Privacy Policy
At Thespian's Forge Acting Academy, located in the dynamic heart of New York City, we are deeply committed to protecting the privacy of our students, website visitors, and all individuals who interact with our academy. This Privacy Policy outlines our practices regarding the collection, use, and safeguarding of your personal information. We encourage you to carefully read this policy to understand how we handle your data.
This Privacy Policy is effective as of October 26, 2025, and applies to information collected through our website (thespiansforge.com), our online portals, in-person interactions at our academy (123 Stage Door Lane, Suite 789, New York, NY 10001), and any other means where we reference this policy. By using our services or providing us with your information, you consent to the practices described in this policy.
Thespian's Forge Acting Academy is dedicated to complying with applicable data protection laws, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). We regularly review and update our practices to ensure we meet or exceed these standards. If you have any questions or concerns about our Privacy Policy, please contact our Data Protection Officer, Arthur Peabody, at [email protected] or by phone at (212) 333-4444.
Information We Collect
We collect various types of information to provide and improve our services, personalize your experience, and communicate with you effectively. The information we collect depends on your interactions with Thespian's Forge Acting Academy.
Personal Information
This includes information that can be used to identify you as an individual. We collect personal information when you:
- Enroll in our courses: Name, address, email address, phone number, date of birth, emergency contact information, payment details (credit card information is processed by secure third-party payment processors and not stored by us).
- Contact us through our website or other channels: Name, email address, phone number, and the content of your message.
- Subscribe to our newsletter or mailing list: Email address and any preferences you provide.
- Participate in auditions or workshops: Name, contact information, acting experience, headshot, resume, and performance footage.
- Create an account on our online portal: Username, password, email address, and profile information.
- Submit testimonials or reviews: Name, testimonial content, and any optional profile information.
Non-Personal Information
This includes information that does not directly identify you, but may be associated with your device or browsing activity. We collect non-personal information when you:
- Visit our website: IP address, browser type, operating system, referring website, pages visited, and the dates and times of your visits. We use cookies and similar technologies to collect this information. For more information, please see our Cookies Policy .
- Use our online portal: Usage data, such as the courses you access, the features you use, and the time you spend on the platform.
We strive to collect only the information necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy. We will always be transparent about the data we collect and how it is used.
Here's a summary table:
| Type of Information | Examples | Purpose of Collection |
|---|---|---|
| Personal Information | Name, Email Address, Phone Number, Payment Details, Acting Experience | Enrollment, Communication, Auditions, Account Management |
| Non-Personal Information | IP Address, Browser Type, Website Usage Data | Website Improvement, Analytics, Personalization |
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for a variety of purposes, including to:
- Provide our services: Process enrollments, manage student accounts, deliver course content, and facilitate communication between students and instructors.
- Personalize your experience: Tailor our website and online portal to your interests and preferences, recommend courses and workshops, and provide personalized support.
- Communicate with you: Respond to your inquiries, provide updates on courses and events, send newsletters and promotional materials (with your consent), and notify you of important changes to our policies.
- Improve our services: Analyze website and online portal usage data to identify areas for improvement, develop new features, and enhance the user experience.
- Conduct research and analysis: Study student demographics, performance trends, and feedback to better understand our audience and improve our curriculum.
- Market our services: Display targeted advertisements on our website and other platforms, promote our courses and workshops through email and social media (with your consent), and showcase student success stories.
- Comply with legal obligations: Respond to legal requests, enforce our policies, and protect our rights and interests.
We will only use your information for the purposes disclosed in this Privacy Policy or for purposes that are compatible with those disclosed. We will not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for their marketing purposes without your explicit consent.
We may share your information with third-party service providers who assist us in providing our services, such as payment processors, email marketing platforms, and website hosting providers. These service providers are contractually obligated to protect your information and only use it for the purposes we specify.
Here's an example of how we use student testimonials:
"Thespian's Forge provided me with the tools and confidence I needed to succeed in my acting career. The instructors are incredibly supportive and the curriculum is challenging and rewarding." – Anya Petrova, Thespian's Forge Alumni
Anya’s testimonial, with her permission, helps us showcase the value of our academy to prospective students.
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. When we no longer need your information, we will securely delete or anonymize it.
Data Security
We take the security of your information very seriously. We implement a variety of technical, administrative, and physical safeguards to protect your information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure.
These safeguards include:
- Encryption: We use industry-standard encryption to protect sensitive data, such as payment information and passwords, both in transit and at rest.
- Firewalls: We use firewalls to prevent unauthorized access to our systems and networks.
- Access controls: We restrict access to your information to authorized personnel who need it to perform their job duties.
- Regular security assessments: We conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify and address vulnerabilities in our systems.
- Employee training: We train our employees on data privacy and security best practices.
- Physical security: We maintain secure physical facilities to protect our servers and data storage equipment.
While we strive to protect your information, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your information.
We encourage you to take steps to protect your own information, such as choosing a strong password, keeping your password confidential, and logging out of your account when you are finished using our services.
If you believe that your information has been compromised, please contact us immediately at [email protected] .
Here are some additional measures we take to ensure data security:
| Security Measure | Description |
|---|---|
| Data Encryption | Sensitive data is encrypted both in transit and at rest using industry-standard encryption protocols. |
| Access Controls | Access to personal information is restricted to authorized personnel only, based on job function. |
| Security Audits | Regular security audits and penetration testing are conducted to identify and address potential vulnerabilities. |
| Employee Training | Employees receive comprehensive training on data privacy and security best practices. |
Your Rights
You have certain rights regarding your personal information under applicable data protection laws, including the right to:
- Access: Request access to your personal information that we hold.
- Rectification: Request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
- Erasure: Request that we delete your personal information (subject to certain exceptions).
- Restriction of processing: Request that we restrict the processing of your personal information.
- Data portability: Request to receive your personal information in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and to transmit that data to another controller.
- Object: Object to the processing of your personal information (where processing is based on our legitimate interests).
- Withdraw consent: Withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal information (where processing is based on your consent).
To exercise these rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer, Arthur Peabody, at [email protected] or by phone at (212) 333-4444. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable law.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe that we have violated your data protection rights.