Privacy Notice

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 UK General Data Protection Regulation (the UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. 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.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ZCO864464).

I am happy to discuss any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can do so in our sessions or via email: contact@severinerobitailletherapy.co.uk

My lawful basis for holding and using your personal information

• If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interests 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.
• In addition to the lawful bases above, the UK GDPR sets out a special rule for the handling of 'special category personal information', such as information about your health. The condition I rely on for processing this type of information is that it is necessary for the provision of health treatment (in this case counselling).

The type of information I collect and how I use it

I collect personal information from you and it may include, but is not limited to:

• your name
• contact details such as address, telephone number, email, online meeting platforms' usernames
• contact details of your GP and/or psychiatrist
• emergency contact details
• relevant medical history
• history of counselling

While you are accessing counselling, I will keep a record of your personal details and some brief notes of each session to help the counselling services run smoothly. Notes are anonymised and kept separate from any information which could identify you.

I will not share any of this information except in the case of an emergency where I believe that not doing so would cause you or others undue harm or in the case that I am legally obliged to do so. In both cases, I will inform you.

Once counselling has ended, your records will be kept for no longer than necessary and will then be securely destroyed. Currently this period is 7 years, in line with professional insurance requirements and good practice guidelines.

In the unlikely event of my death or sudden illness which means I am unable to contact you, I have appointed a Therapeutic Executor. They are a qualified counsellor abiding by the BACP Ethical Framework, who will contact you on my behalf. They will only access your contact details to discuss appropriate onward arrangements should this necessity arise.

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. This is where your data might be found:

• on a private, password protected computer. Each individual file is also password protected.
• on Gmail and Google Calendar which is protected by a 2-factor authentication process.
• on a mobile phone, which is password protected.

No clinical material is to be shared via text, WhatsApp messaging or email.

Third party recipients of personal data

At any point we may communicate using phone calls and SMS, WhatsApp Business, FaceTime, or Google Meet. When you use these platforms to contact me or agree to communicate via them, your name, contact details, messages, and call or meeting information may be processed by the relevant platform provider to deliver the service. Each provider acts as an independent data controller and handles your data in accordance with their own privacy policies. For further information on how these providers process your data, please refer to their respective privacy policies. I do not record calls or meetings.

Your rights

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.

Upon request I will:

• give you a description of it and where it came from;
• tell you why I am holding it, how long I will store your data and how I made this decision;
• tell you who it could be disclosed to;
• let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you. To do so, please put the request in writing addressing it to contact@severinerobitailletherapy.co.uk

If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by emailing to the contact details given above. If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.