Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated:
1. Who We Are
MADZ Defence Academy Ltd is a company registered in England and Wales (Companies House No. 17347052). We provide practical self-defence training courses across London, Swanley, and Dartford.
We are the data controller for the personal information we collect through this website. This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Contact: [email protected]
2. What Data We Collect
We may collect the following categories of personal data:
- Identity data: first name, last name
- Contact data: email address, telephone number
- Enquiry data: course interest, preferred training times, group size, and any message you send us
- Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, time zone, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system, and other technology on the devices you use to access this website
- Usage data: information about how you use our website, including pages visited and time spent
- Cookie data: see Section 7 below
We do not collect any special category data (such as health, ethnicity, or criminal record information) unless you voluntarily provide it in a message to us, in which case we will handle it with additional care.
3. How We Collect Your Data
- Book Training form: when you submit an enquiry or booking request via our website
- Direct contact: when you email or call us
- Automated technologies: cookies and similar tracking technologies as you browse our website (see Section 7)
4. Why We Use Your Data (Legal Bases)
| Purpose | Data used | Legal basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Respond to your training enquiry | Identity, contact, enquiry data | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — responding to a direct enquiry |
| Process a booking or course registration | Identity, contact, enquiry data | Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) |
| Send you information about upcoming courses (if you opted in) | Identity, contact data | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) |
| Improve our website and understand how visitors use it | Technical, usage, cookie data | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — improving our service |
| Comply with legal and regulatory obligations | All categories as required | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) |
5. How Long We Keep Your Data
We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this policy:
- Enquiry and booking data: up to 3 years from the date of last contact, unless a longer period is required by law
- Marketing communications: until you withdraw consent or unsubscribe
- Technical and usage data: up to 26 months (standard analytics retention)
When data is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymise it.
6. Who We Share Your Data With
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal data. We may share it with trusted third parties only where necessary:
- GoDaddy (Airo platform): our website hosting and messaging infrastructure provider, acting as a data processor on our behalf
- Email service providers: used to deliver our responses to your enquiries
- Analytics providers: anonymised or pseudonymised usage data only (see Section 7)
- Legal or regulatory authorities: if required by law, court order, or to protect our legal rights
All third-party processors are required to handle your data securely and in accordance with UK GDPR.
7. Cookies
Our website uses cookies — small text files placed on your device — to help the site function correctly and to understand how visitors use it.
Types of cookies we use
| Category | Purpose | Consent required? |
|---|---|---|
| Strictly necessary | Essential for the website to function (e.g. security, session management) | No — exempt under PECR |
| Analytics / performance | Help us understand how visitors interact with our site. Data is anonymised or pseudonymised. | Yes — only set with your consent |
| Functional | Remember your preferences to improve your experience | Yes — only set with your consent |
Managing cookies
When you first visit our website, you will be shown a cookie consent banner. You can choose to accept or decline non-essential cookies at that point.
You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies or delete existing ones. Please note that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website. For guidance, visit allaboutcookies.org.
8. International Transfers
We primarily store and process your data within the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA). Where any data is transferred outside the UK/EEA, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place (such as UK adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses) in accordance with UK GDPR Chapter V.
9. Your Rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
- Right to rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
- Right to erasure: ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances (right to be forgotten)
- Right to restrict processing: ask us to pause processing your data in certain circumstances
- Right to data portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
- Right to object: object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing
- Rights related to automated decisions: we do not make solely automated decisions that significantly affect you
- Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within one calendar month. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
10. How We Protect Your Data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. These include encrypted data transmission (HTTPS), access controls, and regular security reviews. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
11. Children's Privacy
Our website is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 without verifiable parental consent. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such data, please contact us immediately and we will delete it.
For our Young Adults (11+) courses, we require a parent or guardian to submit booking enquiries on behalf of participants under 18.
12. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first at [email protected] and we will do our best to resolve the matter.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's supervisory authority:
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
ico.org.uk
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. The last updated date at the top of this page will always show when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this page periodically.