Privacy Notice

Last updated: 24 August 2026

This notice explains how I collect, use and protect personal information when you visit
Gary Shaw Life, contact me, book a consultation or work with me as a coaching client.

Gary Shaw, trading as Gary Shaw Life, is the data controller responsible for your personal
information.

Contact:
gary@garyshawlife.com
Location: London, United Kingdom

Information I may collect

Depending on how you interact with me, I may collect:

Your name, email address and telephone number
Consultation, appointment and scheduling information
Messages, enquiries and correspondence you send to me
Information you choose to share during consultations or coaching
Brief coaching notes and agreed actions
Payment, invoice and transaction information
Your marketing and communication preferences
Technical information such as your IP address, device, browser and website activity
Testimonials or feedback you provide with permission for publication

Payment-card details are processed securely by the relevant payment provider. I do not
receive or store your complete card details.

How and why I use your information

I may use personal information to:

Respond to an enquiry or arrange a consultation
Decide with you whether coaching is appropriate
Provide and administer coaching services
Schedule sessions and communicate about appointments
Process payments and maintain financial records
Maintain appropriate coaching and administrative records
Improve the website and understand how it is used
Protect the security and proper operation of the website
Send marketing emails where you have specifically chosen to receive them
Publish a testimonial only where you have agreed to its wording and presentation
Meet legal, accounting or regulatory responsibilities

The lawful bases I rely upon are:

Contract: where processing is necessary to take steps at your request
before coaching begins or to provide the service we have agreed.
Legitimate interests: where necessary to respond to general enquiries,
manage the practice, maintain security and improve my services, provided your rights do
not override those interests.
Legal obligation: where I must retain or disclose information to meet
legal, tax or accounting requirements.
Consent: for optional marketing, non-essential analytics cookies,
testimonials and other uses where consent is appropriate.

Sensitive information

Coaching conversations may sometimes involve information about health, sexuality,
relationships, beliefs or other highly personal matters. Some of this is classed as
special-category data and receives additional legal protection.

I will only record sensitive information where it is relevant and necessary for our work.
Where required, I will ask for your explicit consent before doing so. This consent will be
separate from general acceptance of my terms and may be withdrawn at any time.

Please keep an initial website enquiry brief and avoid including detailed medical or other
highly sensitive information at that stage.

Service providers

I use trusted third-party services to operate the website and deliver the practice.
Depending on how you interact with me, these may include:

Automattic and WordPress.com for website hosting and contact forms
Calendly for consultation and appointment booking
Google for email, calendar, video meetings and website analytics
Stripe for online payment processing
Mailchimp for email marketing where you have opted in
WhatsApp and Meta if you choose to communicate through those services

These providers receive only the information reasonably necessary to provide their
services. They process information under their own data-protection terms and privacy
notices.

I may also disclose information to professional advisers, accountants, insurers,
regulators or legal authorities where reasonably necessary or legally required.

I do not sell or rent your personal information.

International transfers

Some of the service providers I use operate internationally and may process information
outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, I take reasonable steps to use
providers that apply appropriate safeguards, such as UK adequacy regulations or approved
contractual protections.

How long I keep information

I retain personal information only for as long as it is reasonably needed:

Enquiries that do not become coaching relationships: up to 12 months
after our last communication
Coaching notes and related correspondence: up to three years after the
coaching relationship ends
Coaching agreements, appointment and payment records: up to six years
where required for contractual, insurance, tax or accounting purposes
Marketing information: until you unsubscribe or after 24 months without
meaningful engagement
Testimonials: until the testimonial is no longer used or you withdraw
permission
Analytics information: normally for no longer than 14 months, subject
to the relevant provider’s settings

A minimal suppression record may be retained after you unsubscribe so that I can respect
your request not to receive further marketing.

Information may be kept for longer where required by law, necessary to establish or defend
a legal claim, or needed to resolve an active complaint.

Security and confidentiality

I take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information
against loss, misuse, unauthorised access or disclosure. Access is limited to me and to
service providers who need it to perform their contracted role.

No method of internet transmission or electronic storage is completely secure, but I take
proportionate steps to reduce the risks and review how information is handled.

Your rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

Ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you
Ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
Ask me to erase information where there is no lawful reason to retain it
Ask me to restrict how information is used
Object to processing based on legitimate interests
Receive certain information in a portable format
Withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on consent
Unsubscribe from marketing at any time

To exercise any of these rights, email
gary@garyshawlife.com.
I may need to confirm your identity before releasing or changing personal information.

Gary Shaw Life does not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that
have legal or similarly significant effects.

Cookies and website analytics

WordPress.com uses essential cookies and similar technologies to operate and secure this
website. Where enabled, Google Analytics may use additional cookies to help me understand
how visitors use the site.

Non-essential analytics cookies should only be used with your permission. You can accept
or decline these through the website’s cookie controls and can also manage cookies through
your browser settings.

External services such as Calendly may set their own cookies when you follow a link to
their website. Their use of cookies is governed by their respective privacy notices.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or concern about how your information is handled, please contact me
first at gary@garyshawlife.com.

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office:

ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
.

Changes to this notice

I may update this notice when my services, systems or legal responsibilities change.
The latest version will always appear on this page with its updated date.