Privacy Policy

About Autism Support Wales

Autism Support Wales is a sole-trader business operating in Wales under the trading name Autism Support Wales. It operates an independent information, directory and enquiry platform that helps people find autism assessment and related support providers.

Autism Support Wales does not itself provide autism assessments, diagnoses or clinical treatment. We do not employ clinicians and we are not a healthcare provider, limited company or charity.

For privacy and data-protection enquiries, please email info@autismsupportwales.co.uk.

What Autism Support Wales does

Autism Support Wales is an independent information, directory and enquiry platform. We publish provider listings, information about autism assessments, and related support resources to help visitors compare and connect with private and independent providers in Wales.

We do not provide autism assessments, diagnoses or clinical treatment ourselves. Any assessment, diagnosis or support is provided directly by the listed provider under its own terms, qualifications and privacy arrangements.

Personal information we collect

We only collect personal information that is reasonably necessary to operate the platform, process enquiries and understand how the site is used. Depending on how you use Autism Support Wales, this may include:

• Name
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Postcode
• Who the assessment enquiry is for (for example, yourself, your child, or someone else)
• Information voluntarily entered into an enquiry message
• Which provider an enquiry relates to
• Whether you have given privacy consent
• Whether you have given optional marketing consent
• The page you were on when you submitted an enquiry (source page)
• UTM source, medium and campaign information, where present in the URL
• A pseudonymous session identifier stored for the duration of the browser-tab session
• Provider profile views, provider website clicks, enquiry starts and successful enquiry submissions
• Relevant timestamps associated with the above activity

We do not routinely collect detailed medical records or clinical histories. Visitors submitting an enquiry through Autism Support Wales should avoid including unnecessary medical or highly sensitive information in free-text messages unless it is genuinely relevant to the enquiry.

Provider enquiries

When you submit an enquiry through Autism Support Wales, the information you provide is recorded by Autism Support Wales and associated with the provider you selected. Relevant information may be shared with that provider where necessary to facilitate or respond to your enquiry.

The provider may then process your information under its own privacy arrangements, which are separate from this policy. We encourage you to review the provider’s own privacy policy before submitting sensitive information.

Submitting an enquiry through Autism Support Wales does not guarantee that the provider will accept you or the person you are enquiring about as a client or patient, provide an assessment, or respond within a particular timeframe.

Provider analytics

To help us understand how provider listings are used and to improve the platform, Autism Support Wales records limited provider-listing activity. This includes:

• Provider profile views
• Provider website clicks
• Enquiry starts
• Successful enquiry submissions

A random session identifier may be stored for the duration of the browser-tab session to help us understand this activity. This identifier is pseudonymous: it is not directly tied to your name, email address, telephone number, postcode or any medical information, and it is not used to identify you personally across different sessions or websites.

Provider-event analytics do not store your name, email address, telephone number, postcode or medical information.

Marketing consent

Marketing consent is entirely optional and is collected separately from the privacy acknowledgement required to submit an enquiry. Refusing marketing consent does not prevent you from submitting an enquiry or affect how your enquiry is handled.

If you do consent to marketing, you can withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us at info@autismsupportwales.co.uk. Submitting an enquiry does not automatically subscribe you to marketing communications unless you separately opt in.

How we use information

We use personal information for purposes such as:

• Processing and managing provider enquiries
• Associating enquiries with the selected provider
• Facilitating communication relating to enquiries
• Operating, maintaining and improving Autism Support Wales
• Understanding provider-listing performance
• Measuring enquiry performance and website effectiveness
• Maintaining security and investigating technical issues
• Responding to data-protection requests and enquiries
• Sending marketing communications only where separate consent has been provided

Lawful bases for processing

Under UK data-protection law, we process personal information on the basis that it is necessary for the following lawful bases, depending on the activity:

• Consent: where you have explicitly agreed, for example by ticking the privacy consent checkbox before submitting an enquiry, or by opting in to marketing.
• Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests in operating and improving the platform, understanding listing performance, and maintaining security, balanced against your rights and freedoms.
• Taking steps at your request: where processing is necessary to respond to an enquiry you have initiated before entering into a contract with a provider.
• Compliance with legal obligations: where we are required to process or retain information by law or regulation.

We do not rely on contractual necessity for processing that is not directly connected to a contract you have entered into, and we do not process special-category health data on the basis of a special-category lawful basis unless it is strictly necessary and permitted by law.

Sharing information

We may share personal information where appropriate with:

• The assessment or support provider you choose to enquire about
• Technology, hosting and database providers used to operate Autism Support Wales
• Professional or service providers where genuinely necessary to run the platform
• Authorities or regulators where legally required

Autism Support Wales does not sell personal information to third parties.

Supabase

Autism Support Wales uses Supabase as an external technology and data-processing provider for database and authentication functionality. Supabase processes and stores data on our behalf under our instructions.

We do not make unsupported claims about exact server locations, international transfers, certifications or specific contractual arrangements. We use Supabase in line with its published terms, security practices and applicable data-protection requirements.

How long we keep information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for maintaining appropriate business records, resolving disputes, protecting security, and meeting applicable legal obligations. We do not invent arbitrary fixed retention periods; retention is reviewed against the purpose of collection and legal requirements.

Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. These measures are reviewed and updated as appropriate.

No online system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot promise absolute security.

For security reasons, we do not publish detailed technical security configurations, credentials, admin architecture or database setup.

Your data-protection rights

Under UK data-protection law, you may have rights including, where applicable and depending on the circumstances and lawful basis:

• The right to access the personal information we hold about you
• The right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete information
• The right to erasure (the “right to be forgotten”)
• The right to restrict processing
• The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing
• The right to data portability
• The right to withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these rights, or if you have questions about how we use your information, please contact us at info@autismsupportwales.co.uk.

Complaints

If you have any concerns about how we handle your personal information, please contact us at info@autismsupportwales.co.uk. We will do our best to resolve the issue.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data-protection matters. You can find more information on the ICO website.

Children

Enquiries concerning children and young people may be submitted by parents, carers or other adults with appropriate responsibility. The enquiry service is intended to be used and submitted by adults.

We do not encourage children to submit personal or medical information themselves. If you are under 18, please ask a parent, carer or responsible adult to make the enquiry on your behalf.

External provider websites

Provider profiles on Autism Support Wales may link to external clinic or provider websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of those external websites. We encourage you to review the privacy policy of any provider you contact or visit.