Last updated: 2 July 2026
The School of Critical Design is operated by Neeley Worldwide, Ltd. (“we”, “us”), a company registered in the United Kingdom. This policy explains what personal data we collect through critical.design, why we collect it, and the choices you have. We collect as little as we can, and we never sell your data.
What we collect
Contact form: your name, email address, subject, and message, so we can reply to you.
Newsletter and free downloads: your email address, so we can deliver the download and send you occasional updates from the School. You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in any email.
Scholarship and Studio applications: the information you provide in the application form — such as your name, email, location, and your answers about your situation and intentions — so we can assess your application and respond.
Purchases: when you buy a course or product, payment is processed by Stripe. We receive your email address and details of what you purchased so we can deliver it. We never see or store your card details.
Analytics: we use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used in aggregate — pages visited, approximate location, and device type. This data is not used to identify you personally.
How we use your data
We use your data to deliver what you asked for (course access, downloads, replies to messages, application decisions), to send you updates you have opted into, to keep the site secure, and to understand how the site is used so we can improve it. Our legal bases under UK GDPR are: performance of a contract (purchases and course delivery), consent (newsletter and marketing emails), and legitimate interests (site security and analytics).
Who we share it with
We share data only with the services that run this site: Stripe (payments), Mailchimp (newsletter), Resend (transactional email), Google Analytics (usage statistics), and Vercel (hosting). Each processes your data under their own privacy terms and our agreements with them. Some of these providers process data outside the UK; where they do, transfers are protected by standard contractual clauses or equivalent safeguards.
Cookies
We use cookies set by Google Analytics to measure site usage. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, or opt out of Google Analytics across all sites via Google’s browser add-on. The site works fully without cookies.
Retention
We keep purchase records for as long as required for tax and accounting purposes. Contact messages and applications are kept for as long as needed to handle them. Newsletter data is kept until you unsubscribe.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of your personal data, to object to or restrict our processing of it, and to withdraw consent at any time. To exercise any of these rights, email hello@critical.design and we will respond. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk).
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: hello@critical.design. If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date at the top.