Privacy Policy
This policy outlines Joanne Pender’s procedures for collecting, storing and processing personal data. ‘Personal data’ means data relating to a living individual who can be identified from data or from other information from that data.
I will make every effort to comply with the Data Protection Act (DPA) and General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) to ensure that information is:
used fairly and lawfully
used for limited, specifically stated purposes
used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive
kept for no longer than necessary
kept safe and secure
not transferred outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) without adequate protection.
Contact details of the person responsible for taking the lead on compliance:
Joanne Pender is responsible for personal information on procedures dealing with both internal and external access requests and how the information collection is used.
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What is meant by informational privacy:
The ability of a person to control, edit, manage and delete information about them and to decide how and to what extent such information is communicated to others. Intrusion can come in the form of collection of excessive personal information, disclosure of personal information without consent and misuse of such information. It can include the collection of information through the surveillance or monitoring of how people act in public on private spaces and through the monitoring of communications whether by post, phone or online and extends to monitoring the records of sender and recipients as well as the content of messages.
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Why I need the information I hold about an individual:
I need to request and store your details in order to administer and deliver the service you have requested, and to comply with any legal or professional body responsibilities that ensue in the delivering of that service.
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What I am going to use it for:
To make contact with you, to record the relevant personal contact details you give consent for me to hold, and to record minimal hand-written session notes.
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Where this information is stored:
I store your contact details and signed contract in a file in a locked cabinet. I use only your first name in my diary. Client notes showing date and a brief outline of session content are recorded in an anonymised hand-written paper format and stored in a separate file to the one in which your personal details are stored.
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When and how I delete the information I hold about you:
On request, or six years after our last contact, I delete by electronic means and destroy paper records by shredding.
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When I pass on personal information:
I will only share personal information as follows:
If during my contact time with you I become aware that there is a safeguarding risk to either you or another person, I will contact the professional body/ emergency services/where appropriate.
My supervisor will be handed all my counselling related paperwork should I become indisposed, and will destroy these accordingly.
When you request me to do so.
Where I need to comply with a legal requirement to do so (a court order for example).
You can request a copy of your records at any time, and have the right to have these deleted, please see the guidance on https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/personal-information/