Privacy Policy

The Merry Menopause respects your privacy and takes the protection of your personal information seriously.

This privacy policy explains what information I collect, why I collect it, how I use it and the rights you have in relation to it.

 

1. Who is responsible for your information?

The data controller is Jo Fuller, trading as The Merry Menopause.

Website: www.themerrymenopause.com

Email: jo@themerrymenopause.com

If you have any questions about this policy or how your information is used, please contact me using the email address above.

 

2. What information do I collect?

Depending on how you interact with The Merry Menopause, I may collect:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your telephone number
• Your postal or billing address
• Your job title and the organisation you work for
• Information you provide through an enquiry, questionnaire, consultation, coaching session, workshop or event
• Information about menopause, menstruation, health, well-being or workplace experiences that you choose to share
• Records relating to services you have booked or purchased
• Payment and transaction information
• Your email preferences and records of your consent
• Information about how you interact with my emails
• Technical information such as your IP address, browser, device and how you use the website

Please avoid sending health information through a general website contact form unless it is necessary for your enquiry.

 

3. How I collect your information

I may collect information when you:

 

• Visit this website
• Complete a contact, sign-up or pop-up form
• Download a guide, tracker or other free resource
• Subscribe to receive emails
• Book a call, coaching session, workshop or event
• Purchase a service
• Complete a questionnaire or feedback form
• Take part in coaching, training, a consultation or a workplace programme
• Contact me by email, telephone, social media or another communication platform
• Interact with an email I have sent

I may also receive information from an organisation that has engaged me to provide coaching, training or consultancy. When this happens, the organisation should tell you what information it has shared and why.

 

4. Why I use your information

I use personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries
• Provide coaching, training, speaking, consultancy and workplace services
• Manage bookings, contracts and payments
• Deliver guides, trackers and other resources you have requested
• Send emails that you have agreed to receive
• Keep appropriate records of client work
• Improve my services, website and communications
• Ask for feedback
• Maintain the security and operation of the website
• Meet legal, tax, accounting and regulatory requirements
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims

I do not sell your personal information.

 

5. My lawful bases for using your information

Under UK data-protection law, I must have a lawful reason for using your information.

Depending on the circumstances, I rely on:

 

Consent

I rely on your consent when you choose to receive marketing emails or provide health-related information where explicit consent is required.

You can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect anything that was lawfully done before you withdrew it.

Contract

I use your information when it is necessary to provide a service you have requested, take steps before entering into a contract or fulfil an agreement with you.

Legal obligation

I may need to retain or use information to comply with tax, accounting, safeguarding or other legal requirements.

Legitimate interests

I may use information when it is reasonably necessary to run and protect my business, respond to enquiries, improve my services, maintain appropriate records or communicate with existing clients about closely related services.

When I rely on legitimate interests, I consider the effect on your rights and privacy before using your information.

 

6. Health and other sensitive information

Information about your physical or mental health is classed as special category data and receives additional protection under UK data-protection law.

 

Because my work concerns menopause, menstruation, well-being and coaching, you may choose to share health-related information with me.

 

I will only collect and use this information when it is relevant to the service I am providing and I have an appropriate lawful basis and condition for doing so. This will usually be your explicit consent.

 

You can decline to provide information that you do not feel comfortable sharing. However, this may limit the support I can provide.

 

I do not provide medical diagnosis or treatment.

 

7. Email marketing and free resources

• If you request a guide, tracker or another free resource and agree to receive emails, I will use the details you provide to:
• Send the resource you requested
• Send occasional emails about menopause, menstruation, work, coaching and related services
• Understand whether emails have been opened or links have been clicked
• Manage your subscription preferences

 

I use MailerLite to manage forms, subscribers and email communications. MailerLite may record information including your email address, IP address, location, the date and time you subscribed and the form you used.

 

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email or contacting jo@themerrymenopause.com.

 

Unsubscribing from marketing will not prevent me from sending essential messages about a service you have booked or purchased.

 

I may retain limited information on a suppression list after you unsubscribe. This ensures that I respect your choice and do not add you to marketing communications again by mistake.

 

8. Payments

Payments may be processed through third-party providers such as Stripe or PayPal.

 

These providers process payment details under their own privacy policies. I do not receive or store your full card details, although I may receive transaction information needed to confirm a payment, issue an invoice, process a refund or maintain financial records.

 

You can read their privacy policies here:

• Stripe Privacy Policy
• PayPal Privacy Statement

 

9. Who I share information with

I only share information when it is necessary to provide my services, operate my business or comply with the law.

 

Service providers may include:

 

• MailerLite for sign-up forms and email communications
• IONOS and website service providers for hosting and maintaining the website
• Google Workspace and Google Drive for email, documents and file storage
• Stripe or PayPal for payment processing
• Booking, video-conferencing and communication platforms
• Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, legal advisers or IT providers
• Public authorities, regulators or law-enforcement bodies when required by law

 

These organisations may act as data processors or as independent data controllers, depending on the service they provide.

 

Where an organisation processes information on my behalf, I take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate contractual and security arrangements are in place.

 

I may also share relevant information with an organisation that has commissioned coaching, training or consultancy, but I will not ordinarily disclose the confidential content of an individual coaching conversation without that person’s permission unless there is a legal, contractual or safeguarding reason to do so.

 

10. International transfers

Some service providers may process or store information outside the UK.

 

Where personal information is transferred to a country that has not been recognised as providing an adequate level of protection, I rely on appropriate safeguards. These may include the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or another legally recognised safeguard.

 

MailerLite may use international processing locations and subprocessors. Its arrangements are explained in its Data Processing Addendum.

 

11. Cookies and website analytics

 

This website may use cookies and similar technologies.

 

Some cookies are strictly necessary for the website to work. Other cookies may help me understand how visitors use the website, remember preferences, display embedded content or measure performance.

 

Where consent is required, non-essential cookies should not be placed unless you choose to accept them through the website’s cookie controls.

 

You can change or withdraw your cookie choices through the available cookie settings or your browser. Blocking some cookies may affect how parts of the website work.

 

Third-party services or embedded content may place their own cookies and process information under their own privacy policies.

 

12. How long I keep information

I keep personal information only for as long as it is reasonably needed for the purpose for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, insurance and record-keeping requirements.

 

As a general guide:

• Enquiries that do not become client work are usually kept for up to two years
• Client, coaching and service records may be kept for up to seven years after the work ends
• Financial and transaction records are usually kept for at least six years
• Email-subscriber information is kept while you remain subscribed
• Records of consent and unsubscribes may be retained where needed to demonstrate compliance and respect your preferences
• Website and analytics information is kept according to the retention settings used by the relevant service

 

I may keep information for longer if this is required by law, necessary to resolve a dispute or needed to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.

 

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

 

13. How I protect your information

I use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from accidental loss, misuse, alteration, unauthorised access or disclosure.

 

These measures may include password protection, access controls, secure service providers, software updates and limiting access to information.

 

No online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, but I take reasonable steps to reduce the risks.

 

14. Your rights

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

• Ask what personal information I hold about you
• Receive a copy of that information
• Ask me to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
• Ask me to delete your information
• Ask me to restrict how your information is used
• Object to certain uses of your information
• Withdraw consent
• Ask for information you provided to be transferred in a portable format
• Object to your information being used for direct marketing
• Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office

 

These rights are not absolute and may depend on the lawful basis for using your information.

To exercise a right, email jo@themerrymenopause.com. I may need to ask for information to confirm your identity before responding.

I will normally respond within one month.

 

15. Complaints

If you are concerned about how I have used your information, please contact me first at jo@themerrymenopause.com so I can try to resolve the issue.

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

Website: www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

 

16. Children

My website and services are intended for adults. I do not knowingly collect personal information from children through the website or use it to market to them.

 

If you believe a child has provided personal information to me without appropriate permission, please contact me so I can review and, where appropriate, delete it.

 

17. Social media and external websites

This website may contain links to social-media platforms and other websites.

 

Those services operate independently and have their own privacy policies. I am not responsible for how another website or platform collects or uses your information.

 

Information you share publicly through social media may be visible to other people.

 

18. Automated decision-making

I do not use personal information to make solely automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.

 

I may use basic email engagement information, such as whether someone opened an email or clicked a link, to organise subscribers and make communications more relevant.

 

19. Changes to this policy

I may update this policy when my services, suppliers or legal obligations change.

 

The latest version will always be published on this page, with the date of the most recent update shown at the top.

 

20. Contact

For questions, requests or concerns about this privacy policy or your personal information, contact:

 

Jo Fuller
The Merry Menopause
Email: jo@themerrymenopause.com