Privacy Notice
Beyond Dark Water – Coaching & Wellbeing
Last updated: 15 November 2026
Who I am
I am Elizabeth (Liz) Hoe, the founder of Beyond Dark Water, which I operate as a sole trader providing coaching, yoga and wellbeing services.
I take your confidentiality and privacy seriously. This notice explains what personal information I collect, why I need it, how I protect it and your rights under UK data protection law.
I am the data controller responsible for your personal information.
For any privacy enquiries, please contact me at liz@beyonddarkwater.co.uk.
What personal information do I collect?
I collect information when you contact Beyond Dark Water, enquire about my services, participate in coaching or yoga activities, or visit my website.
Depending on your relationship with me, this may include:
Your name and contact details.
Information you provide through website enquiries, emails or conversations.
Coaching goals, intake questionnaires, agreements and relevant session notes.
Yoga questionnaires and information relevant to safe participation.
Health, wellbeing or other sensitive information you choose to share.
Information needed for invoicing and business administration.
I only ask for information that is relevant to the services I provide.
Why do I need this information?
I use personal information to respond to enquiries, arrange and deliver services, understand individual needs, maintain appropriate professional records and meet legal or financial obligations.
Under UK GDPR, I rely on the following lawful bases, depending on the circumstances:
Contract: To arrange and provide services you have requested.
Legitimate interests: To respond to enquiries, administer my business and maintain appropriate records, where those interests do not override your rights.
Legal obligations: To meet applicable accounting, tax and other legal requirements.
Consent: Where I specifically ask for your permission, including for optional website cookies.
Some questionnaires and coaching conversations may involve health information or other sensitive personal information, which receives additional protection under UK GDPR.
Where explicit consent is the appropriate condition for processing this information, I will ask for it separately and explain how you can withdraw it. Where another legal condition applies, I will ensure it is appropriate to the circumstances.
How do I store and protect your information?
I generally store personal information electronically using password-protected devices and appropriate cloud services.
My current service providers include:
Squarespace: Website hosting, contact forms and website analytics.
Microsoft 365: Business email and communications.
Apple iCloud: Electronic document storage.
FreeAgent: Invoicing and accounting.
Occasionally, I may collect information on paper, particularly during yoga classes or workshops. I keep paper records securely and, where appropriate, digitise and securely destroy them.
I take reasonable steps to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss or disclosure.
I limit access to those who genuinely need the information for an appropriate business purpose.
Some providers may process information outside the UK. Where required, I rely on recognised data protection safeguards for international transfers.
Confidentiality and sharing information
Confidentiality is fundamental to my coaching practice.
I will not routinely share the personal information you disclose during coaching or yoga activities with other people.
There may be occasions when sharing limited information is appropriate, for example when working with another professional. Where appropriate, I will discuss this with you and seek your permission beforehand.
There are exceptions where disclosure may be necessary or legally required, including:
A legal obligation or court order.
A serious safeguarding concern.
Circumstances involving a significant risk of serious harm.
A legitimate complaint, insurance claim or legal proceeding.
I will consider any disclosure carefully and limit it to what is necessary and lawful.
I may also share relevant information with trusted service providers who support the operation of Beyond Dark Water, such as those identified above.
I do not sell your personal information.
How long do I keep your information?
My approach is simple:
Keep personal information only while it is useful or necessary, and dispose of it securely.
My intended retention arrangements are:
Enquiries that do not lead to a client relationship: Normally deleted three months after the last meaningful contact.
Detailed coaching notes: Normally deleted three months after the coaching relationship ends.
Yoga health questionnaires: Reviewed and deleted when no longer needed for safe participation or another legitimate purpose.
Signed agreements and essential consent or service records: Retained for an appropriate period to meet professional, insurance and potential legal claims requirements.
Financial records: Retained in accordance with applicable HMRC requirements.
I may retain information longer where necessary because of an incident, complaint, legal obligation or potential claim.
I periodically review records and securely dispose of information that is no longer required.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have rights relating to your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, these include:
The right to know how your information is used.
The right to access information I hold about you.
The right to have inaccurate information corrected.
The right to request deletion of information.
The right to restrict or object to certain processing.
The right to data portability where applicable.
The right to withdraw consent where processing relies on it.
Rights relating to certain automated decisions and profiling.
Some rights are subject to legal exceptions, including where information must be retained for legitimate legal purposes.
If you wish to exercise your rights or have questions about your information, please contact me at liz@beyonddarkwater.co.uk.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk.
Website cookies and analytics
My website is hosted by Squarespace.
Squarespace collects certain technical information to operate the website and provide analytics. This may include your IP address, browser and device information, pages visited, links clicked and other information about website activity.
Essential cookies are used to support the secure operation of the website.
Optional analytics and performance cookies help me understand how visitors use the website.
When you visit my website, the cookie banner allows you to accept, decline or manage optional cookies. These cookies are restricted unless you choose to accept them.
You can change your preferences using the Cookie Preferences control.
When you submit my contact form, I collect the information you provide so that I can respond to your enquiry. This does not automatically subscribe you to marketing communications.
Further information about Squarespace cookies is available from Squarespace.
Changes to this notice
I may update this notice when my services, business arrangements or legal obligations change.
The latest version will be available on my website, together with the date it was last updated.