Gallant Therapy
Coaching Client Privacy Notice
Your privacy, confidentiality and personal information
Last reviewed: August 2026
Your privacy matters.
Coaching can involve discussion of professional goals, personal experiences, relationships, challenges, values and aspirations. This notice explains what personal information I may collect, why I need it, how it is protected, when it may be shared and the rights you have in relation to your information.
I aim to handle your information with care, respect and transparency.
1. Who is responsible for your information?
For the purposes of UK data protection legislation( UK GDPR), Gallant Therapy is the Data Controller for personal information collected in connection with coaching services provided directly to you.
Contact details
Gallant Therapy
Email: enquiries@gallanttherapy.co.uk
Website: www.gallantherapy.co.uk
Where coaching is commissioned or funded by an organisation, there may be circumstances in which that organisation also acts as a Data Controller for information it collects independently.
The boundaries regarding information held or shared between Gallant Therapy, you and any sponsoring organisation will be explained before coaching begins.
2. What information might I hold?
Depending upon the nature of our coaching work, I may hold:
- your name
- contact details
- job title or professional role
- organisation or employer where relevant
- appointment information
- invoices and payment records
- information provided during your initial enquiry
- agreed coaching goals
- brief coaching notes
- correspondence between us
- professional development information
- feedback and review information
- information provided by a sponsoring organisation where applicable
- information relevant to your wellbeing where it arises within coaching
- your Coaching Agreement and related consent or contracting information.
I aim to collect only information that is necessary and proportionate to providing the coaching service.
3. Information you choose to share
Coaching can sometimes involve discussion of sensitive personal matters.
You may choose to discuss experiences relating to your health, family, relationships, cultural background, beliefs, identity or other aspects of your life where these are relevant to your coaching.
You are not required to disclose personal information simply because you are participating in coaching.
Where information falls within a specially protected category under data protection legislation, it will be handled accordingly.
4. Why do I process your information?
Your information may be used to:
- respond to your enquiry
- arrange coaching sessions
- establish and review coaching objectives
- provide coaching
- communicate with you about appointments
- maintain appropriate professional records
- issue invoices and maintain financial records
- evaluate the effectiveness of our coaching
- maintain appropriate professional standards
- respond to concerns or complaints
- fulfil applicable legal, contractual or professional obligations
- respond appropriately if a serious safety or safeguarding concern arises.
Your personal coaching information will not be used for unrelated marketing purposes without an appropriate basis for doing so.
5. Legal basis for processing
Data protection law requires there to be an appropriate basis for processing personal information.
Depending upon the circumstances, your information may be processed because it is necessary:
- to take steps at your request before entering into a coaching agreement
- to fulfil our coaching agreement
- for legitimate interests associated with providing and managing a safe and professional coaching service
- to meet a legal obligation
- to protect vital interests in exceptional circumstances.
If special-category personal information arises during coaching, an additional lawful condition will be identified where required.
Where I specifically rely upon your consent for a particular activity, you may withdraw that consent, subject to any legal or professional requirement that information must continue to be retained.
6. Coaching notes
I may maintain brief notes relating to our coaching work.
These may include matters such as:
- agreed goals
- themes explored
- actions or commitments identified
- progress or review points.
They are not intended to provide a word-for-word record of our conversations.
Records are kept proportionately and stored securely.
7. Confidentiality
Confidentiality is an important part of the coaching relationship.
Information you share during coaching will ordinarily remain confidential.
I will not disclose the content of our coaching conversations to your employer, colleagues, family members or other people without your permission.
There are, however, limits to confidentiality.
Information may need to be disclosed where:
- I believe there is a serious and immediate risk of harm to you or another person
- a safeguarding concern arises
- disclosure is required by law
- I am required to comply with a court order
- another compelling legal or professional obligation requires disclosure.
Where it is safe and appropriate, I will aim to discuss any proposed disclosure with you beforehand.
If disclosure without your agreement becomes necessary, I will seek to share only information that is relevant and proportionate.
8. Organisation-sponsored coaching
Sometimes coaching is commissioned or paid for by an employer or another organisation.
In these circumstances it is particularly important that everyone understands who receives what information.
Before coaching begins, I will seek to establish clear boundaries between:
- you as the coaching client
- Gallant Therapy as the coaching provider
- the sponsoring organisation.
The content of individual coaching conversations will normally remain confidential.
A sponsoring organisation will not automatically be entitled to know what you discuss with me simply because it is paying for the coaching.
Any information to be shared with the sponsor should be agreed in advance.
This might include, depending upon the arrangement:
- confirmation that coaching has commenced
- attendance
- agreed high-level coaching objectives
- progress against jointly agreed organisational objectives
- completion of the coaching programme.
Personal details or the content of coaching conversations will not ordinarily be disclosed unless this has been explicitly agreed or there is an overriding legal or safety requirement.
9. Three-way contracting
Where coaching is sponsored by an organisation, a three-way contracting conversation may take place between:
the client + coach + sponsor/manager.
The purpose is to agree matters such as:
- the overall purpose of coaching
- expected outcomes
- respective responsibilities
- what information may be shared
- what will remain confidential
- how progress may be reviewed.
Any reporting arrangements should be understood by all parties before substantive coaching begins.
10. Coaching supervision
I may undertake professional coaching supervision or reflective practice to support the quality and integrity of my coaching.
Aspects of my work may therefore be discussed confidentially with an appropriately qualified supervisor.
Wherever practicable, unnecessary identifying details will not be shared.
My supervisor is also expected to maintain appropriate confidentiality.
11. Online coaching
Where coaching takes place by video, personal information may necessarily be processed through electronic communication and video-conferencing systems.
I take reasonable steps to use appropriate systems and maintain privacy when working remotely.
You are encouraged to attend online coaching from somewhere reasonably private using a device and internet connection you consider secure.
12. Email and electronic communication
Email and messaging are useful for practical communication but cannot be guaranteed to be entirely secure.
I therefore encourage clients not to send highly sensitive personal information through ordinary email or text unless necessary.
Communication between sessions will normally be used for administrative matters rather than as a substitute for coaching.
13. Recording and transcription
Coaching sessions will not be routinely audio-recorded, video-recorded or transcribed.
Neither party should record or use automated transcription or AI meeting tools during a coaching session without discussing this beforehand and obtaining explicit agreement.
Where recording is agreed for a specific purpose, how the recording will be used, stored and deleted should also be agreed in advance.
14. Artificial intelligence
I will not knowingly enter identifiable information about you or confidential content from our coaching conversations into publicly available generative artificial intelligence services without an appropriate lawful and professionally justified basis.
If technology involving artificial intelligence is introduced into the coaching service in a way that materially affects your personal information, the privacy implications will be considered and appropriate information will be provided.
You are similarly encouraged to consider your own privacy before entering confidential coaching material into third-party AI systems.
15. Who might information be shared with?
Your information is not sold.
Where necessary, limited information may be processed or shared with:
- my coaching supervisor
- secure IT, email, scheduling or video-conferencing providers
- accountants or financial professionals
- insurers or professional advisers
- your sponsoring organisation, but only within the agreed boundaries of the coaching arrangement
- emergency, safeguarding or healthcare services where exceptionally necessary
- courts, regulators or public authorities where disclosure is legally required.
16. Security
Reasonable technical and organisational measures are taken to protect your information from:
- unauthorised access
- inappropriate disclosure
- accidental loss
- alteration
- destruction or misuse.
Electronic records are protected using appropriate security measures.
Paper records, where used, are stored securely.
17. How long is information retained?
Coaching and administrative records will normally be retained for:
7 years
following the end of the coaching relationship, unless a legal, contractual, insurance or professional reason requires a different retention period.
Financial records may be retained for a different period to meet accounting and taxation requirements.
Information will be securely destroyed or deleted when it is no longer required.
18. Your information rights
Depending upon the circumstances and applicable legislation, you may have rights including:
- being informed about how your information is used
- requesting access to information held about you
- requesting correction of inaccurate information
- requesting deletion in certain circumstances
- requesting restriction of processing
- objecting to certain processing
- requesting data portability where applicable
- withdrawing consent where processing relies upon consent.
These rights are not all absolute and may be subject to applicable legal requirements.
Please contact me if you would like to exercise one of these rights.
19. Concerns about your information
If you are concerned about how Gallant Therapy has handled your personal information, please contact:
Gallant Therapy
Email: enquiries@gallanttherapy.co.uk
I will seek to understand and address your concern.
You also have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK’s independent data protection regulator.
20. Changes to this notice
This Privacy Notice may be updated periodically to reflect changes in legislation, professional standards, technology or working practices.
Where a material change affects existing clients, I will take reasonable steps to bring this to your attention.
Your privacy within coaching
Trust and openness are important to effective coaching.
Your personal information will therefore be treated with respect, discretion and appropriate confidentiality throughout our work together.
If you are unclear about how your information will be used—particularly where an employer or organisation is sponsoring your coaching—please ask before sharing information you would wish to remain confidential.
Gallant Therapy
enquiries@gallanttherapy.co.uk
www.gallantherapy.co.uk
Last reviewed: August 2026
Next review: August 2028