Privacy policy

The short version

• We collect your name, your email address and your lesson answers and scores. That's all we need to run your account.
• We don't sell your information, show you ads or track you around the web.
• We don't use analytics or advertising cookies. The only cookies keep you signed in.
• The lessons use made-up data. They never ask for real client data, and you should never enter any.
• You can ask us to delete your account at any time by emailing tom@secondskillset.com.

What we collect

If you play lesson 1 without an account: your answers are sent to our server to be graded, and nothing is kept there. Your progress is saved in your own browser (see Cookies and browser storage below), so you can pick up where you left off.

When you create an account:

• your name and email address;
• your password, if you sign up with email. It is stored scrambled (hashed) by our sign-in provider, and we can't see it;
• if you sign in with Google, the name, email address and profile picture link that Google shares with us. We use the name and email address. We never see your Google password.

When you play lessons while signed in: each answer you give, whether it was right, the points it earned, and when you gave it. If you played lesson 1 before signing up, those answers are checked again and saved into your new account.

If you rate a hint ("Helpful" or "Not helpful"): your rating and the answer it was for. If you're signed in it's linked to your account; if not, it's saved with nothing that identifies you.

Technical information: like most websites, our hosting and sign-in providers keep short-lived logs of requests and sign-ins, including IP addresses and browser details, to keep the site running and secure.

If you email us: your email and our reply.

We don't ask for, and you shouldn't give us, information about your clients, your employer's data or anything confidential.

Why we use it

UK law asks us to say why we use your information and the legal basis for each use:

• To run your account and the lessons: signing you in, grading your answers, saving your progress and scores, and showing them back to you. The legal basis is that we need it to provide the service you signed up for (contract).
• To send account emails: confirming your email address and resetting your password. These are part of providing the service (contract). We don't send marketing email.
• To keep the site secure and working: logs, preventing abuse and stopping people gaming the grading. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in running a safe, fair site.
• To improve the lessons: hint ratings, and seeing which steps learners find hard, so we can fix unclear questions and hints. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in improving the lessons.

Your answers are graded automatically by code, against checks written for each lesson. Grades are only for your practice and have no legal or similar effect on you.

Who handles it for us

We use a few service providers to run the site. They handle your information only on our instructions and only to provide their service:

• Supabase: our database and sign-in system. It stores your account and lesson progress, on servers in the United States.
• Vercel: hosts the website and runs our server code.
• Resend: sends account emails (email confirmation and password reset).
• Google: only if you choose "Continue with Google". Google's own privacy policy covers what it does when you sign in with it.

We don't sell or rent your personal information, and we don't share it for advertising. We would only disclose it otherwise if the law required us to.

Where your information is kept

Our providers store and process information in the United States. When information is transferred from the UK, it is protected by the safeguards UK law requires, such as the UK–US data bridge or the UK's approved contract clauses.

How long we keep it

• Your account, answers and scores: for as long as you have an account. When you ask us to delete your account, we delete it and your lesson history within one month.
• Hint ratings saved without an account: kept to improve the lessons. They aren't linked to anyone.
• Logs: kept for a short time by our providers, then deleted automatically.
• Progress saved in your browser: stays on your device until you clear your browser's site data.

Cookies and browser storage

We use only what the site needs to work, so we don't ask for consent:

• Sign-in cookies: when you're signed in, cookies keep you signed in as you move between pages. They're removed when you sign out.
• Lesson progress in your browser: if you play without an account, your place in each lesson is saved in your browser's local storage, not on our server.

We don't use analytics, advertising or social media cookies. If that ever changes, we'll update this policy first and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

Your rights

You can ask us to:

• give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
• correct anything that's wrong;
• delete your account and your information;
• send your information to you in a common format so you can take it elsewhere;
• stop or limit how we use it, or object to a use based on our legitimate interests.

Email tom@secondskillset.com from the address on your account. We'll reply within one month. There's no charge.

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please tell us first. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

If you're in the United States: we don't sell your personal information or share it for targeted advertising. You can ask to see, correct or delete your information as above, wherever you live.

Security

Your information is sent over encrypted connections. Each learner can read only their own lesson records, and only our server can record answers and points. No system is perfectly secure, so if we ever learn of a breach that affects you, we'll tell you and the regulator as the law requires.

Age

Second Skillset is for professionals and students aged 18 or over. It isn't meant for children, and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy before the site starts collecting anything new, such as payment details when paid plans open. The date at the top shows the last change. If a change is significant, we'll email account holders before it takes effect.

Contact

Tom Devine, trading as Second Skillset. Email: tom@secondskillset.com