Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information Brief Owler collects when you visit briefowler.com, contact us, join our newsletter, buy a course or work with us as a coaching client, and how we use, share, protect and delete that information. It also explains the rights you have under laws such as the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and US state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CCPA/CPRA).

Last updated: October 7, 2026

In plain English

We only collect what you give us through our forms, purchases and coaching sessions, plus the minimum technical data any website receives.
Our site runs no third-party analytics, ad pixels or tracking scripts, and we never sell or share your personal information for advertising.
What you tell us in coaching about your spending, debts and goals stays confidential and is used only to coach you.
You can ask to see, correct, export or delete your data at any time by emailing [email protected].

1. Who we are and how to contact us

Brief Owler ("Brief Owler", "we", "us" or "our") is an online money-coaching and financial-education studio operating the website briefowler.com (the "Site"). For the purposes of the GDPR and UK GDPR, Brief Owler is the controller of the personal data described in this policy, which means we decide why and how it is processed.

If you have any question about this policy or about your personal information, please contact us:

Privacy requests: [email protected]
General questions: [email protected]

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies to personal information we process when you:

browse the Site, including our free calculators on the tools page and our blog;
fill in our contact and booking form, including to request a free Night Brief discovery call;
subscribe to our newsletter;
buy The Owler Method course or any of our coaching services; and
take part in coaching sessions, group programs or written exchanges with us.

It does not cover websites or services run by other organisations, even if we link to them.

3. Information we collect

Information you give us through the contact and booking form

When you use our contact or booking form, we collect:

your first and last name;
your email address;
your phone number (optional);
the service you are interested in;
your preferred time for a call;
your monthly income range (optional);
the message you write to us; and
your consent checkbox selection, together with the date and time you submitted the form.

Please do not include bank account numbers, card numbers, passwords, government identification numbers or similar sensitive identifiers in the message field. We do not need them to help you.

If you sign up for our newsletter, we collect only your email address, plus a record of when and how you subscribed so that we can demonstrate your consent.

Purchases

When you buy The Owler Method course or a coaching service, we collect your name, email address and billing country, along with details of what you bought, the price, the date and whether you are paying in full or by instalments. Payments are handled by a third-party payment processor (for example, Stripe). Your card details are entered directly with the payment processor and never touch Brief Owler's servers. We receive only limited information from the processor, such as confirmation that payment succeeded, the last four digits and brand of the card, and the transaction reference.

Coaching and program information

If you become a coaching client, you may choose to share information about your financial life, such as your spending categories, income, debts, savings goals, money habits and the feelings or circumstances that drive them. You may also share documents such as spreadsheets or summaries you prepare yourself. We also create notes, written Money Briefs, payoff plans and other materials for you. We treat all of this information as confidential. You decide what to share, and you never need to give us access to your bank or card accounts.

Some of what you tell us in coaching may touch on your health, wellbeing or family circumstances (for example, if stress or a life event affects your spending). Where that information counts as special category data under the GDPR, we process it only with your explicit consent and only to the extent needed to coach you.

Information collected automatically

Like every website, our hosting provider automatically receives certain technical information when your browser requests a page, such as your IP address, browser type, operating system, the page requested, the referring page and the date and time. This information appears in standard server logs that are used for security, troubleshooting and keeping the Site running. We do not use it to build profiles of visitors.

The Site does not load any third-party analytics, advertising pixels, social media widgets, external fonts or external scripts. All Site assets are self-hosted. The Site uses your browser's local storage for a small number of functional purposes, described in section 4 and in our Cookie Policy.

Information we do not collect

Numbers you enter into our free calculators (the money-leak finder, debt payoff snowball vs avalanche calculator, emergency-fund calculator and savings-goal timeline) are processed in your browser only. They are not sent to us and not stored, either on our servers or in your browser.

4. Cookies and browser storage

We do not set advertising or tracking cookies. We use your browser's storage only for:

Your consent choice. We store your cookie and consent banner choice in localStorage under the key bo-consent, so that we do not ask you again on every page.
Your first name. When you submit the contact form, we store your first name in sessionStorage under the key bo-name, so that the thank-you page can greet you by name. This value stays on your device and is cleared automatically when you close the browser tab.

If we decide in future to use analytics (for example, a privacy-friendly analytics tool), it will run only after you have given consent through the banner, and we will update this policy and our Cookie Policy first. Full details are in our Cookie Policy.

5. How we use your information

We use personal information to:

reply to your inquiries and arrange your free Night Brief call or other sessions;
work out which service, if any, is a good fit for you;
process purchases, payment plans, refunds and receipts;
give you access to The Owler Method course and its workbook;
deliver coaching sessions, group programs, written Money Briefs, payoff plans and messaging support;
send you your newsletter, if you subscribed;
send service messages, such as booking confirmations, reminders, changes to a session and important updates to our terms;
keep accounting, tax and business records;
keep the Site and our systems secure, and prevent fraud or abuse; and
comply with legal obligations and establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We do not use your personal information for automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you, and we do not use it for profiling for advertising purposes.

6. Legal bases for processing (EU, EEA and UK visitors)

If the GDPR or UK GDPR applies to you, we rely on the following legal bases:

Purpose	Legal basis
Replying to contact and booking form inquiries	Steps taken at your request before entering into a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)), and our legitimate interest in responding to people who contact us (Art. 6(1)(f))
Delivering the course, coaching and programs you buy	Performance of a contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b))
Processing payments and keeping accounting and tax records	Performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) and compliance with legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c))
Sending the newsletter	Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time
Optional details such as income range, and any special category data shared in coaching	Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) and, for special category data, your explicit consent (Art. 9(2)(a))
Storing your consent banner choice	Our legal obligation to record consent (Art. 6(1)(c)) and our legitimate interest in respecting your choice (Art. 6(1)(f))
Site security, server logs and fraud prevention	Our legitimate interests in operating a safe, working website (Art. 6(1)(f))
Handling legal claims and disputes	Our legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) and legal obligations (Art. 6(1)(c))

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether those interests are outweighed by your rights and freedoms, and we believe they are not. You can object to this processing at any time (see section 10). Where we rely on consent, withdrawing it does not affect processing carried out before you withdrew it.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We share personal information only with service providers (also called processors) that help us run our business, and only to the extent they need it to provide their service to us. These include categories of providers such as:

Website hosting providers, which serve the Site and keep standard server logs;
Payment processors (for example, Stripe), which handle card payments, payment plans and refunds;
Email providers, which we use to send and receive email and newsletters;
Scheduling tools, which manage bookings and reminders;
Video-call providers (for example, Zoom or Google Meet), which host our sessions;
Cloud storage providers, which store client documents, notes and Money Briefs;
Course delivery tools, which host course videos and workbook downloads; and
Professional advisers, such as accountants and lawyers, who are bound by confidentiality duties.

We require our processors to protect personal information, to use it only on our instructions and to keep it confidential. We do not record coaching calls unless we have agreed this with you in advance.

We may also disclose personal information if we are required to by law, court order or a lawful request from a public authority; to protect the rights, safety or property of Brief Owler, our clients or others; or in connection with a sale, merger or reorganisation of our business, in which case the recipient would be bound by this policy or one offering equivalent protection, and we would tell you in advance.

We never share what you tell us in coaching with anyone else, including a partner or family member, without your permission. In Couples Money Alignment, information shared in joint sessions is shared with both participants, and anything you tell us privately stays private unless you agree otherwise.

8. International data transfers

We serve clients worldwide, and some of our service providers store or process data in countries other than the one you live in, including the United States. These countries may not have data protection laws equivalent to those in your country.

When we transfer personal data from the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom to a country that has not been found to provide adequate protection, we use appropriate safeguards. These are usually the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and, for UK data, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum. Where a provider is certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework (and its UK extension), we may rely on that certification instead. You can ask us for more information about the safeguards we use by emailing [email protected].

9. How long we keep your information

We keep personal information only for as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy, including any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. Our standard retention periods are:

Type of information	How long we keep it
Contact and booking form inquiries that do not lead to a purchase	24 months from our last contact with you
Client records, purchase records, invoices and payment information	7 years from the end of the relevant tax year, for tax and accounting purposes
Coaching notes, Money Briefs and client documents	For the duration of our work together and up to 7 years afterwards, unless you ask us to delete them sooner and we have no legal reason to keep them
Newsletter subscription	Until you unsubscribe; afterwards we keep only a suppression record so we do not email you again
Course access records	For as long as your lifetime access lasts, plus the period needed for accounting records
Server logs	Usually no longer than 90 days, unless needed to investigate a security issue
Consent banner choice (`bo-consent`)	Stored on your device until you clear it; see our Cookie Policy
First name for thank-you page (`bo-name`)	Stored on your device until the browser tab is closed

When we no longer need personal information, we delete it or anonymise it securely.

If you are in the EEA or the UK, you have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy;
Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data;
Erasure of your data in certain circumstances (sometimes called the "right to be forgotten");
Restriction of processing in certain circumstances;
Data portability, meaning you can receive data you gave us in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, or ask us to transfer it to someone else;
Object to processing based on our legitimate interests, and to object at any time to direct marketing;
Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent; and
Not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that significantly affect you (we do not make such decisions).

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the country where you live, work or where you believe an infringement took place. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). In the EU, you can find your national authority through the European Data Protection Board. You can read more about your rights at gdpr.eu. We would appreciate the chance to address your concern first, so please consider contacting us before you complain.

11. Your rights under US state privacy laws

Several US states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Oregon and others, give residents rights over their personal information. Some of these laws apply only to businesses above certain size thresholds, but we choose to honour the rights below for all US residents.

Categories of personal information we collect

In the last 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information, as described in the CCPA/CPRA:

Identifiers, such as name, email address, phone number and IP address;
Customer records, such as billing country and limited payment details (card brand and last four digits) received from our payment processor;
Commercial information, such as products and services purchased and payment plan status;
Internet or other electronic network activity, limited to standard server log data;
Sensitive personal information, limited to financial information you choose to share in coaching (such as debts and spending categories) and, where you choose to share it, health-related information. We use this only to provide the services you request and not to infer characteristics about you; and
Inferences that we draw only within coaching (for example, noting a spending pattern for discussion with you), which we do not use for any other purpose.

We collect this information from you directly, from your device when you visit the Site, and from our payment processor. We use it for the business purposes described in section 5 and disclose it only to the categories of service providers described in section 7. Our retention periods are set out in section 9.

No sale or sharing

We do not sell personal information and we do not "share" it for cross-context behavioral advertising, as those terms are defined in the CCPA/CPRA. We have not done so in the last 12 months. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.

Your rights

Subject to certain exceptions, you have the right to:

Know what personal information we have collected about you, the sources, the purposes and the categories of recipients;
Access a copy of the specific pieces of personal information we hold about you;
Delete personal information we collected from you;
Correct inaccurate personal information;
Opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information and of targeted advertising (although we do neither);
Limit the use of sensitive personal information (we already use it only as permitted for providing the services you request); and
Appeal our decision if we decline your request. To appeal, reply to our decision email with "Appeal" in the subject line. If you are not satisfied with the result of your appeal, you may contact your state Attorney General.

Non-discrimination

We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your privacy rights. We will not deny you services, charge you different prices or give you a different level of quality because you made a privacy request.

Authorized agents

You may use an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We will ask the agent for written, signed permission from you, and we may ask you to verify your identity directly with us, unless the agent holds a valid power of attorney.

California residents can find more information about their rights from the California Attorney General.

12. How to exercise your rights

To make any privacy request, email [email protected] and tell us what you would like us to do. Please use the email address you used with us, if possible.

Verification. To protect your information, we will verify your identity before acting on your request, usually by confirming that you control the email address linked to your records. We may ask for a little more information if needed, but we will not ask for more than is necessary.
Timing. We will respond within one month under the GDPR and UK GDPR, or within 45 days under US state laws. We may extend these periods where the law allows, for example for complex requests, and we will tell you if we do.
Cost. Requests are free. We may charge a reasonable fee or decline a request only where the law allows, for example if it is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
Exceptions. Sometimes we must keep certain information, for example invoices we need for tax records. If so, we will explain why.

You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link in any newsletter email, without contacting us.

13. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control

Some browsers send a "Do Not Track" (DNT) signal. Because there is no common industry standard for DNT, many sites ignore it. In practice, our Site does not track you across other websites, so there is nothing for a DNT signal to switch off.

We also honour Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals. If your browser sends a GPC signal, we treat it as a valid request to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, and, if analytics are ever introduced on the Site, as a refusal of any non-essential storage unless you actively opt in. Because we do not sell or share personal information, honouring GPC does not change your experience of the Site.

14. How we protect your information

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against loss, misuse and unauthorised access, including:

encrypted connections (HTTPS) across the Site;
a static website with no database and no visitor accounts on the Site itself, which reduces the opportunity for attack;
payment card details handled only by a PCI DSS-compliant payment processor;
multi-factor authentication and strong, unique passwords on the business accounts that hold client data;
limiting access to client information to the people who need it to deliver our services;
choosing reputable service providers with documented security practices; and
keeping software and devices up to date.

No system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. If a data breach occurs that is likely to put your rights at risk, we will notify you and the relevant authorities as required by law.

15. Children's privacy

Our Site and services are intended for adults and are not directed to anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has given us personal information, please contact [email protected] and we will delete it.

16. Links to other websites

Our Site and blog articles sometimes link to authoritative external sources, such as government consumer finance websites. When you follow those links, you leave our Site, and the other website's privacy policy applies. We are not responsible for how other websites handle personal information.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time, for example if we add a new service provider, change how the Site works or enable consent-based analytics. When we do, we will change the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. If the changes are significant, we will also let clients and newsletter subscribers know by email before the changes take effect. We encourage you to review this page from time to time.

18. Contact us

If you have any questions, concerns or requests about this Privacy Policy or your personal information, please email [email protected]. For anything else, you can reach us at [email protected] or through our contact page.