Your privacy, held carefully.

Serene Alchemy is a consent-led, educational bodywork practice based in the United Kingdom.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, the data controller for the personal information described on this page is the practitioner operating this website.

To contact the practitioner about privacy or to exercise any of your rights under this policy, please use the contact page or email hello@serenealchemy.co.uk.

We only collect information that is necessary for the purposes set out below. This may include:

• Contact details you give us through the enquiry form — such as your name, email address, and (if you choose to share it) a phone number.
• Your message and the topic you select when making an enquiry.
• Intake information recorded on the Waiver and Intake Form where one is used — which may include relevant health information and agreed session details.
• Consent records recorded on the Intimate Consent Form where one is used — relating only to specific, explicitly agreed elements of bodywork.
• Technical information about your visit, such as basic browser and device information and anonymous usage statistics collected via Google Analytics, where you have accepted analytics cookies (see our Cookie Policy).

Because this practice may involve sensitive personal information (including information about your health and, where explicitly agreed, intimate consent), it is treated with particular care and discretion.

We use personal information only for clearly defined purposes:

• To respond to your enquiry and arrange an introductory conversation.
• To carry out responsible intake before any deeper work, where a Waiver and Intake Form is used.
• To record clear, written consent for specific agreed elements of bodywork, where an Intimate Consent Form is used.
• To hold sessions safely, within agreed boundaries, and to keep minimal, private records relevant to your care.
• To maintain confidentiality, safety, and professional standards.
• To respond to any questions, concerns, or rights requests you raise.

We do not use your information for marketing unless you have consented to being contacted regarding this either verbally, or via out enquiry form. We do not use your information for profiling, or automated decision-making, and we do not sell your information to anyone.

Under UK data protection law, we rely on the following lawful bases to use your personal information. The exact basis relied on for any specific use will depend on the circumstances and the purpose for which the information is being processed:

• Consent — for example, when you submit an enquiry form and confirm you are happy to be contacted, or when you complete a consent form.
• Contract — where information is needed to take steps before, or to provide, an agreed session.
• Legal obligation — where we are required to keep certain records.
• Vital interests / legitimate interests — limited to what is necessary to hold sessions safely and professionally.

For special category information (such as health data), we rely on your explicit consent or another appropriate condition in UK law.

We keep personal information only for as long as is necessary for the purposes described above, and then securely delete or anonymise it. Retention periods are kept under review and applied in line with the purpose for which each piece of information was collected.

Records are minimal and private, and your visit is never discussed with anyone outside this practice.

We do not share your personal information with third parties for marketing or commercial purposes. Information is shared only where necessary — for example:

• With Google, as a provider of Google Analytics, where you have accepted analytics cookies — Google processes anonymous usage data as a processor on this practice's behalf, under Google's terms. We do not use Google Analytics for advertising.
• With a trusted service provider that helps run this website or store records, under a written agreement that protects your information.
• Where we are legally required to do so, or to protect someone's safety.

Any third-party service providers we use are engaged under written agreements that require them to protect your information and to use it only for the purposes we instruct.

Your information is stored securely and access is restricted to the practitioner. Where information is stored using a third-party service, that service is chosen with care and used under appropriate safeguards.

We do not knowingly transfer your personal information outside the United Kingdom in a way that lacks appropriate protection. Where you accept analytics cookies, anonymous usage data is processed by Google Analytics under Google's terms, which may involve international transfers covered by appropriate safeguards. If this changes, this page will be updated and any required safeguards described.

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

• Be informed about how we use your information (this policy).
• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Rectify information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
• Erase your information in certain circumstances.
• Restrict or object to how we use your information.
• Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent (withdrawing consent does not affect anything done before).
• Data portability, where applicable.

To exercise any of these rights, please use the contact page. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk if you are concerned about how we handle your information.

Where a Waiver and Intake Form is used, it supports responsible intake — recording relevant health information, agreements, and practical details before any deeper work begins. Where an Intimate Consent Form is used, it records clear, written consent for specific, explicitly agreed elements of bodywork only.

These forms are completed voluntarily, held privately, and kept only as long as necessary.

Important: written consent on any form never replaces your ongoing, in-the-moment consent. You can pause, change, or withdraw consent at any time during a session — without explanation and without consequence. Agreed boundaries can be tightened during a session but never loosened mid-session.

This practice is for adults only. We do not knowingly collect information from, or provide sessions to, anyone under 18. If you believe a child has shared information with us, please contact us so it can be securely deleted.

This policy may be updated from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect the most recent revision. Significant changes will be clearly signposted.