PRIVACY POLICY
Catherine Keenan, owner of AutisitcCounselling.com, is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.
This policy states what happens when you contact Catherine via the website, by email, by phone, and when you decide to enter into a counselling or therapeutic contract with Catherine.
Please read carefully and ask any questions on our first session or via email.
Our website is pretty straightforward and the only place data from you will be collected is through the contact form – which is SSL protected so fully encrypted, as is the rest of our website.
If you do decide to come to therapy or supervision with Catherine, then your personal data will be held in the form of a Contact Details form attached to our contract, as an agreement of the terms and conditions of the therapeutic or counselling relationship.
This policy, therefore sets out the basis on which any personal data I collect from you, or that you provide to me, will be processed by me.
Please read the following carefully to understand my views and practices regarding your personal data and how I will treat it. By visiting www.AutisticCounselling.com you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.
For the purpose of data protection laws the data controller is Catherine Keenan (address available on request).
Full details of data protection laws, rights responsibilities and procedures are available from ICO – Information Commissioner’s Office – at https://ico.org.uk/
Secure Storage
Your details will be stored and kept securely and confidentially in a safe and secure filing system – your form may be scanned into a password protected document and deleted once our therapeutic or supervisory relationship has ended. Printed off forms will be shredded and discarded. The documents are kept in a password protected laptop that is only used by Catherine Keenan.
Information I may collect from you
I may collect and process the following data about you:
- Information provided by you.
- You may provide information about yourself by filling in forms on this website or by corresponding with me by phone or email, and other.
- This includes information you provide if you subscribe to or comment on a post on my Thoughts page or send a message through my contact form, and when you report a problem with my site.
- The information you provide may include but not limited to your name, address, e-mail address and phone number.
Information I collect about you.
- NOTE: My website is hosted by clearcreation.co.uk, and they have informed me that my website won’t collect any personal data from you. The data inputted into my contact form, is transmitted securely to us. Your IP address can be visible to the hosting company for security reasons, but other technical user data is aggregated and you’re not personally identifiable from this information. Nevertheless, in their privacy policy, they state that they may collect technical and other information about your visit to our website – see their Privacy policy.
Uses made of the information
I use information held about you in the following ways:
- Information you provide, and information I collect about you.
- I will use this information to carry out my professional and contractual obligations during out therapeutic or supervisory relationship. This includes:
- Contracting and ensuring the terms found in the contract are upheld by both parties.
- In case of emergencies or where disclosure might be necessary – I will contact your GP or next of kin in these cases, with your knowledge and consent UNLESS it is a case of terrorism or money laundering, which by law I must report without the need for consent.
Disclosure of your information
I will not share your personal information with anyone else, unless there is a duty to disclose in order to comply with any legal obligation (terrorism alerts, money laundering).
The only other person involved in your case – only your first name will be known to them, or if you choose to be anonymised further, initials or aliases can be used – will be my Supervisor, who is held by the same privacy, data protection and confidentiality clauses as described here and in my contract.
Payments by bacs – Your details will be readable by the bank. I will not pass these details on other than in this capacity.
Where I store your personal data
The data collected will be kept in a password protected electronic system, in a password protected Word Document and discarded once our professional relationship has ended.
Access to information
The current Data Protection Act gives you the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the Act by emailing me at Cathy@autisticcounselling.com or via the Contact form on the website.
Full details of the Data Protection Act, rights responsibilities and procedures are available from ICO – Information Commissioner’s Office – at https://ico.org.uk/
Your rights
Right to Access
You have the right to ask for a copy of your personal information, free of charge, in an electronic or paper format. You also have the right to ask me to amend or change any incorrect information about you.
Right to be forgotten
You have the right to ask me to delete any information that I hold about you, including personal information that is no longer relevant to original purposes – for example when our therapeutic relationship has ended or if you wish to withdraw consent. In all cases and when considering such requests, these rights are obligatory unless it’s information that I have a legal obligation to retain.
Data Portability
You have the right to receive your personal information as previously provided, and to transfer this information to another party.
If you have any questions or comments, please use the contact form provided.