Privacy Policy (including GDPR)

Your privacy is essential to me. You can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me.

I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from the initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended, including:

  • Why can I process your information, and what purpose am I processing it for

  • Whether you have to provide it to me

  • How long do I store it for

  • Whether there are other recipients of your personal information

  • Whether I intend to transfer it to another country,

  • Whether I do automated decision-making or profiling, and

  • Your data protection rights

I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy.
You can contact me via Email at melissa@melissalawsoncoaching.com.

Data controller is the term used to describe the person/ organisation that collects, stores, and is responsible for people's data. In this instance, the data controller is me. I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office. My registration number is C1369565. My postal address is GU4 7QR. My phone number is 07984 148026.
My email address is melissa@melissalawsoncoaching.com.

My Lawful Basis for Holding and Using your Personal Information
The GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Different lawful bases depend on the stage at which I process your data.
I have explained these below:

Suppose you have had coaching with me, and it has now ended. In that case, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information.

If you currently have coaching with me or are in contact with me to consider coaching, in that case, I will process your data where necessary as per the contract.

How I use your information

Initial contact.
When you contact me about my coaching services, I will collect information to help satisfy your enquiry. This will include but is not limited to working through an intake form where I will gather background information about yourself, your presenting challenge as you perceive it, and your goals for seeking coaching.

If you decide not to proceed, I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within one month (30 days) of our final communication. Please let me know if you would like me to delete this information sooner.

Coaching
While you are accessing coaching, rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential.

That confidentiality will only be broken under certain circumstances. These circumstances may include the following but are not limited to:

  • To assist in the prevention or detection of a crime.

  • Prevention of serious harm to the client or others

  • Statutory obligations to disclose, such as under the terrorism act 2000

  • If the client is at risk of suicide or severe self-harm

I will always try to speak to you about this first unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

I will keep a record of your personal details and notes from our sessions to help the coaching services run smoothly. These details are kept securely in an encrypted folder on my laptop.

They are not shared with any third party.

Once coaching has ended, your records will be kept for six years from the end of our contract and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.

Data Security
I take the security of the data I hold about you very seriously.
As such, I make every effort to ensure it is kept secure. To this end, I use encrypted devices.

Your Rights
I try to be as open as possible to giving clients access to their personal information. You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use your personal information, or to stop processing your personal information.

You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information I hold about you and to object to using your data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data- matters. If I do hold information about you, I will: 

  • Give you a description of it and where it came from;

  • Tell you why I am holding it, tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision;

  • Tell you to whom it could be disclosed ;

  • Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes in the personal information I hold about you.

To request any personal information I may hold about you; please email me at

melissa@melissalawsoncoaching.com.


If you have any complaints about how I handle your personal data, please do not hesitate to contact me by writing or emailing the contact details given above.

I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures.

Suppose you want to formally complain about how I have processed your personal information. In that case, you can contact the ICO, the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK.


For more information, go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.