Privacy Policy
Your personal information will be kept safe, secure and will only be used for the purpose it was given to me. I adhere to the current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communication (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (https://ico.org.uk/).
This Privacy Policy tells you what I will do with your personal information from the initial point of contact, through to the counselling ending.
The term “Data Controller” is used to describe the person/organisation that collects, stores and has responsibility for people’s personal data. In this instance, the data controller is me.
My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information
The GDPR law states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. The lawful bases will be dependent on the stage at which I am processing your data. These are explained below:
If you are currently having counselling with me, or if you are in contact with me about considering counselling, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our personal agreement.
If you have had counselling with me that has ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding your personal information
How I use your information
Initial contact: When you contact me to enquire about counselling, I will collect information that will help me to address your enquiry. I will collect the following information: name, email address and a brief reason for why you are seeking counselling.
If you decide not to proceed, I will delete this information (either the email or contact form used) within 12 months of receiving it. If you would like me to delete it sooner, please let me know.
While you are accessing counselling: Everything you discuss with me in our sessions is strictly confidential. That confidentiality can only be broken in the circumstances detailed in the Counselling Agreement.
Before commencing the sessions, I will collect the following information from you: name, address, date of birth, emergency contact details, GP details, details of any medication you are taking. This is collected and held while we are working together for use in case of emergency.
I keep brief, non-identifying notes of each session. These are kept electronically in a secure, password-protected system. No paper copies of notes exist.
After counselling has ended: Once our counselling agreement has ended your records will be kept for up to 7 years from the end of our contact with each other. This is as recommended by my insurance provider. They will then be deleted. If you want your information deleted sooner, please contact me to let me know.
Third party recipients of personal data
I sometimes share personal data with third parties, for example when I have contracted with a supplier to carry out specific tasks such as automated administration processes. I carefully select which partners I work with and will only work with partners that are fully GDPR compliant. This means that they cannot use your information in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted.
Your data protection rights
You have the right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use it, or to stop processing your personal information. You also have the right to ask for a copy of any information 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 https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.
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 either via the contact form on my website or via email (emma.nixon.counselling@gmail.com).
If you have a complaint about how I handle your personal data please do get in touch with me via the contact details above. If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK (https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint).