Website privacy policy

1. Who we are

This website, www.boomreader.co.uk, is run by Squirrel Learning Ltd, West Midlands House, Gipsy Lane, Willenhall, WV13 2HA, United Kingdom. Squirrel Learning Ltd is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy.

We handle personal information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. If you have any question about this policy, email data@boomhub.app.

This policy covers this website only. The BoomReader and BoomWriter apps have their own privacy policy: see section 10.

2. The short version

3. What we collect and why

When you browse the site

You do not need to give us any information to read this website. Like every website, our servers see standard technical information about each visit, such as your IP address, the page requested, the date and time, and your browser type. Our hosting provider, Cloudflare, keeps this in server logs so we can keep the site running and protect it against misuse and attacks.

We also count how many times each page is viewed, so we know which pages are most useful. We keep only a running total for each page and each day: no cookies, no IP addresses and nothing that could identify you or your device.

When you book a demo

If you fill in our Book a demo form, we collect your name, role, school, school postcode, email address, phone number, the number of pupils at your school and your message. Some of these fields are optional. We also record the IP address the form was sent from, so we can stop spam and repeated automated submissions.

This is stored in our website database so our team can reply to you, arrange a demo and answer your questions.

When you enter a competition

Our competitions are entered by a parent or teacher on a pupil's behalf. The entry form asks for:

• the pupil's first name and year group (we do not ask for a surname)
• the school name
• the name and email address of the parent or teacher entering
• the entry itself: an uploaded file of the pupil's artwork or writing, or written text, depending on the competition

We also record the IP address the entry was sent from, to stop spam and automated entries. Uploaded files are stored privately and are only available to our team.

We use this information to run and judge the competition and to contact the winners. When winners are announced, we may show a winning pupil's first name, year group and school on the competition page.

When you sign a class up for Young Reporter

Teachers can sign their classes up for our Young Reporter writing competition. The sign-up form asks for the school name and postcode, the teacher's name, role and email address, the year groups taking part, the number of classes and roughly how many children (a number only: we don't ask for any children's names), whether the school already uses BoomWriter, and anything else the teacher wants to tell us.

We use this to set the classes up in BoomWriter, send the press pack and run the competition, and we only email you about the competition. We also record the IP address the form was sent from, to stop spam.

Our own team's login

The website has a private admin area that only members of our own team can sign in to, to publish blog posts and manage competitions. For those team members we hold a name, work email address, a securely hashed password and records of sign-ins, including failed attempts and the IP address they came from, so we can protect accounts from password-guessing. Signing in sets one strictly necessary session cookie, described in our cookie policy. Visitors to the public site never get this cookie.

Your cookie choice

If you answer our cookie banner, your answer is saved on your own device in your browser's local storage. It is not sent to us. See our cookie policy.

When you email us

If you email support@boomhub.app, we receive whatever you include in your message and use it to reply to you.

We do not sell your information, and we do not use it for advertising.

4. Our lawful bases

UK data protection law says we must have a lawful basis for using personal information. We rely on:

What	Lawful basis
Book a demo requests and emails to us	Our legitimate interests in replying to enquiries, and taking steps you have asked for before a school subscribes
Young Reporter sign-ups	Our legitimate interests in running the competition that the teacher has signed their classes up for
Competition entries	Our legitimate interests in running the competition that the parent or teacher has chosen to enter, under the competition terms they agree to
Team logins and sign-in records	Our legitimate interests in keeping the website and its admin area secure
Server logs and spam protection (including IP addresses)	Our legitimate interests in keeping the website secure and working
Loading YouTube videos	Your consent, which you give by choosing to allow videos and can withdraw at any time

5. Who else is involved

We do not share your information with anyone for their own marketing. Some companies are involved in running the site:

Service	What it does here	When
Cloudflare	Hosts the website, its database and uploaded files, and keeps server logs for security. Cloudflare processes this for us, under our instructions.	Every visit and every form sent
Google Calendar	Shows available demo times and takes your booking, on the private booking page we send you.	Only when you choose to show the available times
Freshdesk (Freshworks)	Our support inbox. Emails to support@boomhub.app, and any details you include, are handled by Freshworks on our behalf.	When you email our support team
YouTube (Google)	Plays our videos, in privacy-enhanced mode. Preview images are hosted on our own site.	Only when you choose to play a video
Apple	Supplies the App Store badge image	On the homepage and parents page

Google (YouTube and Google Calendar) and Apple act as independent companies with their own privacy policies when they receive your information in this way. Links to other websites, such as our social media pages or the BoomReader app, take you to sites with their own privacy policies.

Cloudflare operates a global network, so your information may be processed outside the UK. Where it is, we make sure the safeguards required by UK data protection law are in place.

We may also share information if the law requires it, or to protect the rights and safety of our users or others.

6. How long we keep it

• Competition entries, including the uploaded file, the pupil's details and the contact details, are deleted after the competition closes and the winners are announced, and in any case within 6 months of the closing date. The website deletes them automatically at that point.
• Young Reporter sign-ups are kept while the competition runs. Once we've dealt with a sign-up, it's deleted a year later.
• Book a demo requests and emails are kept for as long as needed for the purpose described: replying to you, arranging a demo and keeping a record of our conversations with your school.
• IP addresses recorded with demo requests, competition entries and Young Reporter sign-ups are deleted after 30 days.
• Team accounts are kept while the person works with us. Sign-in sessions end when they sign out or after 14 days, and failed sign-in records are deleted after a day.
• Server logs are kept by Cloudflare for as long as needed for security, in line with its own retention settings.
• Your cookie choice stays on your own device until you clear it, or for 180 days, after which we ask again.

You can ask us to delete your information sooner at any time. See your rights.

7. Keeping it secure

The website is served only over encrypted HTTPS connections. Competition files are stored privately and are never publicly available. Our admin area is limited to our own team, passwords are stored only as secure hashes, and repeated failed sign-in attempts are blocked.

8. Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have the right to:

• ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• ask us to correct anything that is wrong or incomplete
• ask us to delete your information
• ask us to restrict how we use it
• object to us using it, including for any direct marketing
• ask for a copy in a portable format, where that applies
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on consent (for example, for YouTube videos)

To use any of these rights, email data@boomhub.app. We will reply within one month. A parent or teacher who entered a competition can ask us to withdraw and delete an entry at any time.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk.

9. Children

This website is written for teachers, school leaders and parents. Children should not use the Book a demo form. Competition entries are made by a parent or teacher on a pupil's behalf, and we ask only for the pupil's first name and year group alongside their work. We use this only to run the competition, and delete it as described in section 6.

10. The BoomReader app

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update it here and change the date at the top of the page. If we make a significant change, such as collecting a new kind of information, we will make that clear on the site.

12. Contact us

Email data@boomhub.app, or write to Squirrel Learning Ltd, West Midlands House, Gipsy Lane, Willenhall, WV13 2HA, United Kingdom.