Privacy notice

IWho is responsible for your information

I, Diane Costa, a private Chemistry and Science tutor based in London, am responsible for the personal information described in this notice. In data protection law I am the ‘controller’: I decide how the information is used, and I am responsible for looking after it.

Questions about your information are always welcome. You can email me at daiane.tuition@gmail.com, or simply reply to any message I have sent you.

IIWhat information is collected

Through the enquiry form, I receive:

• your name, your email address and, if you choose to give it, your phone number;
• the student’s year group or level, the subjects you are interested in, and how you would like lessons to take place;
• the goals and anything else you write in the message box;
• how you heard about me, if you say;
• which page of this website the form was sent from.

You do not have to give any of this information. However, I need your name, your email address and the details about the student and the lessons in order to reply, so the form cannot be sent without them. Your phone number and how you heard about me are optional.

When the form is sent, it goes to Web3Forms, the service that delivers it to my email inbox. Web3Forms also receives the technical details that any website receives, such as your IP address and information about your browser, and uses them to deliver the form and to filter out spam.

If you choose to message me on WhatsApp, I receive your phone number, your WhatsApp profile name and photo (depending on your settings) and the messages you send.

Information about the student

Enquiries are often about a student who is under 18. The form asks only for what I need in order to reply: it does not ask for the student’s date of birth or school, and you do not need to give the student’s name. Please do not include medical or other sensitive information. If something of that kind matters for lessons, such as a learning need, you can mention it when you speak to me.

IIIHow it is used

I use the information only to:

• read and reply to your enquiry;
• discuss what the student needs, and whether lessons at home in London or online would suit;
• arrange lessons, if you decide to go ahead.

I do not use it for marketing or mailing lists, I do not sell it, and no decisions about you are made by automated means.

IVThe lawful basis

Data protection law requires a lawful basis for each use of personal information. I rely on:

• A contract. When you ask about lessons for yourself or for a student in your care, replying and arranging tuition are steps you have asked me to take before an agreement is made; once lessons are agreed, providing them is part of that agreement (UK GDPR, Article 6(1)(b)).
• Legal obligation. Records that I must keep by law, such as records needed for tax purposes (Article 6(1)(c)).
• Legitimate interests. For information about a student who is not the person writing – usually a child whose parent or guardian has enquired – and for keeping a record of enquiries for a limited time, I rely on my legitimate interest in responding to enquiries about my tuition (Article 6(1)(f)). I use only what is needed, in the way families would expect, and have considered that this does not override the student’s interests or rights. You can object at any time (see your rights).
• Explicit consent. If you choose to share sensitive information, such as a health condition or a learning need, I will use it only with your explicit consent, and only to plan suitable lessons (Article 9(2)(a)). You can withdraw your consent at any time.

VWho else handles it

I do not sell your information or pass it on to anyone, except the services I use to receive and answer enquiries, or where the law requires it:

• Web3Forms receives what you send through the enquiry form and forwards it to my email inbox. It states that it does not keep a copy of form submissions. Web3Forms acts as my service provider (a ‘processor’) and may use the information only to provide that service.
• Vercel, which hosts this website, processes technical information such as IP addresses to deliver its pages and keep it secure.
• My email provider holds the emails I send and receive, including my replies to you.
• WhatsApp, part of Meta, carries the messages if you choose to contact me there. WhatsApp is responsible for the information it collects about your use of its app, under its own privacy policy.

VITransfers outside the UK

Vercel is based in the United States, and Web3Forms and my email and WhatsApp providers may also process information outside the UK. When personal information is transferred outside the UK, it must be protected by safeguards that UK data protection law recognises, such as UK adequacy regulations (for example the UK–US ‘data bridge’) or the ICO’s International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum. You can ask me for more information about these safeguards.

VIIHow long it is kept

• Enquiries that do not lead to lessons are deleted within 12 months of your last message.
• If lessons go ahead, your details are kept while lessons continue and deleted within 12 months of the last lesson, except for anything I must keep for longer by law, such as records needed for tax purposes.

These periods apply to enquiry emails in my inbox and to WhatsApp messages on my phone. WhatsApp keeps its own information under its privacy policy.

VIIIYour rights

Under UK data protection law, you have these rights:

• Access – to ask for a copy of the information I hold about you.
• Rectification – to have anything inaccurate or incomplete corrected.
• Erasure – to ask for your information to be deleted.
• Restriction – to ask me to limit how I use it, for example while a correction is checked.
• Objection – to object to my using it on the basis of legitimate interests.
• Portability – where it applies, to receive the information you gave me in a commonly used electronic format, or to have it sent to someone else.
• Withdrawing consent – where I rely on your consent, to withdraw it at any time.

Some rights apply only in certain circumstances. Students have these rights over their own information, and a parent or guardian can usually act on behalf of a younger child.

How to make a request

Email me at daiane.tuition@gmail.com, or reply to any message I have sent you.

There is normally no fee. I will respond within one month, as the law requires, and may first need to confirm who you are.

IXCookies and analytics

This website does not use cookies, analytics, advertising or tracking of any kind, and it does not store anything on your device to recognise you. Its fonts and images are served from the website itself, so visiting a page sends no information to other companies apart from Vercel, the host, which processes technical information such as IP addresses to deliver the pages and keep the site secure.

Links to First Tutors and WhatsApp take you to those services, which have their own privacy policies.

XComplaints

If you are unhappy with how your information has been handled, please tell me first, so that I can try to put it right. You can complain to me in the same way as making a request (see how to make a request); I will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days.

You also have the right to complain to the UK’s data protection regulator, the Information Commission (ICO), through its website, ico.org.uk.

XIChanges to this notice

If the way I handle information changes, this notice will be updated and its date will change. It was last updated in November 2026.