Privacy Notice

The Sober Truth Coach is operated by Daniel Matthews as a sole trader. I am responsible for deciding how personal information is used in connection with my website and coaching services.

For privacy questions or requests, contact team@thesobertruthcoach.com.

I use the information you share to respond to enquiries, arrange appointments and provide your agreed coaching support. This may include emails, WhatsApp messages and completed worksheets.

Some information may concern your health, recovery, sex life or sexual orientation. Where this is needed for our coaching work, I ask for your explicit consent to use it for that purpose. You can withdraw that consent by contacting team@thesobertruthcoach.com. We would then discuss whether and how coaching could continue without using that information.

I do not keep separate session notes.

Use of digital tools

I may use digital and AI-assisted tools to support professional reflection, preparation and the development of coaching resources.

When doing so, I take steps to minimise the personal information shared and protect client confidentiality. AI tools are not used to make automated decisions about clients or replace professional judgement.

Calendly is used to arrange introductory calls. The booking form requests basic contact and appointment details. Please avoid including sensitive personal information when booking. Earlier bookings may contain information submitted before the form was simplified.

The website and its security providers process technical information, such as connection details, browser information and requests for pages, to deliver and protect the service.

Free resources can be downloaded without signing up. Completing a downloaded worksheet does not automatically send your answers to me.

Contact and booking information is needed to arrange services. Without information necessary for the agreed coaching work, I may be unable to provide some support. Decisions about your coaching are not made solely by automated systems.

I rely on the following lawful bases under the UK GDPR:

• Contract: arranging coaching at your request and providing the services we agree, under Article 6(1)(b).
• Legitimate interests: responding to general enquiries, administering the business and protecting the website, under Article 6(1)(f), balanced against your rights.
• Legal obligations: keeping records or making disclosures required by law, under Article 6(1)(c).
• Explicit consent: the additional condition for sensitive information used in coaching, under Article 9(2)(a). Optional analytics would rely on consent under Article 6(1)(a).

Enquiries that do not lead to coaching

Six months after our last contact

Client emails and WhatsApp messages

Six months after the final coaching session

Completed coaching worksheets

One year after the final coaching session

These periods apply to routine coaching information. Financial records and information that must be retained for a specific legal reason are handled separately. Any longer retention must be necessary for that purpose and reviewed.

Provider backups may follow separate deletion cycles; deletion from every backup is not necessarily immediate.

I may discuss aspects of my coaching work during professional supervision. These discussions are anonymised, taking care to remove names and other details that could identify you. Identifiable client worksheets are not shared for routine supervision.

Any disclosure for safeguarding or legal purposes must have an appropriate lawful basis and be limited to the information necessary.

I use providers for appointment booking, business communications, video calls, cloud storage, website hosting and security. These providers handle information needed to deliver their services. I also use services for payments and accounting. Their roles and terms depend on the service used.

Personal information is protected using appropriate security measures and restricted access. Further information about relevant recipients and their handling of your information is available through the privacy contact above.

Some service providers process information outside the UK, including in the United States. Calendly publishes transfer provisions using the UK Extension to the Data Privacy Framework, with contractual safeguards as a fallback. The website hosting agreement includes standard contractual clauses with the UK Addendum. You can request information about relevant safeguards through the privacy contact.

Google Analytics is not currently enabled on this website. These controls record your preference only. We will ask for fresh consent before introducing analytics.

Necessary cookies help protect this website and remember your privacy choices. Optional analytics stays off unless you accept it.

If you accept analytics, Google Analytics helps us understand overall visits and general sources of traffic. Google processes an online identifier and limited technical and usage information. This is not completely anonymous processing.

We do not send coaching records, worksheet answers, names or contact details to Google Analytics, and we do not use it for advertising personalisation.

Website protection

Cloudflare’s __cf_bm security cookie normally expires after 30 minutes of inactivity.

Your privacy choice

The tstc_cookie_consent preference cookie lasts 180 days.

Optional analytics

No analytics cookies are currently set by this website. Cookie details will be provided before analytics is introduced.

You can withdraw consent through Cookie Settings. For requests concerning information already collected, contact team@thesobertruthcoach.com.

Depending on the circumstances, you can ask to access, correct, erase or restrict the use of your personal information, and request a portable copy where the right applies.

You can withdraw consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before it was withdrawn.

You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation.

You can raise a privacy complaint with me through team@thesobertruthcoach.com or complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

I normally respond to requests to exercise your data protection rights within one month, subject to the rules on clarification, verification and extensions.