Privacy policy

1. Who we are

Consumables is run by [Your full name], a sole trader, at [Your business address]. We are the "controller" of your information (the ones responsible for it). ICO registration: [ICO registration number].

Questions about your information: [your support email].

2. What we keep

• Your account: email address, the name you give, what you're working towards, your exam date, your plan, and your email choices.
• Your progress: questions answered, mock exam results, study tools progress, and sim attempts, results and badges.
• A short activity record of things you finish (for example "Finished an ECS practice on Safe isolation: 8/10" or "Read the study notes on Ohm's law") and when you sign in. We don't track how long you spend on the site or what you look at.
• If you're at a college or academy through Consumables: which one, your role there, and any work your tutors set. The college's tutors and its admin staff can see your name, email, class, progress, activity record and set work, and nothing else on your profile.
• If a college works with us: the names, job titles, phone numbers and email addresses of the people we deal with there, and our notes of what was agreed.
• What you add to your profile, if it applies to you: NVQ evidence, certificates and CPD, and business details.
• If you write for Frontiers: your writer profile (name, bio, one link), your posts and pictures, reviews and comments.
• If you pay: your subscription (which plan, its status and renewal date) and a customer reference from Stripe. We never see or keep your card details.
• Basic technical records our hosting keeps to run the site safely (for example, error logs).

3. Why we use it (our lawful bases)

• To provide the service you signed up for: your account, your progress and your subscription (contract).
• To keep the service secure and working, and to fix problems (legitimate interests).
• To show your college's tutors and admin staff your progress and activity while you're at that college, so they can support you (contract with you, and our agreement with the college). It stops as soon as you leave the college.
• To send marketing or the weekly digest, only if you switch it on in Profile, and you can switch it off any time (consent).
• To keep payment records for as long as UK tax law requires (legal obligation).

4. Who helps us run it

These companies process information for us, under contracts that protect it:

• Supabase: our database and sign-in (stored in London).
• Vercel: hosts the website (our server code runs in London).
• Stripe: takes payments and holds your card details, not us.
• Google: only if you choose "Sign in with Google".
• An email service (Resend), if used, to send sign-in links, invitations to join, alerts you've asked for, and news only if you said yes to it.
• Anthropic (Claude): the owner uses it to help draft articles and practice questions. Your personal information is not sent to it.

Some of these are US companies. Where information could be handled outside the UK, they use the legal safeguards UK law requires (such as the UK's approved contract terms).

5. Cookies and your browser

We only use cookies that are needed to keep you signed in. Your choice of dark mode and larger text is remembered in your own browser. There are no advertising, analytics or tracking cookies, so there's no cookie banner.

6. How long we keep it

We keep your information while you have an account. When you delete your account (Profile → Your data), your account and everything attached to it is deleted straight away. Payment records are kept for as long as UK tax law requires. Frontiers posts you wrote that were published may stay up (see the Terms).

7. Your rights

• See the information we hold: use "Download my data" in Profile, or ask us.
• Correct it: change it in Profile, or ask us.
• Delete it: use "Delete account" in Profile.
• Object to, or ask us to limit, how we use it.
• Withdraw consent for emails at any time in Profile.

To use any of these, email [your support email]. If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk, 0303 123 1113).

8. Your NVQ evidence and learning belong to you

Your progress and NVQ evidence are kept against your own account, not an employer's or a college's. They stay yours if you change job or college.

9. Age

Consumables is for people aged 16 and over (apprentices, learners and electricians).

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we'll update the date at the top, and tell you by email if the change matters.