Allison Tate Birth Companion Privacy Notice
This Notice informs you of the ways in which I collect, use and disclose personal information and data about you, as received through this site, www.allisontatebirthcompanion.com and throughout contracted services you consent to undertake with me. It also sets out your rights under General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Laws which were implemented on 25th May 2018. My Privacy Notice will be made clear to you at the point of collecting your information and will be referred to in the contract you will be required to sign before services are rendered.
This Notice is subject to change, please visit this page regularly. Last updated 8th November 2024.
Who Am I?
I am the founder of Allison Tate Birth Companion and I provide advocacy based companioning support to people throughout their experience of pregnancy, birth, pregnancy/baby loss and neonatal intensive care.
Contact Details
Telephone – 07404934103
Email – hello@allisontatebirthcompanion.com
Lawful Basis for Processing
Under UK data protection law, I must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website www.ico.or.uk
Which lawful basis I rely on may affect your data protection rights which are in brief set out below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website.
The lawful basis for collecting or using your personal information to provide you with companioning support and to respond to your enquiries is:
CONTRACT – I have to collect or use the information about you so I can enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your data protection rights may apply except the right to object.
To make a data protection rights request, please contact me using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice. I must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.
Your Data Protection Rights – What Information I Collect, Use, and Why
The safety and confidentiality of your personal information is very important to me. As the data controller of your personal information, I (Allison Tate Birth Companion) understand that I have a responsibility to take reasonable measures to protect and respect your privacy, and to look after the safety of your personal information/data in accordance with regulations and laws.
Data protection laws state that I am only able to collect and process personal data about you if I have a valid reason to do so. I receive personal information about you if you complete the contact form on my website www.allisontatebirthcompanion.com, you make contact with me via email hello@allisontatebirthcompanion.com or via phonecall or text 8132034610. I also receive information about you throughout the entirety of the contracted services you consent to undertake with me. I may also receive personal information about you from family members, other perinatal care professionals or perinatal organizations.
I collect or use the following information to respond to your queries or to provide you with companioning support that meets your unique needs and personal situation:
- Name, address, email address, telephone number
- Gender
- Pronoun preferences
- Date of Birth
- Family/marital status
- Race/ethnicity
- Religious or philosophical beliefs
- Next of kin or partner details
- Family details, including number of children and ages
- Health information (including medical conditions, allergies, medical history, mental health conditions, past and current perinatal history)
- Details of perinatal healthcare providers involved in your care
- Test results that you consent to sharing with me
- Records of our meetings, discussions and care/advocacy plans
- Record of your labor and birth
- Payment details (including card or bank information for transfers and debits that you will use to pay me for my services)
- Photographs that you consent to share with me or request me to take
- Any other RELEVANT information required to provide you with appropriate companioning support
I will hold the following documents containing information and data about you throughout the duration of our contract:
- Paper and electonic copies of your intake form and contract for services
- Paper and electronic copies of invoices and receipts for services rendered
- Paper and electronic copies of notes of our meetings and care/advocacy plans
- Electronic notes of your labour and birth
Paper documents will be held in a locked box on my personal property, with the key stored on my personal property in a location separate to the box, which only I have access to. Electronic documents will be stored on both my personal tablet device and iphone. Each device is password protected and is not used by anyone but myself.
I may also contact you to collect a testimonial, feedback or personal reflection of services rendered at the end of the contract, and these will only be shared publicly on my website www.allisontatebirthcompanion.com or on my social media @allisontatebirthcompanion with your EXPRESSED CONSENT TO SHARE.
Links to Other Sites
As I do not control other websites, I encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third party sites linked within my website www.allisontatebirthcompanion.com. Any information that is supplied on these sites is not within my control and I cannot be responsible for their privacy policies and practises.
Sharing of Your Personal Information
I will not share your information or personal data without your express permission and consent in advance, unless there is a safeguarding issue. Sharing of your personal information, with consent, would be based on a reason that we have discussed, for example to refer you to other perinatal professionals or birthworkers who can appropriately meet your individual needs.
How Do I Protect Your Data When Communicating With You?
No data transmission over the internet, other network or via my website can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, therefore I cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to my website www.allisontatebirthcompanion.com, and any transmission is at your own risk.
To the best of my ability, I strive to maintain physical and technical safeguards to protect the safety and confidentiality of your personal information and data that you transmit and share with me, by implementing adequate security measures as required by applicable laws.
Should you make initial contact with me via the contact form on my website www.allisontatebirthcompanion.com, your information is processed through WPForms. My website is provided by WordPress www.wordpress.com, hosted by SiteGround www.siteground.com.
To communicate with you I use email, text and video calling. For email, I use webmail via my website host Siteground. My webmail is password protected. I offer an alternative email with Proton Mail that provides encrypted messaging if you also have a Proton Mail email address – allisontatebirthcompanion@proton.me. This email address is also password protected.
For text messaging I use my personal iphone which is password protected and imessages are encrypted if you are also an iphone user, but SMS messages are not. I also use Whatsapp or Signal, both of which are end-to-end encrypted.
For video calling I use Signal which is end-to-end encrypted, private and secure.
How Long Do I Keep Your Personal Data?
Copies of your paper intake form, contract, notes of our meetings, notes of your labor and birth and any other planning documentation, will be shredded at the end of our contract. Any electronic copies of these documents will be deleted from my personal tablet and mobile phone at the end of the contract. I will email you your labor and birth notes at the end of the contract before deleting them from my electronic devices.
I will keep digital and paper invoices and receipts for 22 months after the end of the tax year that my companioning services were rendered as per UK guidance – www.gov.uk. Paper invoices and receipts will be shredded and electronic copies will be deleted from my personal tablet and iphone at the end of this mandatory period.
How to complain
If you have any concerns about how I use your personal data, you can make a complaint to me using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.
If you remain unhappy with how I have used your data after raising a complaint with me, you can also complain to the ICO.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint