Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

FrenchWise Limited is a private company limited by shares, incorporated and operating in Hong Kong SAR. For the purposes of the PDPO, FrenchWise is the “data user” (controller) of the personal data described in this Policy.

To exercise any of your rights, ask a question about this Policy or submit a Data Access Request, please use our contact form.

2. What personal data we collect

We only collect personal data that is directly relevant and necessary for the service you ask us to provide:

Category	Examples
Identification	Name, date of birth, nationality, contact details (email, phone)
Family information	Parent / guardian name and contact details (where the student is a minor)
Education	Academic records, language proficiency, study goals
Visa & immigration	Passport details, supporting documents required by the Consulate of France
Health (limited)	Only what is needed to arrange student health insurance or to flag specific needs
Accommodation preferences	Location, type of housing, budget
Communications	Messages you send us via the contact form, email or messaging apps
Technical data	IP address, browser type, pages visited, basic analytics — see section 8

3. How we use your data

• Personalised consultation — understanding your goals and recommending suitable schools and programmes
• Application support — preparing files, motivation letters, Études en France submissions, Campus France interview coaching
• Visa assistance — coordinating documents required by the Consulate of France in Hong Kong
• Student health insurance — arranging policies with insurance providers
• Accommodation & settling-in — connecting you to housing partners, transport, banking, phone
• Follow-up — checking in once you are studying in France
• Marketing communications — only if you have opted in (you can unsubscribe at any time)
• Legal & security — preventing fraud, complying with HK / EU law, defending our rights

4. Legal basis

We process your personal data on the following grounds:

• Your consent — typically given via our contact form, when you sign up for our newsletter, or by entering into a consultancy engagement
• Performance of a contract — to deliver the services you have engaged us for
• Legitimate interests — running and improving our consultancy, securing our website, responding to enquiries
• Legal obligation — where required by Hong Kong or, where applicable, EU law

5. Minors & parental consent

6. Who we share your data with

We share personal data only with parties that need it to deliver the service you have asked for:

• French schools and universities applying on your behalf
• Campus France and the Consulate of France in Hong Kong for academic interviews and visa applications
• Insurance providers for student health policies
• Accommodation and travel partners when you ask us to arrange housing or trips
• IT service providers hosting our website (Hostinger), email, security (Wordfence, Cloudflare) and analytics
• Professional advisors (lawyers, auditors) on a strictly need-to-know basis
• Authorities where required by law

7. International transfers

Because we connect Hong Kong students with institutions in France, some of your data will be transferred from Hong Kong to France and other EU/EEA countries. Where this happens, the recipients are bound by EU GDPR-equivalent protections, and we share only what is strictly necessary for your application and stay.

8. Cookies & analytics

Our website uses a limited number of cookies and similar technologies:

• Strictly necessary — to make the site work (language preference, session, security)
• Performance & analytics — Google Analytics 4 helps us understand which pages are useful so we can improve them. The data is aggregated and not used to identify you personally.
• Security — Cloudflare Turnstile and Wordfence protect the site against bots, abuse and spam on our contact form.

You can disable cookies in your browser settings; some features of the website may not work properly if you do.

9. Data security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data — HTTPS encryption, firewall (Wordfence), bot protection (Cloudflare Turnstile), restricted access, and regular backups. No system is 100% secure; we ask you to share sensitive documents only when we specifically request them.

10. How long we keep your data

Type of data	Retention period
Enquiry made via the contact form (no engagement)	Up to 24 months from last contact
Active client file (application in progress)	For the duration of the service + up to 3 years
Past client file	Up to 7 years after the last interaction (accounting / legal)
Marketing list	Until you unsubscribe
Website analytics	Up to 14 months (default Google Analytics 4)

11. Your rights

Under the PDPO (and the GDPR, where applicable), you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you (Data Access Request, sections 18 & 22 PDPO)
• Correct inaccurate or outdated data
• Withdraw consent at any time (without affecting earlier processing)
• Object to direct marketing and to certain forms of processing
• Request deletion of your data once it is no longer needed
• Lodge a complaint with the Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) — see pcpd.org.hk

To exercise any of these rights, please use our contact form. We aim to respond within 40 days, as required by the PDPO.

12. Marketing & unsubscribe

We will only send you marketing communications if you have given us explicit consent. Every marketing email contains an unsubscribe link; you may also opt out at any time via our contact form. This is in line with the direct marketing requirements of the PDPO (sections 35A–35M).

13. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable law. The “Last updated” date at the top of the Policy indicates when it was last revised. Material changes will be highlighted on the website.

14. Contact

Thank you for trusting FrenchWise with your educational journey.