LAST UPDATED MARCH 25 2021
Key Details
This privacy statement describes how Relating Psychology protects and makes use of the information you provide us. If you provide, or are asked to provide, information when contacting us, it will only be used in the ways described in this privacy statement.
This statement is updated from time to time. The latest version is published on our website (http://relatingpsychology.com). This privacy statement was last updated on 19th February 2018.
If you have any questions about this policy, please email info@relatingpsychology.com.
Introduction
Relating Psychology needs to gather and use certain information about clients and prospective clients in line with the information contained within our Terms and Conditions. This policy describes how this personal data is collected, handled and stored to meet the company’s data protection standards and to comply with the law.
Therapy Clients
What data we gather
We may collect the following information to enable us to work with you safely and effectively, and to enable the efficient dissemination of appointment reminders and invoicing:
- Name and address (postal and email)
- Contact number
- Emergency contact
- Date of birth
- GP Details
- Name of educational establishment (where relevant)
- Outcome measures – optional
- Feedback on the service you have received – optional
During the course of initial contact and then subsequent therapy, we will inevitably also collect a significant amount of other personal data relevant to assessing and treating your presenting psychological difficulties i.e. to enable us to offer you the service you have sought from us.
How we use this data
Collecting this data helps us:
- Contact you to set up assessment and therapy
- Ensure there is a likelihood that I will be an appropriate psychologist for you
- Conduct a thorough psychological assessment
- Devise and implement an effective treatment plan (therapy)
- Invoice for services rendered
- Communicate (when necessary and with your consent) with relevant third partied to support your treatment and manage risk
- To evaluate our service
- To promote our service – optional
Website Users
What Are Cookies
As is common practice with almost all professional websites this site uses cookies, which are tiny files that are downloaded to your computer, to improve your experience. This page describes what information they gather, how we use it and why we sometimes need to store these cookies. We will also share how you can prevent these cookies from being stored however this may downgrade or ‘break’ certain elements of the sites functionality.
For more general information on cookies, please read “What Are Cookies”. Information regarding cookies from this Cookies Policy are from the Privacy Policy Generator.
You can also read our cookie policy, which has more detailed information.
How We Use Cookies
We use cookies for a variety of reasons detailed below. Unfortunately in most cases there are no industry standard options for disabling cookies without completely disabling the functionality and features they add to this site. It is recommended that you leave on all cookies if you are not sure whether you need them or not in case they are used to provide a service that you use.
Disabling Cookies
You can prevent the setting of cookies by adjusting the settings on your browser (see your browser Help for how to do this). Be aware that disabling cookies will affect the functionality of this and many other websites that you visit. Disabling cookies will usually result in also disabling certain functionality and features of the this site. Therefore it is recommended that you do not disable cookies. This Cookies Policy was created with the help of the Cookies Policy Generator from CookiePolicyGenerator.com.
The Cookies We Set
Email newsletters related cookies
This site offers newsletter or email subscription services and cookies may be used to remember if you are already registered and whether to show certain notifications which might only be valid to subscribed/unsubscribed users.
Orders processing related cookies
This site offers e-commerce or payment facilities and some cookies are essential to ensure that your order is remembered between pages so that we can process it properly.
Forms related cookies
When you submit data to through a form such as those found on contact pages or comment forms cookies may be set to remember your user details for future correspondence.
Site preferences cookies
In order to provide you with a great experience on this site we provide the functionality to set your preferences for how this site runs when you use it. In order to remember your preferences we need to set cookies so that this information can be called whenever you interact with a page is affected by your preferences.
Third Party Cookies
In some special cases we also use cookies provided by trusted third parties. The following section details which third party cookies you might encounter through this site.
This site uses Google Analytics which is one of the most widespread and trusted analytics solution on the web for helping us to understand how you use the site and ways that we can improve your experience. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site and the pages that you visit so we can continue to produce engaging content.
For more information on Google Analytics cookies, see the official Google Analytics page.
Third party analytics are used to track and measure usage of this site so that we can continue to produce engaging content. These cookies may track things such as how long you spend on the site or pages you visit which helps us to understand how we can improve the site for you.
From time to time we test new features and make subtle changes to the way that the site is delivered. When we are still testing new features these cookies may be used to ensure that you receive a consistent experience whilst on the site whilst ensuring we understand which optimisations our users appreciate the most.
We use adverts to offset the costs of running this site and provide funding for further development. The behavioural advertising cookies used by this site are designed to ensure that we provide you with the most relevant adverts where possible by anonymously tracking your interests and presenting similar things that may be of interest.
Several partners advertise on our behalf and affiliate tracking cookies simply allow us to see if our customers have come to the site through one of our partner sites so that we can credit them appropriately and where applicable allow our affiliate partners to provide any bonus that they may provide you for making a purchase.
We also use social media buttons and/or plugins on this site that allow you to connect with your social network in various ways. For these to work the following social media sites including; {List the social networks whose features you have integrated with your site?:12}, will set cookies through our site which may be used to enhance your profile on their site or contribute to the data they hold for various purposes outlined in their respective privacy policies.
More Information
Hopefully that has clarified things for you and as was previously mentioned if there is something that you aren’t sure whether you need or not it’s usually safer to leave cookies enabled in case it does interact with one of the features you use on our site.
However if you are still looking for more information then you can contact us through one of our preferred contact methods:
Email: info@relatingpsychology.com
Newsletter Subscribers
Data we gather
Subscriptions to our newsletter are entirely optional. At the point of subscription, you will be asked to provide:
- Your name
- Your email address
- Your interests
Why we gather this data
This data is gathered so that we can send you updates about our blog and products. We ask for you to provide your preferences so that we can send you the most relevant information and avoid sending you information that is not of interest to you.
Overall
Controlling information about you
Any personal information we hold about you is stored and processed in line with The Data Protection Act 1998 (in force on the date this statement became operational) and the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) adopted on 27th April 2016 and enforceable from 25th May 2018.
Your data will be kept for the lifetime of your status as a client with us. When you cease to be a client with us, your data will be kept for a minimum period of five years and a maximum period of 10 years, in accordance with the General Medical Council Guidelines. You have the right to ask for your data to be destroyed after the minimum period of five years, but not before then. Relating Psychology has the right to retain your data for the five year period so that it can respond effectively to any questions or complains that may later be raised by you and/or your representatives.
Security
We will always hold your information securely:
- All client files and therapy notes are kept secure in a locked filing cabinet
- Any information you send us on email is immediately uploaded onto a secure, password-protected database, following which the email is deleted
- Access to your personal information is restricted on a ‘need to know’ basis only. I.e. for those concerned directly with your care and your account
- Data is backed up daily
- A third party platform is used to manage the mailing list
To prevent unauthorised disclosures or access to your information, we have implemented strong physical and electronic security safeguards. In the unlikely event of a data protection breach, we will notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) so that their procedures can be followed. We will also notify all individuals whose data may have been accessed to alert them to the breach and any potential risks.
Data accuracy
Should, during the course of your contact with us, any personal data be subject to change, e.g. if you move, change GPs, change your name etc. we would be grateful if you could notify us at the earliest opportunity so we can ensure our records are up to date.
Subject access requests
All individual who are the subject of personal data held by Relating Psychology are entitled to:
- Ask what information the company holds about them and why
- Ask how to gain access to it
- Be informed how to keep it up to date
- Be informed how the company is meeting its data protection obligations
If you would like to request a copy of the data we hold about you, this is called a subject access request. Subject access requests should be made in writing on email to info@relatingpsychology.com. We will aim to provide the relevant data within 30 days. We will always verify the identity of anyone making a subject access request before handing over any information.
Disclosing data for any other reasons
In certain circumstances the Data Protection Act allows Relating Psychology to disclose data (including sensitive data) without the data subject’s consent.
These are:
- Carrying out a legal duty or as authorised by the Secretary of State
- Protecting vital interests of a data subject or other person
- If the data subject has already made the information public (e.g. through the use of social media)
- Conducting any legal proceedings, obtaining legal advice or defending any legal rights
- Monitoring for equal opportunities purposes – i.e. race, disability or religion
- Providing a confidential service where the data subject’s consent cannot be obtained or where it is reasonable to process without consent: e.g. where we would wish to avoid forcing stressed or ill data subjects to provide consent signatures
Under these circumstances, Relating Psychology will disclose relevant data. However, we will take all reasonable steps to notify the individual whose data is being disclosed about the disclosure. We will also ensure that any such data request is legitimate, reasonable and necessary.