Your Privacy at Sterling Steps

Our Promise to You About Your Privacy

Here at Sterling Steps, we understand that your personal stuff is, well, personal. We're based right here in Birmingham and we're committed to being open and honest about how we handle your information. This Privacy Policy tells you what data we collect, why we collect it, and what we do with it. It's written in plain English, just like our courses, so you can easily understand it. Your trust means a lot to us.

Who We Are

Sterling Steps is an educational platform run by folks in the UK, for folks in the UK. We help beginners get a grip on their personal finances, investing, and the economy. You can reach us at our office: 42 High Street, Birmingham, B1 2AJ, UK. Our email is [email protected] and our phone number is +44 121 496 0320.

What Information We Collect (And Why)

When you use Sterling Steps, we collect a few bits of information. We only gather what we need to make our service work well for you and improve what we offer. Here's a breakdown:

Information You Give Us

• Account Details: When you sign up for a course, we'll ask for your name and email address. We need this to create your account, give you access to the courses, and send you important updates about your studies. We might also use your email to send you our newsletter if you've told us you want it.
• Payment Information: If you buy a course, you'll provide payment details. We don't actually store your full credit card information on our servers. Instead, we use trusted, secure third-party payment processors (like Stripe or PayPal) to handle these transactions. They keep your financial data safe, and we only receive confirmation that your payment went through.
• Communication: If you get in touch with us (via email, phone, or our contact form), we'll keep a record of that conversation. This helps us answer your questions, solve any problems, and improve our customer support.

Information We Collect Automatically

When you visit our website, some information is collected without you having to type it in. This helps us see how our site is doing and make it better for everyone:

• Usage Data: We look at things like which pages you visit, how long you stay on them, and what courses you look at. This helps us understand what content is popular and where we can make improvements to the user experience.
• Device Information: We collect general info about the device you're using (like if it's a phone or computer), your browser type, and your IP address. This helps us make sure our site works on different devices and keeps things secure.
• Location Data: Based on your IP address, we might get a general idea of your location (e.g., Birmingham, UK, or wider UK). This helps us tailor content to our UK audience and understand where our users are coming from.

How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for a few key reasons, all aimed at giving you the best learning experience:

• To provide you with access to our structured courses and educational materials.
• To process your payments and manage your account.
• To improve our website, courses, and services based on how people use them.
• To respond to your questions and offer customer support.
• To send you updates about your courses, new offerings, or our newsletter (if you've opted in).
• To keep our platform secure and prevent any naughty business.
• To meet our legal and regulatory requirements here in the UK.

Sharing Your Information

We don't sell your personal information to anyone. Simple as that. However, we do work with a few trusted third parties to run Sterling Steps effectively. Here's who we might share data with:

• Service Providers: We use other companies to help us with things like processing payments, sending emails, and understanding website traffic. These are companies like our payment processors (e.g., Stripe, PayPal), email service providers (e.g., Mailchimp), and analytics providers (e.g., Google Analytics). They only get the information they need to do their job for us and are bound by strict privacy agreements.
• Legal Reasons: If the law requires it, or if we need to protect our rights, property, or safety (or yours!), we might have to share information with authorities. This is only ever done if absolutely necessary and in line with UK laws.
• Business Transfers: In the unlikely event Sterling Steps were to be sold or merge with another company, your information might be transferred as part of that deal. We'd make sure any new owner respects this Privacy Policy.

Storing Your Information

Your information is stored securely on servers, mainly within the European Economic Area (EEA), which means it's protected by strong privacy laws, including the UK GDPR. We keep your information for as long as you have an active account with us, or as long as needed to provide our services and fulfil our legal obligations. Once your data is no longer needed, we securely delete or anonymise it.

Your Rights Over Your Data (UK GDPR)

Under UK data protection laws, you have several rights regarding your personal information. We respect these rights and want to make it easy for you to use them:

• The right to access: You can ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• The right to correction: If you think any information we hold about you is wrong or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it.
• The right to erasure (the 'right to be forgotten'): You can ask us to delete your personal information in certain situations.
• The right to restrict processing: You can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• The right to object to processing: You can object to us processing your personal information in certain situations, such as for direct marketing.
• The right to data portability: You can ask to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• The right to withdraw consent: If we're relying on your consent to process your data, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

If you want to exercise any of these rights, please get in touch with us at [email protected]. We'll do our best to respond to your request quickly, usually within one calendar month.

A Quick Word on Cookies

Like most websites, we use 'cookies'. These are tiny text files stored on your device that help our website work better. They allow us to remember your preferences (like staying logged in), understand how you use our site, and improve things for you. Some cookies are essential for the website to function, while others help us with analytics. You can control cookies through your browser settings – you can block them, but please know that might affect how our website works for you.

Links to Other Websites

Our website might have links to other websites (like resources or news articles). Once you click on those links and leave our site, we're not responsible for their privacy policies or practices. Always check the privacy policy of any new website you visit.

Changes to This Policy

We might update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. When we do, we'll post the new version on this page and update the 'last updated' date. We recommend you check back occasionally to stay clued up.

How to Get in Touch

If you have any questions or worries about this Privacy Policy, or if you want to exercise your rights, please don't hesitate to contact us. We're here to help.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +44 121 496 0320

Address: 42 High Street, Birmingham, B1 2AJ, UK