Privacy Policy 

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Privacy and cookie policy – Protecting your personal details on our website. Last updated: 17th September 2019. Carole Howells, Changes Counselling Support, whose place of business is 10 Marske Way, Spennymoor, Co.Durham ,United Kingdom, knows that you care how information about you is used and shared and I appreciate your trust in me to do that carefully and sensibly. This notice describes my privacy policy and forms part of my website terms and conditions (“Website Terms”). I am registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a data controller (Carole Howells, Changes Counselling Support). By accepting my Website Terms or by visiting www.carolehowellscounselling.co.uk (“the Website”) you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.  The Website is brought to you by Carole Howells.wixsite.com/ ChangesCounselling . Carole Howells, Changes Counselling Support believes it is important to protect your Personal Data (as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998) and I am committed to giving you a personalised service that meets your needs in a way that also protects your privacy. This policy explains how I may collect Personal Data about you. It also explains some of the security measures I take to protect your Personal Data, and tells you certain things I will do and not do. You should read this policy in conjunction with the Website Terms. When I first obtain Personal Data from you, or when you take a new service or product from me, I will give you the opportunity to tell me if you do or do not want to receive information from me about other services or products (as applicable). You can normally do this by ticking a box on an application form or contract. You may change your mind at any time by emailing me at the address below.  Some of the Personal Data I hold about you may be ‘sensitive personal data’ within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998, for example, information about your health or ethnic origin. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. I know it’s long, but it contains important information about how I protect, use and process any personal information you give to me. I aim to be clear when I collect your data and not do anything with the data you wouldn’t reasonably expect. WHAT INFORMATION I COLLECT The main pieces of information I collect are: •    Name •    Mobile phone number •    Email address •    Postal address •    Date of Birth •    GP’s details WHEN I COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION There are a few occasions when I might collect information from you. These include when: •    You first call or email me to make an enquiry about my service; or to make an appointment to meet me •    You give me this information face-to-face if we meet on any occasion •    You attend your first session and sign our Therapy Agreement •    You give me via a contact form, comment boxes or payment facility on my website. I will not collect this information from you at any other time. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION I collect information in the following ways: •    When you give it to me DIRECTLY •    When you contact me via my website •    I do not collect your data in any other way. I will only ever get it from you. HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION I am an experienced counsellor/therapist, fully trained in the importance of maintaining confidentiality. I  go to great lengths to keep all your information safe. I  invest in the appropriate resources to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. I  make sure I manage it in accordance with my legal responsibilities under applicable data protection laws. However, no internet-based platform, including email, is 100% secure, so I cannot be held responsible for unauthorised or unintended access that is beyond my control. When I communicate via email, there is always the possibility that email platforms can be hacked; or email transmission may not be encrypted when corresponding back and forth. I remain mindful of this and ensure that I do everything in my capability to protect your personal information. HOW WE USE AND PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION After I have received your information, there are a few ways in which I might use it to ensure I give you the best possible service. They include: •    To help me to identify you when you contact me •    To contact you to make, confirm, cancel or reschedule appointments •    To respond to any queries or complaints that you raise •    If I have a legal obligation to use or disclose information about you for instance, where I am ordered by a court or regulatory authority •    For any other purpose to which you agree I will not disclose your information to any third party except in accordance with this Privacy Policy. HOW I KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE AND WHO HAS ACCESS TO IT I want you to know that I will never sell or pass on your personal information to third parties for their own purposes. As all therapists are required to keep appropriate records of their client work, I may keep some brief notes of your sessions. The notes are fully anonymised and do not contain any of the information we collect from you, as detailed above. Anonymised notes are kept in a locked cabinet or on a password protected secure computer in accordance with data protection laws. HOW WE RETAIN YOUR INFORMATION My professional insurance requires that all my records are kept for 5 years after which time they will be destroyed. HOW WE WILL COMMUNICATE WITH YOU We will only ever communicate with you via email, phone or text message, outside of our face to face sessions, unless otherwise agreed. VISITING THIRD PARTY WEBSITES This website may contains links to other websites that I believe may be of interest to you. This Privacy Policy only applies to my website, so if you link to another website, i recommend you read the privacy policy of that website before sharing any personal or financial data. I do not provide any personally identifiable client Personal Data to any advertisers or third-party websites. I exclude all liability for loss that you may incur when using any third party websites. COOKIES Like most websites, I use ‘cookies’ to help me improve how I create, and how you use, our site. Cookies mean that a website will remember you and can obtain an overall view of visitor habits and volumes to our website. They can make interacting with a website faster and easier. Cookies are small text files stored on your computer by websites that you visit. They are used by most websites in order to make them work efficiently, to make controls respond properly and to provide information to owners of web sites, or third parties. The cookies stored by my site cannot be used to identify you personally. If you want to know how to disable the use of cookies on your device, visit aboutcookies.org. Please note that if you turn off the use of cookies on the website, you are likely to find your browsing experience significantly degraded, and you may not be able to use some of the products or services on my website without cookies. WHAT YOUR RIGHTS ARE I want to make sure you’re in control of how I use and keep your information. You have the right to: •    be told how your personal information will be used; •    request a copy of the information I hold about you; •    update or amend the information I hold about you if it is wrong; •    change your communication preferences at any time; •    ask me to remove your personal information from my records (see ‘How I Retain Your Information’ above); •    request an electronic copy of your personal information be sent to you, or another organisation; •    raise a concern or complaint about the way in which your information is being used. Further Information If you would like any more information or you have any comments about our Privacy Policy, please either write to me at, Carole Howells, Changes Counselling Support, 10 Marske Way, Spennymoor DL16 7FL, United Kingdom, or email us at carole.howells@live.co.uk I may amend this Privacy Policy from time to time without notice to you, in which case, I will publish the amended version on the Website.  You confirm that I shall not be liable to you or any third party for any change to this Privacy Policy from time to time.  It is your responsibility to check regularly to determine whether this Privacy Policy has changed. You can ask me for a copy of this Privacy Policy and of any amended Privacy Policy by writing to the above address or by emailing us at carole.howells@live.co.uk. This Privacy Policy applies to Personal Data I hold about individuals. It does not apply to information I hold about companies and other organisations. If you would like access to the Personal Data that I hold about you, you can do this by emailing me at carole.howells@live.co.uk or writing to me at the address noted above. I aim to keep the Personal Data I hold about you accurate and up to date.  If you tell me that I am holding any inaccurate Personal Data about you, I will delete it or correct it promptly. Please email me at carole.howells@live.co.uk or write to me at the address above to update your Personal Data. You can find out more on the Information Commissioner’s Office website at https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/