Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 27 October 2026
1. Who we are and what this policy covers
This policy explains how Sounding Board Solutions Ltd collects, uses and protects your personal information when you use our website, book a Sounding Board session, buy or download our journal, or sign up for our free journal sample.
Sounding Board Solutions Ltd is the data controller for your information. This means we decide how and why it is used, and we are responsible for looking after it under UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
- Company: Sounding Board Solutions Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 17529736
- Registered office: 10 The Crundles, Freshwater, Isle of Wight PO40 9DP
- Email: info@soundingboard.solutions
- Website: www.soundingboard.solutions
- ICO registration number: C2068100
In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Sounding Board Solutions Ltd. "You" means anyone whose information we hold, including clients, website visitors and people who sign up for our free sample. Our sessions are delivered by independent, self-employed thinking partners who work on our behalf and must follow this policy.
2. Information we collect
We only collect the information we need to provide our service and run our business.
| Type of information | Examples | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Contact and booking details | Name, email address, phone number (if given), booking dates and times, and the thinking partner you are matched with | You, when you book |
| Booking check answers | Your answers to our short questions about whether Sounding Board is right for you, confirmation that you are 18 or over | You, when you book |
| Payment details | Amount paid, date and what you bought. Card details are handled by our payment provider and we never see or store your full card number | You and our payment provider |
| What you share in sessions | The topics you choose to talk about, which may include sensitive information (see section 3) | You, during sessions |
| Session notes | Brief notes your thinking partner may keep after a session, using your booking reference only, never your name or contact details | Your thinking partner |
| Written summaries | A short written summary of your session, unless you opt out. Sessions are never recorded (see section 4) | Zoom's AI Companion |
| Feedback and complaints | Your answers to the optional feedback form we send after each session, and any complaint you make | You |
| Free sample sign-ups | Your name and email address, so we can send you the free journal sample | You, when you sign up |
| Website and device information | IP address, browser type, pages visited, cookies (see section 7) | Your device, when you visit our website |
If you buy the paperback or Kindle edition of our journal on Amazon, Amazon handles your order and your information under its own privacy policy. We do not receive your personal details from Amazon.
3. How we use your information and our legal basis
The law says we must have a valid reason, called a lawful basis, for each way we use your information.
| What we use it for | Our lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Taking your booking, matching you with a thinking partner, and running your session | Contract: we need it to provide the service you have booked |
| Taking payment, issuing receipts, refunds and keeping financial records | Contract and legal obligation (tax and accounting law) |
| Making a written summary of your session | Contract: the summary is part of the service you book, and you can opt out at any time |
| Sending you a feedback form after each session, and responding to questions, feedback and complaints | Legitimate interests: looking after our clients and improving our service |
| Supporting and supervising our thinking partners, and keeping our service safe | Legitimate interests |
| Sending you the free journal sample you asked for | Consent: you can ask us to delete your details at any time |
| Sharing information if someone is at serious risk of harm | Vital interests or legal obligation (see section 5) |
| Running and improving our website | Legitimate interests, and consent for non-essential cookies |
Sensitive information
In a session, you may choose to talk about things such as your physical or mental health, your relationships, your sex life or sexual orientation, or your religious or political beliefs. The law calls this special category information and gives it extra protection.
We only use this information to provide your session, including your written summary. Our lawful basis is your explicit consent, which you give when you book (clause 12.2 of our Client Terms and Conditions). You do not have to share anything you do not want to. Where there is a serious risk of harm, we may also rely on the law that allows information to be shared to protect someone's vital interests or for safeguarding.
4. No recording, written summaries and our AI tool
We never record sessions. Unless you opt out, we send you a short written summary of your session instead.
About your summary:
- Why we make it: to give you a record of what you talked about and the next step you chose, and to help us check the quality of our service.
- How the summary is made: we use Zoom's AI Companion, the AI tool built into Zoom, to turn the live conversation into a draft summary. No recording is kept. Our Duty Manager checks the draft before it is sent to you. The tool is used only for this purpose, and we do not allow your summary to be used to train the tool provider's own AI models.
- Who can see it: you, your thinking partner and our Duty Manager. Summaries are never shared outside Sounding Board, except in the circumstances in section 5.
- How long we keep them: our copies of summaries are deleted after 35 days, unless they are needed for a complaint or a safeguarding concern. Summaries sent to you are yours to keep.
- Opting out: you can opt out when you book, or at any time, including during a session. If you do, no summary is made, and it will not affect your session in any way.
Please do not record sessions yourself.
5. Confidentiality and who we share information with
What you share in your session is confidential. We never sell your information, and we never share it for anyone else's marketing.
When we may share information without your consent
Your thinking partner may need to share information if:
- there is a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, including a child
- there is a legal duty to share it, for example a court order
If this happens, we will only share what is necessary, with the right people, such as emergency services or safeguarding teams. Where it is safe and possible, we will talk to you first.
Within Sounding Board
Information is only shared where it is needed to provide and support our service, for example between your thinking partner and our Duty Manager. Our thinking partners are bound by a written agreement that requires them to keep your information confidential and secure.
Our suppliers
We use trusted suppliers to run our service. They act only on our instructions and must protect your information.
| Supplier | What they do |
|---|---|
| Zoom | Video sessions (no recordings are made) |
| Acuity Scheduling | Online booking and scheduling |
| Stripe | Taking card payments |
| Zoom AI Companion | Written session summaries, unless you opt out |
| GoDaddy | Hosting our website, our business email and free sample sign-ups |
| Google Forms | The optional feedback form we send after each session |
| Our accountant | Keeping our financial records |
Information stored outside the UK
Some of our suppliers may store or process information outside the UK, for example in the United States. When this happens, we make sure your information is protected to UK standards, for example by using suppliers covered by the UK–US Data Bridge, or by using the UK's approved contract terms (the International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum). You can ask us for more details.
6. How long we keep your information and how we keep it safe
We keep your information only for as long as we need it.
| Information | How long we keep it |
|---|---|
| Session notes and our copies of summaries | 35 days after your session, unless needed for a complaint or safeguarding concern |
| Booking check answers and contact details | 12 months after your last session |
| Payment and financial records | 6 years, as required by tax law |
| Complaints | 2 years after the complaint is closed |
| Safeguarding records | As long as the law or safeguarding guidance requires |
| Free sample sign-up details | Until you ask us to delete them |
When the time is up, we securely delete or anonymise the information.
Keeping your information safe
We take appropriate technical and organisational steps to protect your information, including:
- password-protected accounts with two-step verification on our systems
- limiting access to the people who need it to do their job
- no recording of sessions, and session notes that use booking references only, with no names or contact details
- written confidentiality and data protection rules for every thinking partner
- secure deletion when information is no longer needed
If a data breach happens that is likely to put you at risk, we will tell you and, where required, report it to the Information Commissioner's Office within 72 hours.
7. Emails, cookies and age
Free sample emails
If you sign up for our free journal sample, we use your name and email address to send it to you. We do not send a newsletter, and we will not send you marketing emails unless you separately agree to them. To have your details deleted, email info@soundingboard.solutions. We will still send you emails you need about any sessions you book, such as booking confirmations and reminders.
Cookies
Our website uses cookies, which are small files stored on your device. Some are essential to make the website work, for example to keep your booking secure. Others help us understand how the website is used, or are set by our website provider. We only use non-essential cookies if you agree to them through the cookie banner, and you can change your choice at any time.
Age
Sounding Board is only for adults aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we find that someone under 18 has booked, we will end the session kindly, refund them and delete their information, unless we need to keep it for safeguarding reasons.
8. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
- access the information we hold about you and get a copy of it
- correct information that is wrong or incomplete
- delete your information, where we no longer have a good reason to keep it
- restrict how we use your information in certain situations
- object to us using your information based on our legitimate interests
- move information you gave us to another organisation (data portability)
- withdraw your consent at any time, for example to opt out of written summaries. This does not affect anything we did before you withdrew it.
To use any of these rights, email info@soundingboard.solutions. We may ask you to confirm your identity. We will reply within one month, and there is normally no charge. Some rights have limits: for example, we must keep financial records for 6 years, and we may need to keep safeguarding records even if you ask us to delete them.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, please contact us first at info@soundingboard.solutions and we will try to put it right.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator:
- Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we change our suppliers or the law changes. The latest version will always be on our website, with the date it was last updated. If we make an important change, we will let you know.
Contact us
For any questions about this policy or your information, email info@soundingboard.solutions or write to Sounding Board Solutions Ltd, 10 The Crundles, Freshwater, Isle of Wight PO40 9DP.