Privacy Policy

Updated May 3 2024

I do not, will not, sell your data, ever.
I do not, will not, spam you.

Any information gathered about you in person, via email, in online conversations, or via my online forms (including your name, contact details, and birth details) will never be sold or deliberately shared with any other parties, apart from the following exceptions:

• if required to do so by law;
• in the secure processing of that data as necessary in fulfilling my work for you (see the Third Party Services I use, below);
• if expressly requested to do so by you in writing (by email)
  — example: for cross-referencing with other therapists or counsellors.

While I take great care to protect your personal data, if at any time you want your personal data altered, or deleted from my devices or server, you have that right. Please don’t hesitate to contact me in that instance.

Also, while I have great trust in the reputation of the third-party services I have chosen to employ in my work for you, I cannot take responsibility for their own security systems.

1. Third Party Services I Use

… These include Zapier, Spark, Sync, Skype, Stripe, Sender, Sendle, & ProtonMail (!)

1.  My Booking Forms and Email Forms are now hosted on this server, and sent as emails  directly to my Inbox in my Swiss email app, Protonmail (no USA servers). I, alone, open my emails.
2. Your Booking Form Storage: briefly stored on my computer as a PDF document and is password-protected. After my initial work for you, it is moved to a file on my private  external SSD USB drive. It is not stored in my email app or computer, so is deleted from the app after I have downloaded it to my computer for your session preparation.
3. SparkMail is my main email client for ongoing correspondence, and has been created by Readdle, an award-winning software company. But I believe Readdle does use Google servers to store our mail. The sensitive information in your Booking Form is protected, though, and encrypted in transit to my private Protonmail account only (see 1.1 above).
4. Credit/debit card processing: I offer secure online payment processing on my websites via Stripe, which is a technology company that builds economic infrastructure for the internet, serving businesses globally and processing payments in 135+ currencies. I never have access to your credit/debit card information. My private Stripe dashboard (at Stripe.com) allows me to see only your name, email address, and billing address associated with your payment amount, payment date, and type of card used (VISA, Mastercard, etc).
5. Due to the new bulk-email delivery platform, I may no longer be able to  use Zapier to automatically populate my mailing list (see #1.6 below) from your online Stripe card payments to me. But I will manually add them for now. If you do not wish to receive any correspondence from me in the future, you can either unsubscribe easily from within the footer of the next newsletter email (though, I don’t send them often) or contact me to request removal from my newsletter list and/or from my email Contacts list altogether — it’s your prerogative.
6. Newsletter: Exceptional Purpose Resource: I have recently switched to Sender.net as my email marketing manager for my Resource newsletter. I will have more information here soon and will start sending emails again.
7. Skype Meetings is the online app used for our sessions connection online. You do not need a Microsoft or Skype account for this, as you can access our private Skype Meeting via your browser, if you prefer (choose your browser wisely).
8. I have chosen Sync.com for your audio file(s) transfer to you. (As of December 30 2018), I upload your mp3 audio and other files to your temporary dedicated folder in my private Sync cloud account to briefly store your session files for your exclusive download.
   Sync is a Canadian company and takes privacy very seriously, they do NOT use USA servers; also the exclusive link I email to you, for your private access to your file(s), is end-to-end encrypted. I have also been highly impressed with the speed of Sync’s servers for uploads and downloads. You can read about Sync HERE, and also check out their in-depth Privacy Policy on their site.

2. Session Recordings Access

1. Recording Sessions: Unfortunately, due to the nature of Silicon M-series chips in Apple computers now, I can no longer use the ECAMM desktop Call Recorder app for client sessions. (I do not use Zoom.) So we now have 2 recording options for all astrology sessions that are over 1 hour in length:
   a. We can record directly to the Skype/Microsoft cloud within a Skype Meeting (you’ll see the red Record button on your screen when recording is happening) and saved directly to the Microsoft Cloud where the file will be auto-deleted by Microsoft after one month. The day after the session, I will strip the audio from the video for you. 
   b. I can use a QuickTime (Apple Inc.) screen recording of our session on my computer using audio only, in which case the FaceTime app (Apple Inc.) can also be used for our video call, instead of a Skype Meeting. However, I will need to have your voice coming through the speakers for this. (I normally use Apple earbuds, but the mic on my M1 MacBook Pro is fine now, as is the quality of the speakers.) No one else will be in my apartment during your online session, and all external doors and windows will be closed for audio privacy.
2. The day after your session, I strip the audio from the Skype video as an audio mp3 file, or use the QuickTime audio recording, and slice any large files into 1-hour segments for your convenience, and will upload them to a temporary folder for you in my Sync account for easy transfer via download to you
3. I will delete your audio file from the sync.com cloud asap after you have alerted me that you have successfully downloaded all your file(s).
4. I do store a copy of your digital mp3 audio and other files from your session(s) only on one separate external SSD drive, and for a limited time, as an audio reference for me in fulfilling further work for your ongoing or future sessions.
5. After downloading your files, it is your own responsibility to keep your audio files secure at your end. However, if you lose your audios, you may be able to access them from me again while I still have a copy. I can’t keep them indefinately, though, due to their size and the expense — and clutter! — of storage devices. 

3. Confidentiality

1. All Consultations (discussions and written material) are strictly confidential. And that goes for both sides: if I share anything personal with you during your session that may be pertinent for you, I expect you to also honour my own privacy. 
   This also means that no part of your audio recording(s) is to be distributed publicly, via digital or material means, as it must be kept private for you. Though, you can share your realisations and general information with others, of course, as you see fit.
2. I store, on my private premises, a paper and a digital copy of your astrology chart from our session(s) indefinitely as a resource for any future work you may need from me at any time.
3. Your digital basic computer-calulated astrology chart, which includes your birth details, is stored privately in my astrology apps on my devices for any future work you may require from me. Your birthchart and birth details are never shared.
4. I don’t write client report files about you (but I do store what you have included in your Booking Form—see #1.2), apart from creating the personal Suggested Resources PDF files I email to you, as your astrology chart itself is shorthand for me and unintelligible to most other people, including many astrologers! You will receive an emailed digital PDF or JPG copy of your messy asteroid ‘work-chart’ via email after your session(s) with me.

4. Cookies

1. My websites use Google Analytics cookies to collect general usage data for analytics processing only. However, I have activated IP-anonymization on all my websites (your IP address is therefore truncated) to prevent personally identifiable information or associations about you being sent to Google.  I have opted to do this for your privacy because I do not use analytics to personally target you with advertising (and in this instance, neither will Google).
2. So, on my sites, Google Analytics records your anonymous movements around my website, the time you spend on each page, demographics such as country or city location, and type of device (i.e. operating system such as iOS, OSX, Windows version, etc), so that I may improve my sites for all visitors.
3. The ‘Persistent Cookies’ (text files) in your browser are also set to expire after one month.
4. By scrolling any of this site’s pages, you are accepting these IP-anonymization cookies.

5. Testimonials

1. Offering a testimonial for my use on my websites implies you are happy with me using your testimonial on any of my websites and my promotional material. I will not publish your testimonial on social media sites, unless I have your written permission and for an express purpose.
2. Any testimonials you have offered that are published on my websites can be deleted or edited at your will. Please contact me for any changes, and I will implement them asap.

6. Comments (on my Resource blog site and podcast site)

1. Your Gravatar:  An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using that service. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/.
2. After approval of your comment, your Gravatar profile picture (if you have created one via Gravatar.com for your email address — from your photo or logo) is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Personal Recommendation regarding the GDPR Legislation

I recommend you check out as much information as you can regarding the new GDPR legislation from the European Union, whether as a site visitor or a website owner. It ultimately applies to all of us, regardless of where we live. As a website visitor, you will have extra rights to all of your online stored data, globally, as of May 25 2018.

Data-harvesting is currently the biggest money-spinner in the world, leading to companies being sold for millions or billions of dollars purely for the personal data they have harvested from their customers and subscribers. You now have rights.

All websites, including blogs, must have a plain-English (or whatever language the site displays) Privacy Policy — so I firmly suggest you take a few minutes to read the policies of the sites you visit and especially the ones you interact with using your personal data, including comments. There should be a visible Cookie Policy notice when you first open the site.

As a website/blog visitor, you will automatically have rights to all of your online stored data from European Union websites, as of May 25 2018. Though, all websites, globally, will now have to follow the same privacy and data practices, as EU visitors will be accessing websites globally, and can claim their privacy and personal data rights globally under EU law.

As a website/blog owner outside the EU, you will benefit from complying with the new GDPR legislation. This will not only protect you and your business from any future litigation hassles, but you will be building trust with your site visitors, customers, and clients. You will also be contributing to this much needed global benefit for all of us. The GDPR legislation has been put in place to make the internet safer for everyone.