Privacy Policy
Personal Meaning Counselling Privacy Notice
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Data Controller contact details
Name: Pamela Muir
Address: 11 Birch Road, Nairn, IV12 4SP
Telephone: 07902 332 652
Email: pamela@personalmeaning counselling.co.uk
Web address: www.personalmeaningcounselling.co.uk
ICO reference number: ZB346648
To find out more about General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and your rights, please go to https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/ or https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/
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What type of information do we collect and hold
We store Personal Information about you. Personal Information for data collection purposes includes any information that can be used to identify a living person. This includes your name, address, contact details including telephone numbers and email addresses.
Other information may be collected from written contacts made by web form. text or social media platform contacts.
I need your permission to record and use your special category personal data. If you agree, we use this information to:
• Provide therapeutic support and interventions
• Help us gather data to improve our services
• Support any research while keeping you anonymous
We will make sure your information is kept safe in a secure case management system. Special category personal data as identified by UK GDPR includes personal data about an individual’s:
• race;
• ethnic origin;
• political opinions;
• religious or philosophical beliefs;
• trade union membership;
• genetic data;
• biometric data (where this is used for identification purposes);
• health data;
• sex life; or
• sexual orientation.
Personal data can include information relating to criminal convictions and offences. This also requires a higher level of protection.
We always hold your information securely, use it lawfully and record it on the legal basis of our contractual obligations and ‘legitimate interest’. We only access it when we have a good reason, will only share what is necessary and relevant and never sell it to commercial organisations. Please see separate Appropriate Policy Document (APD) for the processing of special category and criminal offence data.
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You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by submitting a written request to the contact details above.
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How we get the information and why we do we have it
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you.
Enquiries to Personal Meaning Counselling may be received in person or by telephone, text or email. Initial enquiries usually contain some personal information such as names, emails and telephone numbers. Emails are received via: marketing on counselling directories, by using a contact form on Personal Meaning Counselling website, social media business pages or direct contact independent of these methods.
Any client data collected and/or retained by Personal Meaning Counselling (including personal information) is processed in order to make relevant contact with and provide a counselling service to clients. It is also processed in order to comply with any legal or professional body responsibilities that ensue in the delivery of counselling services.
What we do with the information
First and foremost your information will be used to provide you with therapeutic support via our counselling service. Your data is collected through verbal communication, email or written contact forms completed prior to your first counselling session which will include contracting information.
Processing notes of our interactions are used for the purpose of ongoing therapeutic support but may also be used for anonymised case studies as required by professional body membership conditions or research purposes.
If you do not consent to us keeping your data we will record your contact anonymously but will be limited in the level of therapeutic support we may be able to provide.
How we store your information
Your information is securely stored by Personal Meaning Counselling.
Personal Meaning Counselling stores paper records which including personal information in a locked filing cabinet. Case notes are recorded electronically and may include special category personal data with your prior consent. Electronic information is password protected and encrypted (including email, telephone numbers and text). Telephone numbers are anonymised, with those and any text messages being held on a password protected mobile phone.
Session processing notes are electronically held and separate from personal details. Notes are kept in an anonymised format to protect client identity.
Data is held for 6 years after client’s last contact with Personal Meaning Counselling, in line with legal and professional body requirements. After this time, data is then disposed of securely and confidentially via deletion of electronic records, and shredding of paper records.
For clients under 18, notes are kept until their 25th birthday.
Third party data collection & processing:
The Personal Meaning Counselling website is hosted by Wix. You can see their privacy policy here: About Privacy | WIX
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you. Please contact us at pamela@personalmeaningcounselling or telephone 07902 332 652 if you wish to make a request
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us using details at the top of this privacy policy.You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF. ICO Helpline number: 0303 123 1113, website: https://www.ico.org.uk
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