Your website is often the first thing a parent sees before they book. Behind the pages about your coaches and classes, three documents quietly do a lot of work: your privacy notice, your terms and your cookie policy. They tell families what you do with their information, what they are agreeing to when they book, and how your website uses cookies.

The law expects you to have them, and to make sure they describe your academy. This guide explains what each one is for, who is responsible for it, and when to review it.

Important: This article is general guidance, not legal advice. The ICO's guidance at ico.org.uk covers privacy notices and cookies in detail.

Who is responsible

Your academy is. For the information about your members, your academy is the controller: it decides what is collected and why. That makes it responsible for telling families about it, for its booking terms and for the cookies on its website.

AcademyApp gives every academy website default versions of all three, written for academies. They are a starting point. You are responsible for checking they match what your academy actually does, and for adapting them where they don't.

Your privacy notice

UK data protection law gives people the right to be informed about how their information is used. Your privacy notice is how you meet it. It should say, in plain language:

who you are and how to contact you (and your ICO registration number if you have one);
what information you collect — about parents, children, coaches — and where it comes from;
why you use it and the lawful basis for each use;
who you share it with — venues, governing bodies, payment providers;
how long you keep it;
people's rights — to access, correct, delete and object — and how to complain to the ICO.

Because you work with children, the ICO expects information meant for children to be written so they can understand it. That is why your website also has a short notice for children.

Your terms

Your terms set out the agreement when someone books with you: bookings and payments, cancellations and refunds, health and participation, behaviour, and photos. Clear terms prevent disputes and help families know what to expect.

Remember that consumers have rights you cannot take away, including rights to cancel some contracts made online. Your terms should work alongside those rights, not against them.

Your cookie policy

Websites use cookies and similar technologies to work — keeping someone signed in, remembering their basket. Some go further, such as analytics and advertising tools.

UK law (the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, PECR) requires consent before any cookie that isn't strictly necessary is used, and the choice to refuse must be as easy as the choice to accept. Your cookie policy explains which cookies and tools your website uses, what they do and how long they last, and visitors make their choice in your cookie banner.

When to review them

Before you go live. Read all three and adapt anything that doesn't match your academy: what you collect, who you share it with, your cancellation rules.
When you change what you do. New activities, a new partner, photos used in a new way, a new analytics or advertising tool on your website — each may need an update.
Once a year, even if nothing seems to have changed.

When you make an important change, let your members know. They may need to accept the new version.

How AcademyApp helps

Every website starts with all three. Your academy website comes with a privacy notice, a short notice for children, terms and a cookie policy, written for academies.
Your details fill in automatically. Your academy's name, contact details, address, ICO registration number and data protection contact, entered once in your website settings, appear in the right places.
Cookie choices are built in. Your website shows a cookie banner with clear choices, and tools that need consent wait until a visitor allows them.
Members accept new versions. When a policy changes, members are asked to accept the new version the next time they sign in, and their acceptance is recorded.
It's on your checklist from day one. When you first sign in, AcademyApp asks you to confirm you have reviewed your website's policies and will adapt them to your academy. You can mark it as understood or choose "Review later" and come back to it.

Good policies are short, honest and true to what you do. Start from the defaults, make them yours, and look at them again whenever your academy changes. Families will feel the difference.

If you are still running your academy from spreadsheets and WhatsApp groups, creating an AcademyApp account gives you a website with its policies, cookie choices and set-up checklist ready from the start.