Last updated September 2022

 

Your privacy is 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. By accessing or using any of my services, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy.

 

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended. I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can contact me via email at hayley@westlondontherapist.com.

 

‘Data controller’ is the term used to describe the person/ organisation that collects and stores and has responsibility for people’s personal data. In this instance, the data controller is me. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

 

My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information

 

The GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. There are different lawful bases depending on the stage at which I am processing your data. I have explained these below:

• If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information.

• If you are currently having therapy or if you are in contact with me to consider therapy, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our contract.

 

The GDPR also makes sure that I look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me appropriately. This type of information is called ‘special category personal information’. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories of personal information is that it is for provision of health treatment (in this case counselling or psychotherapy) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between me and you).

 

How I use your information

 

Initial contact:

When you contact me with an enquiry about my services I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name and contact details. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral or a 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 6 months. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.

 

While you are accessing therapy:

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if there is an imminent safeguarding concern, if I am compelled by a court of law, or if you have told me you are ok for me to share information. I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

 

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the therapy run smoothly. These details are kept securely and are not shared with any third party. These personal details will be provided by you, and I ask for your name, pronoun, address, email, telephone number, date of birth, GP and an emergency contact. I may also keep written notes from our sessions which are again kept securely and not shared with any third party. 

 

For security reasons I do not retain text messages for more than 3 months. If there is relevant information contained in a text message I will transfer it to my written notes. For instance if you notify me of holiday dates. Likewise, email correspondence will be deleted after therapy ends. 

 

After therapy has ended:

Once therapy has ended your records will be kept for 3 years from the end of our contact and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please let me know.

 

Third party recipients of personal data

 

I sometimes share personal data with third parties, for example, where I have contracted with a supplier to carry out specific tasks such as tech services for online meetings. In such cases I have carefully selected which partners I work with so that they do not use your information in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted. 

 

Your rights

 

I try to be as open as I can in 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 it, tell you how long I will store your data and how I made this decision, tell you who it could be disclosed to and let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form. You can 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 email hayley@westlondontherapist.co.uk.

 

If you have a complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by email. 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.

 

Data security

 

I take the security of the data I hold about you seriously and as such I take steps such as a locked filing cabinet and password protection.

 

Visitors to the website

 

When someone visits my website, I use a third party service, Google Analytics, 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. This information is only processed in a way that does not identify anyone. I do not make, and do not allow Google to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting my website. I use legitimate interests as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information in this way when you visit my website.

 

I use Wix.com as the content management system and host for the website. Like most websites we use cookies to help the site work more efficiently. You have the right to opt out of these cookies using the website cookies banner. No user-specific data is collected by me or any third party. If you fill in a form on my website, that data will be temporarily stored on the web host before being sent to me.

 

Privacy Policy Updates

 

I reserve the right to update this privacy policy, so please review this page from time-to-time. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately on posting on the website. If I deem any changes to be material, I will of course let you know.

 

By accessing or using any of my services, you acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy.