Privacy Policy
1. Who we are
1.1. This Privacy Policy explains how EFS Film School (“we”, “us”, “our”) — an independent school dedicated to the study and practice of personal, experimental, and alternative approaches to filmmaking — handles personal information in connection with www.efsfilmschool.com (the “Website”) and our courses, masterclasses, mentoring, and events (together, the “Courses”).
1.2. For anything concerning your personal information, contact info@efsfilmschool.com.
1.3. This Policy should be read alongside our Terms and Conditions. It is an information notice, not a contract: we process personal information on the legal bases set out in section 4, and nothing here asks you to “agree” to data processing that the law already governs. It is written to comply with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and applicable Irish data-protection law.
2. What information we collect
2.1. Account and enrolment information. When you create an account or purchase a Course: your name, email address, username, and a securely stored password.
2.2. Order and billing information. When you purchase: your billing details, country, order history, and the information needed to issue and account for your order. We never see or store your card numbers — payment details are provided by you directly to our payment processors (section 5).
2.3. Course information. Your enrolment records and course progress within our learning platform, and, where a Course involves it, your submitted work and correspondence with your tutor.
2.4. Live-session recordings. Live online sessions are recorded as part of the course format. If you participate with your camera or microphone on, or contribute questions and comments, your image, voice, name, and contributions may appear in the recording made available to your fellow enrolled students for the limited access period described in the Terms. You may always participate with camera and microphone off and ask questions privately.
2.5. Newsletter. If — and only if — you subscribe to our newsletter, your email address (and name, if you provide it).
2.6. Correspondence. Emails you send us, and our replies.
2.7. Technical information. Standard server logs (such as IP address and request data) generated automatically by our hosting infrastructure for security and operation.
3. What we do NOT do
3.1. We use no advertising trackers, no analytics profiling, and no third-party marketing pixels on the Website.
3.2. We do not sell, rent, or trade personal information — to anyone, ever.
3.3. We do not send marketing email to customers who have not subscribed to the newsletter; purchase alone never adds you to a mailing list.
3.4. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18; our Courses are for adults.
4. Why we use your information, and the legal bases
5. Who receives your information
We share personal information only with the service providers needed to operate the school, each bound by data-protection obligations:
- Payment processing: Stripe (card payments, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Link), PayPal, and Klarna (instalments). Each acts as an independent controller of the payment data you provide to them, under their own privacy policies.
- Hosting and email delivery: our website hosting provider, which operates the servers, databases, and transactional email for the Website.
- Video delivery: our video streaming and content-delivery infrastructure, which serves course videos and session replays.
- Live-session delivery: the video-conferencing service through which live online sessions are held; if you join a session, that service processes your connection and participation data under its own terms.
- Newsletter delivery: our email marketing provider — only for subscribers, only for the newsletter.
We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
6. International transfers
Some of our service providers may process data outside the European Economic Area. Where that happens, transfers are protected by recognised safeguards such as adequacy decisions or the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.
7. How long we keep information
- Account and course data: for as long as your account is active and you hold access to a Course (self-paced access is long-term by design), and for a reasonable period thereafter.
- Order, invoice, and accounting records: at least six years, as required by tax law.
- Live-session recordings: student access expires seven days after each session; our internal copies are retained for up to twelve months after the course ends, then deleted, unless a longer period is required for legal reasons.
- Newsletter data: until you unsubscribe.
- Correspondence: for as long as it remains relevant to the matter it concerns.
When information is no longer needed, it is deleted or anonymised.
8. Security
The Website is served over encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS). Access to personal information is restricted, passwords are stored hashed, payment data never touches our systems, and the Website’s payment configuration is protected by continuous monitoring.
9. Cookies
The Website uses only cookies that are strictly necessary for its operation — keeping you logged in, maintaining your basket, and serving pages efficiently. We set no advertising or third-party analytics cookies, which is why the Website shows no cookie-consent banner. The newsletter signup form and payment elements are provided by the respective providers named above and operate only on the pages where you use them.
10. Your rights
Under the GDPR you have the right to: access the personal information we hold about you; have it corrected or completed; have it erased where there is no continuing need for it; restrict or object to certain processing; receive a portable copy of information you provided; and withdraw any consent at any time, without affecting prior processing.
To exercise any of these rights, email info@efsfilmschool.com — we respond within one month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, including the Irish Data Protection Commission (dataprotection.ie) or the authority in your country of residence.
11. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. The version published on the Website is the current one, identified by its effective date above. Material changes affecting existing students will be communicated by email.
EFS Film School · an independent school dedicated to the study and practice of personal, experimental, and alternative approaches to filmmaking · www.efsfilmschool.com · info@efsfilmschool.com