1. Who we are
Bitsi is a coding and robotics club for children in Hamilton, Lanarkshire. For the purposes of UK data protection law (UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018), Bitsi is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.
Contact: BitsiScotland@gmail.com · 07590 453 803 · St Mary's for All, 4 Auchingramont Road, Hamilton ML3 6JT.
2. What we collect
- Booking information: your name, email address, phone number, and your child's name, age/school stage and class details, collected through our booking system, ClassForKids.
- Health and support information: medical conditions, allergies, medication needs and additional support needs you share so we can look after your child properly. This is special category data and we treat it with extra care.
- Emergency contacts and the names of adults authorised to collect your child.
- Photos and videos of sessions, only where you have given consent through ClassForKids.
- Learning platform logins: the Scratch, Book Creator and similar accounts we set up so your child can take part in activities.
- Messages you send us via the website contact form, newsletter sign-up, email or phone.
- Website analytics: bitsi.co.uk and bitsi.kids use privacy-friendly, cookie-free analytics (Vercel Insights, and Rybbit, which runs on our own server, so the data isn't shared with an analytics company). They show which pages and features get used, never anything that identifies you or your child. We do not use advertising trackers.
3. Why we use it (and our lawful bases)
- To run your booking: taking payment, managing places, contacting you about sessions (performance of a contract).
- To keep children safe: registers, emergency contacts, first aid and safeguarding records (legal obligation and legitimate interests; for health data, your explicit consent and protection of vital interests).
- To support your child well: using what you tell us about their needs (consent).
- To share club news: the newsletter, only if you sign up, and you can unsubscribe at any time (consent).
- To celebrate what the children build: photos/videos on our website or social media, only with consent, never showing the front of a child's face on social media, and never with a child's full name (consent).
- To improve our websites: anonymous, cookie-free usage statistics (legitimate interests).
4. Who we share it with
We never sell personal information. We share it only with:
- ClassForKids: our booking and payment platform, which processes booking data on our behalf under its own security and privacy commitments. It is also where we keep our records, including consents.
- Learning platforms: Scratch, Book Creator and similar tools, where we create a login for your child so they can take part. Logins are shared only with the child and their parent/carer.
- Service providers that deliver our website forms and email (e.g. the form service that relays website messages to our inbox).
- Authorities: Social Work Resources, Police Scotland or health services, where safeguarding or the law requires it.
5. How long we keep it
- Booking records and registers: the current period plus up to 3 years.
- Accident and safeguarding records: as long as legally required, which can be longer.
- Photos/videos: identifiable images are deleted from devices within 14 days, or sooner once they have been used. Published images are taken down if you withdraw consent.
- Newsletter details: until you unsubscribe.
When information is no longer needed, we delete it securely.
6. Children's privacy
We collect information about children from parents and carers, not from children themselves. All devices used in sessions are Bitsi's own. Where an activity needs an account (for example Scratch or Book Creator), Bitsi sets up the login and shares it with the child and their parent/carer only. Those accounts are not supervised outwith session times, so parents/carers are responsible for their child's use of them at home. See our Use of Technology guidance.
7. Cookies and website
Our websites do not use advertising cookies, and our analytics use no cookies at all. Video tutorials are embedded in YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode, which only sets cookies if you play a video. Analytics are anonymous: they don't store IP addresses or make screen recordings. To stop your browser being counted, visit any page with ?notrack on the end (e.g. bitsi.co.uk/?notrack).
8. Security
Personal information is stored in access-controlled accounts and shared within the team only on a need-to-know basis. Paper records (such as session registers) are kept to a minimum and stored securely.
9. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to:
- access a copy of your (or your child's) information;
- have inaccurate information corrected;
- have information erased, or its use restricted, where applicable;
- object to processing based on legitimate interests;
- withdraw consent at any time (e.g. photos, newsletter), which doesn't affect earlier processing;
- complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk · 0303 123 1113.
To exercise any of these, email BitsiScotland@gmail.com and we will respond within one month.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time; the latest version will always be on our website with the date above.