Privacy Policy

Who we are

This website address is: https://jennarutherfordcounselling.co.uk

Lawful basis

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. The 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).

What data is being collected

• Name
• Date of Birth
• Email address
• Telephone number
• Gender
• Medical history including: current medication, suicide/self-harm attempts
• General Practitioner (GP) details
• Emergency contact details
• Counselling assessment details

Use and storage of your data

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: name and contact details. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral or a parent or trusted individual may give me your details when making an inquiry on your behalf. If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within six months of initial contact. If you would like me to delete this information sooner, please let this be known via email.

While you are accessing counselling

Content of counselling sessions is considered confidential, barring a few legal exceptions. The terms of these exceptions are outlined in the counselling contract. I will keep a record of your personal details listed above to: identify you as a counselling client; contact you with information pertaining to your counselling; ensure your safety in emergencies; assess how
counselling can best work for you. These details are kept securely on a password protected device and backed-up to Google Drive under password protection. I will keep notes on each session referring only to content. No identifying information is included. Notes are coded and kept separately from personal information. They are stored on a password protected device and backed-up to Google Drive under password protection. For security reasons I do not retain text messages or emails. If there is relevant information contained in a text message or email, I will add this content to your notes and then delete the message immediately.

After counselling has ended

Once counselling has ended your session notes and personal details will be kept for six years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed.

Third party access to your data

Only in the case of emergencies or where there is a lawful requirement (see contract for details) might your information be shared with third parties. I do not intend on sharing your data for any other purpose.

Your rights

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.

You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you.

I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy, or to process any complaints you might have. Please follow the outlined protocol below to raise
a query pertaining to these rights

● Email me at enquiry@jennarutherfordcounselling.co.uk
● Put in the email header: SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST
● Provide sufficient information about yourself to allow me to identify information I hold about you
● Detail which rights you wish to exercise
● Provide contact details by which we can keep you updated on the progress of our response to your request
● I will acknowledge receipt of your request and contact you with further information after a review of your query.

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.

For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Use of website

Cookie policy

This website uses cookies and similar technologies on this site to personalise and enhance your experience while using the site. Cookies are small text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information.

We may use cookies for the following purposes:

1. Necessary cookies
   These cookies are required for you to be able to use some important features on our website, such as logging in. These cookies don’t collect any personal information.
2. Functionality cookies
   These cookies provide functionality that makes using our service more convenient and makes providing more personalised features possible. For example, they might remember your name and e-mail in forms so you don’t have to re-enter this information next time you visit.
3. Analytics cookies
   We use Google Analytics, a popular web analytics service provided by Google to look at the information collected on cookies, to measure traffic and help improve our visitor website experience.

Google has its own Privacy Policy which you can review here. If you’d like to opt-out of tracking by Google Analytics, visit the Google Analytics opt-out page.

You can also set your browser not to accept cookies should you wish to; more information can be found on this website www.aboutcookies.org

Alternatively, you can control some 3rd party cookies by using a privacy enhancement platform such as optout.aboutads.info or youronlinechoices.com. For more information about cookies, visit allaboutcookies.org.

We use personal information that you may send to us via the Contact page in order to contact you only where necessary to respond to your query. We do not store nor process any such information, and we do not pass it on to any 3rd party.

Last updated: May 2024