Privacy Policy
Introduction
I am Elisabeth Ward, an independent disability inclusion and accessibility consultant based in the UK. I provide training, accessibility reviews, and consultancy to help organisations become more inclusive of disabled people.
I collect personal data to deliver my services and to meet my legal obligations. I never sell your data. I do not share it with third parties except where I have a legal duty to do so, or where you have asked me to.
You have rights over your data, including the right to see what I hold, to ask me to correct it, and in some cases to ask me to delete it.
To use those rights, or to ask any questions, contact me at contact@elisabethward.co.uk.
If you are not satisfied with how I handle your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
Who I am
I am Elisabeth Ward, a sole trader trading as Elisabeth Ward, disability inclusion consultant. I am the data controller for all personal data I process.
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a data controller.
Contact: contact@elisabethward.co.uk Website: https://elisabethward.co.uk
What personal data I collect
I only collect what I need. The type of data I collect depends on how you work with me.
If you contact me through my website form or by email
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your organisation (if you provide it)
- The content of your message, including any details about the service you are enquiring about
- Any accessibility or adjustment requirements you choose to share
If you book or attend training, a review, or a consultancy engagement
- Contact and organisation details
- Attendance records where relevant
- Accessibility requirements and reasonable adjustments you ask for
- Any information about your circumstances you choose to share with me
If you visit my website
- My website does not use tracking or analytics cookies (see the Cookies section below)
- Any information you submit through my contact form
Why I collect it — my lawful bases
Under UK GDPR Article 6, I must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. These are the bases I rely on and when each applies.
Performance of a contract — 6(1)(b): Delivering services you have engaged me to provide, such as training, reviews, or consultancy.
Legitimate interests — 6(1)(f): Responding to enquiries, communicating with clients about existing work, and keeping the records I need to deliver services safely and well.
Legal obligation — 6(1)(c): Meeting my duties under tax law (HMRC) and other legal requirements.
Consent — 6(1)(a): Where I use specific tools — for example, transcription or AI drafting tools — I ask for your agreement first. Consent is specific, informed, and freely given, and you can withdraw it at any time.
Special category data
Because my work is disability inclusion, you may choose to share information about health, disability, or other protected characteristics. For example, when you request a reasonable adjustment for training. This is “special category data” under UK GDPR Article 9.
I handle this data only where you have given explicit consent by choosing to share it with me for a specific purpose. This is usually to make an adjustment so you can take part fully. I use it only for that purpose, and I delete it when it is no longer needed.
How I use your data
I use the data I collect only for the purpose it was collected for. Specifically:
- To respond to your enquiry
- To deliver the service you have engaged me to provide
- To make reasonable adjustments so you can participate fully
- To communicate with you about an existing engagement
- To meet my legal obligations, such as tax records
I do not use your personal data for unsolicited marketing. I do not make automated decisions about you.
Data collected for one purpose is not used for another without a fresh lawful basis. For example, information you share to request an adjustment is used to make that adjustment. It is not passed to your employer or shared with other participants.
Who I share your data with
I share personal data with third parties only when I have to, or when you have asked me to.
Service providers that support my website and work
Contact form and website hosting
My website runs on WordPress and uses Jetpack (Automattic) for its contact form. Form submissions are stored within my website and processed through Automattic’s systems.
Spam checking
Contact form submissions are checked by an automated spam-detection service (Akismet, provided by Automattic) to protect against spam.
Tools used in delivery
Where I use tools such as secure file storage, video conferencing, or transcription in delivering a service, I choose providers that meet appropriate data protection standards.
Legal obligations
Where a court order, regulatory duty, or other legal requirement means I must disclose information, I will share only what is necessary.
What I do not do
- I do not sell your personal data.
- I do not share any disability or adjustment information you give me with your employer, clients, or other participants without your consent.
AI and your data
I use AI tools to support my work. For example, for drafting, summarising, and administrative tasks. I set limits on how your data is involved.
- I do not input your personal data, special category data, or commercially sensitive information into public AI tools that do not provide appropriate data protection guarantees.
- I do not use AI to make automated decisions about you.
- Where I use a transcription tool, I ask for your consent first and tell you which tool I use.
How long I keep your data
I keep personal data only as long as I need it.
- Enquiries that do not lead to work: deleted within 12 months of our last contact.
- Client and financial records: kept for 7 years from the end of the engagement, to meet tax and legal obligations.
- Reasonable adjustment and disability disclosures: kept only for the duration of the engagement and deleted promptly when no longer needed.
When data is no longer needed, I delete it securely from my systems.
Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have a number of rights over your personal data.
Access: Ask me to confirm whether I hold data about you and to receive a copy. This is a Subject Access Request. I respond within one month.
Rectification: Ask me to correct data that is inaccurate or incomplete.
Erasure: Ask me to delete your data in certain circumstances. For example, where it is no longer needed or you withdraw consent.
Restriction: Ask me to limit how I use your data while a query is resolved.
Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format where I process it by automated means on the basis of consent or contract.
Object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Withdraw consent: Where I process your data on the basis of consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This does not affect processing that took place before you withdrew.
To exercise any of these rights, contact me at contact@elisabethward.co.uk
I do not charge a fee for standard requests, and I may ask you to confirm your identity before responding.
Cookies
My website does not use tracking, analytics, or advertising cookies.
The only data stored in your browser is functional. For example, a technical check WordPress makes to see whether your browser can display emoji correctly. This stores no personal data and is not used to track you.
Embedded content
Some blog articles may include embedded content, such as videos or images from other websites. Embedded content from other websites behaves as though you had visited that other website, and those sites may collect data about you. I recommend reviewing the privacy policies of any third-party sites whose content appears here.
Contact and complaints
If you have a question about this notice, want to exercise a right, or have a concern about how I have handled your data, please contact me first.
Email: contact@elisabethward.co.uk
I aim to acknowledge data-related requests within 5 working days and to respond fully within 1 month.
If you are not satisfied with my response, or believe I am processing your data unlawfully, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection.
Changes to this notice
I review this Privacy Notice regularly and whenever there is a material change — for example, a new service, a new tool or provider, or a change in data protection law. When I make a significant change, I update the version number and the “last reviewed” date at the top of this page.
The current version of this notice is always available at