Privacy Policy

Third-party services and embedded content

Some pages on this site, including the homepage, embed posts directly from TikTok and Instagram. When you view those pages, your browser fetches the post from TikTok or Instagram, and those platforms may receive information about your visit (such as your IP address, the page you are viewing, and any tracking identifiers stored in your browser) and set their own cookies. This processing is governed by their privacy policies — see TikTok (privacy policy) and Meta / Instagram (privacy policy).

We do not share any personal data we hold with TikTok or Instagram for this purpose, and we do not use the embeds to track you across other websites. If you would like to avoid this entirely, you can stop your browser from loading the embed (for example, by blocking third-party cookies or using a content blocker).

Last Updated: October 2026

1. Introduction

This privacy policy explains how Lope Ariyo (sole trader, trading as Lope Ariyo Culinary and Creative Group, operating the Lope Ariyo Cookery School) collects, uses, and protects your personal information when you visit our website at school.lopeariyo.com or participate in our cookery classes.

We process your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data Controller: Lope Ariyo, sole trader, trading as Lope Ariyo Culinary and Creative Group (t/a Lope Ariyo Cookery School)

Website: school.lopeariyo.com

Contact: school@lopeariyo.com

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be available at school.lopeariyo.com/legal/privacy-policy.

2. What Personal Information We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Identity data: first name, last name
• Contact data: email address, telephone number (optional)
• Booking data: class bookings, ticket details, attendance history, class preferences
• Dietary and health data: dietary requirements and food allergies (special category data — see section 5)
• Financial data: payment information processed securely by Stripe — we do not store your card details
• Location data: city and country, collected via sign-up forms and on-site tracking
• Marketing preference data: email marketing preferences, and your relationship with West African food (collected via our sign-up forms to help us send more relevant communications)
• Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, device type, pages visited, time on site
• Photography and video: images and footage taken during classes (with your explicit consent — see section 10)
• Enquiry data: information submitted via corporate or private event enquiry forms
• Feedback data: responses to surveys and feedback forms

3. How We Collect Your Information

We collect information about you in the following ways:

• When you book a class through Ticket Tailor, Eventbrite, ClassBento, Humanitix or EatWith
• When you subscribe to our newsletter or download a lead magnet via our website sign-up forms
• When you join a class waitlist on our website
• When you submit a corporate or private event enquiry form
• When you submit feedback via Google Forms or Tally
• When you communicate with us by email

When you visit school.lopeariyo.com — through PostHog product analytics, Metricool traffic measurement, and, if you accept advertising cookies, the Meta pixel

• When you participate in a cookery class and provide dietary or health information

4. Third-Party Services and Embedded Content

Some pages on this website embed posts from TikTok and Instagram. When you load those pages, your browser fetches content directly from those platforms. As part of that, TikTok and Meta/Instagram may receive your IP address and other browsing data, and may set their own cookies in your browser, according to their own privacy policies. We do not control this processing and we do not share any personal data we hold with these platforms for this purpose.

If you would prefer to avoid this, you can use your browser’s privacy settings to block third-party cookies, or avoid pages that contain embedded social posts.

5. Special Category Data — Dietary and Health Information

Your dietary requirements and food allergy information is special category data under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. We process this data on the basis of your explicit consent, solely to ensure your safety and comfort during class participation.

This data is:

• Collected only when you book a class
• Used only to plan and deliver the class safely
• Not shared with third parties beyond what is strictly necessary for class delivery
• Retained for six years for legal record-keeping purposes

You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting school@lopeariyo.com. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal.

6. Legal Basis for Processing

Contract performance: Processing your booking, communicating about your class, and delivering the class you have paid for.

Legitimate interests: Running the school efficiently, improving our services, marketing to past and prospective students, maintaining business records, and operating website analytics. We have balanced these interests against your rights and are satisfied this processing is proportionate.

Consent: Marketing email communications, photography and video use, dietary and health information, analytics cookies, and advertising cookies — which cover both the Meta pixel in your browser and the matching record we send to Meta from our own server. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Legal obligation: Retaining financial records for HMRC purposes (minimum six years under UK tax law).

7. Automated Processing and Profiling

We use Mailchimp to send marketing emails. Mailchimp records whether you open our emails and click links within them, and we use that to group subscribers into audiences and send more relevant communications. This is automated profiling under UK GDPR Article 22. It is based on what you do with our emails, not on the pages you visit on this website.

This profiling does not produce legal or similarly significant effects on you. You have the right to object to this processing at any time by unsubscribing from our emails or contacting school@lopeariyo.com.

8. Who We Share Your Data With

We do not sell your personal information. We share data only with the following trusted processors:

Booking and ticketing:

• Ticket Tailor (UK) — class bookings and ticket sales
• Eventbrite (US) — class bookings and ticket sales
• ClassBento (UK) — class bookings and ticket sales
• Humanitix (AUS) — class bookings and ticket sale
• EatWith (EU) — class bookings and ticket sales

Payments:

• Stripe (US) — secure payment processing. We do not store card details. Stripe is PCI-DSS Level 1 certified. Standard Contractual Clauses in place.

Email marketing and communications:

Klaviyo (US) — holds completed booking and order data, used for revenue reporting. It no longer carries any on-site tracking and sets no cookies on this website. Standard Contractual Clauses in place.

Mailchimp (US) — our email marketing platform. Holds your name, email address, marketing preferences, and a record of the consent you gave, including the exact wording you agreed to and when. Standard Contractual Clauses in place.

• Resend (US) — transactional email including booking confirmations. Standard Contractual Clauses in place.

Advertising:

Meta — Facebook and Instagram (US). We advertise classes on Facebook and Instagram. If you accept advertising cookies, we tell Meta that you visited the site and which class pages you viewed, so we can see which adverts lead to bookings. That record includes your IP address, your browser type, and the identifiers Meta stores in the _fbp and _fbc cookies, and it is sent both from your browser and from our own server. We never send Meta your name, email address or telephone number. Nothing is sent unless you accept advertising cookies, and sending stops immediately if you withdraw. Bookings themselves are recorded by Ticket Tailor's own Meta pixel inside the booking window, under Ticket Tailor's policies. Standard Contractual Clauses in place.

Website analytics:

• PostHog (EU) — product analytics. All data is processed and hosted within the EU, and none of it is shared with advertising platforms. By default it runs without cookies and stores nothing on your device, so no consent is required. If you accept analytics cookies in our consent banner, it additionally stores a small identifier on your device so that we can recognise a returning visit; that identifier is deleted if you withdraw your consent. It is never used to build a profile that follows you across other websites.

Metricool (EU) — traffic measurement. Each page view sends the page address, the size of your browser window, the site you came from, and your IP address. It sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device, so it is not covered by the consent banner. We use it to count visits and see where they come from, not to recognise you or follow you between sites.

Error monitoring:

• Sentry (US) — application error monitoring. Sentry may receive technical data including anonymised device and browser metadata when errors occur on our website. We configure Sentry to minimise personal data in error reports. Standard Contractual Clauses in place.

Feedback collection:

• Google Forms (US) — feedback surveys. Google is certified under the UK-US data bridge.
• Tally (EU) — feedback and survey forms. GDPR compliant.

Accounting:

• Xero (New Zealand/UK) — accounting software. May hold your name and email address as part of financial records. GDPR compliant.

9. International Data Transfers

When we transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom, we ensure it is protected to the same standard as in the UK through the following safeguards:

• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) for all US-based processors
• EU adequacy decision for processors based in Germany and France
• UK-US data bridge certification for Google services

If you would like details of the specific safeguard in place for any processor, please contact school@lopeariyo.com.

10. How Long We Keep Your Data

Booking and class data: Retained for legitimate business purposes and to comply with HMRC’s six-year financial record-keeping requirement.

Marketing data: Retained until you unsubscribe. We retain a suppression record after unsubscribing to ensure you are not contacted again in error.

Dietary and health data: Retained for six years from your last class attendance.

Financial records: Minimum six years as required by UK law.

Right to deletion: You may request deletion of your data at any time by contacting school@lopeariyo.com. We will comply except where we are legally required to retain specific information.

11. Photography and Video

We may take photographs and videos during classes for use in marketing materials including on our website, Instagram, and TikTok. We will always ask for your explicit consent before capturing or using images or video that feature you. You are under no obligation to consent and refusing will not affect your participation in any class. You may withdraw consent at any time by contacting school@lopeariyo.com.

12. Cookies

PostHog runs without cookies by default. If you accept analytics cookies it stores a small identifier so we can tell a returning visitor from a new one; that identifier is deleted if you withdraw your consent. We do not use Google Analytics.

If you accept advertising cookies, Meta stores _fbp and _fbc on your device for 90 days each, and may set a cookie called fr on facebook.com. These measure how our adverts on Facebook and Instagram perform. Klaviyo sets no cookies on this website.

Some pages embed social media content from TikTok and Instagram. Loading these pages may cause those platforms to set their own cookies. See our Cookie Policy at school.lopeariyo.com/legal/cookie-policy for full details.

13. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

• Right of access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure: Request deletion of your personal data, subject to our legal obligations
• Right to restrict processing: Request that we limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability: Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests, including marketing profiling
• Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw at any time

To exercise any of these rights, contact school@lopeariyo.com. We will respond within one month. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

14. Children

Our core classes are for adults aged 18 and over. We also run children’s classes in the school holidays: ages 13 and over can cook on their own, and 8 to 12 year olds cook alongside a participating adult.

A booking must always be made by an adult. Where a child is attending, any information we hold about them — such as their name, age, and any allergies or dietary requirements — is given to us by the adult making the booking, and we use it only to run the class safely. We do not collect personal data directly from children, we do not send marketing to them, and we do not use their data for analytics or profiling.

If you believe we hold information about a child that we should not, or you would like it removed, please contact school@lopeariyo.com and we will deal with it promptly.

15. Changes to This Policy

We will update this policy when our practices change. Material changes will be communicated by email where appropriate. The date of the latest update is shown at the top of this page.