Privacy Policy

Effective date: April 2026
Last updated: April 2026

1. Who We Are

AcornStar Ltd (company number 633167) is the owner and data controller of this website and our learning management system (LMS). Our registered office is at Lowtown, Robertstown, Co. Kildare, Ireland.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact us at:

Email: info@acornstar.com
Phone: +353 45 890 384

2. What This Policy Covers

This Privacy Policy explains how AcornStar Ltd collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you:

– Visit our website at acornstar.com
– Register for or complete any of our online training courses
– Contact us via our website, email, or telephone
– Sign up to receive marketing materials or newsletters
– Arrive on our website from social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, or Vimeo
– Purchase courses or services through our platform

We are committed to protecting your privacy and processing your personal data in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and all applicable Irish and EU data protection legislation.

3. What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity and contact information: first name, last name, email address, phone number, company name, job title, county or country of residence.

Account and training data: username, password (encrypted), course enrolment records, progress data, assessment results, completion certificates, and audit logs.

Payment information: where you purchase courses directly, payment details are processed securely through our payment provider. We do not store full card details.

Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, device information, time zone, pages visited, and usage data collected through cookies and analytics tools.

Marketing preferences: your preferences for receiving communications from us.

4. How We Collect Your Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you register, enrol in a course, contact us, or make a purchase. We also collect data automatically through cookies and analytics tools when you visit our website, and through third-party platforms such as social media networks or advertising platforms where you interact with our content.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following lawful bases under Article 6 of the GDPR:

Contract: to provide our training services, manage your account, and fulfil purchases you have made.

Legitimate interests: to improve our services, maintain platform security, conduct analytics, and communicate with existing customers about relevant updates.

Consent: for non-essential cookies and for sending marketing communications to new contacts. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Legal obligation: where we are required to retain or disclose data under Irish or EU law.

6. Individual Use and Course Access

Our courses are licensed for individual use only. Each user must register with their own account and complete courses independently. While organisations may purchase multiple licences for their employees or staff members, each individual must access and complete the course using their own login credentials.

Trainers, educators, or other individuals are expressly prohibited from using our course materials to conduct group training sessions, classroom instruction, or any form of collective learning delivery. Any such use constitutes a breach of copyright and our terms of use. AcornStar Ltd reserves the right to enforce these rights and to terminate access for any account found in violation of this condition.

7. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data to:

– Create and manage your account and provide access to our LMS
– Deliver and administer training courses and issue certificates
– Process payments and manage billing
– Respond to your enquiries and provide customer support
– Send you important information about your account, courses, or our services
– Where you have given consent, send you marketing communications and newsletters
– Monitor and improve platform performance and user experience
– Fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations
– Detect and prevent fraud, misuse, or security incidents

8. Employer and Business Customer Visibility

In business deployments, where an organisation purchases licences for its employees, user progress, assessment results, interactions, and audit logs may be visible to the employer or business administrator acting as the data controller. This is for legitimate training and compliance management purposes. If you have concerns about this, please contact your employer or AcornStar at info@acornstar.com.

9. Third-Party Services and Data Processors

We use a number of trusted third-party services to operate our platform. These providers process data on our behalf and are bound by appropriate data processing agreements. These include:

Analytics: Google Analytics and Google Ads conversion tracking (usage data and cookies).
Advertising: Google Ad Manager and Google AdSense (cookies and usage data).
Email and marketing: Mailchimp (name, email address, company name, usage data).
Platform and hosting: WordPress and Kinsta (platform data and hosting).
Spam protection: Google reCAPTCHA and Akismet (cookies and usage data).
Backup: VaultPress (various data types as specified in their privacy policy).
Fonts: Google Fonts (usage data).

We remain responsible for ensuring these processors handle your data in accordance with this policy and applicable data protection law.

10. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies on our website. Non-essential cookies require your consent. Our cookie banner provides granular choices, and you can change or withdraw your consent at any time through your browser settings or the cookie banner controls.

For full details, please see our Cookie Policy.

11. International Data Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA), we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or other valid transfer mechanisms recognised under GDPR.

12. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, including maintaining training records for the duration of your contract and for a reasonable period thereafter to evidence compliance, unless a longer or shorter period is required by law.

13. Your Data Protection Rights

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access: you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: you may request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: you may request that we restrict the processing of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: you may request that we transfer your data to you or a third party in a structured, machine-readable format.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@acornstar.com. We will respond within one month of receiving your request.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Irish Data Protection Commission (DPC) at www.dataprotection.ie.

14. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction, or alteration. Access to personal data is restricted on a role-based basis, and we maintain audit logs of access to sensitive data.

15. Children

Our services are not intended for children under the age of 16 unless accessed through an educational institution or employer with appropriate consents and safeguards in place. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16 without appropriate authorisation.

16. Links to External Websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those websites and encourage you to review their privacy policies independently.

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes where reasonable, and the “Last updated” date at the top of this page will always reflect the current version. Continued use of our services after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

18. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests in relation to this Privacy Policy or the handling of your personal data, please contact us:

AcornStar Ltd
Lowtown, Robertstown
Co. Kildare, Ireland
Email: info@acornstar.com
Phone: +353 45 890 384