Privacy policy

This policy explains what personal information DeskFluent (“we”, “us”) collects when you use DeskFluent, why we collect it, and what rights you have over it. We have tried to write it in the same plain English as our courses.

1. The short version

• We collect your name, email and what you have studied, so the product works.
• We never see or store your card details — our payment provider handles those.
• We do not sell your data to anyone, ever.
• You can ask us for a copy of your data, or ask us to delete it, at any time.

2. What we collect

Information you give us

• Account details — your name, email address, and a securely hashed version of your password. We cannot read your password.
• Google sign-in — if you sign in with Google, we receive your name, email address and profile picture from Google. We do not receive your Google password.
• Newsletter — your email address, if you choose to subscribe.
• Support messages — anything you send us by email.

Information created as you use the site

• Which lessons you have opened and completed
• Your quiz scores, learning streak and badges
• Certificates you have earned
• Referral activity — who signed up using your link

Information collected automatically

• Cookies for signing in. A session cookie keeps you logged in. Without it, the site cannot work.
• Basic technical data — IP address, browser type and pages visited, used for security and to understand which courses are popular.
• Advertising cookies — see section 5.

What we never collect

Payment card details. Payments are handled entirely by Stripe. Your card number is entered on Stripe’s systems and never reaches ours. We only store a customer reference, the plan you chose, and the amount and date of each payment.

3. Why we use it

• To run the service — creating your account, saving your progress, issuing certificates. (Legal basis: performance of a contract.)
• To take payment — processing subscriptions and preventing fraud. (Contract, and legitimate interest.)
• To email you — verification, password resets, receipts, and (if you opted in) news about new courses. (Contract, and consent for marketing.)
• To improve the courses — seeing which lessons people drop out of. (Legitimate interest.)
• To keep the free courses free — showing advertising to users on the free plan. (Consent, where required.)

4. Who we share it with

We do not sell your data. We share it only with services needed to run the product:

• Stripe — payment processing. See Stripe’s privacy policy.
• Our hosting and database providers — to store and serve the site.
• Our email provider — to deliver account and newsletter emails.
• Google — for optional sign-in and for advertising.
• Legal authorities — only where we are legally required to.

Some of these providers are outside your country. Where personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on the safeguards those providers have in place, such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

5. Cookies and advertising

We use three kinds of cookie:

• Essential — keeping you signed in and remembering your light/dark preference. These cannot be turned off without breaking the site.
• Analytics — understanding which pages are used, in aggregate.
• Advertising — Google AdSense may use cookies to show relevant ads on free pages.

Google’s use of advertising cookies is governed by Google’s advertising policies. You can opt out of personalised advertising at Google Ads Settings.

Pro subscribers see no advertising at all, and no advertising cookies are set for them.

6. How long we keep it

• Account and progress data — while your account exists, and for 30 days after you ask us to delete it.
• Payment records — typically 7 years, because tax law requires it.
• Certificates — kept indefinitely so the public verification link keeps working. You can ask us to revoke one.
• Newsletter — until you unsubscribe.

7. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you can ask us to:

• Give you a copy of the data we hold about you
• Correct anything that is wrong
• Delete your account and data
• Stop using your data for marketing
• Export your data in a portable format

Email support@deskfluent.com from your registered address and we will respond within 30 days. There is no charge. If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to your local data protection authority.

8. Security

Passwords are stored as bcrypt hashes and are never readable, even by us. The site is served over HTTPS. Email verification and password reset links are single-use, expire quickly, and are stored only as hashes. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach ever affects your data we will tell you promptly.

9. Children

DeskFluent is intended for people aged 16 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

10. Changes

If we change this policy in a way that materially affects you, we will email you and update the date at the top. Continuing to use the service after a change means you accept it.

11. Contact

Questions about this policy? Email support@deskfluent.com or use our contact page.