Contact Details
Name: Reconnect Counselling
Address: Room 3-1C, Brook Street Business Hub, 117 Brook Street, Glasgow, G40 3AP
Phone Number: 07391 677 271
E-mail: kevin@reconnect-counselling.com
Website: reconnect-counselling.com
Introduction
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 (GDPR), Data Protection Act 2018 and I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office [ZB617005]. In addition to this, as a registered member of the BACP I work in line with their Ethical Framework which places professional responsibility on the therapist to handle client data safely.
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, including:
• Why I am able to process your information and what purpose I am processing it for
• Whether you have to provide it to me
• How long I store it for
• Whether there are other recipients of your personal information
• Your data protection rights.
I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy, and you can contact me via email or What’s App.
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.
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.
Complying with 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) 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 counselling services, I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, contact number, email address and a short message that you have the option to send. If you decide not to proceed, I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within 14 working days. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, just let me know.
While you are Accessing Counselling
Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if required by a court of law or in the case of serious risk of harm to you or another person. 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 counselling service run smoothly. These details are kept securely and are not shared with any third party. Like in any business, I need to keep account records and therefore where an individual pays by bank transfer, your personal data may show in on a bank statement therefore included within my accountancy records.
After counselling has ended.
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.
Data Security
I take the security of the data I hold about you very seriously and as such I take every effort to make sure it is kept secure including the use of encrypted devices and a locked filing cabinet.
Your Rights
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.
How to Complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to me at the contact details at the top.
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how your data is used.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk