Data Privacy Notice

Privacy Notice
​South West Dog Skills Last updated: 1 June 2026

1. IntroductionThis Privacy Notice explains how South West Dog Skills ("SWDS", "we", "us") collects, uses and protects your personal information when you use our services or visit our website.
South West Dog Skills is a sole trader business operated by Matt Donovan. For data protection purposes, the data controller is Matt Donovan, trading as South West Dog Skills, Common Wood, Hunstrete Lane, Hunstrete, BS39 4NT.
We process your personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This notice should be read alongside our Cookies Policy, which explains how we use cookies and similar technologies on our website.
2. The information we collectDepending on how you interact with us, we may collect and process:

• Your name and contact details (email address, telephone number, postal address)
• Information about your dog (such as breed, age, behaviour and training needs)
• Booking and attendance records for classes, courses and sessions
• Relevant medical or health information about you, where you choose to tell us, so that we can keep you safe during activities
• An emergency contact, where you choose to provide one
• Your marketing preferences, including whether you have consented to receive SWDS news and offers
• Correspondence between you and us
• Technical and usage information when you visit our website (see our Cookies Policy)

3. How we use your informationWe use your personal information for the following purposes:

• Booking services, such as classes and courses
• Understanding you and your dog's needs for the session
• Identifying any medical condition we need to be aware of to keep you safe taking part in activities
• Monitoring, evaluating, auditing and developing our services
• Contacting you by email with details of the sessions you have booked
• Contacting you by phone about changes or queries relating to your booking
• Sending you SWDS news and offers, where you have asked us to
• Meeting our legal and regulatory obligations

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling.

4. Our legal basis for processingWe rely on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract — to provide the training services you have booked and to manage your bookings
• Consent — where you have agreed to receive marketing communications, or where you provide special category (health) information. You can withdraw consent at any time
• Legitimate interests — to develop and improve our services and to manage our business, where this is not overridden by your rights
• Legal obligation — where we are required to process your information to comply with the law
• Vital interests — to protect you or another person in an emergency

Where we process health information, we do so on the basis of your explicit consent, or where necessary to protect vital interests.

5. Sharing your informationWe will only share your information where it is necessary for the purposes set out above, and always in line with professional ethical guidelines. We may share your information with:

• SWDS staff
• Instructors leading activities you have signed up for, where different from SWDS staff
• Your emergency contact, in the event of an emergency, where you have provided one

We also use trusted third-party service providers ("processors") who process personal data on our behalf under written agreements. These include:
ProcessorPurposeSquare, Inc. (Weebly)Website hosting and platform
Bookwhen LtdClass and course booking system
Stripe, Inc.Payment processing
GoCardless LtdDirect Debit payment processing
Mailchimp (The Rocket Science Group LLC)Email marketing and newsletters
Google LLC (Google Analytics)Website analytics
Google LLC (Google Workspace)Email and business productivity
Cybot A/S (Cookiebot)Cookie consent management
Meta Platforms, Inc. (WhatsApp)Messaging and community contactThese providers act on our instructions and are not permitted to use your information for their own purposes.

6. International transfersSome of our processors are based outside the UK. Where your personal data is transferred outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or transfers to countries the UK government has deemed to provide adequate protection.

7. How long we keep your informationWe keep your personal information for up to three years from the date you signed up, after which it is confidentially destroyed, unless you remain an existing customer or we are required to retain it for longer to meet a legal obligation.

8. Your rightsUnder UK GDPR you have the following qualified rights in respect of your personal data:

• To be informed about how we use your data (this notice)
• To access the personal data we hold about you
• To receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format
• To have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected
• To have your data erased, for example by withdrawing your consent
• To restrict our processing of your data
• To object to our processing of your data
• Rights relating to automated decision-making (we do not use this)

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details below. You will not usually have to pay a fee, and we will respond within one month.

9. ComplaintsIf you have a concern about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113

10. Changes to this noticeWe may update this notice from time to time. The latest version will always be available on this page, with the "Last updated" date shown at the top.

​11. How to contact usMatt Donovan, trading as South West Dog Skills Common Wood, Hunstrete Lane, Hunstrete, BS39 4NT Email: [email protected] Phone: 07946 222541