How Ironbark Advisory handles your information

Last updated 30 October 2026. This policy explains what we collect through this website, our career and study assessment and our advisory work, why we collect it, who sees it and how to ask us to change or delete it.

Who we are

Ironbark Advisory is an independent international education advisory based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, run by Aqeeb Akram. We decide how the information described here is used, which makes us responsible for it.

For any question about your information, email [email protected].

What we collect

When you take the career and study assessment

Your profile: name, email, mobile number, date of birth, school or university, year or stage, curriculum, country and city of residence, nationality, when you hope to start university and how you heard about us.
If you are under 18, your parent or guardian's name, email and mobile number.
Your answers: subjects and results, interests, personality statements, work values, skills, experience, study and career plans, and career readiness.
The report we prepare from your answers.

Your answers are also saved in your own browser so you can stop and come back. That copy stays on your device. You can clear it by starting a new assessment or clearing your browser's site data.

When you contact us or become a client

The details you send us by email, WhatsApp or our booking calendar, and the information needed to advise you, such as academic records, test scores, passport details for applications, and course and university preferences. We only ask for documents when an application needs them.

When you browse the website

We use Google Analytics to understand how the site is used: pages visited, how long, the type of device and browser, and an approximate location. On the assessment it also records which steps are finished, so we can see where students stop, without your name, contact details or answers. It uses cookies. Visitors in Europe and the UK are asked first, and analytics stays off for them unless they accept. It does not tell us who you are.

Why we use it

To score your assessment, prepare your report and email it to you, and to your parent or guardian if you are under 18.
To contact you about your report and your study options, but only if you ticked the box agreeing to this.
To advise you and, if you ask us to, prepare and submit applications to universities and colleges.
To improve the assessment, the course search and the website, using results with names and contact details removed.
To meet legal and record-keeping obligations.

We rely on your consent for the assessment and for contacting you, and on carrying out the service you asked for when you are a client. You can withdraw consent at any time, and it does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.

Students under 18

Many students who use the assessment are at school. If you are under 18, we ask for a parent or guardian's details, you confirm that they know you are taking the assessment, and we send them a copy of your report. A parent or guardian can contact us to see, correct or delete their child's information. The assessment is for students in Year 10 and above, and does not accept anyone under 14.

Who sees your information

Aqeeb Akram and anyone working with Ironbark Advisory on your case, who are bound to keep it confidential.
Google, through Google Workspace: Google Forms and Google Sheets record the assessment, Google Drive keeps the report as a PDF, Google Calendar holds consultation bookings, and Gmail sends our emails. Google also provides Google Analytics.
WhatsApp, when you message us there. Messages are end-to-end encrypted, so WhatsApp cannot read them.
Universities, colleges and other institutions, only when you ask us to apply or enquire on your behalf, and only the information that application needs.
Authorities, if the law requires us to share it.

We do not sell your information, and we do not share it with advertisers.

Where it is stored

Google stores our data on servers that may be outside the United Arab Emirates and outside your own country, including in the United States. Google applies its own security and contractual safeguards to that data. By using the assessment you agree to your information being stored this way.

How long we keep it

Assessment profiles, answers and reports: 2 years from the date you take the assessment, then deleted, including the report PDF and the copy on our consultation calendar.
Sign-ups where the assessment was not finished: 12 months, then deleted.
Client records: for as long as we advise you, then 5 years for legal and accounting purposes.

Assessment data is deleted automatically once a month when it reaches these limits. You can ask us to delete your information sooner.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, including under the UAE Personal Data Protection Law, the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Australian Privacy Act, you can ask us to:

show you the information we hold about you and give you a copy;
correct anything that is wrong;
delete it;
stop contacting you, or stop using it for a particular purpose.

Email [email protected] from the address you used with us, and we will reply within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our reply, you can complain to the data protection authority in your country.

How we protect it

Your information is kept in our Google Workspace account, which is protected with two-step verification, and only the people who need it can open it. No system is completely secure, so if a breach affects your information we will tell you and the relevant authority as the law requires.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page when the way we handle information changes, and change the date at the top. If a change affects how we use information you have already given us, we will email you first.