1. Who we are
Unseen Academy is run by The Unseen Group Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 17111170), registered office 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2H 9JQ, United Kingdom. We are the “controller” of the personal information described in this policy, which means we decide how and why it is used.
- ICO registration number: ZC193881
- Privacy contact: information@theunseen.co.uk or by post to the address above
This policy explains how we handle information about children who attend our classes and the parents or carers who sign them up, whether they contact us through this website, in person or by phone.
2. The short version
For parents and carers: we only collect what we need to run safe, good-quality classes for your child. We never sell your information, and we never use children’s information for advertising. We only take or share photos and videos of your child with your permission, and you can change your mind at any time.
For young performers: we keep a few details about you, like your name, age and who to call if you feel unwell, so we can look after you in class. We keep them safe and only share them when we have to. If you have any questions, ask your parent or carer, or one of our teachers.
3. Information we collect
| About | What we collect | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Parents and carers | Name, email, phone, address, relationship to the child, payment and booking history | You, via our website forms, email or in person |
| Children | Name, date of birth, school year, attendance, class notes and progress feedback | Parent or carer, and our teachers |
| Children (special category) | Medical conditions, allergies, additional needs or disabilities relevant to their safety and support | Parent or carer only |
| Emergency contacts | Name, phone number, relationship to the child | Parent or carer |
| Photos and videos | Images and recordings from classes, rehearsals and showcases (see section 5) | Our staff, with consent |
| Website visitors | IP address, browser type, pages visited, cookie data | Automatically, via our website (see section 9) |
We do not ask children to give us personal information directly through this website. You can pay by PayPal or bank transfer. PayPal handles card details, so we never see or store your card number. With a bank transfer, we see the payer’s name, account details and payment reference.
4. How we use it and why we’re allowed to
UK data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for each use of personal information.
| What we do | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Take bookings, run classes, collect fees, send class updates | Contract with you |
| Keep children safe: medical and allergy info, emergency contacts, safeguarding records | Legal obligation and vital interests; for health information, also your explicit consent and safeguarding of children |
| Keep accounting and tax records | Legal obligation |
| Share progress feedback with you and improve our teaching | Legitimate interests |
| Take and use photos or videos of your child | Consent |
| Send news about new courses, workshops and events | Consent (you can unsubscribe at any time) |
| Non-essential cookies (advertising measurement) | Consent |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have weighed them against your child’s interests and rights, and the child’s best interests come first. We do not use children’s information for profiling, advertising or automated decisions.
5. Photos and videos
Filming is part of screen acting training, so we record classes to help children see and improve their work. We ask for separate consent for each of these uses, and you can say yes to some and no to others:
- Teaching only: recordings watched in class or shared privately with you. Not published anywhere.
- Our website and printed materials
- Our social media (Instagram, TikTok and Facebook)
- Showreels or self-tapes shared with casting directors or agents, only with your specific approval each time
We never publish a child’s full name, school or location alongside their image. You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing information@theunseen.co.uk; we’ll stop using the images and remove them from our own channels as soon as we can, though we can’t recall printed materials already distributed.
Parents and audience members filming at showcases are responsible for their own recordings. We ask everyone not to post images of other people’s children online.
6. Who we share information with
We never sell personal information. We share it only when we need to:
- Our teachers and staff, on a need-to-know basis. All staff working with children hold an enhanced DBS check.
- Service providers who help us run the academy, under contracts that require them to keep data secure: Hostinger (website hosting), PayPal and our bank (payments), Microsoft Outlook (email), Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive (file storage), Google Ads (ad measurement, only if you accept advertising cookies)
- Emergency services or medical professionals, if a child is unwell or injured
- Local authority children’s services or the police, if we have a safeguarding concern, as the law requires
- Our accountants and professional advisers
- Casting directors or agents, only with your specific consent each time
International transfers: some of our providers may store data outside the UK. Where they do, we make sure it is protected by UK-approved safeguards, such as a UK adequacy decision or the ICO’s International Data Transfer Agreement.
7. How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Enrolment, contact and medical details | While your child attends, plus 1 year |
| Class recordings for teaching | Up to 12 months, then deleted |
| Photos and videos used with consent | Until consent is withdrawn, reviewed every 2 years |
| Payment and accounting records | 6 years after the end of the financial year (HMRC requirement) |
| Accident and incident records | Until the child turns 21 |
| Safeguarding records | As advised by our local safeguarding partnership, typically until the child turns 25 |
| Marketing list | Until you unsubscribe |
| Website enquiries that don’t lead to a booking | 12 months |
When the period ends, we securely delete or anonymise the information.
8. Security and safeguarding
We protect personal information with password-protected accounts and two-factor authentication, encrypted storage, access limited to staff who need it, and staff training in data protection and safeguarding. Paper records such as registers and medical forms are kept locked away and taken home only when needed for a class.
Our Designated Safeguarding Lead is Lucy Mogilner, contactable at lucyolivia@theunseen.co.uk. If there is a data breach likely to put anyone at risk, we will tell the people affected and report it to the ICO within 72 hours where required.
9. Cookies
Cookies are small files stored on your device when you visit a website.
- Essential cookies make the site work and remember your cookie choices. These are always on.
- Advertising cookies from Google Ads tell us when someone who clicked one of our ads goes on to enquire or book, so we can see which ads work. These are only set if you accept them.
Our cookie banner is managed by the Complianz plugin on our website. Advertising cookies stay off unless you click to accept them. We do not use advertising cookies to retarget visitors or build profiles of children. You can change your choice at any time through the cookie settings link at the bottom of every page.
10. Your rights and your child’s rights
You have the right to:
- Access a copy of the information we hold
- Correct anything that is wrong or incomplete
- Delete information we no longer have a good reason to keep
- Restrict or object to how we use it
- Withdraw consent at any time, for photos, marketing or anything else based on consent
- Data portability: receive information you gave us in a common digital format
These rights belong to your child. Parents and carers usually exercise them on a younger child’s behalf. Children aged around 12 and over may be mature enough to make requests themselves, and we’ll consider their wishes.
To make a request, email information@theunseen.co.uk. We’ll respond within one month and won’t charge a fee in most cases.
11. Complaints
You have the right to complain to us about how we’ve handled your or your child’s personal information. Contact us at information@theunseen.co.uk or in writing to the address in section 1. You can also tell any member of staff.
We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, look into it properly, keep you updated, and tell you the outcome without undue delay.
If you’re not happy with our response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.
12. Changes to this policy
We review this policy at least once a year. If we make a significant change, such as a new use of your child’s information, we’ll email families before it takes effect.
Last updated: 1 October 2026