Effective date: 12 May 2026
Last updated: 12 May 2026
1. Who we are
This website (jdpianostudio.co.uk) is operated by JAMES DUNCAN PIANO LTD, a private limited company registered in England and Wales.
- Company number: 16177774
- Registered office (virtual): Bartle House, Oxford Court, Manchester M2 3WQ
- Trading address (studio): 2 Bowden View, Shawe Road, Urmston, Manchester M41 5DL
- Email: hello@jdpianostudio.co.uk
- Phone: +44 7984 753235
In this Privacy Policy, "we", "us", "our", and "JD Piano Studio" refer to JAMES DUNCAN PIANO LTD. References to "you" and "your" refer to anyone who interacts with our website, enquires about lessons, or attends lessons. We are the data controller of any personal information you provide to us.
2. ICO registration
The UK Data Protection Act 2018 requires most organisations that process personal data to register with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Our ICO registration is currently in progress. We will publish our ICO registration number on this page once registered.
3. What information we collect
We collect only the personal information necessary to deliver piano lessons and respond to enquiries.
a. Contact details you provide — Your name, email address, and phone number. You provide these when you contact us by email, phone, or other means.
b. Lesson progress notes — If you become a student, we maintain notes about your lesson progress. These may be written on paper or stored in digital format, and typically include songs and pieces practised, technique exercises completed, exam preparation milestones, and personal learning goals you have shared with us. These notes exist to help us tailor lessons to your needs over time.
c. Email correspondence — Email exchanges between you and James are stored in our email account hosted by Hostinger (our website and email hosting provider).
4. What we do NOT collect
To be transparent about what we do not do:
- We do not use website analytics tools (no Google Analytics, no Facebook Pixel, no similar tracking).
- We do not maintain a customer relationship management (CRM) system or third-party student management software.
- We do not store payment card details. Once we accept online payments (planned for a future phase), all card details will be handled by Stripe and will never touch our systems.
- We do not buy or rent contact information from third parties.
5. Why we use your information (legal basis)
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), we rely on the following legal bases:
- Contract — When you book or take lessons with us, we use your contact details and lesson notes to deliver the service.
- Legitimate interests — We use your contact information to respond to your enquiries, send lesson confirmations, and communicate practical updates (e.g. a session needing to be rescheduled). We only contact you about things directly relevant to your lessons.
- Consent — Where required, we will ask for your explicit consent (for example, before featuring you in any marketing material). You can withdraw consent at any time.
- Legal obligation — We may keep records of payments and correspondence to meet HMRC tax reporting requirements (which require records to be retained for at least six years).
6. Sharing your information
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information.
We share information only with the following service providers, who act as data processors on our behalf:
- Hostinger — provides website hosting and email hosting infrastructure.
- Stripe (planned, future phase) — will handle payments once online booking is enabled. Stripe processes payment data independently as their own data controller; please see their privacy policy for details.
We may disclose your information if required by law (for example, in response to a court order or HMRC investigation), and we will notify you where we are permitted to do so.
7. International transfers
Hostinger operates infrastructure within the UK and EU. Where any of your data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we rely on appropriate safeguards permitted under UK GDPR (such as standard contractual clauses or adequacy decisions).
8. How long we keep your information
- Enquiries that do not become lessons: Email correspondence is retained for up to 12 months after the last exchange, then deleted.
- Active students: Contact details and lesson notes are kept for as long as you are an active student.
- Former students: Contact details and lesson notes are retained for 12 months after your last lesson, then deleted.
- Financial records: Payment records and invoices are kept for six years to meet HMRC requirements.
9. Your rights under UK GDPR
You have the right to: access (request a copy of your data), rectify (correct inaccurate information), erase (request deletion, subject to legal exceptions), restrict processing, portability (receive data in a structured format), object to processing based on legitimate interests, withdraw consent at any time, and lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at https://ico.org.uk.
To exercise any of these rights, please email hello@jdpianostudio.co.uk. We will respond within one month.
10. Cookies and tracking
Our website uses only a minimal set of strictly necessary cookies. We do not display a cookie consent banner because we do not set any cookies that require consent under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Please see our Cookie Policy for full details.
11. Children
Our lessons currently accept only adult learners (aged 18 and over). We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18.
12. Security
We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information, including HTTPS encryption for all website traffic, email accounts protected by strong passwords, and paper lesson notes kept securely at our studio premises. No internet transmission or storage system is 100% secure; if you have any concerns, please contact us.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent version. Material changes will be communicated to active students by email.
14. Contact
JAMES DUNCAN PIANO LTD
Email: hello@jdpianostudio.co.uk
Phone: +44 7984 753235
Post: 2 Bowden View, Shawe Road, Urmston, Manchester M41 5DL