Privacy

Last updated: May 2025

1. Introduction

The Separation Companion is committed to protecting your personal data and handling it responsibly. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and your rights in relation to it.

This policy applies to information collected through this website, via our booking system (Calendly), through our contact form and in the course of providing our services.

2. What data we collect

Information you provide directly

• Your name and email address when you use the contact form or book a call
• Your phone number if you choose to provide it
• Information about your situation that you share when enquiring about or using our services
• Payment information, processed securely through third-party providers; we do not store card details

Information collected automatically

• Basic website usage data including pages visited and time spent, if analytics are enabled
• Cookies set by this website and third-party tools including Calendly (see our Cookie Policy)

Sensitive personal data

The nature of our service means you may share sensitive personal information with us, including information about your family situation, health, finances and legal proceedings. We treat all such information with the highest level of discretion and will only use it to provide you with the support you have requested.

3. Why we collect your data and the legal basis

• To respond to your enquiry, legal basis: legitimate interests
• To provide our services, legal basis: performance of a contract
• To process payments, legal basis: performance of a contract
• To meet legal and regulatory obligations, legal basis: legal obligation
• To send service-related communications (appointment confirmations etc.), legal basis: legitimate interests

We do not send marketing emails. We will not use your data for any purpose other than those listed above without your explicit consent.

4. How long we keep your data

• Client records and session notes, 7 years from the end of the client relationship, in line with contract law limitation periods
• Enquiries that did not result in a client relationship, 12 months from the date of enquiry
• Financial and payment records, 7 years, as required by HMRC
• Booking data held by Calendly, subject to Calendly's own data retention policy

After these periods, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

5. Who we share your data with

We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes. We may share data with:

• Calendly, our booking system, for scheduling appointments. Calendly processes data in accordance with its own privacy policy.
• Formspree, our contact form processor. Messages submitted via the contact form are processed by Formspree.
• Payment processors, for processing session payments securely.
• Legal or regulatory authorities, where required by law.

All third-party providers are selected carefully and are required to handle your data securely and in compliance with UK GDPR.

6. Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

• Right of access, to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification, to request correction of inaccurate data
• Right to erasure, to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances
• Right to restriction, to request that we limit how we use your data
• Right to portability, to receive your data in a portable format
• Right to object, to object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at kw@theseparationcompanion.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully.

7. Data security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss or disclosure. All data is stored securely and access is restricted to Katherine Waterhouse only.

8. Transfers outside the UK

Some of our third-party service providers (including Calendly and Formspree) may process data outside the UK. Where this occurs, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR requirements.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page reflects when it was last updated. Continued use of our services following any changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at kw@theseparationcompanion.co.uk.