What we collect when you contact BE Academy or reserve a place, why we collect it and what your rights are.
BE Academy is a training brand of British Engineers. The company that decides how your personal information is used (the data controller) is FocusLens LTD, company number 15777574. You can contact us about your data at academy@british-engineers.com.
We collect only what you choose to send us through the forms on this site, by phone or on WhatsApp:
We use this information to reply to you, to manage your registration, deposit and attendance, and to tell you about course dates. Our legal bases are taking the steps you ask for before booking a place, our legitimate interest in running and improving the course, and your consent where you have given it (for example to receive course updates, or to allow cookies).
We do not sell your information and we do not use it for automated decisions.
When we confirm your place on a course we create a student account record for you. It holds your name, phone number and email address from your registration, and the course and dates you are booked on. We then email you a one-time activation link, which you use to confirm that the email address is yours and to choose a password. The link works once and expires after 24 hours; we can send a new one if it expires. Your password is never stored in readable form: only a one-way hash is kept, together with the date you confirmed your email. The student account does not show or store payment details. We use your email address for this and for information about your course, not for marketing unless you have agreed to course updates.
Each form submission is stored in our customer records system and an internal notification is sent to our team. We may also pass it to internal tools we use to manage enquiries, such as a spreadsheet and a messaging app. We use service providers for web hosting, email and analytics, and they handle your information only on our instructions or, for analytics tools, as described under Cookies below. We share information with others only where the law requires it.
Analytics and advertising cookies are off until you accept them in the cookie banner. If you accept, we load:
Your cookie choice is saved in your browser so we do not ask you again. You can change it at any time with the “Cookie settings” link in the footer, and you can also delete cookies in your browser settings. If you reject cookies, the site works in the same way.
Enquiries that do not lead to a booking are reviewed and normally deleted after 12 months without activity, or 24 months where a booking was being discussed. Records of confirmed bookings and payments are kept for as long as we need them for our accounts and legal obligations. Student account records are kept while you are enrolled and for as long as we need them for course and attendance records, and are then reviewed and deleted. Unused activation links are deleted after 7 days. You can ask us to delete your student account at any time (see Your rights).
Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:
To use any of these rights, email academy@british-engineers.com. If you are not happy with how we handle your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk. We would always like the chance to put things right first.
If we change how we use your information we will update this page and the date at the top. See also our cancellation and refund policy.