Last updated 24th March 2020
At Slimming World, we’re committed to safely, securely and responsibly protecting the data we hold. Our Privacy Promise below explains in detail our commitment to confidentiality, including how we use member information, who we share it with, how long we keep it for, how we keep it safe and how members can request the information we hold about them.
If anything is unclear or you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Data Protection Officer.
Following the decision to temporarily close all of our Slimming World groups in light of the current crisis, we are doing everything we can to help our Consultants to continue to provide a service for our members using alternative methods.
We know many of you will be worried and upset and we want to reassure you that you remain our top priority – and that includes, as far as we are able to, maintaining the conditions set out in our standard Privacy Policy, which you can find below.
We continue to be committed to safely, securely and responsibly protecting and using the data and member information we hold. We will only use your information in an appropriate way in order to provide our services, and it is important we make you aware – as best we can – how these alternative methods could impact that use.
The service provided may include all or some of these elements:
Virtual groups run by your Consultant via Zoom (your Consultant will introduce you to this and explain how it works).
Facebook Live events on your closed Facebook groups.
One-to-one support by telephone (if that is what you’d like to do), keeping us updated with a record of your weight losses.
These services are meant for Slimming World members only. However, as we are working with third parties such as Facebook Live and Zoom, there are some elements that we cannot claim responsibility for. For example, with Zoom we are unable to restrict access if someone else has the Zoom link, so to protect yourself and your fellow members it is important you do not forward the link or share this with non-members.
There are a few important points we would like to emphasise:
Please respect the privacy of other members and don’t record, take screenshots or post on social media anything that occurs in a virtual group or Facebook Live event.
Virtual groups will not be recorded by Consultants.
If you choose to share personal information during a virtual group on Zoom or through a Facebook Live event, please be aware that we cannot control how other members in that group use your information.
We encourage you to review the privacy policies of Zoom and Facebook if you have any concerns:
If anything is unclear or you have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact our Data Protection Officer by email at: dpa.officer@slimmingworld.co.uk
We take your privacy very seriously and so should you. So please read this Privacy Promise to understand how we handle your personal information and how we keep that information secure.
Whether you’re an online member or a member of one of our groups, or you’re visiting our website for the first time, we want you to know that your personal information is important to us and we value the trust and faith you put into Slimming World to deliver the best service and support to help you succeed with your weight loss.
We want to help you get the most from Slimming World and we use your personal information to provide you with the services most relevant to you.
At Slimming World, we’re committed to maintaining confidentiality and protecting your privacy, and this Privacy Promise explains why we need your personal information, what we do with that personal information, and how we ensure it’s kept safe and secure.
We explain the ways in which your personal data is used if you’re:
Slimming World is the trading name of Miles-Bramwell Executive Services Limited. Company number 01242071.
Registered office: Clover Nook Road, Somercotes, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 4SW.
There are a number of Slimming World group companies, however, this is the company you should contact if you have queries. It’s this company that is primarily responsible for making sure your personal information is kept appropriately, safely and securely.
As a business, Slimming World has responsibilities for looking after your personal information. All our employed staff with access to your personal information are trained and aware of their responsibilities for the safe processing of your personal information.
Slimming World Consultants are authorised to run our groups and they operate as self-employed franchisees under licence from Slimming World. You’re a Slimming World member of your Consultant’s group and they’re responsible for collecting and processing your personal information and any data needed to provide you with their services.
Slimming World as a business and your Consultant have responsibilities for looking after your personal information. All our Consultants are trained and aware of their responsibilities for the safe processing of your personal information.
For the purposes of this Privacy Promise, ‘Slimming World’ refers to Slimming World as a business and our self-employed Consultants.
When you join as a member either at one of our groups or online, we need some personal information to manage your membership and to ensure our weight loss services are effective and suitable for you. This information can include:
You can only become a member if it’s appropriate and safe to do so, and we fully understand that this information is personal and needs to be kept secure and private.
If you participate in, access or sign up to any of Slimming World’s services, activities or online content, such as newsletters, competitions, live chats, message boards, web and mobile notifications, or telephone or text Slimming World, or create an account using our online registration system, we may receive personal information about you. This can consist of information such as your name, email address, postal address, telephone or mobile number, gender or date of birth, as well as information collected about your use of Slimming World services (such as what you read or watch on the Slimming World website).
If you’ve joined your Slimming World group as part of a Slimming World on Referral scheme, we may also require additional information related to your membership, which the referring organisations use for statistical purposes.
Where we provide personalised services we may ask your permission to review third-party data about you, for example, your Twitter or Facebook feeds, to get to know you better and to provide more effective personalisation. Some of our services enable you to sign in via a third-party service, such as Facebook. If you choose to sign in via a third-party app, you will be presented with a dialog box which will ask your permission to allow Slimming World to access your personal information (eg your full name, date of birth, email address and any other information you have made publicly accessible). Please note that any information that is not required by the particular service you have opted to use will not be retained by Slimming World.
Slimming World collects information about how you use Slimming World apps, Slimming World websites or other Slimming World content online, and the device(s) you use to access the services. This includes collecting unique online identifiers such as IP addresses (numbers that can uniquely identify a specific computer or other network device on the internet). Occasionally we may record your on-screen activity to help develop and improve our members’ digital experience. Any data we collect in this way is completely anonymous. For details of how to opt out of our screen recordings visit https://www.hotjar.com/legal/compliance/opt-out
For details of the cookies we use on the Slimming World websites and apps, including screen recordings, see our full Cookies Policy.
Slimming World has a telephone system that is capable of recording conversations. Incoming and outgoing telephone calls may be recorded for the legitimate interests of quality monitoring and training purposes. This may include calls involving business mobile devices. The voice recording system will be operated with due regard for the privacy of individual employees and callers to Slimming World.
All employees working in areas where call recording is activated are aware of its use. Employees can disable call recording and are trained and aware of the process required. If no pre-recorded message is available, employees must inform the caller that their call is being recorded.
If a caller objects or requests the call is not recorded, then the recording feature must be disabled and confirmed to the caller.
When handling telephone enquiries involving card payment details, employees must disable the call recording function before requesting such details.
All recordings are retained by Slimming World for a maximum period of three months and are not shared with any third parties or used in any way for marketing or promotional activities.
Sometimes we will ask you for additional personal information, and sometimes sensitive personal information (eg if you’ve entered a competition or sent in your story to be used in our magazine or for publicity). When we do this we only use the personal information with your explicit consent, and we will provide further information at the time about why we’re collecting your information and how we’ll use it.
Our online membership services are only suitable for adults aged 18 years and over.
For our group services, we recognise that children need particular protection when we collect and process their personal data, as they may be less aware of the risks involved.
Any child aged between 11 and 15 and registering as a Free2go member can only do so with their parent’s or guardian’s written consent. We will show the child and their parent or guardian our Privacy Promise Summary and ensure they understand this before signing our membership agreement.
Young adults aged 16 to 17 do not need their parent’s or guardian’s consent to join. In terms of privacy and data protection they will be treated in the same way as any other standard member and shown the Privacy Promise Summary before they join. However, we will ensure they understand how their personal data will be used and give them the opportunity to ask questions if there’s anything they don’t understand.
We will ask you to sign a Member Consent Form outlining:
We promise that we will not publish information that:
We will store your information in relation to your story as follows:
If you have any concerns about what you are agreeing to, please discuss this with a member of the Slimming World Head Office team dealing with your story.
If you have any concerns about the use of your data, contact the Data Protection Officer.
Slimming World (and for group members your Consultant) will use your personal information for a number of purposes including the following:
Where Slimming World proposes using your personal information for any other uses, we will ensure that we notify you first and, if necessary, seek your consent.
If you’ve registered for a Slimming World online account, all your information is stored in a single database for use by all of our web services.
Where you provide personal data, including health information, through Slimming World Online or LifelineOnline, we may use this information to provide you with tailored features and functionality.
When you post in our online community we may use or reproduce the content. For details of how we would use this community content, see our Terms Of Use.
If you decide to transfer from a Slimming World group membership to Slimming World Online, there are some important things to remember:
We may use carefully selected third parties to help improve the quality of our online offering, and to help us shape the creation of new services by storing, tracking and analysing user preferences and trends and to ensure that your use of our online products and services is right for you.
At all times Slimming World is the owner of the information collected through our online products and services.
We work with two payment gateways – MasterCard and Adyen – for our online payments. Details such as credit/debit card numbers are not stored by us.
As someone who has registered for a Slimming World Online or LifelineOnline account, on occasion Slimming World may invite you to take part in research studies. Your participation is entirely voluntary and you’ll always be asked for your consent before taking part.
When you visit slimmingworld.co.uk or use our website to log in to Slimming World Online or LifelineOnline, we use cookies to store a little bit of information about you while you’re using the website or, in some instances, to make your next visit even easier for you. You’ll find more details in our full Cookies Policy.
Slimming World may contact you about any service, activity or online content you’ve signed up for, to ensure we can deliver our services, eg to verify your email when you sign up for an online account, or to help you reset your password.
If you’re a group member, your Consultant may contact you about any service they provide, or to tell you about changes to their group time or date, for example. If you don’t attend their group regularly they may send you reminder emails of their services while your details remain on our database as a member (see the section, ‘How long will Slimming World keep my information?’).
We may also contact you for the following reasons:
We will never contact you to ask for your Slimming World account password, or other login information. Please be cautious if you receive emails or calls from people asking for this information and claiming to be from Slimming World.
If you've joined your Slimming World group as part of a Slimming World on Referral scheme, we may also have additional obligations to contact you as required by the referring organisation. This will normally be at specific intervals after your membership has commenced, for example at six or 12 months after you start your membership, and will be a part of the terms and conditions of the referring organisation. These additional obligations will have been explained to you by the referring organisation or by Slimming World, depending upon the joining process.
Slimming World will only send you marketing emails or contact you where you’ve agreed to this. We do not sell or share your personal information for marketing or promotion of any third-party products.
When you join one of our groups your Consultant will only send you emails about the services they provide. If you don’t attend their group regularly they may send you reminder emails while your details remain on our database as a member (see the section ‘How long will Slimming World keep my information?’).
When you become a member of Slimming World your email address is added to our database and we may use your email to contact you directly about our services, products or information that we believe might interest you. If your membership lapses we may send you reminder emails of our services while your details remain on our database as a member (see the section ‘How long will Slimming World keep my information?’).
When you sign up for our marketing emails via our website or apps, we add your email address to our database and may use your email address to contact you directly about services, products or information we believe might interest you. We may use a third-party marketing service to send marketing emails on behalf of Slimming World, and you can easily opt out of receiving further marketing emails from Slimming World by emailing our online support team or by simply clicking the link to unsubscribe at the bottom of any marketing emails.
If you have one of our apps on your mobile device, we may also notify you regarding services, products or information we believe might interest you through push notifications or alerts to your mobile device. You can deactivate these messages at any time by changing the notification settings on your mobile device.
Transactional emails (eg receipts, notifications about your membership) will continue to be delivered to you during your active Slimming World membership, regardless of whether you’ve opted into receiving marketing and support emails.
The success of the Slimming World business depends upon your trust and we do not sell or share your personal information for marketing or promotion of third-party products.
If you’re a group member, your personal information is shared between your Consultant and Slimming World. Your information may also be shared with another Consultant taking your Slimming World group, for example if your Consultant goes on holiday, or is off sick, or unable to take your group for any reason. Your information is only shared with another Consultant for the same purpose – to provide you with the Slimming World service.
Where we want to use your personal information for Slimming World publicity or marketing, we will only do so with your explicit consent, including where this involves the sharing of personal information with a third party.
If you joined your Slimming World group as part of a Slimming World on Referral scheme, we have to share your information with the referring organisation as part of our duties under the referral scheme.
Sometimes Slimming World uses third parties to process your information on our behalf, for example to provide our online services or for analysis. Slimming World requires these third parties to comply strictly with its instructions and we demand that they do not use your personal information for their own business purposes, unless you have explicitly consented to the use of your personal information in this way.
As part of our research we may work in partnership with other research bodies such as universities. Wherever possible we ensure personal information is anonymised. Where the sharing of personal information is necessary for that research, we ensure the security and confidentiality of your data in accordance with this Privacy Promise.
If you post or send content which may reasonably be deemed offensive, inappropriate or objectionable anywhere on Slimming World websites or social media pages, or otherwise engage in any disruptive behaviour on any Slimming World service, we may remove such content.
Where Slimming World reasonably believes that you are, or may be, in breach of any applicable laws, for example on hate speech, Slimming World may disclose your personal information to relevant third parties, including to law enforcement agencies or your internet provider. Slimming World would only do so in circumstances where such disclosure is permitted under applicable laws, including data protection law.
Our online membership services are only suitable for adults aged 18 years and over, so we’re unable to accept you as an online member or to access our online member services if you’re under 18.
You can join our group services as a Young Adult member from ages 16 to 17 and we do not require your parent’s or guardian’s consent. In terms of privacy and data protection you will be treated in the same way as any other standard member and shown the Privacy Promise Summary before you join. However, we’ll ensure you understand how your personal data will be used and give you the opportunity to ask questions if there are any points you don’t understand.
For our group services we recognise that children need particular protection when we collect and process their personal data because they may be less aware of the risks involved. Any child aged between 11 and 15 years of age and registering as a Free2go member can only do so with their parent’s or guardian’s written consent. We will show the child member and their parent or guardian our Privacy Promise Summary and ensure they understand this before signing our membership agreement.
We will only hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for the relevant service you’ve signed up for.
As a member, the personal information you give us will be kept for a maximum period of 36 months after your last attendance in group or last online activity as an online member. During this period your details are retained as a lapsed member in case you want to reactivate your membership. We know from our experience that many members want to reactivate their membership and retain their previous weight loss journey. We may contact you about the service you’ve signed up for during this period. If you’re a group member, your Consultant may contact you about the service you’ve signed up for during this period.
In addition, some personal information is held for longer:
Where we obtain your consent to use your personal information for publicity or promotional purposes, including:
we will retain that information until such time as you withdraw your consent, or the information is no longer suitable for the intended purpose. We will review the personal information held for publicity or promotional on at least an annual basis to identify what is no longer suitable for this purpose so it can be deleted.
We follow strict security procedures in the processing and disclosure of information which you have given us, to prevent unauthorised access and as required by data protection legislation.
At Slimming World, we understand the value of security and have implemented security policies, rules and robust physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the personal information we have under our control from unauthorised access, improper use and disclosure, unauthorised destruction or accidental loss.
The personal information and data held on laptops and other equipment used in group is protected from unauthorised access. All data electronically transferred is encrypted and sent by secure methods.
Wherever we use a carefully selected third party to help provide our services, we will always ensure your personal information is processed to the same strict security procedures as indicated in this policy.
Personal information and data stored at Slimming World Head Office is held on secure servers.
All personal information in relation to our digital platforms is stored on secure servers within the UK or EEA. If we use your success story for the magazine or publicity we may transfer data outside the EEA (see the ‘What if my success story is selected for the magazine or publicity?’ section for more details)
Slimming World operates internationally through a group of companies. These companies are all responsible for the personal information which they collect, and which is processed on their behalf by Slimming World.
Where the personal information of a data subject from the European Economic Area is controlled and processed by Slimming World companies in the UK, appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure the rights and privileges of the data subject are protected.
All Slimming World companies and Franchisee Consultants are committed to your privacy and to make sure your personal information is secure, and we strictly enforce privacy safeguards within all our companies.
We recognise you always have a choice, and that you have chosen Slimming World is special and important to us. You can decide how you use our services and what information you provide to us.
If you stop attending group or subscribing to our online service (ie you cease to be an active member), we still retain your personal information in accordance with our retention policy (see the section: ‘How long will Slimming World keep my information?’).
However, we will consider requests to delete data, unless we have a legal right or obligation to retain your information. For example, we may retain information about your customer identity, such as name and payment history, to help us manage any financial queries that you might raise with us in the future. Furthermore, we may retain personal information for scientific research, or an anonymised version of your personal information. Any use of this personal information would only continue as permitted under this policy.
If you ask us to delete your personal information while you’re an active member, this may result in you no longer being able to continue as a member of Slimming World.
If you’d like us to cancel your membership, delete your personal information, or if you don’t want us to share any information we hold about you with third parties, contact:
Under the data protection legislation you have the right to request a copy of the personal information Slimming World (including your Consultant) holds about you and to have any inaccuracies corrected.
Please contact us if:
We may require you to confirm your identity with two forms of approved identification such as:
You have the right to see whatever information we hold about you. Please send your request to the Data Protection Officer (contact details below) and we will respond to your request promptly and always within 30 days.
We will use reasonable efforts consistent with our legal duty to supply, correct or delete personal information we hold about you.
Please address any requests and questions about this Privacy Promise to:
Email: dpa.officer@slimmingworld.co.uk
In writing to:
Attn. of John Pusey
Data Protection Officer
Slimming World
Clover Nook Road
Somercotes
Alfreton
Derbyshire
DE55 4SW
Slimming World websites in the UK are published by Slimming World as slimmingworld.co.uk. You can access slimmingworld.co.uk from outside of the UK by searching for this domain name.
Cookies help us remember you and show you content we think you’ll like.
Our Cookies Policy covers Slimming World’s use of any personal information we collect from you via the following online services:
This policy explains:
When you visit slimmingworld.co.uk or use our website to log in to LifelineOnline or Slimming World Online, we use cookies to store a little bit of information about you while you’re using the website, or, in some instances, to make your next visit even easier for you.
Here are a few examples of how we use cookies:
When you download or use Slimming World apps on your mobile device, information may be accessed from or stored to your device.
This information is used in a similar way to a web browser cookie, such as enabling the app to store a little bit of information about you while you’re using the app, or, in some instances, to make your next visit even easier for you.
Your web browser or device may also provide Slimming World with information about your device, such as a device identifier or IP address. Device identifiers may be collected automatically, such as the device ID, IP address, MAC address, IMEI number and app ID (a unique identifier relating to the particular version of the app you’re running).
When you sign in to a Slimming World app, your sign-in details may be stored securely on the device so you can access other Slimming World apps on the same device without needing to enter your sign-in details again.
If you have any concerns about the information which might be accessed from or stored on your device by Slimming World, you should consider only accessing our content through a web browser on your PC or laptop, and review your web browser settings (see our Cookies Policy).
If you express an interest in becoming a Slimming World Consultant we collect your personal information to assess your application, and to use during your interview if you’re invited to one. We won’t use it for any other purposes without your consent. We may also review personal information from your Slimming World member record.
When using the online recruitment application system we may use cookies. For more information, see our Cookies Policy.
Your personal information will be shared with the local Slimming World manager and employees assisting with the recruitment process. Some information will also be shared with the local Team Developer as part of their responsibilities in the recruitment process.
We do not share your personal information with third-party companies.
Slimming World will take reasonable steps to ensure that we retain your personal data only for so long as is necessary for the recruitment process for which it was collected, or as required under any contract or by applicable law.
Slimming World may update this Privacy Promise from time to time, so you may wish to check it each time you log on to our website or submit personal information to Slimming World.
We will include the date of any changes or updates on this page.
If you do not agree to any of the changes or updates, please don’t continue to use Slimming World websites or to submit personal information to Slimming World. You should contact the Data Protection Officer to discuss your concerns.
If important changes are made to the Privacy Promise, for instance affecting how we’d like to use your personal information, we will provide a more prominent notice (including, for some services, email notification of Privacy Promise changes).If you're a Slimming World member (group or online), we will notify you of any important changes or updates via your Consultant or by email.
If you’re worried that any information we may hold about you is incorrect, then please let Slimming World or your Consultant know and we/they will update our records.
Please contact Slimming World’s Data Protection Officer if you:
If you’re within the UK, please address any requests and questions about this Privacy Promise to:
Email: dpa.officer@slimmingworld.co.uk
In writing to:
Attn. of John Pusey
Data Protection Officer
Slimming World
Clover Nook Road
Somercotes
Alfreton
Derbyshire
DE55 4SW
If you’re unhappy or dissatisfied with our response to any concerns you have raised about the security or use of information we hold in relation to you, you can complain to the appropriate supervisory authority. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner’s Office.