Privacy policy
This privacy policy explains what personal information Football Examination Board collects, how we use it, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what rights you have.
Who we are
Football Examination Board operates this website and the related online platform for registrations, certificate purchasing, score submission, certificate generation, account management and database verification.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, Football Examination Board is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.
Business name: World Football Examination Board
Email: support@footballexams.com
What we collect
The personal information we collect depends on how you use the site.
Information you give us directly
- Name
- Email address
- Phone number
- Postal address
- Date of birth
- Login details
- Uploaded files, where needed for account setup or verification
- Order and checkout information
- Messages sent through contact forms or support requests
Information created through use of the service
- Certificate numbers
- Exam scores
- Award levels
- Exam dates
- Examiner details
- Player and certificate database records
- Search details entered into certificate verification or database search tools
Technical information
- IP address
- Browser and device information
- Cookies and similar technologies
- Basic website, security and performance logs
How we use your information
We use personal information so we can run the platform, manage accounts, process payments, issue certificates, maintain records on the database, respond to enquiries and keep the website secure.
Main reasons we use personal information
- To create and manage coach and related user accounts
- To process certificate credit purchases and other orders
- To issue certificates and save related records
- To allow certificate checks and database searches
- To send account emails, password resets, order confirmations and service messages
- To respond to support requests and contact form messages
- To prevent misuse, fraud and unauthorised access
- To meet legal, tax and accounting requirements
- To improve website performance, security and user experience
Our lawful bases
Depending on the activity, we rely on one or more lawful bases under the UK GDPR:
- Contract, where we need your information to provide the service or fulfil an order
- Legitimate interests, where we have a genuine reason to operate, secure and improve the service
- Legal obligation, where we must keep records or comply with the law
- Consent, where we ask for it, such as for non-essential cookies
Children and young people
Because the service may relate to children and young players, we take extra care when handling this type of information. We aim to keep our explanations clear and easy to understand.
Where information relates to a child or young player, it may be submitted or managed by a coach, parent, guardian, school, club or other responsible adult as part of the service.
We aim to collect only the information genuinely needed for exam records, certificate generation, account administration and database verification. The ICO says children’s data needs extra protection and that privacy information should be clear and suited to younger users where relevant. [oai_citation:1‡ICO](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/childrens-information/children-and-the-uk-gdpr/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
Who we share information with
We only share personal information where there is a proper reason to do so.
- Stripe, to process payments securely
- WooCommerce, to manage shop, checkout and order records
- SiteGround, for hosting, website security and performance services
- Contact Form 7 and related form tools, to handle enquiries and submissions
- CookieYes, to manage cookie consent preferences
- Security, caching and optimisation tools, where needed to keep the website working properly and securely
- Google reCAPTCHA, where enabled, to help prevent spam and abuse
- Professional advisers or authorities, where required by law or for legitimate business reasons
We do not sell personal information.
International transfers
Some of the third-party services we use may process data outside the UK. Where that happens, we expect those providers to use appropriate safeguards in line with data protection law.
How long we keep information
Data protection law does not set fixed retention periods for every type of information. The ICO says you should keep personal data only for as long as you need it and be able to justify that period. [oai_citation:2‡ICO](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/data-protection-principles/a-guide-to-the-data-protection-principles/storage-limitation/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
Coach accounts: kept for as long as the account remains active and for a reasonable period afterwards where needed for record keeping, support or legal reasons
Certificate records: may be kept long term where they form part of the official examination database and are needed for verification purposes
Order records: normally kept for accounting, tax and audit purposes
Contact enquiries: kept for as long as reasonably needed to deal with the enquiry and any follow-up
Technical logs: kept only as long as reasonably needed for security, performance and troubleshooting
Where we no longer need personal information, we may delete it, anonymise it or securely archive it where lawful and appropriate.
How we keep information secure
We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information. This may include secure hosting, password protection, access controls, backups, anti-spam protection and website security tools.
No online system can ever be guaranteed to be completely secure, but we aim to reduce risk and review the website setup regularly.
Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
- Ask for access to your personal information
- Ask us to correct inaccurate information
- Ask us to delete information in some situations
- Ask us to restrict how we use information in some situations
- Object to some types of processing
- Ask for your information in a portable format in some cases
- Withdraw consent where we rely on consent
The ICO says privacy notices should tell people which rights they have, how long data is kept and how they can complain. [oai_citation:3‡ICO](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/the-right-to-be-informed/what-privacy-information-should-we-provide/?utm_source=chatgpt.com)
Cookies
We use cookies and similar technologies to make the website work, remember preferences, support checkout and security features, and understand how the site is used.
Please read our Cookie policy for more detail.
Complaints
If you have concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact us first and we will try to sort it.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office in the UK. You can find more information at ico.org.uk.
Contact us
If you have questions about this privacy policy or want to exercise your rights, contact:
World Football Examination Board
Email: support@footballexams.com