Privacy Policy

Who we are

Essential Massage is operated by Francia Gregory, sole trader.

This is our website: essentialmassage.uk

What data we collect

When you book an appointment or contact us, we may collect:

• Your name
• Your email address
• Your phone number
• Health information you share when booking (treatment-relevant only)
• If you come for treatment: your date of birth, address, emergency contact, GP and midwife details, health and pregnancy information, and notes from each visit
• Correspondence (email, text, or WhatsApp messages)

When you visit this website, your browser may send standard server log data (IP address, browser type, pages visited). We use this only for website operation and security.

How we use your data

• To confirm and manage your appointments
• To send appointment reminders and follow-up communications related to your booking
• To provide the treatment safely (health intake information)
• To respond to your enquiries

We do not use your data for marketing unless you have explicitly asked to hear from us. We do not sell or share your data with third parties for their marketing purposes.

Your consultation and treatment records

Before your first treatment you fill in a paper consultation form in the studio. It includes your contact details, your GP, an emergency contact if you give one, your health, medication and any pregnancy details, and a record of each treatment you have. You sign a declaration on it to confirm the information is correct and that you agree to treatment.

We use them to give you the treatment you have asked for, safely, and to keep the records our professional body (the Federation of Holistic Therapists) and our insurer require.

Your health details are sensitive. We use them only to plan and give your treatment safely, with your consent, which you give by filling in and signing the consultation form. You can withdraw it at any time by telling Fran. That does not affect what was done before, but we may no longer be able to treat you. Records already made are then kept only for the period below, in case they are needed for a legal claim.

The forms are kept in a locked file in the studio. Health details are not stored on this website or sent by email. If a letter from your midwife or GP arrives by WhatsApp, text or email, Fran copies what is needed onto your paper record and deletes the message.

Your emergency contact's details are used only if you are taken ill during a visit. Please let them know you have given us their name and number.

We share your records only with your permission, if the law requires it, or with our insurer and legal advisers if there is a claim. If your GP's or midwife's agreement is needed before treatment, Fran will ask you to get it, or contact them herself with your permission.

Legal basis (UK GDPR)

• Contract: processing necessary to fulfil your booking
• Legitimate interests: responding to enquiries, operating the website, and counting visits in aggregate so we can improve it
• Consent: your health information on the consultation form, given when you fill in and sign it (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(a))
• Legal claims: keeping treatment records after you withdraw consent or stop coming, only as long as needed to deal with a possible claim (our legitimate interests, Article 6(1)(f), with Article 9(2)(f))
• Legitimate interests: using your emergency contact if you are taken ill during a visit
• Consent: any marketing communications (opt-in only)

Third parties

We use the following services to operate the business:

• WhatsApp (Meta): only if you choose to message us on WhatsApp. Your messages are processed by WhatsApp subject to their privacy policy.
• Vercel: website hosting and privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics (aggregate visit counts, page performance, and how often the call, text, WhatsApp, booking, directions, map and review buttons are used; no cross-site tracking). Vercel acts as our data processor.
• Google Maps: only if you choose to load the map on the contact page.

How long we keep your data

Your consultation and treatment records are kept for 7 years after your last visit, then shredded. This covers the usual periods in which a claim can be made, with a buffer, and is longer than our insurer's 5-year minimum. Appointment messages are deleted once they are no longer needed to arrange your appointments; anything that belongs in your treatment record is copied onto it first.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data (treatment records may be kept for the period above in case of a claim)
• Ask us to restrict how we use your data
• Object to processing we carry out on the basis of our legitimate interests
• Withdraw consent at any time (this does not affect what was done before you withdrew)

To exercise any of these rights, email fran@essentialmassage.uk.

Cookies

This website sets no advertising or analytics cookies. We measure visits with a privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics tool that does not track you across other websites, so no consent banner is needed for normal browsing.

What we count, and how to opt out

We count, in total and without identifying anyone: which pages are visited, how quickly they load, how far down the treatment pages people read, and how often the call, text, WhatsApp, booking, directions, map and review buttons are tapped. We use this only to improve the website.

Alongside each visit Vercel records the referring website, an approximate location (country, region and city), and the device type, operating system and browser. It recognises a repeat visit on the same day using a short-lived code that is discarded after 24 hours, and does not tie any of this to you or your IP address.

We do not record what you type, your phone number, or your messages, and we do not use session recordings, heatmaps, advertising or profiling.

You can switch this off for this browser at any time. We also respect the Global Privacy Control signal if your browser sends it.

One feature uses a third-party service that may set its own cookies, and only when you choose to use it:

• Map (contact page):the Google map loads only after you click “Show map”. Until then, nothing is requested from Google and no Google cookies are set. You can find us using the address and the “Get directions” link without loading the map.

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we handle your data, contact us first at fran@essentialmassage.uk or +44 7929 150246. We will let you know we have received your complaint within 30 days, look into it without undue delay, keep you updated, and tell you the outcome. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.