Privacy & Cookie Policy

Last updated: 20 October 2026

This policy explains what personal data Edventure Abroad Limited, trading as Global English TESOL ("we", "us"), collects when you use our website, www.global-english.com, and our student app, Global English, for iPhone and Android. It says why we use the data, who we share it with, how long we keep it and what your rights are. Please read it together with our terms and conditions.

Who we are

Global English TESOL is a trading name of Edventure Abroad Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 14872191), which is the data controller for your personal data. Our registered office is 46 East Grove Road, Exeter, EX2 4LX, United Kingdom. You can contact us at info@global-english.com, by phone on +44 (0) 7869 257 124, or by post at our registered office. We follow UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).

Data we collect

Your account. Your name, email address, password (stored only as a secure one-way hash) and the details you give at checkout, such as your postal address if you order a printed certificate or book.

Your purchases. What you bought, when and for how much. Card payments on our website are handled by Stripe; we never see or store your full card number. Purchases made inside the Android app are handled by Google Play, which tells us what was bought but does not share your payment details with us.

Your coursework and study. Your answers to lesson activities, your progress through each course, the files and photos you submit for marking, your tutor's marks and feedback, and your certificates.

Your messages. Messages between you, your tutor and our admin team, and any email you send us.

IELTS practice. Essays and speaking recordings you send for marking by a tutor, and, if you use the free IELTS Speaking practice tool on our website, your recording, its transcript, the feedback and your email address (see "Outside AI services" below).

Website use. Pages you visit, the site that referred you, your browser and device type and your IP address. Some of this is collected by cookies (see "Cookies" below).

Marketing choices. Whether you have agreed to receive our newsletter or tips, and whether you have unsubscribed.

Our student app

The Global English app for iPhone and Android connects only to our own server. It shows your courses, saves your lesson answers, uploads coursework, and shows your messages, feedback and certificates. In the app we collect:

• Name, email address and your account ID, to sign you in and show your account;
• Photos and files you choose to submit as coursework. The app opens your camera or photo library only when you tap to add coursework, and only with your permission;
• Other content you create: lesson answers and messages;
• How you use the course: which lessons you have opened and completed, so the app can show your progress and take you back to where you left off.

All of this is used only to provide the course to you. The app contains no advertising and no advertising or analytics tracking, and we do not use app data to track you across other companies' apps or websites.

iPhone app. The iPhone app uses no third-party services apart from YouTube's standard video player, which plays lesson videos. It does not use any AI service.

Android app. The Android app also uses Google's Firebase services: Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver notifications (for example, when your tutor has marked your work), which stores a notification token for your device, and Firebase Crashlytics, which sends us a technical report if the app crashes (device model, Android version and what the app was doing, but not your coursework or messages). If you turn on biometric sign-in, your fingerprint or face data never leaves your device; Android only tells the app whether the check passed.

Deleting your account in the app. Go to Profile, then Delete account. Your account is disabled straight away, every device is signed out and your personal details are queued for removal (see "How long we keep data").

Outside AI services

Our free IELTS Speaking practice tool on our website (not in the app) uses two outside AI services. It asks your permission first, and nothing is sent until you agree:

• OpenAI (USA) receives your recording and turns it into text;
• Anthropic (USA) receives that text and the practice question, and writes your feedback.

Both process the data only to provide this service to us. Under their business terms they do not use it to train their AI models. We do not send these services your name. Coursework, tutor marking, messages and the student app do not use any AI service: a qualified tutor marks your work.

Why we use your data

• To provide your course and purchases (performing our contract with you): enrolment, lessons, marking, certificates, deliveries and customer support.
• To meet legal obligations: tax and accounting records, and confirming qualifications to our accrediting body.
• For our legitimate interests: keeping our services secure, preventing fraud and spam, fixing faults and improving our courses.
• With your consent: our newsletter and tips, non-essential cookies, and sending speaking practice recordings to the AI services above. You can withdraw consent at any time.

Who we share data with

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with the organisations that help us run our services, and only what each one needs:

• Your tutor, who marks your coursework and replies to your messages;
• ACTDEC, our accrediting body, which receives the details needed to issue and verify your certificate;
• SiteGround, which hosts our website, database and student app server, and sends our account and course emails;
• Stripe, which processes card payments on our website;
• Google Play, which processes purchases made in the Android app;
• Google Firebase, for Android app notifications and crash reports;
• SendGrid (Twilio), which sends our newsletter to people who have subscribed;
• OpenAI and Anthropic, for the website's free IELTS Speaking practice tool only, as described above;
• YouTube (Google), which plays the videos in our lessons and on our website;
• Google reCAPTCHA, which helps protect some of our website forms from spam;
• Google Analytics, Google Ads and Meta (Facebook and Instagram), on our website only and only if you accept those cookies;
• Employers or education bodies, to confirm your course dates and results, but only when you ask us to or when you share your certificate's verification link with them;
• Professional advisers, the police or regulators where the law requires it, and a buyer if our business is ever sold.

International transfers

Some of these providers (including Stripe, Google, Meta, SendGrid, OpenAI and Anthropic) process data in the United States or elsewhere outside the UK. Where they do, the transfer is protected by the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

How long we keep data

• Course records and certificates (your name, course, dates and result) are kept so that we can confirm your qualification and so that your certificate stays verifiable.
• Payment and order records are kept for six years, as UK tax law requires.
• Coursework, messages and other account details are kept while your account is active. When you delete your account, they are removed or anonymised, apart from the course records and order records described above.
• Speaking practice recordings and transcripts are kept on our server, outside public reach, so we can check the quality of the tool. We delete them if you ask.
• Marketing preferences: if you unsubscribe, we keep your email address on a "do not contact" list so we never email you again.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that a website places on your device.

• Necessary cookies keep you signed in, remember your basket and keep the site secure. The site cannot work without them.
• Statistics cookies (Google Analytics) show us how visitors use the site.
• Marketing cookies (Google Ads, Meta) measure our advertising and may show you more relevant ads.

Statistics and marketing cookies are set only if you accept them in our cookie banner. You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but some parts of the site may then stop working. The student app does not use cookies for tracking.

Your rights

You have the right to ask for a copy of your data, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, to receive it in a portable format, and to withdraw any consent you have given. To unsubscribe from marketing, use the link in any of our emails. For anything else, email info@global-english.com. We reply within one month. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

Children

Our courses and our app are for adults. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18.

Security

All traffic to our website and app is encrypted. Passwords are stored as one-way hashes, and coursework and recordings are kept outside the public parts of our server.

Changes to this policy

When we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page and, if the change is significant, tell you by email or in the app.