Privacy Policy
How Shared Area handles your data — simply and transparently.
Last updated: March 2026
Who we are
Shared Area is a UK registered charity building a publicly owned, free education platform. We believe in data minimisation — we collect the absolute minimum data needed to run the platform.
What data we collect
- Username — chosen by you. This is not your real name.
- Password — stored as a secure cryptographic hash. We never see or store your plain-text password.
- Videos you upload — educational content you choose to share on the platform.
- Audio narrations — narrations you record for videos on the platform.
- XP points and achievements — earned through your activity on the platform.
- Avatar configuration — your chosen avatar appearance settings.
- Favourited videos — videos you have marked as favourites.
What we do NOT collect
- Email addresses
- Real names
- Date of birth
- Location or IP address data
- Payment or financial information
- Cookies for tracking or advertising
How we use your data
- To provide the Shared Area platform service
- To display verified educational content you have uploaded
- To run the XP, achievement, and gamification system
- To manage the content verification process
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose other than running the Shared Area platform.
How long we keep your data
Your account data is kept for as long as your account exists. You can request account deletion at any time by contacting us via our contact page. When your account is deleted, all associated data (profile, XP, favourites, avatar settings) is permanently removed.
Videos and narrations you have uploaded may remain on the platform after account deletion if they have been approved and are being used by learners, but your username will be disassociated from them.
Your rights under UK GDPR
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to:
- Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
- Rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
- Erasure — request deletion of your account and data
- Restriction — request that we limit how we use your data
- Portability — request your data in a portable format
- Objection — object to how we process your data
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us via our contact page.
Third-party services
We use the following third-party services to run the platform. None of these services sell or share your data:
- Supabase — database and authentication hosting, EU (London) region
- Cloudflare — video storage, content delivery, and website hosting
Children's data
Shared Area is designed for use by learners of all ages, including children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children beyond a username and password. We do not collect email addresses, real names, or any data that could identify a child. Our safeguarding policy provides further detail on how we protect young users.
Data security
All data is transmitted over HTTPS (encrypted in transit). Passwords are hashed using industry-standard algorithms — we never store plain-text passwords. Our database is hosted in the EU (London) with row-level security on every table.
ICO registration
Shared Area is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as required for UK organisations that process personal data.
Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated date.
Contact us
If you have questions about this privacy policy or want to exercise your data rights, please use our contact page.