This notice explains how Earthlink Consultants Limited, trading as Earthlink Consultants ("Earthlink", "we", "us"), uses personal information. We are the controller for the processing described here. Our company number is 09256413, our registered office is Unit 1 2 Fitzgerald House, Willowcourt Avenue, Harrow, England, HA3 8ES, and our Information Commissioner's Office registration reference is ZA655407.

1. Information we collect

Depending on the service you ask for, we may collect the following information:

identity and contact information, such as your name, email address and phone number;
enquiry and service information, such as your preferred destination, education, employment history, qualifications, goals and intended travel;
documents you choose to provide for an agreed service, such as academic, professional, financial or immigration documents;
our communications with you and records of consultations or complaints;
limited technical information needed to operate and secure the website, together with your cookie and external-media choices; and
marketing preferences where you have chosen to receive updates.

Please do not send passports, financial records, health information or other sensitive documents through the general enquiry form. If an agreed service genuinely requires special-category or criminal-offence information, we will explain the additional legal condition and secure submission method before collecting it.

We usually collect information directly from you. We may also receive it from a person you authorise to act for you, or receive application responses and status information from an institution, employer or authority we contact at your request. Providing information is not normally a statutory requirement, but information identified as necessary in your service agreement may be required to assess or deliver that service. If it is not provided, we may be unable to proceed.

2. How and why we use information

We use information to respond to enquiries and take steps you request before a contract; deliver the education, non-UK visitor-visa or candidate-matching service set out in your agreement; communicate with institutions, employers or authorities at your request; administer our relationship and handle complaints; meet legal obligations; keep our services secure; and send optional marketing only where permitted.

3. Legal basis

We rely on taking steps at your request before a contract and performing our contract with you; our legitimate interests in answering general enquiries, administering and securing our services, and establishing or defending legal claims; compliance with legal obligations; and consent where we ask for it, including optional marketing and external media. You may withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier lawful processing.

4. UK visa enquiries and Stonebridge

Earthlink does not provide advice or application processing for any UK visa route. Stonebridge exclusively handles all such advice and application processing under a separate contract with you. If information is to pass from Earthlink to Stonebridge for an introduction you request, the collection-point notice will identify Stonebridge, the purpose, the information proposed for sharing and the applicable legal basis before it is sent. Stonebridge must provide its own privacy information for processing carried out under its separate contract.

5. Other sharing

We do not sell personal information. Where necessary for your requested service, we may share relevant information with a university or other education provider; an employer considering your application; a relevant authority for a non-UK service; professional advisers; or suppliers that host, secure or support our business systems. We disclose only what is necessary for the stated purpose and require appropriate data-protection terms where the law requires them.

6. International transfers

Our services concern destinations worldwide, so information may need to be sent outside the UK when you ask us to contact an institution, employer or authority abroad. Before a restricted transfer, we assess the lawful transfer mechanism and will not make the transfer unless an adequacy regulation, an appropriate safeguard or another exception permitted by UK law applies. We will explain the applicable mechanism when required. Contact us if you would like information about the safeguard used for a particular transfer.

7. Retention

We keep information only for as long as the purpose requires. We consider whether an enquiry became a client matter, the duration of the service, legal and accounting duties, complaint or claim periods, and whether a shorter anonymised record is sufficient. Marketing information is kept until you opt out or it is no longer useful. The cookie preference described below expires after six months. We securely delete or anonymise information when it is no longer needed.

8. Your rights

Depending on the processing and its legal basis, you may have rights to be informed; ask for access, correction, deletion, restriction or portability; object to processing; and withdraw consent. The right to object applies in particular to direct marketing and may also apply where we rely on legitimate interests. You are not normally required to pay to exercise a right. Email office@earthlink.org.uk to make a request. We may need proportionate information to confirm identity or authority to act for someone else.

Earthlink does not use personal information collected through this website to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

9. Cookies and storage technologies

We use a necessary first-party cookie named earthlink_cookie_consent to keep a versioned record of your choices for six months. External media is off by default and may load only after you enable it. You can use the cookie-settings control to reject it or withdraw consent as easily as you gave it.

The embedded Google Map on our contact page is external media. It is replaced by a local placeholder until you allow external media; opening the ordinary Google Maps link is always optional. If enabled, Google may store or access information on your device and process technical information under its own privacy terms. We do not use consent given for external media as consent for advertising.

The floating review certificate is supplied by Trustindex from cdn.trustindex.io. It remains unloaded until you allow external media. If enabled, Trustindex may receive technical request information and operate the certificate under its own privacy terms.

The site also uses first-party local storage for its display setting and a short-lived university-logo URL cache. These entries support the site's appearance and performance and are not used for advertising or cross-site tracking. We review storage technologies when the site or its suppliers change and request fresh consent before adding a new non-exempt purpose.

10. Data-protection complaints

You can make a data-protection complaint through any of our contact channels. Emailing office@earthlink.org.uk is the most direct route. We will acknowledge receipt within 30 days, investigate and keep you informed without undue delay, and provide the outcome without undue delay. You may also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time through the ICO complaints service.

11. Contact

Earthlink Consultants Limited, Unit 1 2 Fitzgerald House, Willowcourt Avenue, Harrow, England, HA3 8ES. Email office@earthlink.org.uk. Phone +44 7721 069 814.

Privacy Policy