Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how VirtualMicroscopy.co.uk ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you visit or register on www.VirtualMicroscopy.co.uk (the "Website"). We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and — where applicable — the Irish Data Protection Acts and EU GDPR.
1. Data Controller
The data controller for personal data collected through this Website is the VirtualMicroscopy.co.uk team. For data protection enquiries, please contact: webmaster@virtualmicroscopy.co.uk
2. What Data We Collect
We collect the following categories of personal data:
- Registration data: name, email address, and country of residence.
- Training status: institution name and specialty/training programme (where provided to verify eligibility for free access).
- Account credentials: encrypted password.
- Usage data: pages visited, content accessed, time spent on the platform, and interactions with teaching materials.
- Technical data: IP address, browser type, device type, and operating system.
- Correspondence: any information you provide when contacting us via the Send Feedback form or by email.
We do not collect payment card data. Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe — see Section 6 below.
3. Why We Collect Your Data and Our Legal Basis
We process your personal data for the following purposes:
- Providing access to teaching materials — Performance of a contract / Legitimate interests
- Verifying trainee eligibility for free access — Legitimate interests
- Managing user accounts and authentication — Performance of a contract
- Improving the Website and its content — Legitimate interests
- Responding to feedback and support requests — Legitimate interests
- Complying with legal obligations — Legal obligation
We will only process your personal data for the purposes stated above. We will not use your data for automated profiling or automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects.
4. Data Retention
We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. In practice this means:
- Account data is retained for as long as your account remains active.
- If you close your account or request deletion, we will delete or anonymise your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law.
- Usage logs may be retained in anonymised or aggregated form for statistical analysis after account deletion.
5. Sharing of Your Data
We have no third-party data processing partners for the operation of this Website, with the sole exception of Stripe for payment processing (see Section 6 below). We may disclose personal data to law enforcement or regulatory authorities if required to do so by law, court order, or regulatory requirement.
6. Stripe Payment Processing
Payments are processed by Stripe, Inc. and/or Stripe Payments Europe, Ltd. ("Stripe"). When you make a payment, you are directed to Stripe's secure payment interface. Stripe collects and processes your payment card details directly.
VirtualMicroscopy.co.uk does not receive, store, or have access to your payment card number, CVV, expiry date, or any other financial credentials. We receive only a confirmation of payment status from Stripe. Stripe acts as an independent data controller for payment data, subject to its own Privacy Policy.
Stripe is certified to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) Level 1 and processes data in accordance with applicable data protection law. For details of how Stripe processes your data, please refer to Stripe's Privacy Policy at stripe.com/gb/privacy.
7. Cookies and Tracking
The Website uses only essential cookies necessary for the operation of your account session and secure authentication. We do not use advertising, analytics, or tracking cookies from third parties. You may configure your browser to refuse cookies, but doing so may prevent you from accessing certain features of the Website. See our Cookie Policy for more detail.
8. Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These include encryption of data in transit (TLS), hashed storage of passwords, and restricted access to personal data. However, no method of transmission over the internet is entirely secure and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. International Data Transfers
We will not routinely transfer data to other parties. Where we are obliged to transfer data to meet legal obligations, and the transfer of personal data is outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR and/or EU GDPR requirements, including the use of Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable.
10. Your Rights
Subject to applicable law, you have the following rights in respect of your personal data:
- Right of access – to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Right to rectification – to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Right to erasure – to request deletion of your personal data in certain circumstances.
- Right to restriction – to request that we restrict processing of your data.
- Right to data portability – to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
- Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, to withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact: webmaster@virtualmicroscopy.co.uk
We will respond to requests within one month in accordance with our legal obligations. If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your data or your rights request, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority:
- In the UK: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) — ico.org.uk
- In Ireland: the Data Protection Commission (DPC) — dataprotection.ie
11. Children's Privacy
This Website is intended for use by qualified or trainee medical professionals and is not directed at persons under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently done so, we will delete such data promptly.
12. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date shown at the top of this document indicates when the policy was last revised. We encourage you to review this policy periodically. Continued use of the Website after any update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
13. Contact
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: webmaster@virtualmicroscopy.co.uk