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Privacy Policy

Shay Kuehlmann, sole trader trading as The Vet Bioscientist

Surrey, UK

ICO registration reference: 00015440579

1. Who we are

This website is operated by Shay Kuehlmann, a sole trader trading as The Vet Bioscientist (“The Vet Bioscientist”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

Website: thevetbioscientist.com

Email: hello@thevetbioscientist.com

Business/service address: 19 St Thomas Close, Guildford, GU4 8LQ

ICO registration reference: 00015440579

The Vet Bioscientist is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this Privacy Policy.

2. What this Privacy Policy covers

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect personal information when you:

  • visit thevetbioscientist.com;

  • contact us through our website, email or social media;

  • enquire about or use our animal nutrition consultancy services;

  • provide information for a nutritional assessment or meal plan;

  • provide veterinary records or authorise us to communicate with your veterinary practice;

  • subscribe to newsletters or marketing communications;

  • interact with our advertising or marketing campaigns;

  • engage with us as a pet brand, agency, commercial partner or media contact;

engage us for expert content, brand consultancy, UGC, speaking, media or commercial work.

This policy applies to information relating to identifiable people.

Information relating solely to an animal is not personal data under UK GDPR. However, information about an animal may be associated with an identifiable owner or client and may therefore form part of a client record that we protect appropriately.

3. Personal information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect the following categories of information.

Identity and contact information

  • name;

  • email address;

  • postal address;

  • telephone number where you choose to provide one;

  • social-media account or username;

other contact information you give us.

Nutrition consultancy and client information

  • information you provide about your animal;

  • diet and feeding history;

  • veterinary history and veterinary records;

  • medications and supplements;

  • lifestyle and activity information;

  • photographs or other information relevant to nutritional assessment;

  • details of your household, preferences, budget or practical circumstances where relevant to our recommendations;

  • consultation notes;

  • nutritional assessments;

  • meal plans and recommendations;

correspondence and follow-up information.

Although information about your animal is not itself personal data, these records may contain or be linked to your personal information.

Veterinary information

With your authorisation, we may request information from your veterinary practice, receive veterinary records, and communicate with veterinary surgeons or other veterinary professionals about matters relevant to the nutritional service you have requested.

We will only do this where appropriate and with your permission, unless disclosure is otherwise required or permitted by law.

Brand and commercial information

  • company or agency name;

  • name and job title;

  • professional contact details;

  • correspondence;

  • project briefs;

  • contracts;

  • invoicing information;

campaign and content information.

Website, marketing and technical information

  • IP address;

  • browser and device information;

  • website activity and pages visited;

  • referral source;

  • approximate location derived from technical data;

  • cookie or device identifiers;

  • newsletter subscription and marketing preferences;

  • email engagement information;

  • advertising campaign interactions;

  • information about actions taken after viewing or interacting with our advertising;

  • consent and cookie-preference records;

security and diagnostic information.

Payment information

Payments may be processed through SumUp. We may receive information confirming a transaction, such as the amount, date and payment status. We do not receive or store your complete payment-card details where those details are processed directly by the payment provider.

Communications

We may keep records of communications made through Wix website forms, email, Instagram, communications passed to us through our appointed brand or marketing representatives, and other agreed channels used during a client or commercial relationship.

4. Special category personal data

Our services concern animal nutrition and we do not ordinarily need health information or other special category personal data about you.

Please avoid providing sensitive personal information about yourself unless it is genuinely necessary.

If you voluntarily provide information about your own health or another category of sensitive personal information that is genuinely relevant to the service, we will only use it where we have an appropriate lawful basis and, where required, an additional condition for processing special category data.

5. How and why we use your information

We may use personal information to respond to enquiries, provide nutrition consultancy, prepare nutritional recommendations and meal plans, conduct consultations, provide follow-up support, maintain professional records, liaise with veterinary professionals where authorised, process payments, issue invoices, meet legal and tax obligations, administer brand or commercial work, operate and secure our website, analyse website performance, run advertising and send marketing communications.

Depending on the purpose, our lawful bases may include performance of a contract, taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, compliance with a legal obligation, our legitimate interests, and consent.

Analytics and advertising

We use, or may use, website analytics and advertising technologies to understand how visitors use our website, measure the effectiveness of our content and marketing, and improve our services.

  • Google Analytics, to understand website traffic, visitor behaviour and how people find and use our website;

  • Google Ads, including conversion measurement and advertising-related technologies;

  • Meta technologies, including the Meta Pixel, to measure activity associated with Facebook and Instagram advertising and help us understand campaign effectiveness;

Wix analytics and reporting tools, to understand website performance, visitor activity and enquiries.

Where cookies or similar tracking technologies are not strictly necessary for operation of the website, we obtain consent before placing or accessing them where required by law.

Our lawful basis for processing information collected through non-essential analytics or advertising technologies is consent, where consent is required.

Marketing and newsletters

We may offer newsletters, educational updates, business news, invitations, resources, service information and other marketing communications.

Where you choose to subscribe, we may collect your name, email address, subscription date, marketing preferences and information about engagement with our emails where our email platform provides this functionality.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link included in marketing emails or by contacting hello@thevetbioscientist.com.

We will not sell our mailing list or personal information to third parties.

6. Who we share information with

We do not sell personal information. Where necessary to operate our business, provide services, communicate with clients or carry out marketing, information may be processed by or shared with trusted providers and recipients including:

  • Wix, for website hosting, forms, analytics, cookie and consent management, email marketing, security and website performance;

  • Google, including Gmail / Google Workspace, Google Drive, Google Meet, Google Analytics and Google Ads;

  • Meta, including Meta Pixel and advertising or campaign measurement technologies;

  • Microsoft, including Microsoft Teams;

  • FeedWise, for professional animal nutrition work and nutritional formulation or assessment;

  • SumUp, for payment processing;

  • Wix Email Marketing or another professional email-distribution or customer-communication platform;

  • veterinary practices and veterinary professionals, where you have authorised us to communicate with them;

  • our appointed brand or marketing representatives where relevant to commercial work;

  • accountants, bookkeepers, solicitors, insurers and other professional advisers;

regulators, public authorities or other bodies where disclosure is required or permitted by law.

7. International data transfers

Some technology providers we use operate internationally and personal information may therefore be processed outside the United Kingdom.

Where UK data-protection law requires additional safeguards for an international transfer, we rely on appropriate mechanisms made available under UK data-protection law, such as an adequacy regulation, approved UK transfer arrangements or contractual safeguards.

8. How long we keep information

Unsuccessful enquiries: up to 12 months after the last meaningful contact.

Nutrition consultancy/client records: for the duration of our relationship and normally for 6 years after the client relationship ends.

Veterinary information received as part of a consultancy: normally retained as part of the associated client record.

Brand and commercial records: normally for the duration of the relationship and up to 6 years afterwards where appropriate for legal, contractual, accounting or tax purposes.

Financial and accounting records: retained for the period required under applicable tax and accounting law.

Newsletter and marketing information: retained while you remain subscribed or while we otherwise have a lawful reason to retain it. If you unsubscribe, we may retain a minimal suppression record so that we can respect your request not to receive future marketing.

Analytics and advertising data: retained according to the settings and retention periods applied within the relevant analytics or advertising platform and only for as long as reasonably necessary.

We may retain information for longer where reasonably necessary in connection with a legal claim, regulatory requirement or dispute.

9. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect personal information against unauthorised access, accidental loss, misuse, alteration, disclosure and destruction. These measures include using reputable professional technology providers, password-protected systems and limiting access to information to those who reasonably require it.

No internet or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

10. Your data-protection rights

  • request access to your personal information;

  • ask us to correct inaccurate information;

  • ask us to erase information in certain circumstances;

  • ask us to restrict processing;

  • object to certain processing;

  • receive certain information in a portable format;

  • withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;

complain about the way we use your information.

These rights are not absolute and exemptions may apply. We do not use solely automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects about clients.

To exercise a data-protection right, contact hello@thevetbioscientist.com. We may need to verify your identity before responding.

11. Data-protection complaints

If you have concerns about how The Vet Bioscientist has collected or used your personal information, please contact us so that we can investigate.

Email: hello@thevetbioscientist.com

Subject line: Data Protection Complaint

We will acknowledge your complaint appropriately, investigate the issues raised, keep you informed where necessary and provide an outcome once our investigation is complete.

You also have the right to raise concerns with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Helpline: 0303 123 1113. Website: ico.org.uk.

You do not have to complain to us before contacting the ICO.

12. Links and third-party websites

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, research publications, social-media platforms and other external resources. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of third-party websites. Their own privacy policies will apply when you use those services.

13. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our services, technologies, business practices or legal obligations. The current version will be published on this website and the 'last updated' date will be revised accordingly.

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