The BFI Film Academy Hub West Midlands is run by Rural Media, a registered charity. Rural Media is responsible for the information you give us.
What We Collect and Why
When you register, apply for a course or book an event, we ask for the information we need to provide the service, to meet our reporting obligations and to keep you safe while you are with us. We do not ask for more than that.
Some of it we hold because our funders require it, and some because we have a duty to keep young people safe. For equal opportunities monitoring we rely on the permission you give, and you can withdraw it at any time.
If you message us, we keep the conversation so we can pick it up where it left off.
Equal Opportunities Monitoring
As an organisation funded by the British Film Institute and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, we collect equal opportunities monitoring information.
It shows us whether we are reaching young people from backgrounds the film industry currently misses, and it helps us offer the right support on your way into it.
Every question can be answered with Prefer Not To Say. We ask your permission separately for each way we use this information, and saying no does not affect your place on anything.
Who Else Sees It
The BFI, which keeps information for statistics after your involvement ends, as set out in the declaration you agree to when you register. An evaluator working for the BFI may invite you to take part in a survey. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport, through the BFI’s reporting. The people running a session or placement you are going to, who are only told what would help you, rather than why.
We also use software to run the site, send email and keep our records. Those companies act on our instructions and cannot use your information for their own purposes.
Your data is protected. We do not sell your information and we do not share it for advertising. It is held in secure systems that only the people who need it can reach, and if anything ever went wrong we would tell the Information Commissioner’s Office where we had to.
If we are seriously worried about a young person’s safety, we may share information without asking first.
How Long We Keep It
While you are involved with the Hub, and for as long as our funders need us to account for who took part. After that we delete it properly.
Cookies
Looking at this site sets no tracking cookies. Signing in sets one, which is the only way staying signed in can work. When you send a form, a Cloudflare service checks you are a person rather than an automated script, and it does not see what you typed.
What You Can Ask For
A copy of what we hold about you, a correction, deletion where we are not required to keep it, or an end to emails at any time. You can also withdraw permission you have given.
Ask through Ask Us a Question. It is free, and it will not affect anything you have applied for.
If You Are Under 18
All of this applies to you in the same way, and you can ask us yourself. We ask you to check with a parent or guardian before you register, and for some activities we ask them to countersign.
If You Are Not Happy
Tell us first, through Ask Us a Question, and we will try to put it right.
If you are still not happy, the Hub is run by Rural Media and you can take it further through Rural Media’s complaints procedure, on their policies page.
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint at any point.
The Hub runs as part of a Rural Media project and follows all of Rural Media’s policies, including their privacy policy, which you can read at ruralmedia.co.uk/policies.
Last updated 16 September 2026.