Privacy Policy Sandra Dowle – Psychotherapeutic Counsellor

As a qualified psychotherapeutic counsellor our client relationship is built on the ethical practice that confidentiality will always be paramount. 

I am detailing below my privacy statement that provides you with the further confidence that I am following personal data protection laws.

I have written this statement to inform you that I am committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information.

This privacy notice describes how I collect and use personal information about you during and after your relationship with me, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

This Privacy Statement does not include information relating to the retention of data on limited companies as such data is not incorporated within the provisions of GDPR.

This Privacy Notice also applies to my website; sandradowlecounselling.co.uk

We may update this notice at any time.

It is important that you read this notice, together with any other privacy notice Sandra Dowle Counselling may provide on specific occasions when collecting or processing personal information about you, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information.

Data Protection Principles

We will comply with data protection laws including GDPR. This says that the personal information we hold about you must be:

• Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
• Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
• Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
• Accurate and kept up to date.
• Kept only if necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
• Kept securely.

The Kind of Information we hold about Clients

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

There are “special categories” of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection.

We will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about our clients.

• Personal contact details such as name, title, addresses, telephone numbers, and personal email addresses

We may collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about clients following some coaching or training interventions.

• Marital status and dependants.
• Location of employment or workplace.
• Date of birth
• Next of kin details.
• Gender

We will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about business clients.

• Information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and political opinions.
• Trade union membership.
• Information about your health, medical conditions, or disabilities.
• Billing information

Why We Hold Information on Clients

It is necessary for us to retain data on clients in order for us to fulfil our contractual obligations and hold data for legitimate business needs.

We will only retain data which we reasonably require and for a period which is reasonably necessary.

We will not disclose your data to the third parties unless you have consented for us to do so or we are otherwise required to do either contractually or under another law or enactment.

How I collect personal information

We collect personal information about clients directly from themselves when they contact me via telephone, email, social media or through our website

We reserve the right to change the systems in which data is stored without notification to another equivalent system but at all times I will ensure the appropriate security of your data and GDPR compliance.

How we will use your information

We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

• Where we need to perform the contract we have entered into with you.
• Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.
• Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

We may also use your personal information in the following situations, which are likely to be rare:

• Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests).
• Where it is needed in the public interest (or for official purposes)

Situations in which we will use your personal information

We need all the categories of information in the list above primarily to allow us to perform our contract with you and to enable us to comply with legal obligations. In some cases we may use your personal information to pursue legitimate interests of our own or those of third parties, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

Change of Purpose

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

THE KIND OF INFORMATION WE HOLD ABOUT INDIVIDUALS OTHER THAN CLIENTS AND HOW THIS DATA IS USED

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

During our day to day business we acquire information regarding individuals other than our clients and we will retain this data where we have a legitimate business reason to do so.

Typically, we acquire personal data on individuals, third parties and suppliers other than our clients in the following circumstances:

• Where we have met individuals, third parties and suppliers at networking or other events;
• Where individuals, third parties or suppliers have made enquiries with us regarding possible services but have not subsequently become clients of my business;
• Where we have dealt with individuals, third parties or suppliers in the capacity as suppliers of goods or services to us;
• Where we have regular business-related dealings with you.

Why might we share your personal information with third parties?

We will share your personal information with third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.

Data Security

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data retention

How long will I use your information for?

We will only retain your personal information for & years to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, requirements.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.

In respect of client data, you can expect us to hold data relating to your instructions for a period of seven years after completion of the last session. The reason for this is that the Limitation Act 1980 typically provides that legal proceedings for breach of contract or negligence can be brought up to six years after the events. We therefore have a legitimate business interest in retaining the data should any subsequent legal proceedings ensue.

RIGHTS OF ACCESS, CORRECTION, ERASURE, AND RESTRICTION

Your duty to inform me of changes

It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during your working relationship with us.

Your rights in connection with personal information

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
• Request correction of the personal information that I hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
• Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for me continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask me to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
• Object to processing of your personal information where I am relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where I am processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
• Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask me to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want me to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
• Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

Further information can be obtained from :

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Cookies Policy

My website does not uses cookies as part of the user website experience. [Cookies are small files saved to the user’s computer’s hard drive that track, save and store information about the user’s interactions and usage of the website]. www.sandradowlecounselling.co.uk is transparent and free of any data tracking including Google Analytics.  Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee that your user experience will be totally free from Cookies, data tracking or data analytics if you found the website via a third-party website or search engine.

Other cookies may be stored to your computer’s hard drive by external vendors if the website uses referral programs, sponsored links or adverts. Such cookies are used for conversion and referral tracking and typically expire after 30 days, though some may take longer. No personal information is stored, saved or collected.

Changes to this privacy notice

We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we will provide a new privacy notice when I make any substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal information.