Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2025 · Applies to autismawarenesszimbabwe.com

Who We Are

Autism Awareness Zimbabwe is an education and advocacy platform founded and operated by Marilyn Laiva, based in the United Kingdom. We provide online courses, free resources, and practical tools for parents, carers and families of autistic children and adults, with a particular focus on Zimbabwe, Africa, and the African diaspora in the UK.

For the purposes of UK data protection law and the UK GDPR, Marilyn Laiva is the data controller for information collected through this website.

You can contact us at: hello@autismawarenesszimbabwe.com

What Information We Collect

Information you give us directly

• Your name and email address when you sign up for our free guide
• Your name and email address when you send us a message through our contact form
• Your email address when you purchase a course (processed by PayPal or Stripe)

Information collected automatically

• Basic usage data if we enable analytics in future (we will update this policy if we do)
• Course progress saved locally in your browser — this stays on your device and is never sent to us

How We Use Your Information

• To send you the free guide you requested and any follow-up emails related to it
• To respond to your enquiries and contact form messages
• To send you our email newsletter if you have signed up for it — you can unsubscribe at any time
• To send you your course password after purchase
• To improve the website and understand what resources are most useful to our community

We will never sell your personal data. We will never share it with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

Legal Basis for Processing (UK GDPR)

• Consent — when you sign up for our free guide or newsletter
• Contract — when you purchase a course and we need to deliver it to you
• Legitimate interests — when we respond to contact form messages

Third Parties We Work With

Mailchimp

We use Mailchimp to manage our email list and send newsletters. When you sign up for our free guide, your name and email address are stored in Mailchimp. Mailchimp is based in the United States and is covered by appropriate data transfer safeguards. You can read Mailchimp's privacy policy at mailchimp.com/legal/privacy.

PayPal and Stripe

Course payments are processed by PayPal and Stripe. We do not store your payment card details — these are handled entirely by PayPal and Stripe under their own privacy policies and security standards.

Netlify

This website is hosted on Netlify. Netlify may process basic server log data including IP addresses as part of normal website hosting operations.

Formspree

Our contact form is processed by Formspree, which forwards your message to our email inbox. Messages are not permanently stored by Formspree beyond standard processing.

How Long We Keep Your Data

• Email list subscribers — until you unsubscribe
• Contact form messages — up to 2 years in our email inbox
• Purchase records — 7 years as required by UK tax law

Your Rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Withdraw consent at any time (for example by unsubscribing from our emails)
• Object to how we process your data
• Request that we restrict processing of your data
• Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk if you believe we have handled your data unlawfully

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at hello@autismawarenesszimbabwe.com. We will respond within 30 days.

Cookies

This website uses only essential functional cookies — specifically, your browser's localStorage to save your course progress locally on your device. This data never leaves your device and is not accessible to us. We do not currently use tracking or advertising cookies. If this changes, we will update this policy and add a cookie consent notice to the site.

Children's Privacy

Our website and courses are directed at adults — parents, carers and professionals. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under the age of 18. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the date at the top of this page. We encourage you to check back periodically.