Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and protect personal information when you visit our website, contact us, book a reading or event, join The Hive, subscribe to updates, or otherwise engage with Soul Symbols.

1. Who we are

Soul Symbols is operated by Karen Sullivan, trading as Soul Symbols.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, Soul Symbols is the data controller of your personal information.

Contact details
Email: hello@soulsymbols.co.uk
Website contact form: Contact Soul Symbols

Please contact us using the details above if you have any questions about this policy or how your personal information is used.

2. Personal information we collect

The personal information we collect depends on how you interact with Soul Symbols. This may include:

  • Your name, email address, telephone number and any other contact information you choose to provide.

  • Booking and appointment information, including the service you book, date and time of appointment, payment status, and communications about your booking.

  • For astrology consultations, your date, time and place of birth.

  • Questions, themes, reflections or background information you choose to share before, during or after a reading, consultation, workshop or Sacred Circle.

  • Written notes, charts, reports or materials prepared for you as part of a service.

  • Zoom information connected with online sessions, such as your display name, image, voice, chat messages or contributions you choose to make.

  • Recordings of private readings only where you have requested or clearly agreed to a recording.

  • Newsletter subscription details and communication preferences.

  • Technical information collected when you use the website, such as IP address, browser type, device information and cookie data.

Please do not send personal information about another person unless you have their permission to do so.

3. Sensitive personal information

Some of the information you choose to share may reveal sensitive personal information, such as information about health, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexuality, ethnicity, political views or mental wellbeing.

Soul Symbols does not require this information as standard. Where you choose to provide it because it is relevant to a consultation or question you wish to explore, we will only use it with your explicit consent and only for the purpose for which you provided it.

You may withdraw your consent at any time. However, this may affect our ability to continue using that information within a consultation.

4. How we use your information

We use your personal information to:

  • Respond to enquiries and provide information you have requested.

  • Arrange, deliver and administer readings, consultations, workshops, Sacred Circles and other services.

  • Prepare astrology charts, written reflections, reports and follow-up materials.

  • Process bookings, payments, cancellations, refunds and appointment changes.

  • Send recordings where you have requested or agreed to receive them.

  • Communicate important information about a booking, event or purchase.

  • Send newsletters, updates, launches and invitations where you have opted in to receive them.

  • Maintain records for accounting, tax, legal and business administration purposes.

  • Improve the security, functionality and performance of the website.

  • Manage and protect Soul Symbols from fraud, misuse or security incidents.

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information.

5. Our lawful bases for using your information

We process personal information only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on:

Contract
Where processing is necessary to provide a reading, consultation, workshop, booking, purchase or other service you have requested, or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Consent
For newsletters and marketing emails, non-essential cookies, recordings, and any sensitive personal information you choose to provide for a consultation.

Legitimate interests
For the reasonable operation and protection of Soul Symbols, including responding to enquiries, maintaining business records, improving services, keeping the website secure and preventing misuse. We will only rely on this basis where your rights and interests do not override ours.

Legal obligation
Where we need to retain or disclose information to meet legal, tax, accounting or regulatory requirements.

6. Marketing emails

We will send you marketing emails, updates, launches, resources and invitations only where you have actively opted in to receive them, or where another lawful basis permits us to do so.

You can unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link in an email or by contacting us directly. Choosing to unsubscribe from marketing will not affect essential communications relating to an existing booking, purchase or service.

7. Sharing your information

We may share personal information with trusted service providers where this is necessary to run Soul Symbols and provide our services. These may include:

  • Website hosting and contact-form providers, including Squarespace.

  • Scheduling and booking providers, including Squarespace Scheduling or Acuity Scheduling.

  • Payment providers, including Stripe.

  • Video-conferencing and recording providers, including Zoom.

  • Email marketing providers, including MailerLite.

  • Accountants, professional advisers, insurers or IT support providers where necessary.

  • Public authorities, regulators, legal advisers or law-enforcement bodies where required by law.

These providers may process information on our behalf or, in some cases, as independent data controllers under their own privacy policies.

If you attend a live Circle, workshop or group event, other participants may be able to see your name, image, voice or any contribution you choose to make. Please take care not to share information you would prefer to keep private.

We will not record group sessions without telling participants in advance. Where recording is planned, we will explain the purpose and seek appropriate consent.

8. International transfers

Some of our service providers may process personal information outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States or other countries where their systems or support teams operate.

Where this happens, we will take reasonable steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as UK adequacy regulations, contractual safeguards or other protections recognised under UK data protection law.

You may contact us for further information about international transfers relevant to your personal information.

9. How long we keep your information

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

Our usual retention periods are:

  • Enquiries and contact-form messages: up to 12 months after the enquiry is resolved.

  • Booking, consultation and client administration records: up to 3 years after your last service or appointment.

  • Written readings, charts and reports: up to 3 years after delivery, unless you ask us to delete them earlier and we are not legally required to retain them.

  • Private session recordings: normally deleted within 30 days after being shared, unless a different period has been agreed with you.

  • Newsletter records: while you remain subscribed. If you unsubscribe, we may retain limited information in a suppression list for up to 6 years to make sure we honour your preference not to receive marketing.

  • Financial and tax records: for the period required by law.

We may retain information for longer where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, resolve a complaint or meet a legal obligation.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to make the site work properly, remember preferences, understand website use and, where enabled, support analytics or marketing activity.

Strictly necessary cookies may be used without consent because they are needed for the website to function. Where non-essential cookies are used, we will ask for your consent through our cookie banner or cookie-preferences tool before placing them on your device.

You can change or withdraw your cookie preferences at any time through the cookie settings available on the website. You can also control cookies through your browser settings. Read our full cookie policy.

11. Keeping your information secure

We take appropriate technical and organisational steps to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure.

These measures include limiting access to information, using password-protected systems, using reputable third-party service providers, and taking reasonable steps to secure communications and records.

No internet transmission or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, we will take appropriate action if we become aware of a personal-data breach.

12. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:

  • Ask for access to the personal information we hold about you.

  • Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.

  • Ask us to erase your information in certain circumstances.

  • Ask us to restrict how we use your information.

  • Object to processing based on legitimate interests.

  • Object at any time to direct marketing.

  • Ask for a copy of certain information in a portable format.

  • Withdraw consent where we rely on consent.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details above. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information.

13. Children

Soul Symbols’ services and website are intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to remove it.

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations or data-handling practices.

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