Privacy Policy

At Kate Boyd-Williams, your privacy matters to us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect your personal information, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Data Controller: Kate Boyd-Williams (sole trader, registered in England and Wales)

Website: https://kateboydwilliams.com

Email: hello@kateboydwilliams.com

Postal address: Hodgsons, Sherborne, DT9 3NX, United Kingdom

Podcast: Conversations For Our Teens

2. What Information We Collect

We may collect the following types of personal data:

Information you provide directly

Name and email address (when you subscribe to our mailing list, download a resource, or book a service)
Payment information (processed securely through third-party payment providers; we do not store your card details)
Communication preferences (email opt-ins, unsubscribes, topic interests)
Session notes (if you take part in 1:1 coaching)
Feedback and testimonials (if you choose to provide them)
Survey responses (if you take part in our research or surveys)
Messages and enquiries (when you contact us by email or social media)

Information collected automatically

Website usage data (pages visited, time spent, referring sites) via Squarespace Analytics
Device information (browser type, operating system, IP address)
Podcast listening data (episode downloads, platform used), collected by podcast hosting platforms
Email engagement (open and click rates) via our email platform
Cookies (see Section 12 for details)

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data to:

Deliver our services

Deliver requested resources, such as the free guide, the parent guide and the Student Audio Toolkit
Provide access to programmes and coaching sessions
Send podcast notifications and updates
Process payments for products and services
Respond to your enquiries and provide support

Communicate with you (with your consent)

Send occasional emails with tools, insights and resources
Share updates about new podcast episodes, programmes or services
Invite you to take part in research or surveys

Run and improve our business

Improve our content, services and your experience
Understand our audience and measure how our work is received
Maintain security and prevent fraud
Meet our legal obligations

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal data to third parties for their own marketing purposes.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We collect and use your personal data on the following lawful bases:

Consent — when you opt in to receive emails, download a resource or sign up for a service
Contract — to deliver the products or services you have purchased
Legitimate interests — to operate and improve our business and send relevant content, where your rights do not override these interests
Legal obligation — to meet accounting, tax and other legal requirements

You can withdraw consent at any time by unsubscribing from emails or by contacting us.

5. Third-Party Service Providers

We share limited data with trusted providers who help us deliver our services. These providers process data on our behalf under appropriate data protection terms. They include:

Squarespace — website hosting, commerce and analytics
Our email marketing platform — newsletter delivery and email management
Calendly — session booking
Stripe and PayPal — secure payment processing (they handle all card details; we never see or store them)
Our podcast host and podcast platforms (e.g. Apple Podcasts, Spotify) — hosting and distribution; platforms collect their own listening data under their policies
Trustmary / JotForm — collecting feedback and testimonials
Canva — creating and sharing resources

These platforms have their own privacy policies, which we recommend reviewing if you have any concerns about how they handle your data.

6. Use of AI Tools

We may use AI-assisted tools to help us create content, organise our work and improve our services. Where these tools involve the processing of personal data, we use reputable providers with appropriate safeguards, and we do not use AI to make solely automated decisions that have a legal or similarly significant effect on you. We do not input identifiable client information into AI tools without a lawful basis for doing so.

7. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain your personal data only for as long as necessary:

Email subscribers: for as long as you remain subscribed
Inactive subscribers: no longer than 24 months after your last engagement, unless you ask us to delete it sooner
Coaching clients: session notes and records retained for up to 7 years, for professional standards and legal requirements
Purchase records: retained for up to 7 years for accounting and tax purposes (a legal requirement)
Website analytics: typically 24–36 months, depending on platform settings

You can request deletion of your data at any time, subject to any legal retention requirements.

8. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

Under the UK GDPR, you have the right to:

Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
Rectification — ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
Erasure — ask us to delete your data, unless we have a legal reason to keep it
Restrict processing — ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances
Data portability — receive your data in a portable format to transfer elsewhere
Object — object to processing based on legitimate interests, or to direct marketing
Withdraw consent — at any time, by clicking unsubscribe or contacting us
Complain — raise a concern about how we handle your data (see Section 9)

To exercise any of these rights, please email hello@kateboydwilliams.com, including your name, the email address linked to your records, and details of your request. We will acknowledge your request promptly and respond within one month, as required under the UK GDPR.

9. How to Make a Data Protection Complaint

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to complain to us directly, and we will do our best to put things right.

How to complain to us

You can make a complaint at any time by emailing hello@kateboydwilliams.com with “Data protection complaint” in the subject line, or by writing to us at the postal address in Section 1. You do not need to use any formal or legal wording — simply tell us what has happened and what your concern is.

How we will handle it

We will acknowledge your complaint promptly, normally within a few working days
We will look into it carefully and keep you informed of our progress
We aim to give you a full response within one month of receiving your complaint; if it is complex and we need longer, we will let you know

Your right to escalate

If you are not satisfied with our response, or you would prefer to raise your concern with the regulator, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Website: https://ico.org.uk

Helpline: 0303 123 1113

10. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including secure access controls, encrypted (SSL/TLS) connections, reputable and compliant platforms, regular reviews, and limiting access to authorised people only. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and while we work hard to protect your data, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

11. Cookies

Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website; they help a site remember your preferences and understand how it is used. We use:

Essential cookies — required for the website to function (for example, remembering items in a basket)
Analytics cookies — to understand how visitors use our site (Squarespace Analytics)
Marketing cookies — to measure the effectiveness of campaigns, where applicable

You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling them may affect how parts of the website work.

12. International Data Transfers

We are based in the UK. Some of our providers (for example, our email platform or podcast host) may be based outside the UK or European Economic Area. Where data is transferred internationally, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place — such as the UK’s International Data Transfer Agreement or Standard Contractual Clauses — so that your data receives equivalent protection.

13. Children’s Privacy

Our website, mailing list and online purchases are intended for adults — parents and guardians supporting a teenager. We do not knowingly collect personal data directly from anyone under the age of 18 through our website or mailing list.

Our products are purchased by an adult, who then shares any resources — such as audio guides, guides or links — with their teenager themselves. Where we work directly with a young person (for example, in a one-to-one session), this is arranged and paid for by their parent or guardian, with their consent, and any related notes are held as part of the parent’s or guardian’s client record.

If you believe a person under 18 has provided us with personal data directly, please contact us at hello@kateboydwilliams.com and we will delete it.

14. Podcast Listening Data

When you listen to Conversations For Our Teens through a podcast platform (such as Apple Podcasts or Spotify), that platform collects its own data about your listening, under its own privacy policy. We do not have access to individual listener data — only aggregated, anonymised statistics such as total downloads and broad geographic regions. Show notes may contain links to other websites, whose privacy practices we are not responsible for.

15. Social Media

If you interact with us on social media (for example, Instagram or LinkedIn), those platforms collect data under their own privacy policies. We may see basic information you choose to make public, such as your username and comments. We do not collect further personal data from social media unless you provide it directly, for instance by sending us a message.

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above, and communicate material changes by email (if you are subscribed) or by posting a notice on our website. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically.

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns or requests about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please contact:

Kate Boyd-Williams

Email: hello@kateboydwilliams.com

Website: https://kateboydwilliams.com

We aim to respond to general enquiries within five working days, and to formal rights requests and complaints within one month.