Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 12 July 2026
This policy explains how British Fashion Foundation Institute (BFFI) collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use bffi.ro or interact with our forms, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679, "GDPR") and Romanian Law No. 190/2018 on measures implementing the GDPR.
1. Who we are: the data controller
The data controller responsible for your personal data is:
British Fashion Foundation Institute (BFFI)
Bucharest, Romania
Email: hello@bffi.ro
BFFI is an independent preparatory institute. See our About the Name page for details on our affiliation status.
2. What personal data we collect
We collect personal data that you provide directly to us, and data collected automatically when you browse the site.
- Data you provide directly: your name, email address, and phone number, submitted via the Waitlist form, the Resource Guide / Fashion Discovery Companion form, the Founding Patron application, the course enrolment request form, or the webinar registration form.
- Data collected automatically: IP address, device and browser information, pages visited, and general browsing behaviour, collected via Meta Pixel and Google Analytics, only where you have given consent through our cookie banner.
- Cookies and similar technologies: see our Cookie Policy for full detail on what is stored and for how long.
3. Legal basis for processing
We process your personal data on the following legal bases:
- Consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR): for sending marketing communications (course updates, newsletters, webinar invitations) and for the use of non-essential cookies (analytics and marketing/advertising cookies).
- Legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR): for basic, aggregated site analytics needed to understand and improve how the site functions, where this does not override your fundamental rights and freedoms.
- Contract / pre-contractual steps (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR): where you request enrolment information or a service, so we can respond to that specific request.
4. Purpose of processing
We use your personal data to:
- Send you course updates, syllabus information, and enrolment details for programmes you have expressed interest in.
- Send marketing communications about BFFI courses, workshops, research trips, and events, where you have consented to receive them.
- Respond to enquiries submitted through our forms or WhatsApp.
- Deliver the free resources you request, such as the Fashion Discovery Companion guide.
- Understand site usage and improve the website, where analytics consent has been given.
5. Data retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this policy, or as required by law.
Placeholder, to be confirmed by the founder
Proposed retention period: personal data submitted via our forms is kept until you withdraw your consent, or for a maximum of 3 years from your last interaction with BFFI, after which it is deleted or anonymised. This figure is a placeholder and should be reviewed and confirmed before publication.
6. Third parties we share data with
We do not sell your personal data. We share personal data with the following third-party processors, strictly to operate the services described in this policy:
- MailerLite: our email marketing platform, used to store contact details and send course updates and marketing communications.
- Meta (Meta Pixel): used for advertising and measuring the performance of our social media campaigns, only where marketing cookie consent has been given.
- Google (Google Analytics): used to understand site traffic and usage patterns, only where analytics cookie consent has been given.
Each of these providers processes data under its own privacy policy and may process data outside Romania or the EU/EEA, subject to appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) as required by GDPR.
7. Your rights under GDPR
Under the GDPR, you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Erasure of your personal data ("right to be forgotten"), where applicable.
- Restriction of how we process your personal data.
- Data portability: receiving your data in a structured, commonly used format.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interest or for direct marketing purposes.
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@bffi.ro. We will respond within the timeframes required by GDPR.
8. Right to lodge a complaint
If you believe your data protection rights have been infringed, you have the right to lodge a complaint with Romania's data protection authority:
Autoritatea Națională de Supraveghere a Prelucrării Datelor cu Caracter Personal (ANPSDCP)
Website: dataprotection.ro
9. Minors
In Romania, the age of consent for data processing under GDPR is 16. If you are under 16, you must have your parent or legal guardian's consent before submitting any form on this site, and your parent or guardian must contact us directly to provide that consent.
10. Contact us
For any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, contact us at hello@bffi.ro.
This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. We encourage you to review it periodically. See also our Cookie Policy and About the Name.