Privacy and cookies

This page explains what personal information Survival Skillset collects, why, how long we keep it and what you can ask us to do with it. Last updated 17 October 2026.

Who we are

Survival Skillset (survivalskillset.com) is run by Matt Staines, a sole trader in the United Kingdom, who is the data controller for the information described here. You can reach us at hello@survivalskillset.com.

What we collect and why

Your account

When you buy the course or create an account we keep your name, email address, username and a securely scrambled (hashed) version of your password. We need these to give you access to the course and to contact you about it. Legal basis: performing our contract with you.

Your learning

As you work through the course we record which lessons you have finished, your exam answers and scores, your results in the field practicals, and anything you write in your field journal. Your journal is private to you. If you complete the course we issue a certificate with your name; anyone holding its code can check it on our verification page, which shows the name, the course and the date. Legal basis: performing our contract with you.

Orders and payments

When you buy, we keep the order: your name, email address, billing address, what you bought, the price and the date. Payments are taken by PayPal; we never see or store your card details. PayPal handles your payment information under its own privacy notice. Legal basis: performing our contract with you, and our legal duty to keep financial records.

Analytics, only if you agree

If you choose “Accept analytics”, we use Google Analytics to understand which pages and lessons people find useful. It collects information such as the pages you visit, roughly where you are (to city level), your device and browser, and how you arrived. Your IP address is shortened before it is stored. Google acts as our processor and may handle this information outside the UK under its standard data protection terms. If you choose “No thanks”, Google Analytics does not load at all. Legal basis: your consent, which you can withdraw at any time.

Keeping the site secure

Like every website, our server logs the IP address, browser and pages requested for each visit, and our security tools record failed log-in attempts. We use these only to keep the site running and safe. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in protecting the site and its users.

Emails

We send emails you need: setting up your account, receipts and replies to your messages. We do not send marketing emails unless you have asked for them, and we never sell or share your details for anyone else’s marketing.

Cookies

• Essential cookies keep you logged in and remember your basket and checkout. The site cannot work without them, so they need no consent.
• Your cookie choice is remembered for 180 days in a cookie called ssk_consent.
• Analytics cookies (_ga and _ga_..., from Google Analytics) are set only if you choose “Accept analytics”. They last up to two years.

You can change your mind at any time with the “Cookie settings” link at the bottom of every page. Choosing “No thanks” removes our analytics cookies from your browser.

Who else handles your information

• Heart Internet hosts the website on servers in the United Kingdom.
• PayPal processes payments.
• Google provides analytics, only with your consent.

We share your information with no one else unless the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Your account and learning record: while your account is open. Ask us and we will delete it, apart from what we must keep for orders.
• Orders: six years, as UK tax law requires.
• Analytics: up to 14 months in Google Analytics.
• Server and security logs: a few weeks.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, object to or ask us to limit how we use it, and ask for it in a portable form. Where we rely on your consent you can withdraw it at any time. Email hello@survivalskillset.com and we will reply within one month.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please tell us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this page

If we change how we use your information we will update this page and the date at the top.