Privacy Policy

Core Connections Counselling is committed to protecting your personal information and your right to privacy. If you have any questions or concerns about this privacy notice or my practices with regard to your personal information, please contact us immediately.

I use your Personal Information only for providing and improving the Site. By using the Site, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

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​In this notice, references to 'I' or ‘us’, or ‘our’ mean Core Connections Counselling.

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​Who We Are

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​Core Connections Counselling is a counselling private practice.

Core Connections Counselling operates the website www.coreconnectionscounselling.co.uk (the “Website”)

The GDPR refers to ‘controllers’ and ‘processors’. Core Connections Counselling is a data controller and a data processor under data protection legislation.

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​Information Collection And Use

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​While using the Site, you may be asked to provide certain personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you. Personally identifiable information may include, but is not limited to your name, email address, and telephone number. I may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Services.

I will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless I have your permission or are required by law to do so.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 2018. If you would like a copy of the information held on you, please email hello@coreconnectionscounselling.co.uk

If you believe that any information, I am holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email me as soon as possible at the above address. I will promptly correct the relevant information.

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​What Information We Process

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​While using our services, we may ask you to provide us with personally identifiable information that can be used to contact or identify you.  The information you give us may include, but is not limited to:

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•  Names and titles; date of birth; name and address of GP.

• Contact details such as telephone numbers, addresses, and email addresses, correspondence.

• Copies of receipts recording payment of fees.

• Clinical information gathered as part of the inquiry and counselling process.

• Other information such as financial information and bank verification information.

• Where they are relevant to our work, and where you provide them to us, demographic information such as gender, age, marital status, sexuality, ethnicity, employment status, disability, income, religion, area of residence, how you heard about Core Connections Counselling and other details we deem relevant to processing your request.

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Your information is collected from:

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​Any information entered on our website.

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• Email and post correspondence with Core Connections Counselling.

• Contact via phone.

• In-person contacts with Core Connections Counselling.

• Information received from external third parties, where relevant. 

 

Why We Collect This Information

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• To fulfill our administrative, legal, and contractual obligations.

• To provide clients with the professional counselling service requested from us.

• To offer suitable counselling appointments.

• To notify you of appointments, cancellations, and any policy/procedural changes that will affect you as a client of Seed Counselling.

•  To seek feedback from you on your experience of counselling with us.

•  To improve our service to ensure that it is provided in the most effective manner for you and for us.

• To administer our service, including the arrangement of appointments, for financial control, data analysis, research, statistical and survey purposes.

• To keep in touch with those who consent to this, for the purposes of organisational, service, and professional development.

• Where necessary carry out comprehensive safeguarding procedures in accordance with best safeguarding practices

 

How Long We Keep Hold of Your Information

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​We will usually keep your information for as long as is necessary for the purpose it was collected. Your identifiable personal information is kept separately from any session notes and other descriptive material. Client notes and other documentation are destroyed 3 years after the end of counselling.  Personal contact details are destroyed/deleted after 7 years of no contact or updates. We may hold your information for more or less time if there are legal reasons or if we are required to remove such data from our records.

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​How Your Data Is Stored And Kept Secure

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​The processing of personal data is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR).

At Core Connections Counselling, we take your safety and security seriously and we are committed to protecting your personal and financial information. 

All information you provide to us is stored as securely as possible.  All paper forms and correspondence are kept in secure locked storage.  All electronic records are stored securely using data security protocols, and all access is by password-protected authentication.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is never completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your information using industry-standard protocols and encryption, we cannot guarantee the absolute security of your data transmitted to us via email, including forms completed on our website which are transmitted by email; any transmission is at your own risk. We will always act in accordance with the relevant UK and EU legislation. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

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​The Lawful Basis for processing your Data

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​We only use your personal information where that is permitted by the laws that protect your privacy rights.

The processing of personal data is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR).

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• We only use personal information where:

• We have your consent (if consent is needed).

• We need to use the information to comply with our legal obligations.

• We need to use the information to perform a contract with you.

• It is fair to use personal information either in our interests or someone else's interests, where there is no disadvantage to you.

 

Core Connections Counselling will comply with its legal obligations to keep your personal data up to date; to store and destroy it securely; to not collect or retain excessive amounts of data; to protect it from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, and disclosure; and to ensure that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect it.

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​ What Your Rights Are

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​Individuals have certain rights over their personal data and data controllers are responsible for fulfilling these rights. When we decide how and why personal data is processed, we are data controllers and include further information about the rights that individuals have and how to exercise them below.

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Where the processing of your personal data is based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. You have the rights set out below which you can exercise at any time.

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You have the right:

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• To ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. We will inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes.

• To ask us not to process your personal data where it is processed on the basis of legitimate interests provided that there are no compelling reasons for that processing.

• To ask us not to process your personal data for scientific or historical research purposes, where relevant, unless the processing is necessary for the public interest.

• To request from us access to personal information held about you.

• Ask for the information we hold about you to be rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.

• To ask for data to be erased, provided that:

•  Personal data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

• You withdraw consent (if the legal basis for processing is consent).

• You exercise your right to object, set out below, and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for processing.

• The data is unlawfully processed.

•  The data needs to be erased to comply with a legal obligation.

• The data is children’s data and was collected in relation to an offer of information society services.

• This will generally apply to situations where counselling has ended. It is important to note that this is not an absolute right; our Client Data Retention Schedule has been devised in keeping with standards of good practice in the counselling and psychotherapy professions – see The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy for further information.

•  To ask for the processing of that information to be restricted if:

• The accuracy of that data is contested.

•  The processing is unlawful.

• Personal data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.

• You exercise your right to object (pending verification of whether there are legitimate grounds for processing) to ask for data portability if the processing is carried out by automated means and the legal basis for processing is consent or contract. Automated processing for decision-making is not used at Core Connections Counselling.

 

When exercising any of these rights and in order to process your request, we may need to verify your identity for your security. In such cases, we will need you to respond with proof of your identity before you can exercise these rights.

You may make a request by writing to Core Connections Counselling in writing via the contact page on the website or by emailing hello@coreconnectionscounselling.co.uk.  Any access request will be processed as required by law and will be free of charge

  

​Log Data

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​Like many site operators, the website collects information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Site ("Log Data").

This Log Data may include information such as your computer's Internet Protocol ("IP") address, browser type, browser version, the pages of our Site that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, and other statistics.

In addition, I may use third-party services such as Google Analytics that collect, monitor and analyze this.

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​Cookies

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​Cookies are files with a small amount of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a website and stored on your computer's hard drive. Like many sites, we use "cookies" to collect information. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of the Site.

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​Security

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​The security of your Personal Information is extremely important to me, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While I strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, I cannot guarantee its absolute security.

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​Changes To This Privacy Policy

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​This Privacy Policy is effective as of 1st September 2020 and will remain in effect except with respect to any changes in its provisions in the future, which will be in effect immediately after being posted on this page.

I reserve the right to update or change our Privacy Policy at any time and you should check this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Service after we post any modifications to the Privacy Policy on this page will constitute your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide by and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.