Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Arabic Classes (“we”, “us”, “our”) collects, uses and protects your personal information when you use our website (arabicclasses.net) or our online Qur'an and Arabic classes. We are committed to protecting your privacy and your child's, and we handle all information in line with UK data protection law, including the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1 Who we are

Arabic Classes provides one-to-one online Qur'an, Tajweed, Hifz, Islamic studies and Arabic lessons for children and families in the UK. For the purposes of data protection law, we are the “data controller” of your personal information. If you have any questions about this policy or your data, contact us at info@arabicclasses.net or on WhatsApp at +44 7576 540006.

2 The information we collect

Depending on how you use our service, we may collect:

• The parent or guardian's name, email address and phone or WhatsApp number;
• Your child's first name and age;
• Your scheduling preferences and time zone;
• Lesson and progress information, such as homework and monthly reports;
• Payment information needed to process your plan;
• Any messages you send us;
• Technical data from our website, such as your IP address, device and browser type, and cookie data.

3 How we collect it

We collect this information when you book a free trial or complete a form on our website, when you contact us by email or WhatsApp, during lessons delivered on Zoom, and automatically through cookies and similar technologies on our website.

4 How we use your information, and our legal basis

We use your information to arrange and deliver lessons, to contact you about bookings and scheduling, to match your child with a suitable teacher, to provide homework and progress reports, to take payment, and to respond to your enquiries. Our legal bases for this are the performance of our contract with you (to provide the service you request) and our legitimate interests in running and improving our academy. Where we send you marketing messages, we do so only with your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

5 Children's information

Our classes are for children, and we take the privacy of children seriously. The information we hold about a child (their first name, age and learning progress) is always provided by a parent or guardian, who consents to it on the child's behalf. We collect only what we need to teach your child well, we do not use children's data for marketing, and we never sell it. If you believe we hold information about your child that you would like changed or deleted, please contact us and we will act promptly.

6 Lessons on Zoom

Lessons take place one-to-one on Zoom, and your child's teacher keeps their camera on throughout the lesson. We do not record lessons. If this ever changes, we will update this policy and let you know in advance.

7 Who we share your information with

We share your information only where necessary to provide our service. This includes our teachers (so they can teach your child), and the trusted service providers who help us operate, such as Zoom (for delivering lessons), WhatsApp (for messaging), PayPal (for processing payments), our own learning management system (for scheduling, homework, reports and invoices), and our website hosting and email provider. These providers act on our instructions and are required to protect your information. We do not sell your personal information to anyone.

8 International data transfers

Our teachers and some of our team are based in Egypt, so your and your child's information may be transferred to and processed outside the United Kingdom. Where this happens, we take steps to ensure your information is protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law, using appropriate safeguards, including written data-protection agreements with our teachers and service providers that require them to keep your information confidential and secure. By using our service, you understand that your information may be processed in this way.

9 Cookies

Our website uses cookies. These include essential cookies that make the site work, analytics cookies (such as Google Analytics) that help us understand how the site is used, and advertising cookies (such as Google Ads) that help us measure and improve our adverts. When you first visit our site, you can accept or manage cookies through our cookie banner, and you can change your choice at any time through your browser settings.

10 Marketing

We will only send you marketing messages, such as offers or updates, if you have agreed to receive them. You can opt out at any time by clicking “unsubscribe” in any email or by contacting us. Opting out of marketing will not affect the service we provide to your child.

11 How long we keep your information

We keep your information only for as long as necessary. We retain your account and lesson information for as long as your child is our student, and for 24 months after your child's last lesson, after which we securely delete it. We keep financial records, such as invoices, for 6 years, as required by UK tax law.

12 How we protect your information

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to keep your information secure. These include restricting access to only the teachers and staff who need it, using strong passwords and secure logins, protecting our website with encryption (HTTPS), using reputable service providers, and instructing everyone who works with us to keep your information confidential. While no online service can be completely secure, we work to protect your information at all times.

13 Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to: access the information we hold about you; ask us to correct it if it is wrong; ask us to delete it; restrict or object to how we use it; ask us to transfer it; and withdraw your consent where we rely on it. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at info@arabicclasses.net and we will respond within the timeframes required by law.

14 Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle your information, please contact us first and we will do our best to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), at ico.org.uk or by calling their helpline.

15 Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “last updated” date at the top of this page, and where the changes are significant we will let you know.