Privacy & cookies

Who is responsible for your information

Hido Coach ([legal name and status, plus company number if registered]) of [registered or trading address] is the data controller for the information described here. That means we decide what is collected and why, and we are accountable for it under the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office, registration number [ICO registration number]. For anything about your data, contact hello@hidocoach.com or 01482 533771.

What we collect, and why

When you send an enquiry

The enquiry form asks for your first name, email address, and optionally a phone number, how you'd rather be contacted, what you're interested in, how you heard about us, and what you'd like to work on. That last box is yours to fill as you choose — please share only what you're comfortable sharing at this stage. We use it to reply to you and to prepare for the intro call.

When you sign up for the newsletter or resources

We collect your email address, optionally your name, and which page you signed up from. We use it to send you the monthly email and the tools you asked for — nothing else — and every email has an unsubscribe link.

If you become a client

We keep the details needed to work with you and to run a business properly: contact details, session dates, brief notes on what we're working on, any goals or actions agreed, and records of payments.

When you email, call or message us

We keep the correspondence itself, so we can pick up where we left off. Calls are not recorded.

When you simply visit the site

Our web server keeps standard technical logs — IP address, the page requested, the time, and your browser type — to keep the site running and secure. These are kept for [14 days] and are not used to build any profile of you.

Health and other sensitive information

Wellbeing coaching means you may tell us about your mental or physical health. Data protection law treats that as "special category" information and holds it to a higher standard.

We rely on your explicit consent to hold it — the tick box on the enquiry form, or your agreement at the start of coaching. You can withdraw that consent at any time, and we will delete what we hold unless we are required to keep it (for example, where insurance or a legal claim means records must be retained). You never have to write anything about your health in a web form to get in touch.

Our lawful bases

• Consent — the newsletter, the resource library, and holding any health information you share.
• Steps before a contract — answering your enquiry and arranging an intro call.
• Performing our contract — delivering coaching you have booked, and taking payment.
• Legal obligation — keeping financial records for HMRC, and any safeguarding or legal duty.
• Legitimate interests — keeping the website secure, keeping correspondence, and defending a legal claim if one is ever made. We have considered your rights and keep this to the minimum.

Who sees it

Your coach, and nobody else in the ordinary course of things. We do not sell or rent your details, and we do not share them for anyone else's marketing.

We do use a small number of suppliers who process data on our behalf, under contract:

• our website host, [hosting provider and country], which stores form submissions and server logs;
• our email delivery provider, [e.g. Resend], which sends enquiry notifications and the newsletter;
• our email and calendar provider, [e.g. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace];
• [payment provider, if card or direct debit payments are taken — note that we never see or store full card details];
• [any accountant or bookkeeper].

Some of these may store data outside the UK. Where they do, the transfer is covered by UK adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Agreement, so your information keeps the same protection it has here. [Confirm once suppliers are settled.]

We may also disclose information where the law requires it, or in the limited safeguarding situations set out in our coaching terms.

How long we keep it

• Enquiries that don't become coaching — 12 months, then deleted.
• Newsletter subscribers — until you unsubscribe. We then keep your email address on a suppression list so we don't email you again by accident.
• Client records and session notes — [7 years] after our last session, which is what our insurer requires. [Confirm with insurer.]
• Financial records — six years plus the current year, as HMRC requires.
• Website logs — [14 days].

Keeping it safe

The website is served over HTTPS. Form submissions are stored on a server that is kept up to date, with access restricted to the coach, and backups are taken regularly. Session notes are kept [describe: e.g. in a password-protected file on an encrypted device] and never in a shared inbox. We keep notes brief and factual for exactly this reason.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you can ask us to:

• give you a copy of the information we hold about you;
• correct anything that's wrong;
• delete it, where we don't have to keep it;
• restrict or object to how we use it, including stopping marketing entirely;
• send it to you or another provider in a portable format;
• stop relying on consent you've given, at any time.

Email hello@hidocoach.com and we will respond within one month. It costs you nothing, and asking will never affect how you're treated.

Cookies and similar technology

This site sets no advertising or analytics cookies. There is no Google Analytics, no Meta pixel, and no third-party tracking — which is why you aren't greeted by a cookie banner.

One small thing is stored in your own browser: when you unlock the Resources Hub library, your browser remembers that with a local storage entry called hido-library-open, so you don't have to sign up twice. It stays on your device, it isn't sent to us, and clearing your browsing data removes it.

If we ever add analytics, we will ask for your consent first, as the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations require.

Children

Coaching is for adults aged 18 and over, and this site isn't aimed at children. We don't knowingly collect information about anyone under 18; if we receive some, we delete it.

Changes to this notice

We will update this page when what we do changes, and the date at the top will tell you when. If the change is significant and we hold your details, we will tell you directly.

If you're not happy with how we've handled your data

Please tell us first — most things are quickly put right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint, helpline 0303 123 1113, or Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.