliver your lessons, groups, courses and gifts, take payment, and send the emails that go with them: confirmations, payment links, reminders, and messages about changes. We need to do this to provide what you've booked (the "contract" basis).
• To keep financial and tax records, as the law requires ("legal obligation").
• To run and improve the school: for example, keeping track of bookings and our instructors' timetables, getting in touch if regular lessons have stopped, and understanding how people find us. These are our "legitimate interests", and we keep them proportionate.
• To answer your questions when you contact us.

We don't send marketing emails without your permission, we don't sell your information, and we don't use it for automated decisions about you.

Children

Many of our students are children. Bookings for children are made by a parent or carer, who provides the details. We only collect what we need to teach them (their first name, instrument and anything you choose to tell us), and only instructors who teach them and the school can see it.

Who we share it with

• Your instructor, who sees your name, contact details, the student's name and your bookings, so they can teach you and get in touch about lessons.
• PayPal, which processes payments. PayPal is responsible for the payment details you give it; see PayPal's privacy statement.
• Hostinger, which hosts this website and its database.
• Resend, which sends our emails on our behalf.
• Google: our pages use Google Fonts, which means your browser fetches fonts from Google (Google sees your IP address). Instructors can also choose to show their lessons in their own Google Calendar (see below).
• YouTube and Vimeo, which host the videos in our online courses. When you play a course video, it loads from them. We use YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode.

These suppliers only use your information to provide their service to us. Some (such as Resend, Google and PayPal) may process it outside the UK; where that happens it's protected by safeguards the law recognises, such as the UK's adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses. We'll also share information if the law requires it.

Instructors and Google Calendar

Our instructors can choose to connect their Google account so their lessons appear in their own Google Calendar. If they do:

• We create one calendar in their Google account, called "Finale Music School lessons", and keep their lessons in it up to date. The lesson entries include the student's name and the booking details the instructor needs.
• We only ask Google for permission to manage calendars that our website creates. We can't see or change the instructor's other calendars or events.
• We also receive the email address of the Google account they connect, so we can show which account is linked.
• We store the access key Google gives us securely on our server and use it only to keep that calendar up to date. We don't use Google data for advertising, don't sell it or pass it to anyone else, and don't use it for anything other than showing the instructor their lessons.
• Instructors can disconnect at any time from their calendar page; we then delete that calendar from their Google account and delete the key. They can also remove our access in their Google account settings.

Our use of information received from Google APIs follows the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Separately, an instructor can give us the link to a public Google Calendar of theirs so that times they're busy can't be booked. We only read when they're busy from it; we don't store event details.

Cookies

We use a single cookie, to keep you logged in and to remember your booking as you move between pages. It's essential for the site to work, so it doesn't need your consent, and it's deleted when you close your browser. We don't use advertising or tracking cookies, and we don't use analytics. The piano on our homepage remembers whether you've muted it, saved only in your own browser. Videos from YouTube or Vimeo may set their own cookies when you play them.

How long we keep it

• Bookings, payments and the accounts they belong to: for six years after your last booking or purchase, because we have to keep financial records for that long.
• Messages, lesson notes and how-you-found-us answers: as long as you're with us, and then deleted when we tidy up old records.
• Instructors' Google Calendar connection: until the instructor disconnects it.

If you'd like your account closed sooner, ask us. We'll delete what we can and keep only what the law makes us keep.

Your rights

You can ask us to:

• give you a copy of the information we hold about you;
• correct anything that's wrong (you can update your name, email and phone yourself under My profile);
• delete your information, or stop or limit how we use it;
• send your information to you or someone else in a common format;
• stop using it for anything based on our legitimate interests.

Just email us at info@finalemusicschool.com. We'll reply within a month and it's free. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first so we can put it right. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

Keeping it safe

The website uses a secure (HTTPS) connection, passwords are stored hashed, login links expire after 30 minutes, and only the school and your instructor can see your details. Card payments are handled entirely by PayPal.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this page if anything changes, and change the date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll let you know by email.