Introduction

Your privacy is of outmost importance to me. You can be confident that all your personal information will be kept safe and secure and that it will only be used for the purpose it was given to me.

I may change this policy from time to time in line with legislation and I advise that you check this page in order to be aware of any changes. This policy is effective from May 2021.

I adhere to current UK data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR).

‘Data controller’ is the term used to describe the person/ organisation that collects and stores and has responsibility for people’s personal data. In this instance, the data controller is me, Anna Bampou.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office [Reference number: ]

My postal address is: 55 Hawthorn Road, Woking, Surrey, GU22 0BD

My phone number is: 07585 214 652

My email address is: babouanna@gmail.com

​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, including:

  • What personal information is collected, for what purposes and the period for which personal information is retained

  • The legal basis for holding and processing your personal information

  • Third party recipients of personal information

  • Your rights to personal information

  • Data Security

What personal information is collected, for what purposes and the period for which personal information is retained

When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling or supervision services I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include your name, phone number, email address, purpose for counselling. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral and/or a parent or trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf.

​If you decide not to proceed all your personal data is deleted within 6 months, but if you would like me to delete this information sooner, then please just let me know.

​If you decide to proceed, then further information such as your address, emergency contact details, GP details, school name and contact details, details relating to your general physical, emotional and mental health, ages and relations of significant others will be collected in a personal information sheet together with a signed copy of the Privacy Notice and a signed copy of the Working agreement/Contract as part of the registration process and to ensure that the arrangement and work together can be carried out. Please note that some of the personal information mentioned above are optional as they are not necessary to carry out the counselling work but can be helpful within it.

I will keep your personal details securely in a locked filling cabinet. Your mobile number will be stored in my telephone but will be coded. They are not shared with any third party.

I will keep written notes of each session. All notes are coded so that cannot be identified and I will keep them securely in a locked filing cabinet.

​I do not retain text messages after we have finished working together. Any relevant information contained in a text message, I will include it in my session notes. Likewise, any email correspondence will be deleted after we have finished working together. If necessary, I will print it before deleting it and keep the email securely with your personal details in my secure safe.

Once counselling has ended your records will be kept for maximum of 6 years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed. If you want me to delete your information sooner than this, please tell me.

Everything you discuss with me is confidential. That confidentiality will only be broken if the law requires me to. I will always try to speak to you about this first, unless there are safeguarding issues that prevent this.

Also, it may be necessary to share your name, date of birth and address in order to safeguard you or someone in your care in an emergency situation. Your name and date of birth would be shared with your GP to identify you if they are contacted in the event that you are considered to be a risk. Your name and address may be shared with the emergency services in the event that you or someone in your care is at risk. If it is considered necessary to contact your emergency contact your name will be shared with this person for the purposes of identifying you to them in the context of them as your named emergency contact.

Last, the BACP requires me to undertake professional supervision with another experienced counsellor/therapist qualified in this process. This process is necessary to ensure that I maintain a professional and ethical practice. During supervision sessions, your privacy and confidentiality will be protected by only referring to you by your first name. All other details relating to your and/or your therapy will be anonymised as much as possible.

My legal basis for holding and processing your personal information

According to the GDPR, 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. 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).

Third party recipients of personal information

Your personal data may get shared with third parties, for example, where you pay by bank transfer you details will show as a transaction on a statement, or where I have contracted with a supplier to carry out specific tasks for example an accountant. In such cases I have carefully selected which partners I work with and I make sure that they are also data protection compliant. I also take great care to ensure that I have a contract with the third party that states what they are allowed to do with the data I share with them. I ensure that they do not use your information in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted.

Your rights

I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. 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 (with notice of 30 days) 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.

If I do hold information about you I will:

  • give you a description of it and where it came from

  • tell you why I am holding it, tell you 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 or amend the personal information I hold about you.

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

To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to Anna Bampou babouanna@gmail.com

If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures.

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

Data Security and Cookies

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.

My devices (phone, laptop) are password protected and not left unattended in the presence of others. My email is encrypted. Security software is used to protect all devices and is regularly updated.

All paperwork is locked in a lockable filling cabinet and only myself has access to it.

​My site uses cookies that are required by the website host, SqaureSpace, so that the website performs correctly. I do not use any advertising cookies at all. You are able to disable cookies which will prevent your visit being tracked. Please see http://www.youronlinechoices.com/uk/ to provide you with information about cookies and http://www.aboutcookies.org/ for advice about deleting and managing cookies.

If you fill in an enquiry form on my website, that data will be temporarily stored on the web host before being sent to me.

If you were to comment on a blog, your name and email address will be saved to the website’s database, with your IP address. This is not passed onto a third party. Your comment will remain on the website until I remove the comment or the blog post. Please email me at babouanna@gmail.com if you wish for the comment to be removed, using the original email address.

If you are under 16, you must obtain parental consent before posting a comment.

Please do not leave personally identifiable information on the comment field of any blog post.

If there is believed to be a personal data breach, the risk will be assessed and in the event that I believe you, the client, to be or likely to be adversely affected then I will report it to the Information Commissioner’s Office and my professional indemnity insurer and will follow their guidance.