Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how First Class Sailing Ltd uses and protects any information that you give First Class Sailing Ltd when you use this website.

First Class Sailing Ltd is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

First Class Sailing Ltd may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 19/6/2018.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

By using our website, you’re agreeing to be bound by this Policy.

Our website uses Google Analytics which gathers limited information about you during a session, including the IP address and domain name from which you are accessing the server. We use this information to help us improve the content, design and performance of the site. We will only collect information that is necessary to carry out a specified, explicit and legitimate purpose. The personal information we collect might include your name, address, email address, IP address, and information regarding what landing pages are accessed and when.

We will use any or all of the personal information we collect about you to build up a profile of your use of the website and its facilities. If you make contact with us via email we will store this information under your name on our database. Our webchat service is provided by Livechat, a GDPR compliant service. If you have a web chat conversation with us and provide us with your contact details, in relation to a specific service, we may add details of your conversation with us to our systems.

Profiling – we may analyse your personal information to create a profile of your interests and preferences so that we can contact you with information relevant to you.

If you make an online purchase from us, your card information is not held by us, it is collected by our third party payment processors, who specialise in the secure online capture and processing of credit/debit card transactions, as explained below. We may make use of additional information about you when it is available from external sources to help us do this effectively. We may also use your personal information to detect and reduce fraud and credit risk.

When you attend a course we may use the data you give us:

• To meet our legal and statutory duties and responsibilities;

• To process applications and enrolments

• To book you on a course you have applied for;

• To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us;

• Advise you on relevant courses;

• For our own internal records so that we can provide you with a high quality service;

• For contacting you in response to a specific enquiry;

• To customise our services so they work better for you;

• To contact you about services, products, offers and other things provided by us which we think may be relevant to you;

• To contact you via e-mail telephone or mail for marketing purposes in relation to further courses at FCS;

• To promote our services using case study interviews and photographs that you have given to us and allowed us to take;

• To send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you. These may include information about courses, campaigns, appeals or other fundraising activities.

Who has access to your information?

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties, for marketing purposes. We will pass on your data to the appropriate regulatory body in order to comply with their education, examination and administration requirements.

Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf: We may pass your information to our third party service providers, agents, subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf. However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own direct marketing purposes. Please be reassured that we will not release your information to third parties for them to use for their own direct marketing purposes, unless you have requested us to do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention of fraud or other crime.

If you are enrolling in a course which is delivered by, or in collaboration with, other training centres, we may share your data with them for the purpose of advising you on relevant courses, jobs or careers; booking you on a course you have applied for; carrying out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into by you and us jointly; seeking your views or comments on the services we jointly provide; notifying you of changes to our services.

Your choices

We will not contact you for marketing purposes by email, phone or text message unless you have given your prior consent. You can change your marketing preferences at any time by contacting us by email to info@firstclassssailing.com or calling 0203 006 3717.

How you can access and update your information

The accuracy of your information is important to us. We’re working on ways to make it easier for you to review and correct the information that we hold about you. If you change email address, or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us at: info@firstclasssailing.com or write to us at:, First Class Sailing, Shamrock Quay, William Street, Southampton, SO14 5QL. Alternatively, you can telephone 0203 006 3717.

You have the right to ask for a copy of the information First Class Sailing hold about you and, under certain circumstances, the right to request the erasure of your data.

Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information

We do not sell or rent your personal information. Your information may by necessity be disclosed to appropriate staff members, trustees and other First Class Sailing representatives.

When you give us personal information, we take steps to ensure that it’s treated securely. Any financial information (such as credit or debit card details) is processed using XXXX which is encrypted. When using our website and you are on a secure page a lock icon will appear to the left of the web browser or the url.

Non-sensitive details (your email address etc.) are transmitted normally over the Internet, and this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given (or where you have chosen) a password which enables you to access certain parts of our websites, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

We also follow stringent procedures to ensure we work with all personal data in line with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Information that will be collected automatically

What is a cookie?

Like many other websites, First Class Sailing’s website uses cookies. ‘Cookies’ are small pieces of information sent by an organisation to your computer and stored on your hard drive to allow that website to recognise you when you visit. Cookies do not provide us with access to your computer or any information about you, other than that which you choose to share with us. They collect statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns and do not identify you as an individual. For example, we use cookies to store your country preference. This helps us to improve our website and deliver a better more personalised service.

What about cookies?

We use cookies when you visit our site. There are four main types of cookies – here’s how and why we use them.

1. Site functionality cookies – these cookies allow you to navigate the site and use our features, such as ‘register interest’.

2. Site analytics cookies – these cookies allow us to measure and analyse how our customers use the site, to improve both its functionality and your experience.

3. Customer preference cookies – when you are browsing UKSA, these cookies will remember your preferences (like your language or location), so we can make your experience as seamless as possible, and more personal to you.

4. Targeting or advertising cookies – these cookies are used to deliver ads relevant to you. They also limit the number of times that you see an ad and help us measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns.

By using our website, you agree to us placing these sorts of cookies on your device and accessing them when you visit the site in the future. If you want to delete any cookies that are already on your computer, the “help” section in your browser should provide instructions on how to locate the file or directory that stores cookies. Further information about cookies can be found at www.aboutcookies.org. Please note that by deleting or disabling future cookies, your user experience may be affected and you might not be able to take advantage of certain functions of our site.

The standard cookie policy for this website is to allow all cookies. The privacy and security of your personal information is very important to us. We are not saving or sharing any personal information about you through cookies.

Links to other websites and transfer of data outside Europe

Our website may contain links to other websites run by other organisations. This privacy policy applies only to our website‚ so we encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit. We cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other sites even if you access them using links from our website.

In addition, if you linked to our website from a third party site, we cannot be responsible for the privacy policies and practices of the owners and operators of that third party site and recommend that you check the policy of that third party site.

Transferring your information outside of Europe.

As part of the services offered to you through this website, the information which you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the European Union (“EU”). By way of example, this may happen if any of our servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EU. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EU in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Policy.

If you use our services while you are outside the EU, your information may be transferred outside the EU in order to provide you with those services.

Record Keeping

On successful completion of a Day Skipper Practical or Coastal Skipper Course your course your name, contact details, date of birth, certificate number and date of issue will shared with the RYA through a secure web portal on www.rya.org.uk. The data will be stored on the RYA’s central database. This information allows the RYA to record your qualification, to update any records they may hold for you, and to verify or replace your certificate if required. For further information on how the RYA will deal with your data, please see the RYA’s privacy policy at www.rya.org.uk/go/privacy.

On successful completion of any other course your name, certificate type and date of issue will be stored for up an indefinite amount of time. This information allows us to verify or replace your certificate if required.

SRC Exam Papers will be held for at least 5 years.

Review of this Policy

We keep this Policy under regular review. This Policy was last updated in June 2018.