Your privacy is very important to me and you can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
Privacy Notice
What data do I collect?
I may collect, use and store any information you provide through my website, client agreement, during the registration process or in any other way. would request the following data from our clients:
Personal identification information (full name, email address, date of birth and ethnicity), contact details such as( e-mail, phone number, GP name, emergency contact details and address) and how you found out about our service). It also includes information on our work together which includes brief sessions notes, therapeutic prompts, feedback (complaints and recommendations). All of this information is stored for safeguarding purposes, as well as to facilitate the therapeutic work.
How will I use your data?
When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, phone number and e-mail adress. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral or a parent or trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf. If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within 2 weeks. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.
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I process personal information shared with me to provide and operate the service and to comply with any applicable laws and regulations. In addition, I process it to consider your request for my services, signpost you to other services wherever appropriate. I may share information to your GP or other healthcare providers where appropriate and law enforcement agencies if legally required in order to satisfy my duty of care.
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When someone visits my website, I use a third party service Wix (find out about their website privacy policy here.) to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. I do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site.
I use legitimate interests as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information in this way when you visit my website.- My website uses cookies (necessary, functional and analytic) to help it work more effectively. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to the use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings in your browser. More information about cookies and their use on the internet can be found in the Microsoft Cookies guide and on the All About Cookies website. I use Google Analytics to understand how to improve the service I offer - read their privacy notice here.
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If you fill in a form on my website, that data will be temporarily stored on the web host before being sent to me.
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I communicate by phone, text, email and other digital methods.
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My client contract and agreement will tell you how information provided within sessions will be used and that it may be necessary to share it with other services and organisations. By signing a client agreement you grant me permission to process personal data which you have provided to me.
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I will not share your information with any third parties unless:
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you have consented to this
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it is required for a legitimate business purpose
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it is as part of our duty to protect yourself, a child, a vulnerable adult or the public
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I am required to do so by a court or law or relevant regulatory authority
I will keep a record of your personal details to help the counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely, hard copy documents, such as notes of each session, will be stored in a locked cabinet and digital documents will be stored on a password protected external hard drive stored in a locked cabinet.
Your email address will be stored in a dedicated business email account and your telephone number will be anonymously stored in a smartphone.
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Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for 7 years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.
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I will appoint a trusted colleague to contact you in the event of my incapacity or if I am involved in an emergency.
How do I store your data?
I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use your personal information, or to stop processing your personal information. You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to the use of your personal data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.
If I do hold information about you I will:
• give you a description of it and where it came from
• tell you why I am holding its, tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision
• tell you who it could be disclosed to
• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form. You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you.
To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to jacqueline@serenemind.org
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If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures. If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK. For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.