Privacy Policy
Last updated: 11 October 2026
We collect only what is needed to run a directory of online English teachers: teachers’ listing details and certificates, messages students send to teachers through the site, and limited technical and cookie data from visitors. We do not sell personal data.
1. Who we are
The Online Teacher Directory (theonlineteacherdirectory.com) is run by eTEFL Online Teacher Training OÜ, a company registered in Estonia under registry code 17010304, with its registered office at Lõõtsa tn 5 // Sepapaja tn 4, 11415 Tallinn, Estonia. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “the Directory” mean that company.
We are the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. For anything about your data, write to hello@theonlineteacherdirectory.com.
Payments are taken under the name eTEFL Online, which is the same company.
2. Who this policy covers
This policy covers three groups of people:
- Teachers who apply for a listing, hold a listing, or use the teacher account page.
- Visitors, including students, who browse the Directory or send a teacher a message through it.
- Anyone who emails us.
Students do not have accounts with us. A student who books a lesson does so directly with the teacher, through the teacher’s own calendar tool. We do not receive the booking, the student’s name or any lesson details. The teacher, and the calendar tool the teacher uses, are responsible for that information under their own privacy terms.
Some listings have a contact form. If you send a teacher a message through it, we receive your name, email address and message so that we can pass them to that teacher. Section 4 explains how we handle them.
3. Teachers: what we collect and why
We collect the details you give us on the sign-up form and in your teacher account, plus the records created when you pay.
| What we collect | Why we use it | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Name and email address | To review your application, set up your listing and account, and write to you about them | Contract with you |
| Photo, intro video link, accent, teaching focus, levels, hourly rate, calendar link and description | To publish your listing so students can find you and book with you | Contract with you |
| Main certificate: name, issuer and uploaded copy. eTEFL Online Teacher Training graduates also give a certificate number | To confirm the certificate is on our accepted list and is genuine, and to show the verified qualification and issuer on your listing | Contract with you; our legitimate interest in keeping the verification badge trustworthy |
| Additional certificates (optional) | To review them and, if approved, show them on your listing | Contract with you |
| Plan chosen, amounts, dates, payment status, and Stripe customer and subscription references | To take payment, run subscriptions, make refunds and keep our accounts | Contract with you; legal obligation (accounting law) |
| Sign-in records and a log of the edits you make to your listing | To let you sign in by emailed link, keep listings accurate and prevent misuse | Our legitimate interest in running a secure, reliable directory |
| Counts of how often your listing appears in searches, is viewed, and has its booking button clicked | To show you how your listing performs | Our legitimate interest in giving teachers useful figures |
| Messages students send you through the contact form on your listing, if you switch it on | To email them to you and show them in your teacher account | Contract with you |
| Emails you send us | To answer you and keep a record of what was agreed | Contract with you; our legitimate interest in handling enquiries |
What is public. Your name, photo, intro video, accent, teaching focus, levels, hourly rate, calendar link and description appear on your listing. So do the name and issuer of a verified certificate and any approved additional certificates. Listings can be seen by anyone, anywhere in the world, and may appear in search engines.
What is never public. Your email address, certificate copies, certificate number and payment records.
Card details. You enter card details on Stripe’s payment page. We never see or store your full card number.
Checking certificates. To confirm a certificate we may use the issuer’s online checking service or contact the issuer, giving your name and the certificate details.
Promotional campaigns. While you hold a Featured listing, your name, photo, intro video and listing details may appear in our promotional campaigns, including on social media and advertising networks. This is part of the Featured plan.
Emails from us. We email you about your application, your listing and your payments. We send news or offers only if you have asked for them, and every such email has an unsubscribe link.
Decisions. Every application is reviewed by a person. We make no decisions about you by automated means alone.
The fields marked as required on the sign-up form are needed for a listing. Without them we cannot list you.
4. Visitors: what we collect and why
You can browse the Directory without giving us your name or creating an account.
- Server logs. Our hosting provider records your IP address, browser type, the pages requested and the time. We use this to keep the site secure and fix faults. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in a secure, working site.
- Listing counts. We count how often each listing appears in searches, is viewed, and has its booking button clicked. These are totals. They do not identify you.
- Analytics and advertising cookies. With your consent, we use Google Analytics to see how the site is used, and Meta, Google Ads and Reddit tools to measure our adverts and show them to relevant people. These are off until you accept them, and you can change your choice at any time. Legal basis: your consent. Details are in our Cookie Notice.
- Intro videos. Teachers’ videos are hosted by YouTube or Vimeo. When a video loads, that company receives your IP address and may set its own cookies.
- Booking links. A teacher’s booking button takes you to that teacher’s own calendar tool. What you enter there goes to the teacher and the tool’s provider, not to us.
- Messages to teachers. Some listings have a contact form. If you use it, we collect your name, email address and message, email them to that teacher, and show them in the teacher’s account so the teacher can reply to you by email. We do not use them for anything else, and we delete our copy after 30 days. The teacher is responsible for what they do with your message once they have received it. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in passing your enquiry to the teacher you chose to contact.
- Emails. If you email us, we keep your name, email address and message so we can reply. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in handling enquiries.
5. Who else handles your data
We share personal data only with the companies that help us run the Directory, and only as far as each one needs.
| Company | What it does for us | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| SiteGround | Hosts the website and our email mailbox | Everything held on the site, including applications, certificate copies and emails |
| Stripe | Takes payments, runs subscriptions and refunds, and checks for fraud | Teacher’s name, email address, card details and payment records |
| YouTube (Google) and Vimeo | Host and play teachers’ intro videos | Visitor’s IP address and the video provider’s own cookies |
| Google (Analytics and Ads) | Site statistics and advert measurement, with your consent | Cookie identifiers, IP address, pages viewed |
| Meta (Facebook and Instagram) | Advert measurement and audiences, with your consent | Cookie identifiers, IP address, pages viewed |
| Advert measurement and audiences, with your consent | Cookie identifiers, IP address, pages viewed | |
| Certificate issuers | Confirm that a certificate is genuine | Teacher’s name and certificate details |
| The teacher you contact | Receives and answers a message you send through the contact form on their listing | Your name, email address and message |
Google, Meta, Reddit, YouTube, Vimeo and Stripe also use some of this information for their own purposes, under their own privacy policies.
We may also share data with our accountant, and with courts, regulators or the police where the law requires it. If the business is sold or reorganised, the data may pass to the new owner, who must keep to this policy.
We do not sell personal data, and we do not give teachers’ email addresses to students or other teachers.
6. Transfers outside the European Economic Area
The website and mailbox are hosted on SiteGround servers in Eemshaven, the Netherlands, inside the European Union.
Stripe, Google, Meta, Reddit and Vimeo are based in, or send data to, the United States and other countries outside the European Economic Area. Where that happens, the transfer is covered by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, where the company is certified under it, or by the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses.
You can ask us for more detail about the safeguards for any of these transfers.
Remember that a public listing can be viewed from any country.
7. How long we keep your data
We keep listing details and certificate copies for as long as the listing exists, and delete them within 30 days of its removal.
| Data | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Listing details, teacher account and edit log | While the listing exists, then deleted within 30 days of removal |
| Certificate copies and certificate numbers | While the listing exists, then deleted within 30 days of removal |
| Applications that are declined or withdrawn, including certificate copies | Deleted within 30 days of the decision, or once any refund or payment dispute is settled if that is later |
| Messages sent to a teacher through a contact form | 30 days on the site, then deleted. The teacher keeps the email they received |
| Payment and invoice records | Seven years from the end of the financial year, as Estonian accounting law requires |
| Emails | Up to 24 months after the conversation ends, unless needed for a dispute |
| Server logs | For a limited period set by our hosting provider |
| Cookies | For the periods given in our Cookie Notice |
Copies of deleted data can remain in routine site backups for a short further period, normally up to 30 days, before they are overwritten.
Counts of listing views and clicks are kept as totals and do not identify anyone.
8. Your rights
Under data protection law you can ask us to:
- give you a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
- correct anything that is wrong or out of date;
- delete your data, including removing your listing;
- restrict how we use your data while a query is resolved;
- send your data to you, or to another service, in a commonly used format;
- stop using your data where we rely on our legitimate interests, including for any direct marketing.
Where we rely on your consent, such as for analytics and advertising cookies or for news and offers by email, you can withdraw it at any time. This does not affect what was done before you withdrew it.
To use any of these rights, email hello@theonlineteacherdirectory.com. We reply within one month and there is no charge. We may ask for proof of identity before acting on a request about a listing.
Teachers can also correct most listing details themselves in the teacher account.
9. Security
The site uses an encrypted connection (HTTPS). Certificate copies are never shown on the site. Teacher accounts use a sign-in link sent to the teacher’s email address, so there is no password to steal. Card payments are handled by Stripe.
No website is perfectly secure. If a breach puts your rights at risk, we will tell you and the regulator as the law requires.
10. Children
The Directory is for adults. Teachers must be 18 or over, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us personal data, email us and we will delete it.
11. Changes to this policy
We update this policy when the way we handle data changes. The date at the top shows the latest version. If a change affects teachers in an important way, we email them before it takes effect.
12. Questions and complaints
Please email hello@theonlineteacherdirectory.com first, and we will try to put things right.
You also have the right to complain to a data protection authority. Ours is the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse Inspektsioon), www.aki.ee. You may instead complain to the authority in the EU country where you live or work.