Privacy Policy

Who we are

Modern Self-Defense Center (“MSDC”, “we”, “us”) operates this website and teaches self-defense in Connecticut and online. We are the data controller for information collected through this site.

What we collect

Only what a given interaction actually needs:

• When you submit a form — your name, email address, and whatever else that specific form asks for, such as phone number, location, training goals, organisation, or injuries you have told us about. Fields marked optional are optional.
• When you buy something — your name, email, billing and shipping address, order contents and order history.
• When you have an account — your username, email, saved addresses and past orders.
• Automatically — standard web-server information such as IP address, browser type and pages visited, plus analytics data described below.

We do not ask for, and do not want, health records, government identification, or financial account numbers.

How we use it

• To reply to your inquiry — a real instructor reads and answers these personally.
• To fulfill and support purchases, bookings and memberships.
• To send you email you asked for, such as seminar announcements or course early-access notices.
• To understand which pages people find useful, so we can improve them.
• To meet legal, tax and insurance obligations.

We do not use your information to build advertising profiles, and we do not make automated decisions about you.

Payments

Payments are processed by Stripe and PayPal. Your card number never reaches this website and we never see or store it. Those companies process your payment details under their own privacy policies, and we receive only what we need to fulfil the order — confirmation of payment, the amount, and your billing details.

Email

Our mailing list runs on FluentCRM, hosted on our own server rather than a third-party marketing platform. You are added only if you tick the box or explicitly ask to be. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and unsubscribing takes effect immediately.

Submitting an inquiry form does not subscribe you to anything. Those are separate on purpose.

Analytics and cookies

We use Google Analytics to see which pages are read and where visitors arrive from. It sets cookies and collects an anonymised record of your visit. WooCommerce also sets cookies to remember your cart and keep you logged in — the store cannot work without those.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings. Blocking essential cookies will break the cart and account areas; blocking analytics cookies will not affect anything you can see.

Who we share it with

We do not sell your information, and we do not share it for anyone else’s marketing. We share it only with the services required to run this site — our web host, payment processors, and email delivery — and only to the extent each one needs. We will disclose information if the law requires it.

How long we keep it

• Form submissions — kept while they are useful for answering you and understanding demand. Ask and we will delete yours.
• Orders and invoices — kept as long as tax and accounting rules require.
• Mailing list — kept until you unsubscribe.
• Analytics — retained according to Google’s standard retention settings.

Your rights

You can ask us to show you what we hold about you, correct it, delete it, or stop emailing you. Email us and we will action it — we do not require a form, and we do not charge for it.

Depending on where you live you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR or the Connecticut Data Privacy Act. We apply the same approach to everyone regardless.

Children

We teach minors in person, and those arrangements are made with a parent or guardian directly. This website is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information online from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has submitted information through this site, tell us and we will remove it.

Changes

If this policy changes materially we will update this page and change the date below.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request about your own information, go to , or through our contact page.

Last updated 22 August 2026.