Privacy Policy

Welcome to The Self Employed Club and our website at www.theselfemployedclub.com (our “website”). At The Self Employed Club, we are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Privacy Policy sets out the basis on which we will process any Personal Data that we may collect about you as a visitor to our website or our members or potential members, or other business partners, or in any other cases where we specifically state that this policy will apply. This policy further sets out how we protect your privacy and your rights in respect of our use of your Personal Data.

What is Personal Data?

Personal Data is information that makes it possible to identify a natural person. This includes, in particular, your name, date of birth, address, telephone number, and email address, but also your IP address. Anonymous data exists if no personal reference to the user can be made.

What is Processing?

“Processing” means and covers virtually any handling of data.

What Law Applies?

We will only use your Personal Data in accordance with the UK’s Data Protection Act (“DPA”) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), and of course only as described in this Privacy Policy.

Who is the Data Controller?

A “data controller” is a person or organisation who alone or jointly determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which, any personal data is, or is likely to be, processed. In this sense, Go Self Employed Limited of 42-46 Princelet Street London E1 5LP (“The Self Employed Club”, “we”, “us”, “our”) is the data controller.

If you have any questions about this policy or about data protection at The Self Employed Club in general, you can reach us by email using anita@theselfemployedclub.com with “Data Protection” in the subject line.

What are the Legal Bases for Processing Personal Data?

In accordance with the above, we have to have at least one of the following legal bases to process your Personal Data: a) you have given your consent, b) the data is necessary for the fulfilment of a contract / pre-contractual measures, c) the data is necessary for the fulfilment of a legal obligation, or d) the data is necessary to protect our legitimate interests, provided that your interests are not overridden.

What Personal Data Do We Collect From You?

We may collect and process the following Personal Data about you:

a) Personal Data that you give us:

This is information about you that you give to us and in context of our services, mainly when you correspond with us or when you fill in forms on our website. When you contact us, the Personal Data we process typically includes, for example, your name, address, email address, and telephone number. This data is collected and processed exclusively for the purpose of contacting you and processing your request and then deleted again, provided that there is no legal obligation to retain it. The legal basis for processing is our legitimate interest, the provision or initiation of a contract, and your consent.

We process the Personal Data involved in your use of our services in order to be able to provide our contractual services. This includes, in particular, our support, correspondence with you, invoicing, and fulfilment of our contractual, accounting, and tax obligations. The data processed includes the master data of our contractual partners (e.g., names and addresses), contact data (e.g., e-mail addresses and telephone numbers), as well as contractual data (e.g., services used, contents of the contract, contractual communication, names of contact persons). Accordingly, the data is processed on the basis of fulfilling our contractual obligations and our legal obligations.

We process the Personal Data involved in your use of our membership services in order to be able to make the benefits of your membership available to you. This includes, in particular, our support, membership management (using the services of MemberVault), correspondence with you (using the services of ConvertKit), invoicing, and fulfilment of our contractual, accounting, and tax obligations. Accordingly, the data is processed on the basis of fulfilling our contractual obligations and our legal obligations.

If you take out a membership, your payment data will be processed via our payment service provider Stripe. Payment data will solely be processed through Stripe, and we have no access to any Payment Data you may submit. The legal basis for the provision of a payment system is the establishment and implementation of the contract.

When you leave comments in our blog, your IP addresses, your Name, and your e-mail address are stored on the basis of our legitimate interests. This is done for our security in case someone leaves unlawful content in comments and posts.

b) Personal Data that our website and other systems collect about you:

If you visit our website, it will automatically collect some information about you and your visit, including the Internet protocol (IP) address used to connect your device to the Internet and some other information, such as the pages on our site that you visit. This is used to monitor the performance of the website and improve the experience of visitors to the website.

We use the hosting services of BigScoots, for the purpose of hosting and displaying our website. BigScoots does so on the basis of processing on our behalf, and that also means that all data collected on our website and shop is processed on BigScoots’ servers.The basis for processing is our legitimate interest, and the initiation and/or fulfilment of a contract.

We use the open-source Content Management System (CMS) of WordPress.Org to publish and maintain the created and edited content and texts on our website. This means that all content and texts submitted to us are transferred to BigScoots, and that your contact and contract data and your usage data are stored on our BigScoots servers. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest.

We also use Google Tag Manager. Google Tag Manager is a solution enabling us to administer website tags via an interface. Google Tag Manager itself, which implements the tags, is a cookie-free domain and does not record any personal data. However, the tool triggers other tags that may record your Personal Data. Google Tag Manager itself does not access this data. If you refuse analytical/performance and marketing & social media cookies, Google Tag Manager remains in place. The legal basis for the processing is our legitimate interest. For further information, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

We use Google Fonts by Google on our website to display external fonts. To enable the display of certain fonts on our website, a connection to a Google server is established when our website is accessed. The connection to Google established when you call up our website enables Google to determine which website sent your request and to which IP address the display of the font is to be transmitted. This represents a legitimate interest.

The Rank Math tool works without cookies and does not collect any Personal Data. The Rank Math tool triggers other tags, which in turn may collect data. Rank Math does not access this data. If a Deactivation has been made at the domain or cookie level; this remains in place for all tracking tags implemented with Rank Math. We commission Rank Math to use this anonymised information to analyse the use of the website and to compile reports on website activity. In doing so, we aim to make our website more attractive and informative for you. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interest and your consent.

Lastly, for business reasons, we analyse the data we have on web and server traffic patterns, website interactions, browsing behaviour, etc. The analyses serve us alone and are not disclosed externally and processed using anonymous analyses with summarised and/or anonymised values (“Aggregated Data”). Aggregated Data could be derived from your Personal Data but is not considered Personal Data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your Personal Data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as Personal Data which will be used in accordance with this Privacy Policy. For this purpose we use Google Analytics from Google. The legal basis is our legitimate interest and your consent. For further information, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

c) Cookies

We use so-called cookies on our website. Cookies are pieces of information that are transmitted from our web server or third-party web servers to your web browser and stored there for later retrieval. Cookies may be small files or other types of information storage. As set out in the EU`s Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive (“PECD”), we need to obtain consent for the use of non-essential cookies. The legal basis for the use of essential cookies is our legitimate interest, and the legal basis for the use of non-essential cookies is your consent. For further information on the cookies we use, please refer to our Cookie Policy.

Our website also uses the cookie consent tool to obtain your consent to the storage of cookies and to document this consent. When you enter our website, the following Personal Data is transferred to us: i) Your consent(s) or revocation of your consent(s); ii) Your IP address; iii) Information about your browser; iv) Information about your device; v) Time of your visit to our website. The legal basis for processing is both your consent and our legal obligation.

Other Uses of Your Personal Data

We may also collect, store, and use your Personal Data for the following purposes:

  • to operate, manage, develop, and promote our business and, in particular, our relationship with you and related transactions, including, for example:
    • marketing purposes (when we have either gathered prior opt-in consent and/or have a legitimate interest to send you communications which we believe to be relevant and of use to you);
    • to operate, administer, and improve our website and other aspects of the way in which we conduct our business;
    • to offer you our website and services;
    • to provide you with services or information that you may have requested; and
    • to keep you informed and updated on relevant topics or services you may be interested in.
  • to protect our business from fraud, money laundering, breach of confidence, theft of proprietary materials, and other financial or business crimes;
  • to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, bring and defend legal claims and assert legal rights; and
  • if the purpose is directly connected with an assigned purpose previously made known to you.

We will only process your Personal Data as necessary so that we can pursue the purposes described above and where we have a legal basis for such processing. Where our lawful basis for processing is that such processing is necessary to pursue our legitimate interests, we will only process your Personal Data where we have concluded that our processing does not prejudice you or your privacy in a way that would override our legitimate interest. In exceptional circumstances, we may also be required by law to disclose or otherwise process your Personal Data.

Change of Purpose

We will only use your Personal Data for the purposes for which we collected it as detailed above, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your Personal Data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you, and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Data Sharing

In certain cases, it is necessary to transmit the processed Personal Data in the course of data processing. In this respect, there are different recipient bodies and categories of recipients.

a) Internal

If necessary, we transfer your Personal Data within The Self Employed Club. Access to your Personal Data is only granted to authorised employees who need access to the data due to their job, e.g., to provide our services or to contact you in case of queries.

b) External bodies

Personal Data is transferred to our service providers in the following instances:

  • in the context of fulfilling our contract with you,
  • to use marketing services and to advertise our services online,
  • to communicate with you,
  • to provide our website, and
  • to state authorities and institutions as far as this is required or necessary.

c) International transfers

We may transfer your Personal Data to other companies as necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. In order to provide adequate protection for your Personal Data when it is transferred, we have contractual arrangements regarding such transfers. We take all reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect the Personal Data we transfer.

Marketing

Insofar as you have given us your consent to process your Personal Data for marketing and advertising purposes, we are entitled to contact you for these purposes via the communication channels you have given your consent to. Our marketing generally takes the form of email but may also include other less traditional or emerging channels. These forms of contact will be managed by us, or by our contracted service providers. Every directly addressed marketing sent by us or on our behalf will include a means by which you may unsubscribe or opt out.

Linked Sites

For your convenience, our website may contain hyperlinks to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked websites or companies that are not owned or controlled by us, and this Privacy Policy does not apply to them. The links on our website may collect additional information in addition to the information we collect.

We do not endorse any of these linked websites, their products, services, or any content on their websites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of each linked website you visit to understand how the information collected about you is used and protected.

Social Media

We are present on social media based on our legitimate interest. If you contact or connect with us via social media, we and the relevant social media platform are jointly responsible for the processing of your data and enter into a so-called joint responsibility agreement. The Personal Data collected when you contact us is used to process your request, and the basis for this is both your consent and our legitimate interest.

How Long Do We Keep Your Personal Data?

We will delete your Personal Data when we no longer need such Personal Data, for instance, where:

  • it is no longer necessary for us to retain your Personal Data to fulfill the purposes for which we had collected it;
  • we believe that your Personal Data that we hold is inaccurate; or
  • in certain cases where you have informed us that you no longer consent to our processing of your Personal Data.

Sometimes, however, there are legal or regulatory requirements which may require us to retain your Personal Data for a specified period, and in such cases we will retain your Personal Data for such specified period; and we may need to retain your Personal Data for certain longer periods in relation to legal disputes, and in such cases we will retain it for such longer periods to the extent required.

Data Security

Our website uses SSL or TLS encryption to ensure the security of data processing and to protect the transmission of confidential content, such as orders, login data or contact requests that you send to us. We have also implemented numerous security measures (“technical and organizational measures”), for example, encryption or need-to-know access, to ensure the most complete protection of Personal Data processed through our website.

Your Rights and Privileges

  1. Privacy rights

You can exercise the following rights:

  • The right to access;
  • The right to rectification;
  • The right to erasure;
  • The right to restrict processing;
  • The right to object to processing;
  • The right to data portability;
  • Update your information and withdraw your consent

If you believe that the information we hold about you is inaccurate or request its rectification, deletion, or object to legitimate interest processing, please do so by contacting us.

  • Access Request

In the event you want to make a Data Subject Access Request, please contact us. We will respond to requests regarding access and correction as soon as reasonably possible. Should we not be able to respond to your request within thirty (30) days, we will tell you why and when we will be able to respond to your request. If we are unable to provide you with any Personal Data or to make a correction requested by you, we will tell you why.

  • Complaint to a supervisory authority

You have the right to complain about our processing of Personal Data to a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. However, we would appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact any supervisory authority.

  • Data Breaches and Notification

Databases or records containing Personal Data may be breached accidentally or through unlawful intrusion. As soon as we become aware of a data breach, we will notify all affected individuals whose Personal Data may have been compromised, and the notification will be accompanied by a description of the measures that will be taken to repair the damage caused by the data breach. Notifications will be sent as soon as possible after the violation is discovered.

  • What we do not do
  • We do not request Personal Data from minors and children without obtaining parental or legal guardian consent;
  • We do not sell your Personal Data;
  • We do not process special category data without obtaining prior specific consent; and
  • We do not use automated decision-making, including profiling.

Help and Complaint

If you have any questions about this policy or the information we hold about you, please contact us by email using anita@theselfemployedclub.com with “Data Protection” in the subject line.

Changes

The first version of this policy was issued on Thursday, 19th of December, 2024, and is the current version. Any prior versions are invalid, and if we make changes to this policy, we will revise the effective date.