Coaching now open for climbers, athletes, artists, and dancers!

Privacy Policy

How we collect, use, and protect your data

This Privacy Policy explains how USEFULCOACH LTD (‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’) collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use our coaching services at useful.coach. Our coaching is delivered by Tom Herbert on behalf of USEFULCOACH LTD.

We process your data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data controller

USEFULCOACH LTD is the data controller responsible for your personal data. For any questions about this policy or your data, contact us at contact@useful.coach.

Data we collect

We collect and process the following personal data:

  • Identity data: Name, email address
  • Transaction data: Payment history, subscription details, invoices
  • Communication data: Messages exchanged during coaching, call recordings (with consent)
  • Health and performance data: Training logs, nutrition information, performance metrics you provide
  • Personal background data: Information you choose to share during coaching about your history, circumstances, relationship with food, and wellbeing, where relevant to your coaching
  • Technical data: IP address, browser type, access times (collected automatically)

How we use your data

We use your personal data to:

  • Provide and personalise coaching services
  • Process payments and manage subscriptions
  • Send service communications (appointment reminders, programme updates)
  • Respond to your enquiries
  • Improve our services
  • Comply with legal obligations

We process your data under the following legal bases (UK GDPR Article 6):

  • Contract: Processing necessary to deliver coaching services you have purchased
  • Consent: For marketing communications
  • Legitimate interests: To improve our services and prevent fraud

Health and wellbeing information is special category data. Where we process it, we do so on the additional basis of your explicit consent (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(a)), which you may withdraw at any time. In rare circumstances we may also rely on Article 9(2)©, where processing is necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another person and you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent.

Health and personal background information

Nutrition coaching often involves discussing personal history and circumstances in some depth. We treat this information as confidential. It is used only to deliver your coaching, is stored with access restricted to your coach, and is never used for marketing, published in case studies, or shared with anyone else without your explicit consent — subject only to the limited exceptions set out below.

Working with other coaches and practitioners

You may work with us alongside another coach, trainer, or practitioner. Where you do:

  • We remain a separate and independent data controller. The other practitioner is responsible for the data they hold under their own privacy policy.
  • We will only share information about you with them where you have given us your explicit consent, and only the minimum necessary for your programme — for example, dietary requirements, energy availability, or a constraint that affects how they train or treat you.
  • Personal background and history discussed in your nutrition sessions is not shared. The exception is where there is a genuine health or safety reason for another practitioner to know something, in which case we will tell you first wherever it is practical to do so.
  • You can withdraw your consent to this sharing at any time, and doing so will not affect the coaching you receive from us.

Data sharing

We share your data with the following third parties:

We may also disclose your data where we are required to do so by law.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

Data retention

We retain your personal data for:

  • Active clients: Duration of our coaching relationship plus 6 years (for legal and tax purposes)
  • Former clients: 6 years from the end of our relationship
  • Marketing contacts: Until you unsubscribe or request deletion

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

  • Access: Request a copy of your personal data
  • Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate data
  • Erasure: Request deletion of your data (subject to legal retention requirements)
  • Restriction: Request limitation of processing
  • Portability: Receive your data in a portable format
  • Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
  • Withdraw consent: Withdraw consent at any time for consent-based processing, including consent to share information with another practitioner

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at contact@useful.coach.

Data security

We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encrypted connections (HTTPS), secure payment processing via Stripe, and access controls.

International transfers

Your data may be transferred to and processed in countries outside the UK/EEA by our service providers (Stripe, Resend, Netlify). These transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards including UK International Data Transfer Agreements or Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum.

Cookies

We may use essential cookies for authentication and site functionality. We use Fathom Analytics for privacy-focused website analytics, which does not use cookies or track personal data.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by email or through our website. This version was last updated on 29 July 2026.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your data, please contact us first at contact@useful.coach. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.