Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Culinary Learning Media Limited, operating under the LeChefio brand, collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal information when you visit https://lechefio.com, purchase our online courses, create an account, use our learning platform, contact support, interact with our Telegram bot, or subscribe to our communications.

By using our website or services, you acknowledge that your personal information will be handled as described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Company Information

The website and services are operated by:

Culinary Learning Media Limited

BRN: 80579601

Address: 999077, Room 701, Unit 108, 7/F, Tower B New Mandarin Plaza 14, Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Email: hello@lechefio.com

In this Privacy Policy:

• “LeChefio”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to Culinary Learning Media Limited and the LeChefio brand.
• “You”, “student”, and “user” refer to any person who visits our website, creates an account, purchases a course, uses our services, contacts us, or interacts with our communications.
• “Personal information” means information that identifies you or can reasonably be used to identify you.

For the purposes of applicable privacy laws, Culinary Learning Media Limited is the organization responsible for deciding how your personal information is collected and used.

2. What We Do

LeChefio provides online pastry and culinary education.

Our services may include:

• pre-recorded video lessons;
• recipes and written course materials;
• PDF files and downloadable resources;
• online student accounts;
• homework submission and review;
• support from our team or course curators;
• course completion certificates;
• email, Telegram, and other course-related communications.

We do not sell or ship physical goods through the website.

3. Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal information.

3.1. Account and Contact Information

When you create an account, purchase a course, contact us, or subscribe to communications, we may collect:

• name;
• email address;
• phone number, if provided;
• country or region, if provided;
• username, login details, or account identifiers;
• preferred communication method;
• language or communication preferences.

3.2. Purchase and Payment Information

When you buy a course or other digital product, we may collect:

• purchased course or product;
• selected course plan or access level;
• price, currency, discounts, and order details;
• payment status;
• transaction ID;
• billing details, if required;
• payment method type;
• limited payment information provided by payment processors, such as card brand, last four digits, or payment confirmation status, where available.

Full payment card details are processed by third-party payment providers such as Stripe, PayPal, or other providers available at checkout. We do not intentionally store full payment card numbers on our own systems.

3.3. Course and Learning Information

When you use our courses or learning platform, we may collect:

• courses purchased;
• course access status;
• course progress;
• lesson activity;
• homework submissions;
• photos or files you upload for review;
• answers to assignments;
• comments, questions, or messages sent through the platform;
• certificate eligibility or completion status;
• support history related to your learning.

3.4. Support and Communication Information

When you contact us by email, Telegram bot, website form, messenger, or another support channel, we may collect:

• your name and contact details;
• your message content;
• attachments or screenshots you send;
• photos of your work, if submitted for support or homework review;
• order or account details needed to help you;
• support history and our replies.

3.5. Telegram Bot Information

If you interact with our Telegram bot, we may collect information made available through Telegram or provided by you, such as:

• Telegram user ID;
• Telegram username;
• first name and last name, if available;
• messages you send to the bot;
• support requests;
• notification preferences;
• course-related reminders or interaction history.

Telegram is a third-party service. Your use of Telegram is also subject to Telegram's own terms and privacy policy.

3.6. Email and Marketing Information

If you subscribe to our emails, purchase a course, register for an event, download a free material, or otherwise agree to receive communications, we may collect:

• email address;
• subscription status;
• email preferences;
• consent records;
• unsubscribe status;
• email opens, clicks, and interaction data;
• event registration data;
• interest in specific courses or topics.

3.7. Website and Technical Information

When you visit our website, we may automatically collect:

• IP address;
• device type;
• browser type and version;
• operating system;
• pages visited;
• referring page or source;
• UTM parameters;
• approximate location based on IP address;
• date and time of visit;
• cookies and similar tracking technologies;
• website performance and analytics data.

3.8. User-Provided Content

You may choose to submit:

• homework photos;
• dessert or food photos;
• assignment answers;
• feedback;
• comments;
• testimonials, if requested separately;
• questions;
• messages;
• files or documents.

You are responsible for making sure that any content you submit does not include personal information of other people unless you have the right to provide it.

4. Sensitive Information

We do not intentionally request sensitive personal information such as medical records, government ID numbers, race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, biometric data, or health data.

However, in the context of pastry and culinary education, you may voluntarily mention information such as allergies, dietary restrictions, religious food restrictions, health-related food preferences, or similar details.

Please do not send sensitive information unless it is necessary for your question or support request.

If you voluntarily provide such information, we will use it only to respond to your request, provide support, or handle the matter for which you provided it.

5. How We Collect Information

We may collect personal information:

• directly from you when you provide it;
• when you create an account;
• when you purchase a course;
• when you submit homework or ask questions;
• when you contact support;
• when you interact with our Telegram bot;
• when you subscribe to emails or other communications;
• automatically through cookies, analytics, and website technologies;
• from payment providers, where needed to confirm payment status;
• from service providers that help us operate our website, courses, payments, analytics, email, support, or communications.

6. How We Use Your Information

We use personal information for the following purposes.

6.1. To Provide Our Services

We use your information to:

• create and manage your account;
• process purchases;
• provide course access;
• deliver video lessons and digital materials;
• manage course progress;
• provide homework review, if included in your plan;
• provide support;
• issue course completion certificates, where applicable;
• maintain your student profile;
• respond to your questions.

6.2. To Process Payments

We use payment-related information to:

• process purchases;
• confirm successful payments;
• prevent fraud;
• handle refunds;
• manage chargebacks or payment disputes;
• comply with accounting, tax, legal, and payment provider requirements.

Payment processing is handled by third-party payment providers such as Stripe, PayPal, or other providers available at checkout.

6.3. To Communicate With You

We may use your contact details to send:

• purchase confirmations;
• login or access information;
• course updates;
• support replies;
• homework review messages;
• certificate-related messages;
• important account notices;
• service or policy updates;
• learning reminders;
• event reminders;
• marketing emails, where permitted;
• Telegram messages, where enabled.

6.4. To Provide Support and Homework Review

We may use your messages, photos, files, and course activity to:

• review your homework;
• answer your questions;
• troubleshoot recipe or technique issues;
• help you understand course materials;
• provide feedback;
• keep a record of support interactions.

6.5. To Improve Our Courses and Website

We may use information to:

• improve course structure;
• improve website usability;
• understand which materials are useful;
• identify technical issues;
• improve support quality;
• improve content, product, and communication strategy;
• analyze course engagement and student needs.

6.6. To Send Marketing Communications

Where permitted by law and your communication preferences, we may use your information to send:

• course offers;
• new course announcements;
• free lessons and recipes;
• webinar or event reminders;
• seasonal promotions;
• learning tips;
• updates about LeChefio.

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time using the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting us at hello@lechefio.com.

Some service-related messages may still be sent where necessary to provide services you purchased.

6.7. To Protect Our Business and Users

We may use information to:

• detect fraud;
• protect accounts;
• prevent unauthorized access;
• enforce our Terms of Service;
• prevent misuse of course materials;
• handle disputes;
• comply with payment provider requirements;
• comply with legal obligations;
• protect our rights, users, and services.

7. Legal Bases for Processing

Where applicable privacy laws require a legal basis for processing personal information, we rely on one or more of the following bases:

• Contract: to provide the course, account, support, digital access, payment processing, and services you purchased.
• Consent: for certain marketing communications, optional cookies, Telegram communications, or where you voluntarily provide specific information.
• Legitimate interests: to improve our services, protect our content, prevent fraud, provide support, analyze website performance, and operate our business.
• Legal obligations: to comply with accounting, tax, consumer protection, payment, regulatory, and legal requirements.
• Legal claims: to establish, exercise, or defend legal rights.

If you provide sensitive information voluntarily, we process it only as needed for the purpose for which you provided it and where permitted by applicable law.

8. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We may use cookies, pixels, tags, scripts, local storage, and similar technologies.

These technologies may help us:

• keep the website working;
• remember preferences;
• improve website performance;
• understand website usage;
• measure marketing effectiveness;
• protect against fraud;
• improve user experience.

Types of cookies may include:

• Essential cookies: needed for the website and checkout to work.
• Analytics cookies: help us understand how visitors use the website.
• Marketing cookies: help us measure campaigns or show relevant communications, where used and permitted.
• Functional cookies: remember preferences and improve experience.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Some parts of the website may not work properly if you disable essential cookies.

If we use a cookie banner or cookie settings tool, you can manage available choices through that tool.

9. Marketing Preferences and Opt-Out

You can unsubscribe from marketing emails by:

• clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails;
• contacting us at hello@lechefio.com.

If you use our Telegram bot, you may be able to stop messages by using the available bot commands, Telegram controls, or by contacting us.

Opting out of marketing does not stop necessary service messages, such as:

• purchase confirmations;
• access information;
• account notices;
• support replies;
• payment or refund messages;
• important course-related notices.

10. When We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information for money.

We may share personal information with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and provide our services.

These may include:

• payment processors, such as Stripe and PayPal;
• hosting and website infrastructure providers;
• learning platform providers;
• video hosting or streaming providers;
• email service providers;
• Telegram bot and messaging tools;
• analytics providers;
• customer support tools;
• fraud prevention and security providers;
• professional advisors, such as lawyers, accountants, or auditors;
• government, regulatory, legal, or law enforcement authorities where required by law;
• parties involved in a business transfer, merger, restructuring, acquisition, or sale of business assets.

We require service providers to handle personal information only for permitted purposes and to protect it appropriately.

If applicable law treats certain analytics, advertising, or tracking tools as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, we will provide any required notices and choices.

11. Payment Providers

Payments are processed by third-party payment providers.

When you pay for a course, your payment information is handled by the payment provider according to its own terms and privacy policy.

We receive limited payment-related information needed to confirm payment, provide access, process refunds, prevent fraud, handle disputes, and maintain business records.

We do not intentionally store full payment card numbers on our own systems.

12. International Data Transfers

We are based in Hong Kong and may use service providers located in different countries.

Your personal information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in countries other than your country of residence.

These countries may have data protection laws different from those in your country.

Where required by applicable law, we take steps designed to ensure appropriate protection for international transfers, such as contractual protections, technical safeguards, or working with service providers that maintain appropriate data protection measures.

13. How Long We Keep Information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

Retention periods may depend on:

• whether you have an active account;
• whether you have purchased a course;
• whether you have lifetime or limited access;
• legal, tax, accounting, and payment requirements;
• refund, chargeback, or dispute periods;
• support and homework review history;
• fraud prevention and security needs;
• whether you have unsubscribed from marketing;
• whether we need to keep records to enforce our Terms of Service.

Examples:

• Account and course access records may be kept while your account or course access remains active.
• Payment and order records may be kept as needed for accounting, tax, legal, refund, and dispute purposes.
• Support messages may be kept for a reasonable period to help us provide consistent support and resolve disputes.
• Marketing records may be kept until you unsubscribe or request deletion, subject to any records needed to respect your unsubscribe request.
• Homework submissions and related feedback may be kept while needed for course review, certification, support, or account records.

When information is no longer needed, we will delete, anonymize, or securely retain it only where legally necessary.

14. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect personal information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

These measures may include:

• access controls;
• password-protected systems;
• limited internal access;
• secure payment processing through third-party providers;
• monitoring and security tools;
• backups and technical safeguards;
• staff and contractor access limitations.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of information transmitted through the internet.

You are responsible for keeping your login details secure and not sharing your account access with anyone else.

15. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights regarding your personal information.

These rights may include the right to:

• request access to your personal information;
• request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information;
• request deletion of personal information;
• request restriction of processing;
• object to certain processing;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• request a copy of your information in a portable format;
• opt out of marketing communications;
• complain to a data protection authority.

To exercise your rights, contact us at hello@lechefio.com.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

Some requests may be limited where we need to keep information for legal, accounting, tax, payment, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, course access, or legitimate business reasons.

16. Hong Kong Privacy Rights

Under Hong Kong personal data protection rules, you may have the right to request access to and correction of your personal data.

You may contact us at hello@lechefio.com to request access to or correction of personal information we hold about you.

We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before processing such a request.

17. EU, UK, and Similar Privacy Rights

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or another region with similar privacy rights, you may have additional rights under applicable law.

These may include:

• the right to be informed;
• the right of access;
• the right to rectification;
• the right to erasure;
• the right to restrict processing;
• the right to data portability;
• the right to object;
• rights related to automated decision-making and profiling.

We do not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you based solely on automated processing.

To exercise these rights, contact us at hello@lechefio.com.

18. California and Other Regional Rights

If you are located in a region that provides additional privacy rights, such as California or another jurisdiction with consumer privacy laws, you may have rights to request information about the personal information we collect, use, disclose, or retain.

Where applicable, you may also have rights to request correction, deletion, access, portability, or opt-out of certain uses of personal information.

We do not sell your personal information for money.

If applicable law treats certain analytics, advertising, or tracking tools as a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information, we will provide any required notices and opt-out mechanisms.

To make a privacy request, contact us at hello@lechefio.com.

19. Children's Privacy

Our website and courses are not directed to children under 16.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16 without appropriate parental or guardian involvement.

If you believe that a child has provided personal information to us without appropriate permission, please contact us at hello@lechefio.com, and we will take reasonable steps to review and address the issue.

If you are under the age of majority in your country or region, you may use our services only with the involvement and permission of a parent or legal guardian.

20. Student Submissions and Visibility

Some course features may allow students to submit homework, photos, assignment answers, comments, or questions.

Some submissions may be visible to our team, curators, support staff, or other students if the relevant course area, assignment, or platform feature clearly indicates such visibility.

Please do not submit anything that you do not want to be reviewed for course, support, or learning purposes.

Visibility within a course area is not public marketing use. We will not use your personal homework photos, name, or feedback as public marketing material without appropriate permission.

21. Third-Party Links and Services

Our website, emails, Telegram bot, or course materials may contain links to third-party websites, platforms, or services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, security, or policies of third-party websites or services.

You should review the privacy policies of any third-party services you use.

22. Business Transfers

If Culinary Learning Media Limited, LeChefio, or our business assets are involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring, sale, financing, transfer, or similar transaction, personal information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

If this happens, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information remains protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy or another policy that provides appropriate notice.

23. Legal and Compliance Disclosures

We may disclose personal information if we believe it is reasonably necessary to:

• comply with applicable law;
• respond to lawful requests by public authorities;
• comply with court orders or legal processes;
• enforce our Terms of Service;
• protect our rights, privacy, safety, or property;
• protect the rights, privacy, safety, or property of users or others;
• investigate fraud, security issues, unauthorized access, or misuse of our services;
• handle disputes, refunds, chargebacks, or legal claims.

24. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.

The updated Privacy Policy will apply from the time it is published on our website, unless stated otherwise.

If we make material changes, we may provide additional notice where appropriate.

Your continued use of our website or services after the updated Privacy Policy is published means that you acknowledge the updated Privacy Policy.

25. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal information, please contact us:

Culinary Learning Media Limited

BRN: 80579601

Address: 999077, Room 701, Unit 108, 7/F, Tower B New Mandarin Plaza 14, Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Email: hello@lechefio.com