Privacy notice

Contact details

Email henry@asyncforest.com for anything in this notice, including rights requests and complaints.

What we collect, and why

To provide and improve consulting services for clients, we collect and use:

• names and contact details
• addresses
• occupation
• payment details, including card or bank information for transfers and direct debits
• transaction data — payments to and from you, and the services you have purchased
• records of meetings and decisions
• website usage information — how you interact with and use the site and our services
• information relating to compliments or complaints

For information updates and marketing, we collect and use:

• names and contact details
• addresses
• marketing preferences
• website user journey information
• IP addresses

For dealing with queries, complaints, or claims, we collect and use names and contact details.

Where we get personal information from

Directly from you. We don't buy in or scrape personal information.

Lawful bases

Under UK data protection law we must have a lawful basis for collecting and using your personal information. We rely on three, and which one applies affects which of your rights apply:

• Consent — you have given us permission after we gave you all the relevant information. You can withdraw consent at any time. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object.
• Contract — we need the information to enter into or carry out a contract with you. All of your rights may apply, except the right to object.
• Legal obligation — we have to collect or use the information to comply with the law. All of your rights may apply, except the rights to erasure, to object, and to data portability.

In particular:

• providing and improving services for clients — consent, contract, and legal obligation
• information updates and marketing — consent
• queries, complaints, or claims — consent and legal obligation

Your data protection rights

• Access — ask for copies of your personal information, and for details such as where we got it and who we share it with.
• Rectification — ask us to correct information you think is inaccurate, or complete information you think is incomplete.
• Erasure — ask us to delete your personal information.
• Restriction — ask us to limit how we can use your personal information.
• Objection — object to our processing of your personal information.
• Portability — ask us to transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you.
• Withdrawing consent — where we rely on consent, withdraw it at any time.

Exemptions apply to some of these rights, so you may not always receive everything you ask for. The ICO's guidance explains the rights and exemptions in full. If you make a request, we must respond without undue delay, and in any event within one month — contact us at the email address above.

How long we keep information

• Client and engagement records — contracts, correspondence, meeting notes, and deliverables: six years after the engagement ends.
• Financial and transaction records — invoices and payment details: six years after the end of the financial year they relate to, as UK tax and company law requires.
• Enquiries that don't become engagements — twelve months after the last contact.
• Marketing information — until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent.
• Complaint records — six years after the complaint is resolved.

For more on how long we keep specific information, or the criteria we use to decide, contact us at the email address above.

Who we share information with

• Our accountants, who process accounting records on our behalf as a data processor.
• Professional or legal advisers, where an engagement or dispute requires it.
• Google, which provides the appointment scheduling embedded on our booking page — see the section below.

Cookies and embedded content

We set no cookies of our own, and we use no advertising or cross-site tracking. Any analytics we run are cookie-less and do not identify individual visitors.

Our booking page is the one exception: it embeds Google Calendar's appointment scheduling. Opening that page contacts Google's servers, which receive your IP address and browser details and may set their own cookies in your browser. If you book a time, the name, email address, and any notes you enter go to Google Calendar and to us, and we use them to arrange and prepare for the meeting. Google acts as an independent controller for what it collects through the embed, on its own terms — see the Google privacy policy. If you would rather not load the embed, email us instead at the address above and we will arrange a time directly. No other page on this site loads content from Google.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, complain to us first at henry@asyncforest.com. If you remain unhappy after that, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113
ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint