Privacy Policy
Last updated: May 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how personal information is collected, used, stored, and protected when you use this website, contact us, enquire about lessons, book lessons, or take part in online Spanish lessons.
This website is operated by:
Carina Rios-Bigalke, sole trader
trading as Riolingo
49 Station Road, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 6EA, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Email: carina@riolingo.net
For the purposes of UK data protection law, Carina Rios-Bigalke is the data controller.
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how your personal information is used, please contact us using the details above.
1. Personal information we collect
We may collect and use the following personal information:
Contact details
Your name, email address, phone number, country or time zone, and any information you include when contacting us.
Lesson and booking information
Information about lesson enquiries, bookings, lesson times, attendance, level of Spanish, learning goals, course preferences, and communication about lessons.
Student information
For students, we may process information such as age group, school year or educational stage, Spanish level, learning needs, interests, and lesson progress.
Information about children
If lessons are for a child or teenager, we may collect the child’s name, age or age group, Spanish level, learning goals, and relevant information provided by a parent or legal guardian.
Payment and billing information
This website does not currently include an online payment function. If payment is arranged separately, we may process information needed to issue invoices, confirm payments, or keep financial records.
Technical information
When you use this website, some technical information may be processed automatically, such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages visited, date and time of access, and basic server log information.
Online lesson information
If lessons take place through a video-call platform, that platform may process technical and account information, such as your display name, email address, meeting metadata, device information, and connection data.
2. How we collect personal information
We collect personal information when you:
visit this website;
contact us by email, contact form, phone, messaging service, or social media;
ask about lessons;
book, attend, cancel, or reschedule lessons;
make a payment outside this website;
provide information about a student’s level, goals, or learning needs;
use online lesson platforms or other tools connected with lessons.
We may also receive personal information from a parent, legal guardian, student, school, company, or organisation where they are involved in arranging lessons.
3. Why we use your personal information
We use personal information to:
respond to enquiries;
provide information about lessons;
arrange, manage, and deliver online Spanish lessons;
assess a student’s level and learning goals;
prepare suitable lesson content;
communicate about bookings, payments, cancellations, and rescheduling;
issue invoices and keep financial records;
manage lessons for children and communicate with parents or guardians;
maintain the security and proper functioning of the website;
comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
handle complaints, disputes, or legal claims.
4. Our lawful bases for using personal information
Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for using personal information.
We may use your personal information on the following bases:
Contract
We use personal information where it is necessary to provide lessons, manage bookings, communicate about lessons, and take steps before entering into a contract.
Legal obligation
We use certain information where we need to comply with legal, tax, accounting, or regulatory obligations.
Legitimate interests
We may use personal information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as responding to enquiries, managing client relationships, keeping basic business records, maintaining website security, and handling disputes.
Consent
We may rely on consent where required, for example for optional communications, testimonials, photographs, recordings, or any non-essential cookies if they are introduced in the future. You can withdraw consent at any time.
Vital interests
In rare cases, we may use personal information if necessary to protect someone’s life or safety.
5. Children and young people
We provide lessons to children and teenagers as well as adults.
For students under 18, bookings should be made by a parent or legal guardian, or with their clear consent.
We only collect information about children that is needed to arrange and provide lessons safely and effectively. This may include the child’s name, age or age group, Spanish level, learning goals, lesson attendance, and relevant learning information provided by a parent or guardian.
We do not knowingly use children’s personal information for unnecessary marketing, profiling, or advertising.
Parents or legal guardians can contact us at any time to ask what information we hold about their child, to update it, or to ask for it to be deleted where legally possible.
6. Special category data
We do not usually need special category data, such as health information, disability information, religious beliefs, or other sensitive information.
However, a parent, guardian, student, school, or client may choose to provide information about learning needs, health, accessibility, or other circumstances that are relevant to lessons. If this happens, we will only use that information for the purpose for which it was provided, such as adapting lessons or supporting the student appropriately.
7. Payments and financial records
This website does not currently include an online payment function.
If payment is arranged separately, we may keep records of payments, invoices, lesson packages, refunds, and outstanding amounts for business, tax, and accounting purposes.
If we introduce online payment options in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy with information about the payment providers used.
8. Cookies and similar technologies
At the moment, this website does not use analytics cookies, advertising cookies, marketing pixels, or payment-related cookies.
The website may use only essential technical cookies or similar technologies that are necessary for the website to function properly, for example cookies or server-side technologies used by the hosting provider, security tools, or the website system.
These essential technologies may process technical information such as your IP address, browser type, device information, date and time of access, pages visited, and basic server log information. This information is used to provide the website, maintain security, prevent misuse, and keep the website working reliably.
We do not currently use cookies to track visitors for advertising or marketing purposes.
If we add analytics, marketing, booking, or payment tools in the future, we will update this Privacy Policy and, where required, ask for your consent before using non-essential cookies.
9. Email and communication tools
If you contact us by email or through a contact form, your message may be forwarded to and stored in a Gmail account provided by Google.
This means that your name, email address, message content, and any other information you include may be processed by Google as an email service provider.
We use email to respond to enquiries, arrange lessons, manage bookings, and keep appropriate business records.
10. Marketing
We do not currently send regular marketing newsletters.
If we introduce marketing emails in the future, we will only send them where you have agreed to receive them or where we are otherwise legally allowed to do so.
You can ask us to stop sending marketing messages at any time by contacting us at [email address].
We do not sell your personal information to advertisers.
11. Testimonials, images, and recordings
We will not publish student testimonials, names, photographs, screenshots, videos, lesson recordings, or identifiable feedback without permission.
For children and teenagers, permission must come from a parent or legal guardian.
Online lessons are not recorded as standard. If a lesson is ever recorded, this will be explained in advance and consent will be requested where required.
12. Who we share personal information with
We may share personal information with trusted third parties where necessary, such as:
video-call platforms used for online lessons;
Gmail or other email service providers;
website hosting providers, such as Hetzner, Hostinger, or another provider used to operate this website;
booking, scheduling, or calendar tools, if used;
banks or payment providers, if payment is arranged separately;
accountants, tax advisers, or legal advisers;
IT support or website service providers;
public authorities, regulators, or law enforcement where legally required.
We only share personal information where necessary and, where required, we take steps to ensure that service providers protect it appropriately.
13. International students and international transfers
Because lessons may be offered internationally, we may communicate with students, parents, or clients in different countries.
Some service providers we use may process personal information outside the United Kingdom. For example, email, hosting, video-call, cloud, or communication providers may process data in the UK, the European Economic Area, the United States, or other countries.
Where personal information is transferred internationally, we take steps required by UK data protection law to protect it, such as relying on adequacy regulations, appropriate contractual safeguards, or other lawful transfer mechanisms where applicable.
If you are based outside the UK, your personal information may be processed in the UK and in other countries connected with the services used to provide lessons and operate this website.
14. How long we keep personal information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary.
Typical retention periods are:
Enquiries: up to 24 months after the last contact, unless lessons are booked.
Student and lesson records: up to 3 years after the last lesson, unless a longer period is needed.
Payment, invoice, tax, and accounting records: usually up to 6 years, as required for UK tax and accounting purposes.
Consent records: until consent is withdrawn or the information is no longer needed.
Website technical logs: for a limited period set by the hosting provider, unless longer storage is needed for security or legal reasons.
Legal claims or disputes: as long as necessary to deal with the matter.
When personal information is no longer needed, we will delete it, anonymise it, or securely archive it.
15. How we protect personal information
We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.
These steps may include password protection, secure devices, access controls, secure email and storage systems, software updates, and limiting access to information where possible.
No online service, email system, or website can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Please take care when sending personal information online.
16. Your rights
Depending on where you live and the laws that apply, you may have rights over your personal information.
Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:
ask for access to your personal information;
ask for inaccurate information to be corrected;
ask for your information to be deleted;
ask for processing to be restricted;
object to certain types of processing;
ask for your information to be transferred to another provider;
withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
complain to a data protection authority.
To make a request, please contact us at [email address].
We may need to verify your identity before responding.
17. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we use your personal information, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the issue.
You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Website: ico.org.uk
Phone: 0303 123 1113
If you live outside the UK, you may also have the right to contact your local data protection authority.
18. Links to other websites
This website may contain links to third-party websites, platforms, or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or security of those external websites.
Please read their privacy policies before providing personal information to them.
19. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.
The latest version will always be published on this page. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.
