Privacy Policy
A Note Before You Read
Your privacy matters. This policy explains, in plain language, what data we collect, how we use it, and what rights you have. We have tried to avoid jargon, and where we have had to use a technical term, we explain it.
If something is not clear, email us at legal@fe1madesimple.ie.
This policy covers our Study Platform at fe1madesimple.ie and Study Notes purchases at notes.fe1madesimple.ie. The FE-1 Made Simple podcast is hosted on Spotify, and their privacy policy governs your data when you are on Spotify.
01 Who is responsible for your data?
Data Controller
FE-1 Made Simple Limited, a company registered in Ireland (Company No. 815400)
Contact via the email opposite for any data-protection matter.
Contact
legal@fe1madesimple.ieUnder GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation), we are the "controller" of your personal data, meaning we decide how and why it is used.
02 What data we collect
We only collect data that we actually need. Here is what we collect and why:
2.1 Account Information (when you register)
| Data | Why we collect it |
|---|---|
| Your name | To personalise your experience and address you correctly |
| Email address | To log you in, send important account emails, and respond to support requests |
| Password | Stored securely as a hash, never in plain text, to authenticate your account |
| Google account info | Name and email from Google to create/match your account |
2.2 Profile Information (what you fill in after registering)
| FE-1 subjects | To personalise your dashboard and show relevant content first |
| Exam sitting date | To show you an accurate countdown and send timely study reminders |
| Academic background | Optional. To tailor explanations (e.g., flagging legal fundamentals for non-law graduates) |
2.3 Usage Data (collected automatically)
| Lessons completed | To track your progress and show you what to study next |
| Answers & history | To show your history, power AI feedback, and help you identify weak areas |
| Mock exam records | To let you review your performance over time |
| AI feedback counts | To apply your monthly usage limits and save feedback history |
| Study streaks | To power the streak feature and send study reminders |
2.4 Payment Information
We do not store your card details. All payment processing is handled by Stripe, a PCI-DSS certified payment processor. We receive a token from Stripe confirming successful payment, and we store:
- Stripe customer ID
- Current subscription plan
- Subscription status
- Billing history (amount, date)
2.5 Technical Data (collected automatically)
| IP address | Security and fraud detection, not for tracking |
| Browser type | To diagnose technical issues |
| Device type | To ensure the right layout is served |
| Error logs | To identify and fix bugs |
03 How we use your data
To provide the service
Keeping you logged in, tracking progress, delivering AI feedback, and showing relevant content.
To improve the platform
We use anonymised, aggregated patterns from student answers, marks, and study behaviour to improve the marker accuracy and prioritise the content we produce next. Your individual answers are never shared outside the platform.
To send important emails
Security updates, payment receipts, password resets, and renewal reminders.
To educate uniquely
Personalising content recommendations based on your subject choices.
For AI Feedback
When you submit a practice essay for AI feedback, your essay text and the question it answers are sent to Anthropic via the Claude API (Commercial tier).
What Anthropic does
- Processes the essay to generate the marker output
- Does not use API inputs or outputs to train models, under Anthropic's Commercial Terms of Service
- Operates Zero Data Retention for API traffic where available
- EU→US transfers covered by Standard Contractual Clauses
What we store
- Essay text linked to your account for review
- Marker output, score, band and the cited authorities
- History deleted if your account is deleted
Automated decision-making
The AI marker is an automated process. Its output is informational and educational only. It is not a decision that produces legal effects on you and is not your actual exam result. You can request human review of any AI mark by emailing legal@fe1madesimple.ie.
04 Who we share your data with
| Service | What they do | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Railway (United States) | Application hosting for the API, admin console and managed Postgres database | Account, progress and payment-record data; request logs |
| Cloudflare (Global) | CDN, caching and DDoS protection in front of every page | IP addresses, request metadata, a small set of operational cookies |
| Stripe (Ireland / United States) | Payment processing (PCI-DSS Level 1 certified) | Name, email, billing address, card token (we never see card numbers) |
| Anthropic (United States) | AI feedback processing on essays you submit (via the Claude API) | Practice essay text and the question prompt |
| Brevo (France) | Transactional and notification email (account, billing, study reminders) | Name and email address |
| Cloudinary (United States) | Storage and delivery of media assets (podcast thumbnails, illustrations) | No personal data — only public course media |
| Google (United States) | OAuth sign-in for users who choose "Continue with Google" | Google account email + basic profile fields you consent to at sign-in |
We do not sell your data. We do not share your data with the Law Society of Ireland or any other exam body.
05 Where is data stored?
Application servers and primary database (Postgres on Google Cloud SQL) are hosted in the European Union, Google's europe-west1 region (St. Ghislain, Belgium). Cloudflare sits in front of the site as CDN. AI processing via Anthropic may occur on infrastructure outside the EU (typically the US); transfers are governed by the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) together with Anthropic's Commercial Terms of Service, including their Zero Data Retention commitment for API customers.
06 How long we keep it
| Account Data | Until account deletion |
| AI Feedback History | Until account deletion |
| Payment records | 7 years from the transaction (required under Irish tax law and survives account deletion in anonymised form) |
| Technical logs | 90 days |
07 Your Rights
Under GDPR, you have the following rights. These are real rights, not marketing language.
To Know
Request a copy of all personal data we hold about you.
To Correct
Update inaccurate information via your settings or by asking us.
To Delete
The right to be forgotten. Delete account and data (except tax records).
Portability
Request an export of your data in CSV or JSON format.
To Object
Object to unfair or unlawful processing.
To Restrict
Pause data usage while a dispute is being resolved.
To exercise any of these rights:
Email us with "Data Request" in the subject line. We respond within one calendar month.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission of Ireland if you believe we have handled your data unlawfully.
09 Children, Breaches & Data Protection Officer
Children
FE-1 Made Simple is intended for users aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has registered an account, contact us and we will delete the data.
Breach notification
If we suffer a personal-data breach likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify the Data Protection Commission within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, and notify you directly where the risk is high, as required by Articles 33 and 34 GDPR.
Data Protection Officer
We are a small operation that is not legally required to appoint a DPO. Data-protection enquiries are handled directly by the operator at legal@fe1madesimple.ie.
08 Cookies
We use a small number of essential cookies to make the platform work. We do not use tracking or advertising cookies.
| Cookie | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Session / auth | Keeps you logged in between pages and visits |
| Cloudflare | Operational cookies (e.g. __cf_bm) set by Cloudflare to keep the CDN running and block bot traffic. No advertising or tracking. |
| Stripe | Required for Stripe payment checkout to work |
Change your cookie choice
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