Privacy Policy
How Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy handles your personal Data when you use this website or get in touch, and the rights you have.
About this privacy policy
This privacy policy applies between you, the user of this website, and Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy, the owner and provider of this website, https://counsellingbolton.co.uk/.
Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy takes the privacy of your information very seriously. This privacy policy applies to our use of any and all Data collected by us or provided by you in relation to your use of the Website.
Please read this privacy policy carefully.
Definitions and interpretation
In this privacy policy, the following definitions are used:
Data: collectively, all information that you submit to Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy via the Website. This definition incorporates, where applicable, the definitions provided in the Data Protection Laws.
Cookies: a small text file placed on your computer by a website when you visit certain parts of the website and/or when you use certain features of the website.
Data Protection Laws: any applicable law relating to the processing of personal Data, including the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, and any regulations made under them.
UK GDPR: the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 as it forms part of the law of the United Kingdom.
UK Cookie Law: the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, as amended.
User or You: any third party that accesses the Website and is not either (i) employed by Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy and acting in the course of their employment or (ii) engaged as a consultant or otherwise providing services to Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy and accessing the Website in connection with the provision of such services.
Website: the website that you are currently using, https://counsellingbolton.co.uk/, and any sub-domains of this site unless expressly excluded by their own terms and conditions.
In this privacy policy, unless the context requires a different interpretation:
- the singular includes the plural and vice versa;
- references to sub-clauses, clauses, schedules or appendices are to sub-clauses, clauses, schedules or appendices of this privacy policy;
- a reference to a person includes firms, companies, government entities, trusts and partnerships;
- “including” is understood to mean “including without limitation”;
- reference to any statutory provision includes any modification or amendment of it;
- the headings and subheadings do not form part of this privacy policy.
Scope of this privacy policy
This privacy policy applies only to the actions of Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy and Users with respect to this Website. It does not extend to any websites that can be accessed from this Website including, but not limited to, links to Google Maps and WhatsApp.
For the purposes of the applicable Data Protection Laws, Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy (Andrea Long, MBACP 414595) is the “data controller”. This means that Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which, your Data is processed.
Data collected
We may collect the following Data, which includes personal Data, from you:
- name;
- contact information such as email addresses and mobile numbers;
- details of your enquiry, such as how you would like to work, how you would like us to contact you, when you are usually available and anything you choose to tell us in your message;
- IP address (processed automatically by our website host);
- web browser type and version (processed automatically by our website host);
- operating system (processed automatically by our website host);
- information about how you use the Website, such as the pages you visit, how you arrived, and your approximate location, device and browser, if you accept analytics cookies;
in each case, in accordance with this privacy policy.
The enquiry form asks you not to include medical, diagnostic or other sensitive health information. If you choose to tell us about your physical or mental health, this is “special category” Data, which the law protects more strictly. We will use it only to respond to your enquiry and to consider whether counselling may be suitable for you. Counselling is provided by Andrea Long as a confidential therapeutic service, so information about your health is given to her on the understanding that it will be kept confidential. This means she owes you a duty of confidentiality under the common law, in addition to her professional obligations and, if you become a client, her counselling agreement. We therefore rely on the condition for health or social care purposes in Article 9(2)(h) of the UK GDPR, together with paragraph 2 of Part 1 of Schedule 1 and section 11(1)(b) of the Data Protection Act 2018.
How we collect Data
We collect Data in the following ways:
- Data is given to us by you; and
- Data is collected automatically.
Data that is given to us by you
Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy will collect your Data in a number of ways, for example when you contact us through the enquiry form on the Website, by WhatsApp, by email, by post or through any other means, in each case in accordance with this privacy policy.
The enquiry form. When you send the enquiry form, your answers are passed to our email delivery provider, Resend, which delivers them as a single email to our Gmail inbox. The Website itself does not store your answers. Resend keeps a copy of each email for 30 days.
WhatsApp. If you contact us by WhatsApp, WhatsApp will also process your messages under its own terms, which you can read in WhatsApp’s legal and privacy information.
Data that is collected automatically
When you visit the Website, our website host, Cloudflare, automatically processes technical information such as your IP address, browser type and version, operating system and the pages requested. This is needed to deliver the Website to you and to protect it from misuse.
If you choose “Accept analytics” in the cookie banner, we also use Google Analytics, loaded through Google Tag Manager, to understand how visitors use the Website so that we can improve it. Google Analytics uses Cookies to record information such as the pages you visit (which may show, for example, that you viewed a page about a particular kind of counselling), how long you stay, how you arrived, and your approximate location, device and browser. It also records when an enquiry has been sent through the enquiry form, but not what you wrote or your contact details. It is not used for advertising, and it is not used at all unless you accept. We use Google Analytics only to understand overall patterns, such as how many people view each page. We do not use it to build profiles of individual visitors, and we do not link it to the details you give us when you get in touch. You can change your choice at any time using “Cookie settings” at the bottom of every page.
Our use of Data
Data may be used by us for the following reasons, on the following legal grounds under the UK GDPR:
- responding to your enquiry and arranging an introductory call: because you have asked us to take these steps before we may agree to work together (Article 6(1)(b));
- internal record keeping: our legitimate interests in keeping an accurate record of enquiries and our replies (Article 6(1)(f));
- keeping the Website secure and working: our legitimate interests in running a safe and reliable website (Article 6(1)(f));
- understanding how visitors use the Website, so that we can improve it: your consent (Article 6(1)(a)), which you can withdraw at any time using “Cookie settings”;
in each case, in accordance with this privacy policy.
Where we rely on our legitimate interests, you have the right to object in certain circumstances (see the section headed “Your rights” below).
Keeping Data secure
We will use technical and organisational measures to safeguard your Data, for example:
- the Website is only available over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection;
- enquiries are delivered to, and kept in, a password-protected email account.
Technical and organisational measures include measures to deal with any suspected data breach. If you suspect any misuse or loss of, or unauthorised access to, your Data, please let us know immediately by contacting us at andrealongcounselling
If you want detailed information from Get Safe Online on how to protect your information and your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and many other online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online is supported by HM Government and leading businesses.
Data retention
Unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law, we will only hold your Data on our systems for the period necessary to fulfil the purposes outlined in this privacy policy or until you request that the Data be deleted.
Enquiries that do not lead to counselling, including emails in our Gmail account, WhatsApp messages and any related enquiry notes, are normally kept for up to six months from our last communication and then securely deleted, unless there is a legitimate reason or legal obligation to keep them for longer.
Resend, which delivers enquiry-form emails, deletes its copy after 30 days.
If you accept analytics cookies, Google Analytics keeps user-level and event-level data (information linked to the Google Analytics cookie, such as the pages viewed during your visits) for 14 months and then deletes it. Aggregated reports, which show overall totals rather than individual visits, may be kept for longer.
The retention of clinical records for people who become clients is a separate matter and is not covered by this section.
Even if we delete your Data, it may persist on backup or archival media for legal, tax or regulatory purposes.
Your rights
You have the following rights in relation to your Data:
- Right to access: the right to request (i) copies of the information we hold about you at any time, or (ii) that we modify, update or delete such information. If we provide you with access to the information we hold about you, we will not charge you for this, unless your request is “manifestly unfounded or excessive”. Where we are legally permitted to do so, we may refuse your request. If we refuse your request, we will tell you the reasons why.
- Right to correct: the right to have your Data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Right to erase: the right to request that we delete or remove your Data from our systems.
- Right to restrict our use of your Data: the right to “block” us from using your Data or limit the way in which we can use it.
- Right to data portability: the right to request that we move, copy or transfer your Data.
- Right to object: the right to object to our use of your Data, including where we use it for our legitimate interests.
To make enquiries, exercise any of your rights set out above, or withdraw your consent to the processing of your Data (where consent is our legal basis for processing your Data), please contact us at andrealongcounselling
If you are not satisfied with the way a complaint you make in relation to your Data is handled by us, you may be able to refer your complaint to the relevant data protection authority. For the UK, this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO’s contact details can be found on their website at ico.org.uk.
It is important that the Data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your Data changes during the period for which we hold it.
Transfers outside the UK
Data which we collect from you may be stored and processed in, and transferred to, countries outside the UK. Our website host (Cloudflare), our email delivery provider (Resend) and our email provider (Google) are based in the United States.
We will only transfer Data outside the UK where it is compliant with data protection legislation and the means of transfer provides adequate safeguards in relation to your Data. Cloudflare, Resend and Google each state that they comply with the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, which UK law recognises as providing adequate protection. Cloudflare and Resend also use standard contractual clauses approved for transfers from the UK.
If you contact us by WhatsApp, WhatsApp is provided to UK users by WhatsApp LLC in the United States, under its own terms.
Links to other websites
This Website may, from time to time, provide links to other websites. We have no control over such websites and are not responsible for the content of these websites. This privacy policy does not extend to your use of such websites. You are advised to read the privacy policy or statement of other websites prior to using them.
Changes of business ownership and control
Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy may, from time to time, expand or reduce our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy. Data provided by Users will, where it is relevant to any part of our business so transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this privacy policy, be permitted to use the Data for the purposes for which it was originally supplied to us.
We may also disclose Data to a prospective purchaser of our business or any part of it.
In the above instances, we will take steps with the aim of ensuring your privacy is protected.
General
You may not transfer any of your rights under this privacy policy to any other person. We may transfer our rights under this privacy policy where we reasonably believe your rights will not be affected.
If any court or competent authority finds that any provision of this privacy policy (or part of any provision) is invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision or part-provision will, to the extent required, be deemed to be deleted, and the validity and enforceability of the other provisions of this privacy policy will not be affected.
Unless otherwise agreed, no delay, act or omission by a party in exercising any right or remedy will be deemed a waiver of that, or any other, right or remedy.
This agreement will be governed by and interpreted according to the law of England and Wales. All disputes arising under the agreement will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English and Welsh courts.
Changes to this privacy policy
Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy reserves the right to change this privacy policy as we may deem necessary from time to time or as may be required by law. Any changes will be immediately posted on the Website and you are deemed to have accepted the terms of the privacy policy on your first use of the Website following the alterations.
You may contact Andrea Long Counselling & Psychotherapy by email at andrealongcounselling