Privacy & Social Media Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how I, Laurie Hole of The Curiously Kind Counsellor, use and protect any information that you give to me when you use this service.

I am committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should I ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

By visiting www.thecuriouslykindcounsellor.com (my website), and working with me, youare accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy. By continuing to use my site, you are agreeing to my use of cookies described below.

Any changes I make to my privacy and cookie policy will be posted on this page. Please check back frequently to see any changes to my privacy and cookie policy.

For the purpose of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (Regulation (EU)2016/679). The data controller for The Curiously Kind Counsellor is Laurie Hole. ICO Registration no. ZA833534.

Data that May Be Collected About You
You may give me information such as your name, address and contact information through filling in the form on this site or through correspondence by email, phone or otherwise. I may also receive information about you from other sources such as Google Analytics. Technical information such as your computer IP address, browsing type and information about your site visit such as URL, date and time, page interactions.

Cookies
My site uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of my site and to help with the performance of my website. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that my site may store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer, if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive.

My site uses the following cookies:

  • Strictly necessary cookies that are required for the operation of my site.
  • Functionality cookies to help remember your preferences.
  • Analytic cookies that help recognise and count the number of visitors to my site.

If you do not want my site to use cookies in your web browser, you can remove them from your computer or change your browser settings so that it either blocks cookies altogether or asks you if you’d like to accept them from some websites.

Please note that some of my cookies are essential for my site to work properly.

Website Contact Form and All Electronic Correspondence
My website has a secure SSL Certificate. Information sent to and from my site is encrypted, so your data is transferred as securely as possible via the contact forms. The transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although I will do my best to protect your personal data, I cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to my site. Therefore, any transmission is at your own risk.

Emails
I use ProtonMail when responding to website enquiries by email. ProtonMail encrypts messages in transit by using TLS (Transport Layer Security). I cannot guarantee the security of emails sent or received by your email provider. While emails are stored in my ProtonMail inbox, they are encrypted and unable to be accessed by ProtonMail and they are not shared with third parties. Your email provider may keep a copy of the information that you have sent. Emails that you send to me are deleted when action has been agreed or our work together has finished.

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) information for clients of The Curiously Kind Counsellor

What Do I Use Your Information For?
The information I collect about you is used as contact & emergency contact information, and in order to fulfil my professional and contractual obligations.

Disclosure of Your Information
I do not share or sell your information with any third parties for marketing purposes. I maintain confidentiality in accordance with the ethical framework of my professional membership body. There are very few circumstances in which I would need to share your information and these are outlined in my FAQs. As required by my membership body I also have a Clinical Will, which means in the unexpected event of my death, serious illness or incapacity to continue to work, a designated counselling colleague will have access to the names and contact details of my current clients. This ensures that clients are contacted and given options that support them to decide what to do next. My colleague follows the same GDPR processes and will treat the information provided in the strictest confidence.

Legal Obligation
I may have a legal obligation to share information if a court of law orders me to do so. I have a legal obligation to report any information that relates to terrorism, money laundering and radicalisation.

Data Retention Schedule
Any personal and sensitive data collected is stored securely in line with GDPR guidelines. After we finish working together, the information I hold about you will be appropriately destroyed after 7 years, in line with my insurance company policy.

I have a legal obligation to keep financial records for 7 years, for the purposes of tax returns.

Your Rights Under GDPR

  • You have the right to be informed.
  • You have the right to access the personal information that I hold about you.
  • You have the right to data portability. I will provide a copy of this information except in the limited circumstances in which I am permitted not to.
  • Requests will be processed within 30 days, and free of charge, unless manifestly unfounded or excessive. An admin fee will be charged if the request is excessive and this may take longer to process.
  • You have the right to request amendments to the personal information I hold about you that is inaccurate or out-of-date.
  • You have the right to erasure and I will take all reasonable steps to erase your information unless I need to keep it for legal, auditing or internal business purposes.
  • You have the right to restrict processing.
  • You have the right to object (not applicable to the lawful basis of legal obligation)
  • You have rights related to automated decision making.

It should also be noted that the ICO says that these are not absolute rights https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-
gdpr/individual-rights/

If I discover there has been a data breach of your personal information that could put you at risk, I will undertake to tell you, and the ICO, within 72 hours.

Social Media
I currently use business accounts on social media for professional advertisement purposes only. The social media platforms I currently use include Facebook and Instagram. You are welcome to like, follow and share my page and posts but I will not engage in any kind of counselling or support via these platforms. Please be mindful that if you choose to engage with my content in any way, this will be in the public domain with your profile name and photo visible to other users of my page. If you are engaged in counselling with me, this may compromise your confidentiality and it could impact on our therapeutic relationship.

Please also be aware that I do not accept friend requests on any personal social media pages during or after our work together.

Contact
Complaints, questions and access requests should be addressed to Laurie Hole at hello@thecuriouslykindcounsellor.com