Quintessence Counselling Privacy Policy v1.0 (all clients will recieve a copy of this)

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I am registered with the ICO (Information Commissioners Office) which means I am required to tell you what data I am collecting from you as a client and what I intend to do with it under the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which is in affect from May 25th 2018. Further below is the Third Party/Internet Privacy Policy which outlines any third party services that I use and their individual terms which you as a user of these services are obliged to understand.

 

I reserve the right to modify this privacy policy at any time, so please review it frequently. Changes and clarifications will take effect immediately upon their posting on this website.

 

What data do I keep and why do I need it?

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1) Registration Form (paper) which includes the following:

a) Name and age: this is basic information that helps me get to know you.

b) Address, email address, phone number: I use this as a way of contacting you regarding your sessions and ask for your preferred contact method.

c) Where you saw my advertisement: Marketing information for my own business records

d) Medical information: Only relevant medical information needed for counselling (ie mobility, any diagnoses, medication) if needed to know in any emergency whilst in session.

e) Doctors details: If I was worried that you were at risk then I may need to contact your doctor. This will always be discussed beforehand for your consent, unless in an emergency.

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2) Clinical Notes (paper): brief notes (assigned to a coded ID) are taken to assist with my supervision sessions and for insurance purposes. These notes may contain sensitive personal data.

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3) Unique ID code (Paper): to anonymise your notes (which is kept separate to your notes and contact information)

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4) Privacy policy/consent form (paper): This document signed by you the client to give me permission to collect and store the information within this document for insurance purposes and under the rules of the ICO and GDPR.

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5) Your email and phone number may be stored on my password protected mobile phone in order for me to contact you regarding sessions for the duration of our work together.

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6) Any relevant information from our email or text message exchanges are recorded onto your notes.

 

Will I share your data and if I do who will I share it with and for what purpose?

It is highly unlikely I will share your data. I will not sell it on or use it for unethical reasons. However, I may have to share it if:

• My notes are subpoenaed by court

• If I feel that you or someone else is in immediate danger, I am required by law to inform the necessary authority without seeking your permission in an emergency. In such a situation, the law may require that I share your personal information without your knowledge. However, at any other time I would seek your initial consent first.

• I have also appointed a Clinical Executor. In the unfortunate event I can no longer work with you they will have access to your details and will get in touch with you

 

How do I store your data?

All data I keep on paper is stored in separate locked filing cabinets so that your notes remain unidentifiable. Your notes are kept separate from your registration form and Unique ID code.

Your phone number/email that may be kept in my business mobile phone and my email applications, which is passcode protected.

 

Data Retention and disposal

Your paper data: session notes, registration form and unique ID code are kept (separately) for 7 years. This is the legal requirement passed down to me by my insurance company. After this time, they will be shredded.

I will delete your phone number/email from of my mobile phone/computer 1 month after our work finishes.

All text messages/email communication exchanges will be deleted as soon as they are no longer needed and at least within 1 month of us finishing working together.  

 

Your Rights

Under GDPR you are entitled to the:

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Right to be informed

Which is the purpose of this privacy statement.

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Right to Access and update records

You have the right to ask for a copy of your personal information, free of charge for the initial request and to receive this within 30 days from request. You also have the right to ask me to amend or change any incorrect information about you.

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Right to be forgotten and restrict processing

You have the right to ask me to delete any information that I hold about you, including personal information that is no longer necessary – for example when our therapeutic relationship has ended or if you wish to withdraw consent. Please note that it is not an absolute right to be forgotten if I am legally obliged to keep any records requested by my insurance company.

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Data Portability

You have the right to receive your personal information as previously provided, and to transfer this information to another party.

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Right to object

You have a right to withdraw consent from me.

 

Please contact Kat Quinn, the data controller/processor for Quintessence Counselling via email if you would like to exercise your rights listed above.

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If you are not happy with the way I use your data you can complain to the ICO at or call 0303 123 1113.

 

Consent

If you do not consent to me using your data in this way, it is unlikely that I will be able to work with you for legal reasons.

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Quintessence Counselling Third Party Apps & Internet Privacy Policy v1.0

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As we are using the internet more for communications these days, GDPR (data protection) requires me to tell you what happens to your information in more detail when using an internet service from a third party. Below are the services in which I currently use and that you may come in contact with.

 

General Enquiries (non-clients)

Enquires that are made to me via any of these services that do not result in you becoming a client (or someone that you have enquired on behalf of), will not be stored like client data above (see Quintessence Privacy Policy). Any communications will be deleted within 30 days and removed from trash.

 

Deleting Browser History and Cookies

You may be in a situation where you do not want anyone who has access to your computer to know that you are looking for a counselling service and so this may be particularly important for your safety to know how to erase your internet search history and cookies from any websites that you have visited whilst looking for a counsellor. Information can be found here on how to do this. Please note that I am not liable for any potential issues this may cause to any of your devices from this third party website.

 

Email

If you as a client contact me via email, any necessary correspondence information may be recorded onto your session notes. You will either email my quintessencecounselling.co.uk email provided by Names.co.uk (privacy policy) - The ‘personal data managed by our clients” section is initially relevant to you); or my Hotmail account (Microsoft privacy policy)

 

Website

This website is hosted on the Wix.com platform. Wix.com provides us with the online platform that allows me to advertise my services to you. Your data may be stored through Wix.com’s data storage, databases and the general Wix.com applications. They store your data on secure servers behind a firewall. Wix ensures their websites are covered by SSL/TLS encryption connection and HTTPS secure access. You can find their full privacy policy here (Policy number 8, 12, 13 and cookie policy are relevant to you as a “user-of-a-user” of this service).

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By submitting information via the contact form on my website, you are allowing Wix to send this information straight to my names.co.uk email account. My website uses cookies which records non identifiable information on visitors to my website to track traffic for the Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools apps and this information is used for my own purposes. My cookie policy will appear when you visit my website and disappear once accepted. Wix provides information on the cookies they use here.

 

Google analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools  

As mentioned previously, my website uses cookies which records non identifiable information on visitors to my website to track traffic for the Google Analytics and Bing Webmaster Tools apps and this information is used for my own purposes. Privacy information and how to opt out of google analytics tracking can be found here. The main Google Privacy policy can be found here. Bing Webmaster Tools is part of the Microsoft family and their Privacy Policy can also be found here.

 

Social media

I do not knowingly communicate with clients through social media. I have profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn and use it for advertising purposes. Links to their privacy policies are available on the individual websites contained within their terms of use and privacy policies which you adhere to when signing up and using that service.

 

I only use third party providers who acknowledge that they are fully GDPR compliant or are in the process of being fully compliant at the time of writing this privacy policy.

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