Privacy Policy for SkillUp Academy

Effective Date: October 26, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how SkillUp Academy, located at 42 Innovation Drive, Techville, CA 91234, collects, uses, and shares personal data of users of our website, courses, and related services. SkillUp Academy is committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring the security of your personal information. This policy is designed to comply with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA).

1. Information We Collect

We collect several types of information from and about users, including:

• Personal Data: This includes information that identifies you as an individual, such as your name, email address, postal address, phone number, payment information, and demographic information.
• Account Data: When you create an account, we collect your username, password, course enrollment details, and learning progress.
• Usage Data: We collect data about your interactions with our website and services, including the pages you visit, the courses you access, the time spent on our platform, and the links you click.
• Device Data: We collect information about the devices you use to access our services, including the device type, operating system, browser type, IP address, and unique device identifiers.
• Communication Data: We collect information you provide when you contact us, such as your name, email address, and the content of your communication. This includes communication through contact forms, email, or chat support.
• Marketing Data: We collect data related to your marketing preferences, including whether you have opted in to receive marketing emails and your engagement with marketing communications.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

1. Providing and Improving Services: To deliver our courses, personalize your learning experience, and improve the functionality and performance of our website and services.
2. Account Management: To create and manage your account, process payments, and provide customer support.
3. Communication: To respond to your inquiries, send you important updates and notifications, and provide technical support.
4. Marketing: To send you promotional materials and newsletters about our courses and services, provided you have opted in to receive such communications. You can opt-out at any time.
5. Analytics: To analyze user behavior, track trends, and gather demographic information to improve our services and tailor our marketing efforts.
6. Legal Compliance: To comply with applicable laws and regulations, respond to legal requests, and enforce our terms of service.
7. Security: To protect the security and integrity of our website and services, and to prevent fraud and unauthorized access.

3. How We Share Your Information

We may share your information with the following categories of recipients:

• Service Providers: We share information with third-party service providers who assist us in providing our services, such as payment processors, hosting providers, email marketing platforms, and analytics providers. These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and use it only for the purposes we specify.
• Instructors: If you enroll in a course, we may share your name and email address with the instructor for the purpose of course administration and communication.
• Affiliates: We may share information with our affiliates for marketing and business development purposes.
• Legal Authorities: We may disclose your information to legal authorities if required by law or legal process, or if we believe it is necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety, or the rights, property, or safety of others.
• Business Transfers: In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of all or a portion of our assets, your information may be transferred to the acquiring entity.

4. Your Rights

You have certain rights regarding your personal data, including:

• Access: You have the right to request access to the personal data we hold about you.
• Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
• Erasure: You have the right to request that we erase your personal data, subject to certain exceptions.
• Restriction of Processing: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data, subject to certain exceptions.
• Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another controller.
• Objection: You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data for certain purposes, such as direct marketing.
• Withdrawal of Consent: If we are processing your personal data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

To exercise your rights, please contact us at privacy@skillupacademy.com.

5. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. These measures include:

• Encryption: We use encryption to protect sensitive data during transmission and storage.
• Access Controls: We implement access controls to restrict access to your personal data to authorized personnel only.
• Security Monitoring: We monitor our systems for security vulnerabilities and incidents.
• Regular Audits: We conduct regular security audits to ensure the effectiveness of our security measures.

Despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the security of your personal data.

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. When we no longer need your personal data, we will securely dispose of it.

Specifically, account data is retained as long as your account is active. Usage and device data is typically retained for a period of two years for analytical purposes, after which it is anonymized or deleted. Communication data is retained for as long as necessary to resolve your inquiry or complaint, and marketing data is retained until you opt-out of receiving marketing communications.

7. International Data Transfers

Your personal data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside of your country of residence, which may have different data protection laws than your country. We will take appropriate measures to ensure that your personal data is protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws, including the use of standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission.

8. Children's Privacy

Our website and services are not directed to children under the age of 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under the age of 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe that your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us at privacy@skillupacademy.com, and we will take steps to delete the data.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data practices or legal requirements. We will post any changes on our website and update the effective date at the top of this Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

SkillUp Academy
Attention: Data Privacy Officer
42 Innovation Drive
Techville, CA 91234
Email: privacy@skillupacademy.com
Phone: (555) 987-6543

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority in your country.

11. CCPA Specific Disclosures

The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) provides specific rights to California residents regarding their personal information. This section outlines your rights under the CCPA and how you can exercise them.

a. Right to Know

You have the right to request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the sources of the information, the purposes for collecting it, and the categories of third parties with whom we share it.

b. Right to Delete

You have the right to request that we delete the personal information we have collected from you, subject to certain exceptions, such as when the information is necessary to provide a service you requested, to comply with legal obligations, or to detect security incidents.

c. Right to Opt-Out of Sale

SkillUp Academy does not sell your personal information to third parties. Therefore, there is no need to opt-out. However, if our practices change in the future, we will provide you with clear notice and the option to opt-out of the sale of your personal information.

d. Non-Discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights. This means we will not deny you services, charge you different prices, or provide you with a different level of quality of services if you choose to exercise your rights under the CCPA.

e. Exercising Your CCPA Rights

To exercise your CCPA rights, please contact us at privacy@skillupacademy.com or call us at (555) 987-6543. We will verify your request using the information associated with your account, and may require additional information for verification purposes.