Last updated: 01 September 2026

The Athenae respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information. This policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and the rights you have. It applies to theathenae.com and to any forms, downloads and communications connected to it.

Who we are

The Athenae is a trading name of The Athenae Platform Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 17377925, whose registered office is at 2 Silver Street, Buckden, St. Neots, England, PE19 5TS. The Athenae Platform Limited ("The Athenae", "we", "us" or "our") is the data controller responsible for your personal information.

Contact for privacy matters: [email protected].

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number ICO:00015347951.

The information we collect

We only collect what we need to run The Athenae and to stay in touch with you. Depending on how you interact with us, this may include: contact details you give us, such as your name and email address, when you join our mailing list, request the Mini Influence Audit, or get in touch through a form; any information you choose to include in a message to us; and technical and usage information collected automatically, such as your IP address, browser type, the pages you visit and how you arrived, gathered through cookies and similar technologies.

How we collect it

We collect information directly from you when you complete a form, download a resource, subscribe, or contact us. We also collect some information automatically through cookies when you use the website. Our website and forms are hosted on a third-party platform (FEA Create, built on the GoHighLevel platform), which processes this information on our behalf.

Applying to join The Athenae

Membership of The Athenae is by application. When you apply, we collect the information you give us in the application form, which may include your professional background, your current work, what you are exploring and what you are hoping to find. We use this to consider your application, to correspond with you about it, and to welcome you if your application is successful.

Our lawful bases are our legitimate interest in considering who is a good fit for a curated membership, and, where your application succeeds, taking steps at your request before entering into a contract with you.

If your application is not successful, we keep it for 12 months so that we can get in touch if a later cohort would suit you better. You can ask us to delete it sooner at any time by emailing [email protected].

The Agora and live sessions

Members have access to a private online community, The Agora, and to live sessions held online. These are provided through FEA Create and Zoom, which process information on our behalf.

What you post in The Agora is visible to other members, and what you share in a Salon or a Recognition Session is heard by the others present. We ask every member to treat these spaces as confidential, and it is a condition of membership. We cannot control what another member does with something you have chosen to share, so please share with that in mind.

Where a session is recorded, we will tell you before recording begins. Recordings are made available to members and kept for 12 months.

If your membership ends, we close your access to The Agora within 30 days. Your earlier contributions may remain visible to other members in the conversations they were part of, unless you ask us to remove them.

Sensitive information

Some categories of personal information carry extra protection under data protection law, including information about health, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, political opinions, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data, and a person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

We do not ask you for information of this kind and you are never required to share it. Conversations in The Agora and in our sessions may naturally touch on personal circumstances, and anything you choose to share there is shared voluntarily. Where a session is recorded, anything shared during it forms part of that recording. We do not transcribe it, index it, or add it to your member record.

Where we do need to handle information of this kind, for example to make an adjustment so that you can take part in an event, we will ask for your explicit consent first and use it only for the purpose you have agreed.

How we use your information and our lawful bases

Under UK data protection law we must have a lawful basis for using your information. We rely on the following. Consent: to send you marketing emails, invitations and updates after you have opted in, and you can withdraw consent at any time. Legitimate interests: to respond to your enquiries, deliver resources you have asked for, understand how the website is used, and keep our services secure and running well. Contract: to provide the membership, services or advisory work you have agreed to take up with us, and to take steps at your request before we enter into a contract, such as considering your application.

Marketing communications

If you have opted in, we may send you thoughtful insights, invitations, opportunities and updates from The Athenae. Every email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time by using that link or by emailing [email protected]. We will act on your request promptly.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help it function, to remember your preferences and to understand how the site is used. When you first visit, you can choose to accept all cookies or only the essential ones.

Two things are worth knowing about how this works in practice. Our website platform sets one of its own analytics cookies and records basic session information regardless of the choice you make. We have raised this with the platform and will update this policy if it changes. The platform also does not allow visitors to change their cookie preferences once an initial choice has been made.

If you would like to change or withdraw your choice, email [email protected] and we will action it for you. You can also clear this site's cookies through your browser settings, which will let you make the choice again on your next visit.

Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal information. We share it only where it is necessary, with:

Service providers who help us run The Athenae and who act on our instructions. These currently include FEA Create, built on the GoHighLevel platform, which provides our website, forms, email, The Agora and our website analytics; Cloudflare, which provides hosting security, performance and privacy-focused website analytics; Bunny Fonts, which delivers the typefaces used on this site; Zoom for our live sessions; and Stripe for membership payments.

Our professional advisers, such as our accountant or our solicitors, where they need the information in order to advise us.

Authorities or others, where we are required to share information by law.

Where members are introduced to one another, or to an organisation, we ask you first. We do not pass your details to an organisation without your agreement.

International transfers

Some of our providers may store or process information outside the UK. Where that happens, we take steps to ensure your information is protected by appropriate safeguards, such as approved contractual clauses or an adequacy decision.

How long we keep your information

We keep your information only for as long as we need it, and no longer. In practice that means:

Mailing list: until you unsubscribe. If you unsubscribe, we keep a minimal record of your email address so that we do not contact you again by mistake.

Enquiries and correspondence: 24 months from our last contact with you.

Unsuccessful membership applications: 12 months, unless you ask us to delete sooner.

Member records: for as long as you are a member, and for six years afterwards, which is the period during which a legal claim could be brought.

Financial and accounting records: six years from the end of the financial year they relate to, as company law requires.

Session recordings: 12 months.

Website and cookie information: for the periods set out in our cookie settings.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the right to: ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you; ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete; ask us to delete your information in certain circumstances; object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use your information; withdraw your consent at any time where we rely on it; and ask us to transfer your information to another provider where this applies. To exercise any of these rights, email [email protected]. We will respond within the timeframes set by law.

How to complain

If you have a concern about how we handle your information, please contact us first at [email protected] so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK regulator, at ico.org.uk.

Keeping your information secure

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work to protect your information at all times.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always appear on this page, with the date it was last updated shown at the top.