Who I am
This website is operated by Damilola Akinniyi (“I”, “me”, “my”), a sole trader based in the United Kingdom. For any question about this policy or your personal data, contact hello@damilolaakinniyi.com. A postal address is available on request.
I am the data controller for the personal data described below, under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
What I collect and why
When you buy something
When you place an order I collect your name, billing address, email address, phone number (if given) and details of what you bought. I use this to process your order, take payment, provide the service or download, and keep accounting records. The lawful basis is performance of a contract, and legal obligation for tax records.
When you pay
Card payments are processed by Stripe. I never see or store your full card details. These go directly to Stripe. Stripe processes your data under its own privacy policy and may transfer it outside the UK under appropriate safeguards.
When you book a consultation
Consultations are booked through Google Calendar appointment scheduling. The name, email address and any notes you enter there are handled by Google under its own privacy policy.
When you contact me or submit a form
Forms on this site are handled by Fluent Forms or Forminator, and submissions are stored in my website database and emailed to me. Confirmation, welcome and alert emails are sent from my own email account at damilolaakinniyi.com. I keep these only as long as needed to deal with your enquiry.
When you send me documents for review
If you buy a CV or application review, I receive the documents and information you send me. These may contain detailed personal and career information. I use them only to give you the feedback you asked for, I do not share them with anyone else, and I delete them 6 months after the work is complete unless you ask me to keep them for longer.
When you submit an assessment or capstone project for marking
If you buy marking, you upload your completed assessment or capstone project through a form on this site, together with your name, email address, order number and the lesson or course it relates to. You also confirm that the work is your own, is based only on the course scenario, contains no material from a real project, client or employer, and is not university or college coursework. Your file may contain your handwriting or other personal information, so please include only what the work needs. The upload is handled by Forminator, stored in my website database and file storage, and emailed to me with your file attached. I use it only to mark your work, send you feedback and, if you resubmit, compare your revised attempt with your original. I do not share it with anyone else or use it for any other purpose. The lawful basis is performance of a contract. Submitted files are deleted automatically 6 months after you submit them, and I delete my copy of your feedback at the same time, unless you ask me to delete them sooner.
When you sign up for free resources or a free course
To download free resources (such as the mentorship Foundation Pack, the Stage 2 research resources and the Engineering Student Portfolio) or to open a free course, you give me your name and email address. Your details are stored in my website database and a copy is emailed to me. I use these to give you access and to understand how many people use each resource or course. If, and only if, you tick the optional box, I may also send you occasional updates, and you can stop these at any time by emailing hello@damilolaakinniyi.com. The lawful basis is my legitimate interest in providing and improving free resources, and your consent for updates.
When you subscribe to Lessons From the Ground
If you subscribe to my email updates, I collect your email address and a record that you agreed to receive them. I use it only to send you a welcome email and, from time to time, essays, guides and news of new resources. I do not share it with anyone else. You can unsubscribe at any time by replying “unsubscribe” to any email from me, or by emailing hello@damilolaakinniyi.com, and I will then delete your address. The lawful basis is your consent.
When you give feedback on a course
At the end of a free course you can rate it. The feedback form records your first name, email address, the course, your assessment score, your star rating, any comments you add, and whether I may share your review. I use this to see who completes each course and to improve it. Only if you choose “Yes, you may share it” may I publish your review on this website, with your first name only. You can withdraw that permission at any time and I will remove the review. The lawful basis is my legitimate interest in improving the courses, and your consent for publishing a review.
When you take part in mentorship
If you submit a reflection essay, apply for mentorship, or upload work as a mentee, I receive your name, email address, your files and anything you choose to share, which may be personal. I use it only to review your work, consider your application and support your mentorship, and I do not share it with anyone else. Reflection essays and mentee submissions are deleted automatically 6 months after you submit them. The lawful basis is my legitimate interest in providing the mentorship you asked for.
Comments and media
If you leave a comment I collect the comment, your name, email address, website (if given), your IP address and browser user agent string, which helps with spam detection. If you upload images, avoid uploading images with embedded location data, as visitors can download and extract it.
When you simply browse the site
I use Google Analytics 4 to understand how the site is used: which pages are visited, roughly how long people stay, which country or region the visit comes from, what type of device and browser is used, and how you arrived (for example from a search engine or a link). This helps me decide what to write and what to improve.
Google Analytics sets cookies in your browser and processes this data on my behalf. It does not store your full IP address, and I cannot use it to identify you by name. I do not link analytics data to your name, order or email address.
Analytics currently runs on all visits. If you would prefer not to be measured, you can install Google’s official opt-out browser add-on, use your browser’s “do not track” or cookie-blocking settings, or browse in private mode.
Cookies and similar technologies
If you leave a comment you may opt in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies, for your convenience. These last one year. Shopping cart and checkout cookies from WooCommerce are needed to remember what is in your basket and to complete an order. If you log in, I set cookies to keep you signed in. Google Analytics sets its own cookies to recognise returning visits and measure how the site is used; these typically last up to two years and you can clear or block them in your browser at any time. The free courses save your progress, your assessment score and, if you enrolled on the same device, your first name and email in your browser’s local storage, so you can continue where you left off and the feedback form can be filled in for you. This stays on your device and is not sent to me unless you submit a form. You can clear it in your browser settings.
Third parties that receive data because of how this site is built
- Stripe: payment processing.
- Google (Analytics): website usage measurement, as described above.
- Google (Fonts): this site loads its typefaces from Google’s font service, which means your browser makes a request to Google and Google receives your IP address.
- Google (Calendar scheduling): when you book a consultation.
- My hosting provider, Truehost, which stores the site and its database and keeps server logs including IP addresses.
- Embedded content from other websites: articles may include embedded content (videos, posts). These behave as though you had visited the other website, and those sites may collect data about you and track your interaction with the embed.
Who has access to your data
Damilola Akinniyi can access the information you provide, including order details and anything you send for review. Website administrators can also see and edit that information.
How long I keep your data
Order and payment records: six years, to meet HMRC requirements. Comments and their metadata: indefinitely, so follow-up comments can be recognised automatically. Form submissions and enquiry emails: 12 months. Documents sent for review: 6 months. Assessment and capstone submissions and feedback: 6 months after you submit them. Mentee applications: for as long as you are on my mentee list. I delete them when you ask to leave the list or when the mentorship ends. Free resource and course sign-ups: 12 months. Email subscriptions (Lessons From the Ground): until you unsubscribe. Course feedback: up to 3 years, so I can track how the courses improve. Published reviews stay on the site until you ask me to remove them. Reflection essays and mentee submissions: 6 months after you submit them. Registered users can see, edit or delete the personal information in their user profile at any time.
Your rights
You have the right to ask for a copy of the personal data I hold about you, to have it corrected, to have it deleted, to object to or restrict how I use it, and to receive it in a portable format. To exercise any of these, email hello@damilolaakinniyi.com. I will respond within one month.
If you are not satisfied with how I have handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
How I protect your data
This site is served over HTTPS. Access to the website administration area is limited to accounts that need it and is protected by passwords. Payment card data never reaches my systems.
Data breaches
If a breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, I will report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office within 72 hours of becoming aware of it, and tell you directly where the risk to you is high.
Free CV review
When you use my free CV review, the text of your CV and any job advert you provide are sent securely to Anthropic, the company whose AI model reads your CV and applies my CV checklist. Your CV is not stored on this website. Anthropic processes this information to produce your review and keeps it for a limited period under its own commercial terms; it does not use it to train its models by default.
You see part of your review straight away. If you ask for your full review by email, I use your email address to send it to you, and the review is then deleted from this website within an hour. I keep a record of your name (if you give it), your email address, the date, your career stage and what you were applying for, so I can see who the tool is helping. I keep this record for up to two years, and you can ask me to delete it at any time by emailing hello@damilolaakinniyi.com.
Each time the tool is used, I also keep an anonymous record of the date, your career stage, what you were applying for, whether you included an advert, your review score and whether you asked for the full review by email. This record holds no CV, name or email address, so it cannot be used to identify you, and I use it only to see how the tool is being used and to improve it.
Joining my newsletter is a separate, optional choice: I only add you if you tick that box, and you can unsubscribe at any time. I send your review because you ask for it; I send the newsletter only with your consent.
The review is advice only. It does not make any decision about you.
Automated decision making
I do not make any decisions about you by purely automated means, and I do not use your data for profiling.
Changes to this policy
I may update this policy. The version in force is the one published on this page, last updated 27 October 2026.