Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Spiritual Readings by Sonia ("we", "us", "Sonia") collects, uses, stores and deletes your personal information. Sonia is a sole practitioner based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and all readings are delivered online.

We handle your information in line with the Australian Privacy Principles. If you are in the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, the sections below also set out the information required by the UK GDPR and EU GDPR.

What we collect

When you order a reading

• Your name and email address
• Your phone number, for live online chat readings only, as a fallback way to reach you
• The question or questions you would like Sonia to read on, for written readings
• A photograph of your face. This is required for every reading — see "Why we need a photo" below
• A photograph of your pet, for pet readings only
• Confirmation that you are 18 or over and accept our Terms & Conditions

When you pay

Card and billing details are entered on Stripe's own secure checkout page and are handled entirely by Stripe. We never see, receive or store your card details. We receive only a payment reference, the amount, and whether the payment succeeded.

When you contact us

Your name, email address and the content of your message.

When you use this website

Aggregated, non-identifying analytics about pages visited and page performance. See "Cookies and analytics" below.

Why we need a photo

Sonia reads without tools. No date of birth, no cards, no pendulums or crystals — she gets the energy connection a reading depends on directly from the photograph you supply. This is why a photo is required rather than optional.

Your photo is used for one purpose only: for Sonia to read for you. It is never published, never shared with anyone else, never used for marketing, never used to identify you by automated means, and never used to train any machine-learning or facial-recognition system.

How we use your information

• To take payment for your reading
• To prepare and deliver your reading
• To arrange a time, and send a calendar invitation, for live online chat readings
• To send you an order confirmation and, for written readings, the reading itself
• To answer your enquiries
• To keep basic records we are required to keep, such as records of sale

We do not sell your information, we do not share the content of your reading with anyone, and we do not send marketing email.

Who else handles your information

We use a small number of established service providers to run the business. Each receives only what it needs:

Some of these providers process data outside Australia. Where that happens we rely on the provider's own contractual data-protection commitments, including Standard Contractual Clauses where applicable.

How long we keep things, and when we delete them

Photos are stored in Cloudflare R2, which is not publicly accessible, and are attached to the notification email Sonia receives so she can read for you. Deletion after 30 days is automatic — you do not need to ask.

Your rights

You can, at any time:

• Ask what personal information we hold about you and receive a copy
• Ask us to correct anything that is wrong
• Ask us to delete your photo, or all of your information, sooner than the periods above
• Withdraw your consent to analytics cookies, by clearing your cookies for this site
• Object to how we are handling your information

Use the contact form and we will respond within 30 days.

If you are in the UK or EEA, our lawful bases are: performing our contract with you (delivering your reading), your consent (analytics cookies, and providing your photo), and our legitimate interests (keeping the site secure and preventing abuse). You also have the right to data portability and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

Cookies and analytics

Your theme preference — whether you prefer the light or dark version of this site — is stored in your browser's local storage, not in a cookie, and never leaves your device.

Cloudflare Web Analytics measures aggregated page views and page-load performance. It sets no cookies, does not track you between websites, and does not build a profile of you. Because it cannot identify you, it runs without needing your consent.

Google Analytics loads on every page, but until you accept analytics cookies it is blocked from storing anything on your device or identifying you: it sets no cookies, and the anonymous, cookieless signal it does send cannot be tied to you or to a return visit. If you accept, it sets cookies that measure how the site is used, so Sonia can see which readings people are interested in. It is not used for advertising, and advertising personalisation signals are switched off. You can change your mind by clearing this site's cookies.

Booking pages deliberately send a redacted address to analytics, so your individual order reference is never recorded there.

Security

The site is served over HTTPS only. Photos are held in private storage that is not reachable from the web. Payment card data never touches our systems. That said, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children

Readings are available only to people aged 18 and over, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with information, please contact us and we will delete it.

Complaints

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your information, please contact us first so we can try to put it right. If you are still not satisfied, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au, or to your local supervisory authority if you are in the UK or EEA.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and the "last updated" date above.

Contact

For any privacy question or request, use the contact form.