The Institute of Applied Canine Science
The Institute of Applied Canine Science|IACS Academy|Better Dog
Last Updated: 24 October 2026
This policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect personal information across our websites, the IACS Academy online learning platform, the IACS Academy mobile apps (iOS and Android), and Better Dog educational services and apps.
Twenty numbered sections. Select any heading to jump to it.
This policy applies to the IACS websites, the IACS Academy online learning platform and the IACS Academy applications for iOS and Android, and to Better Dog educational services, its website and any future Better Dog apps. It covers both of our online learning platforms together with their mobile applications.
By using these services you acknowledge that your personal information will be handled as described here. Where a service has its own supplementary notice, this policy continues to apply unless stated otherwise.
The Institute of Applied Canine Science is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy.
Registered name: Applied Canine Science LTD. Company number: 17229797. Registered address: 21a Compstall Road, Marple Bridge, Stockport, Cheshire SK6 5HH.
Privacy contact email: support@appliedcaninescience.com.
We collect the following categories of personal information:
You provide your name, email address and account information when you create an account or get in touch. Our learning platform records your enrolments and course progress so we can deliver courses and issue certificates. Payments and subscriptions are processed by our payment providers. Technical information may also be processed to operate and secure the services.
We use this personal information to provide online courses and membership accounts, manage subscriptions, track educational progress, deliver and mark assessments, issue certificates, process purchases, provide customer support and handle any affiliate participation.
We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:
We share personal information with providers who process it on our behalf, and with a small number of independent third parties as described below. Each provider receives only the personal information it needs for its role — not every provider receives all of your information.
Membership.io
Membership & Learning Platform
Processes account details and learning activity to host courses, run memberships, record learning progress and power the IACS Academy mobile applications.
Stripe
Payment Processing
Processes payment information to handle purchases and subscriptions securely. We receive records of your transactions but not your full card details.
Kit (ConvertKit)
Email Marketing
Manages our email subscriber lists and sends email communications, such as course updates and marketing you have consented to.
Brevo
Email Communications — being phased out
Has been used for email marketing and communications. Brevo is being phased out; any personal information remaining with Brevo will be handled in line with this policy as we complete the transition.
Leadpages
Landing Pages & Lead Collection
Hosts our landing pages and processes information submitted through them, such as enquiry and sign-up forms.
Squarespace
Website Hosting
Hosts and manages our websites, and processes the information needed to operate and secure them.
Domains & Advertising
Provides domain services. Google tools may also be used for analytics or advertising; any confirmed tools of this kind are described in Section 14.
Meta
Facebook, Instagram & Advertising
Used in connection with Facebook, Instagram and advertising services. Meta may process information about visitors and their interactions with our pages and advertising as an independent controller under its own privacy policy. We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies on our websites at present; any future use would be described in Section 14 before it takes effect.
FirstPromoter
Affiliate Programme
Tracks affiliate referrals and administers commission payments for our affiliate programme. Processes the name and payment-related details of affiliate participants.
Most of these providers process personal information on our behalf as processors, following our instructions. Some providers — such as payment providers and advertising platforms — may also act as independent controllers of certain information under their own privacy policies. Where a provider acts as an independent controller, its own privacy policy applies to that processing.
Payments and subscriptions are processed by Stripe. Your payment details are handled by Stripe as the payment processor; we receive the records of your transactions and subscriptions but not your full card details.
We protect personal information through appropriate technical and organisational measures. These are proportionate to the nature of the information and the risks involved, and include measures designed to protect information while it is stored and while it is transmitted, to restrict access to people who need it for their role, and to keep our systems and services maintained.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a personal data breach affecting your information, we will respond in line with our obligations under UK data protection law.
We retain personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, to provide the services you use, and to meet applicable legal, accounting and regulatory obligations.
In practice this means: account information is kept while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterwards, so we can restore access or handle enquiries that follow; educational progress and certificates are retained so your record remains available to you; transaction records are kept for as long as tax and accounting law requires; and support correspondence is kept for as long as needed to handle your enquiry and maintain a record of it. How long each category is kept depends on the purpose it serves, the legal obligations that apply, and any documented retention criteria we apply to it. When information is no longer needed for any of these purposes, it is deleted or anonymised.
Some of the service providers described in Section 6 may process personal information in countries outside the United Kingdom. Where that happens, we rely on safeguards recognised under UK data protection law — such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or an adequacy decision — so that your information receives a comparable level of protection.
Sections 11–14
You can request permanent deletion of your IACS Academy or Better Dog account and the personal information associated with it.
Deletion requests are submitted through our dedicated deletion page linked below. We may need to confirm account ownership before acting on a request, to make sure we only delete accounts at the request of the account holder. We will carry out the request and confirm completion to you, subject to any records we must retain for legal reasons.
Please note the distinction between two separate actions: cancelling a subscription ends billing, but your account may remain; deleting an account removes your personal information, subject to legal retention exceptions.
Subject to applicable conditions, you have the following rights over your personal information, together with the right to be informed about how we use it — which this policy fulfils:
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@appliedcaninescience.com. We may need to confirm account ownership before responding. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection, at any time — see Section 20 for contact details.
You can set your marketing preferences and unsubscribe at any time, using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us. We send marketing communications only where we have your consent or another lawful basis, and you can withdraw your consent at any time — this does not affect service emails such as account, course or transaction messages.
We do not sell your personal information. Any use of advertising or cross-context tracking technologies would be described here and would only take place with your consent where required.
We use cookies and similar technologies to operate our websites. Some of these are strictly necessary — they are needed for the services to function, for example to keep you signed in — and cannot be switched off through the services.
We may also use optional analytics cookies to understand how our websites are used, such as which pages are visited. These are not essential to the services. Where they are used, you can choose whether to allow them, and you can change or withdraw your choice at any time through the cookie controls presented on our websites or in your browser settings.
We do not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies on our websites at present. Advertising platforms we work with — such as Google and Meta — may use their own cookies and tracking technologies when you visit their platforms or interact with our advertising there; that activity is governed by their own privacy policies and your settings on those platforms. If we add advertising or cross-site tracking to our own websites, the cookies concerned and the consent control governing them will be described here before that happens.
This section covers both IACS Academy applications — the Android app and the iOS app. The apps allow you to sign in to your IACS Academy account, access the courses you are enrolled in, and track your learning progress. In doing so they process your account details and learning activity, and may also process technical information such as device type and operating system version needed to run the app.
The apps may request device permissions where needed for a specific function. Any optional permission — such as notifications — remains under your control and can be changed in your device settings at any time. The apps do not access your camera, microphone, contacts, precise location or photographs unless we confirm otherwise in this policy.
The data the apps collect, and the purposes for which it is used, are consistent with the disclosures we make in the Google Play Data safety section and the Apple App Privacy details for each app. Those store listings and this policy should be read together.
The IACS Academy apps may use push notifications to send you information such as updates about your courses or account activity. Push notifications are optional: the app will ask for your consent before enabling them, and you can turn them off at any time either in the app or in your device settings.
Our services are intended for adults and are not directed at children. IACS Academy accounts and Better Dog services are not designed or marketed for use by children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us at support@appliedcaninescience.com and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.
We do not carry out automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.
We do not use your personal information for advertising profiling.
Our services may link to third-party websites. Those sites are outside the scope of this policy and have their own privacy practices.
We may update this policy from time to time. We will post changes here and revise the Last Updated date accordingly.
For any privacy question, request or complaint, contact us at support@appliedcaninescience.com, or write to us at our registered address shown in Section 2. We will respond to requests in line with our obligations under UK data protection law.
You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection. The ICO can be contacted through its website at ico.org.uk or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.