Privacy Policy
What is collected, why, who else sees it, and how to get it back or have it deleted.
I collect as little as possible, I never sell it, and health information is treated as sensitive, because it is. You can ask to see what I hold, correct it, or have it deleted, at any time.
1Who is accountable
Graham Robert Kingma, carrying on business as Ascent Metabolic Coaching (Ontario Business Identification Number 1001709714), is responsible for the personal information in its care under the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
Privacy contact: Graham Kingma, Privacy Officer
ascentmetaboliccoaching.ca/contact
Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada
2What is collected, and why
| If you… | What is collected | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Visit the website | Standard analytics through Squarespace and Google Analytics: pages viewed, which call, text or booking links are tapped, approximate region, device and browser, referring site. Cookies set by Squarespace. | To see which guides are useful and keep the site working |
| Take the readiness quiz | Your answers, and your name and email if you ask for the result | To show your result and, only with your consent, to email it |
| Download a guide or join the list | First name and email address | To send the guide and the newsletter you asked for |
| Book a discovery call | Name, email, phone, and what you write in the booking form | To hold the call and prepare for it |
| Call or text the practice phone number | Your phone number, the date, time and length of the call, any voicemail you leave, the content of any text messages, and your name if you give it. Calls and text messages may be recorded and transcribed so I can follow up. If nobody picks up, an automated assistant may answer, answer basic questions about the practice and take a message. | To answer you, and to keep an accurate note of who asked what |
| Become a client | Intake answers, health history, medications, goals, measurements you choose to share, session notes, payment records | To coach you properly and keep an accurate record |
3What is never done
- Your information is never sold, rented or traded. Not ever, not to anyone.
- Your health information is never used to target advertising.
- You are never added to the mailing list because you booked a call or became a client. The newsletter is a separate, express opt-in.
- Client details are never used in marketing, social media or case studies unless you give specific written permission for that particular use.
4Consent, and taking it back
You give consent by asking for a guide, taking the quiz, booking a call, or completing intake. For health information, consent is express: you are told what it is for before you give it.
You can withdraw consent at any time by emailing me, subject to legal and record-keeping limits set out below. Withdrawing consent for the information I need to coach you safely may mean coaching cannot continue.
Email: every newsletter has a one-click unsubscribe, honoured within 10 business days as required by Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation. You can also just reply and ask.
5Who else touches your information
I use a small number of service providers. Each is bound to protect your information and to use it only to provide their service to me.
| Provider | What for | Where data is held |
|---|---|---|
| Squarespace | Website and forms | United States |
| Practice Better | Booking, intake, notes, secure messaging | United States |
| Stripe | Card processing | United States |
| MailerLite | Email list and newsletter | European Union / United States |
| Quo | The practice phone number: calls, voicemail and text messages | United States |
| Notion | Notes about people I've met or who asked about coaching | United States (some processing in other countries) |
| Google Workspace (Gmail and Google Drive) | Email and documents | United States and other countries |
| AI assistant tools | Help me keep records and draft notes | United States (the AI services they use may process data elsewhere) |
I never see or store your full card number. Stripe handles that directly.
If we've met: the notes I keep
If we've met or you've asked about coaching, I keep a short record so I can follow up as promised. It holds your contact details, how we met, and things you chose to tell me.
If you tell me something about your health and say it's OK for me to note it, I record only short codes. Each covers a general area, never the details. This helps me follow up in a way that fits you. What each code means is kept separately from this record. If you mention someone else's health, like your partner's, I note it only if that person tells me themselves that it's OK. They can ask me to see or remove it at any time. Nothing about your health goes into my mailing-list emails. I remove the codes as soon as you ask, or when you become a client.
This record is stored in Notion, on servers in the United States, where US law may let courts and authorities there access it. My emails and texts with you stay in my email and phone accounts, and my mailing list is in MailerLite (see the providers listed above). I use a small number of service providers, including assistant software, to help me keep these records.
I keep this record for 3 years after we were last in touch, then delete it. If you become a client, your details move into your client file. This record then keeps only your name, the dates, and proof of your email consent. I keep that proof of consent for 3 years after we were last in touch, then delete it.
If you've asked me to stop emailing you, I keep only your email address and the date you asked. They go on a do-not-email list, so you're never added again.
To stop my emails at any time, reply "stop" or write to gkingma@ascentmetaboliccoaching.ca, and I won't email you again. You can ask to see, correct or delete your record at any time at gkingma@ascentmetaboliccoaching.ca. I'll respond within 30 days, free in most cases.
6How long it is kept
| Information | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Newsletter subscribers | Until you unsubscribe, then removed within 30 days, except your email address and the date you unsubscribed, which I keep so you're never emailed again |
| Quiz answers with no email given | Not retained in identifiable form |
| People I've met or who asked about coaching, and did not become clients | 3 years after we were last in touch |
| Calls, voicemails and text messages | 12 months, unless they become part of a client record |
| Client records and coaching notes | 7 years after your last session, then securely destroyed |
| Invoices and payment records | 6 years, as required by the Canada Revenue Agency |
After that, records are securely deleted or anonymised.
7How it is protected
Practical safeguards, proportionate to how sensitive the information is: client records held in Practice Better, a platform built for health practitioners, which stores client records in the United States; multi-factor authentication on every account that holds client data; encryption in transit; access limited to me alone; and no client health information kept in ordinary email or on paper.
No system is perfect. If a breach ever created a real risk of significant harm to you, I would notify you and the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as PIPEDA requires, and tell you plainly what happened.
8Your rights
- See it. Ask for a copy of what I hold about you. I will respond within 30 days, free in most cases.
- Correct it. If something is wrong, tell me and I will fix it.
- Delete it. Ask me to erase your information, subject to records I am legally required to keep.
- Withdraw consent or unsubscribe at any time.
- Complain. Email me first, because I would rather fix it. If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at priv.gc.ca or 1-800-282-1376.
9Cookies
This site uses cookies that are necessary to make it work, and basic analytics cookies that tell me which pages are read. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings; the site will still work, though some features may not.
10Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a way that materially affects you, I will post the new version here with a new date and, where the change is significant, email anyone on the list.
Questions? Send them through the contact page.