Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy
Creative Counsellors Community CIC
Effective date: 29th May 2024
Contact: [email protected]
Designated Data Protection Officer: Tanja Sharpe

1. Introduction

This privacy policy explains how Creative Counsellors Community CIC ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you interact with our websites:

We are committed to complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and other applicable data protection laws.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal information:

Identity & Contact Data: Name, email address, postal address, phone number (if provided)
Demographic Data: Age, location, preferences, interests
Technical Data: IP address, browser type, login data, location, usage data (via cookies/analytics)
Transaction Data: Payment history (via Stripe/PayPal, we do not store card numbers)
Profile Data: Login credentials (hashed), course history, support messages
Marketing & Communications Data: Your preferences in receiving communications from us

3. How We Collect Your Data

We collect your personal data when you:

Register for an account or course via Thinkific
Subscribe to our newsletter via ConvertKit
Contact us via email, contact forms, or social media
Purchase a membership, product, or event ticket
Interact with our websites (via cookies and analytics tools)

4. Legal Bases for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a legal basis to process your personal data. Our lawful grounds include:

Consent – for newsletters and certain marketing emails
Contract – to provide you with courses, services, or products
Legal obligation – e.g. financial record keeping
Legitimate interests – e.g. improving services, ensuring security

5. How We Use Your Data

We may use your information to:

Process course registrations and event bookings
Provide access to content and member areas
Send newsletters, updates, and marketing you’ve opted into
Respond to your enquiries and provide support
Analyse usage to improve our website and services
Fulfil our legal and financial obligations

We will never sell your personal data to third parties.

6. Third-Party Services

We use third-party services to help us operate securely:

Thinkific: Course hosting and user account management
ConvertKit: Email subscription and marketing
Stripe & PayPal: Secure payment processing
Google Analytics: Website usage tracking (anonymised)

All third-party providers have their own privacy policies and are required to comply with UK GDPR or equivalent data protection regulations.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data only as long as necessary for the purposes outlined in this policy. You may request deletion of your data at any time (see Section 10).

8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to enhance website functionality, analyse traffic, and offer a better user experience. You can manage your cookie preferences via your browser or our cookie banner.

For more information, see our separate Cookie Policy (available on request or via our website).

9. Data Security

We have implemented appropriate physical, technical, and organisational security measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, use, or disclosure. These include encrypted connections, password protection, and secure payment gateways.

10. Your Data Rights (Under UK GDPR)

You have the following rights:

Access – Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
Rectification – Request correction of any inaccurate or incomplete data
Erasure – Ask us to delete your data ("right to be forgotten")
Restriction – Request limitation of processing your data
Portability – Request transfer of your data to another service provider
Objection – Object to processing of your data for certain purposes

To exercise your rights, email: [email protected]

11. Marketing Communications

You may opt into or out of marketing emails at any time by:

Clicking “unsubscribe” in any email we send
Emailing us at: [email protected]

We will not contact you for marketing unless you have opted in.

12. Comments & Blog Interactions

When you leave a comment on our blog:

Your name and email address (if provided) are stored with your comment
You must consent to this before posting
Your data will not be used for any other purpose or shared

We reserve the right to moderate, edit, or remove comments that violate our community guidelines.

13. External Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites. Once you leave our site, we are no longer responsible for how those websites handle your data. Please check their privacy policies before submitting any information.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be available on our website. Continued use of our services after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this policy, or wish to make a complaint, please contact us:

📩 [email protected]
✉️ Creative Counsellors Community CIC

If you're not satisfied with our response, you have the right to contact the UK regulator:
Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – www.ico.org.uk