Privacy Policy

This policy explains what personal information FRCOphthMCQ ("we", "us") collects when you use frcophthmcq.com, why we collect it, and your rights over it. We are the data controller for this information under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

What we collect

• Account details: your email address, and if you sign in with Google, your name and profile picture.
• Purchases: your credit balance and a record of each purchase (which bundle you bought and when). Card payments are handled by Stripe; we never see or store your card details.
• Exam activity: your answers, flags, time taken and progress through each mock exam, your scores and performance by category, and which questions you have already been given (so we can avoid repeating them).
• Technical information: a session cookie that keeps you signed in, and the country your connection comes from, which we use to show prices in your local currency. We do not store your location.
• Usage statistics: anonymous, aggregated page-view and performance statistics. These do not use cookies and do not identify you.
• Messages: anything you send us, such as an unsubscribe request or an email.

How we use it

• To provide the service: signing you in, running your mock exams, saving your progress and showing your results. Our legal basis is performing our contract with you.
• To show candidates how their scores compare with others. Your scores are included only in anonymous averages across many candidates; no one else can see your individual results.
• To take payments and keep records of them. Our legal basis is our contract with you, and our legal obligation to keep financial records.
• To keep the service secure, fix problems and improve it. Our legal basis is our legitimate interest in running a reliable service.
• To send you sign-in links and, if you have not unsubscribed, occasional emails about the service.

We do not sell your personal information or use it for advertising.

Who we share it with

We use the following providers to run the service. They only process your information on our instructions:

• Vercel: hosting and anonymous usage statistics
• MongoDB Atlas: database storage
• Stripe: payment processing
• Postmark: sending sign-in and service emails
• Google: if you choose to sign in with Google

Some of these providers may process information outside the UK. Where they do, they use appropriate safeguards, such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or Standard Contractual Clauses.

How long we keep it

• The progress for an exam, including your answers, is deleted when you end the review of that exam, and may be deleted earlier if the exam is left inactive.
• Your results, question history and account details are kept for as long as you have an account.
• Purchase records are kept for six years, as required for tax purposes.

Cookies and local storage

We use one essential cookie to keep you signed in. We also store a couple of preferences in your browser, such as your chosen exam layout. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

Your rights

You have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to receive a copy of it in a portable format. To use any of these rights, email us at admin@frcophthmcq.com.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it was last changed.

Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent to admin@frcophthmcq.com.