Privacy policy.

Polly Bloom – Divorce Coaching & Clinical Hypnotherapy

Website: pollybloom.co.uk

This Privacy Policy explains how I collect, use, store and protect personal information when you visit my website, contact me, enquire about or use my coaching, hypnotherapy, parent-support or child-support services, download resources, join a mailing list, or otherwise interact with my practice.

Last updated: 15 July 2026

1. Who I am and how to contact me

For data protection purposes, I am the “data controller”. This means I decide why and how your personal information is used.

Please use the contact details above for questions about this policy, requests concerning your personal information, or data protection complaints.

2. The information I may collect

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

• Identity and contact information, including your name, email address, telephone number and postal address.

• Enquiry and appointment information, including messages, booking details, consultation forms and your reasons for seeking support.

• Service records, including coaching or hypnotherapy notes, goals, agreed actions, progress and relevant correspondence.

• Information about family circumstances, relationships, separation, divorce, parenting or children where this is relevant to the support requested.

• Special category information, which may include information about physical or mental health, wellbeing, trauma, medication, disability, sexuality, racial or ethnic origin, religion or other sensitive matters that you choose to share and that are relevant to the service.

• Information concerning a child or young person where a parent or person with parental responsibility enquires about or arranges support, and information the child shares during age-appropriate work.

• Payment and transaction information. I do not normally retain full payment-card details; these are processed by the relevant payment provider.

• Website and technical information, such as IP address, browser information, device information, pages viewed and cookie preferences.

• Marketing preferences, resource downloads, email engagement and records of consent or opt-out requests.

• Feedback, reviews, testimonials or survey responses where you choose to provide them.

Information about other people

During coaching or therapeutic conversations, you may tell me about partners, former partners, children, relatives or professionals. I ask that you share only information that is genuinely relevant. I will treat such information confidentially and will not ordinarily contact those people.

3. How I collect personal information

I may receive personal information:

• directly from you by telephone, email, website form, booking form, video call, face-to-face meeting, questionnaire or other correspondence;

• from a person with parental responsibility when support is requested for a child;

• from a professional or referrer, with an appropriate basis for making the referral;

• through website cookies, analytics tools, email systems or booking platforms; and

• from publicly available sources where this is necessary and appropriate.

4. Why I use your information and my lawful bases

UK data protection law requires me to have a lawful basis for using personal information. The basis depends on the purpose and the circumstances.

Special category information

Some information used in my work may be special category data, particularly health and well-being information. In addition to an Article 6 lawful basis, I must have an additional condition under Article 9 of the UK GDPR. Depending on the circumstances, I may rely on your explicit consent, the protection of vital interests where legally applicable, or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. I will only collect sensitive information that is relevant and necessary.

Consent

Where I rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time by contacting me. Withdrawal does not make earlier use of your information unlawful. There may be circumstances in which I need to keep limited information for legal, insurance, safeguarding or record-keeping reasons.

5. Children and young people

Children have data protection rights in their own right. Where I provide support involving a child or young person, I will handle their information with particular care and explain privacy and confidentiality in language appropriate to their age and understanding.

• I will normally obtain appropriate agreement from a parent or person with parental responsibility before beginning work with a child.

• Where appropriate, I will also seek the child’s own informed agreement and respect their developing capacity and privacy.

• I will collect only the information reasonably needed to provide safe and appropriate support.

• Information shared by a child will usually remain private, subject to the limits of confidentiality explained at the outset.

• I may share information where I reasonably believe a child or another person is at risk of serious harm, where safeguarding action is required, or where the law requires or permits disclosure.

• Parents will be given appropriate feedback, but this does not necessarily mean a word-for-word account of everything the child has said.

6. Confidentiality and when information may be shared

I treat client information as confidential. I do not sell personal information. I may share limited information where this is necessary with:

• trusted service providers that support my practice, such as website hosting, appointment booking, email, secure cloud storage, video conferencing, accounting or payment providers;

• professional supervisors, consultants, insurers or legal advisers, normally using anonymised or minimised information where possible;

• medical, emergency, safeguarding, regulatory or public authorities where necessary to protect someone from serious harm or comply with legal obligation;

• law enforcement, courts or bodies where disclosure is required or permitted and;

• another person or organisation where you have clearly authorised me to do so.

Service providers are expected to protect personal information and use it only for the agreed purpose. I will share no more information than is reasonably necessary.

7. International transfers

Some technology providers may store or process information outside the United Kingdom. Where this occurs, I will take reasonable steps to ensure that an appropriate legal safeguard is in place, such as UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to approved contractual clauses, or another lawful transfer mechanism.

8. How long I keep information

I keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including professional, safeguarding, insurance, tax and legal requirements. The appropriate period may vary according to the type of service and the age of the client.

When information is no longer required, I will securely delete or destroy it, or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify anyone.

9. How I protect your information

I use proportionate organisational and technical safeguards, which may include:

• password-protected devices and accounts, multi-factor authentication where available and access controls;

• secure storage and appropriate disposal of paper and electronic records;

• using reputable service providers and keeping software reasonably up to date;

• limiting access to information to those who genuinely need it; and

• procedures for responding to suspected loss, misuse or unauthorised access.

No system is completely risk-free. If a personal data breach occurs, I will assess it promptly and notify affected people and the Information Commissioner’s Office where the law requires this.

10. Website cookies and analytics

My website may use essential cookies that are necessary for it to function, and may use analytics or other non-essential cookies where these have been enabled. Non-essential cookies should not be placed unless the required consent has been obtained.

Details of the cookies actually used, their purpose and duration should be provided in a separate Cookie Policy or cookie notice. You can also control cookies through your browser settings and, where available, the website cookie-preference tool.

11. Marketing communications

I may send newsletters, resources, hints and tips, service information or invitations where you have consented, or where another lawful marketing basis applies. You may unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link in an email or contacting me directly. I will not sell your details to advertisers or unrelated third parties.

12. Your data protection rights

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

• be informed about how your information is used;

• ask for access to your personal information;

• ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;

• ask me to erase information in certain circumstances;

• ask me to restrict how information is used in certain circumstances;

• object to certain uses of your information, including direct marketing;

• receive certain information in a portable format;

• withdraw consent where consent is the basis relied upon; and

• raise a concern or complaint about the use of your information.

These rights are not absolute and legal exemptions may apply. I may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. I will respond within the period required by data protection law.

13. Data protection complaints

You can make a data protection complaint by emailing me or by using another reasonable contact method.  Where possible, please put “Data Protection Complaint” in the subject line.

If you believe I have mishandled your personal information, or you are concerned about how I have collected, used, shared, stored or protected it, please contact me at:

paula@pollybloom.co.uk

Please include enough information for me to understand and investigate your concern. After receiving this information I will:

• acknowledge receipt of your data protection complaint within 30 days of receipt;

• take appropriate steps to investigate and respond without undue delay;

• make appropriate enquiries, keeping you informed of progress where necessary;

• tell you the outcome without undue delay.

I will keep an appropriate written record of the complaint, the enquiries made, communications with you and the outcome. I aim to acknowledge complaints much sooner than the statutory maximum wherever possible.

Complaining to the Information Commissioner’s Office

I hope I can resolve your concern directly. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection.

• Website: ico.org.uk

• Telephone: 0303 123 1113

• Address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

14. Changes to this policy

I may update this Privacy Policy when my services, systems or legal obligations change. The latest version is here on my website with the most recent publish date.