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Privacy Policy

Last updated: [date] · This page explains how 8:16 Counselling handles your personal data.

8:16 Counselling (Sue Brown) is the data controller for the personal information collected through this website and through the counselling service itself. I take data protection seriously, particularly given the sensitive nature of counselling work with children and young people.

What information I collect

Depending on how you interact with this site or the service, I may collect:

• Enquiry details: name, email address, phone number, and whatever you write in the enquiry form or by email/phone.
• Client information: if counselling goes ahead, this includes contact details, date of birth, parent/carer contact details where relevant, and session notes relating to the support provided.
• Special category data: information shared in sessions may include details about health, wellbeing, family circumstances, or other sensitive topics. This is treated with the highest level of confidentiality and stored securely, separately from general contact details.

How I use your information

• To respond to enquiries and arrange sessions.
• To provide and keep appropriate records of counselling sessions, in line with BACP's Ethical Framework and my professional indemnity insurance requirements.
• To meet legal and safeguarding obligations, including sharing information with relevant authorities where there is a risk to a child's safety or someone else's.
• To communicate with parents/carers about progress in general terms, without disclosing session content, as set out in the confidentiality agreement made at the start of counselling.

I do not use your information for marketing purposes, and I do not sell or share it with third parties other than where required by law or professional obligation (for example, anonymised discussion in clinical supervision, or safeguarding referrals).

How long I keep your information

Client records are kept securely for a period in line with BACP guidance and my professional indemnity insurance requirements — currently [confirm retention period, e.g. until the client turns 25, or 7 years after the end of counselling — check current BACP guidance and your insurer's requirements before publishing]. After this period, records are securely destroyed. Enquiry details from people who do not go on to become clients are kept for a shorter period and then deleted.

How your information is stored

Client records are stored securely — physical notes in a locked location, and any digital records password-protected and encrypted where applicable. Access is limited to Sue Brown, except where information must be shared for safeguarding or legal reasons, or discussed anonymously in clinical supervision.

Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Ask what personal data I hold about you and receive a copy of it (a "subject access request").
• Ask for incorrect data to be corrected.
• Ask for your data to be deleted, where this doesn't conflict with a legal or professional record-keeping obligation.
• Object to, or ask me to restrict, how your data is used.
• Ask for your data to be provided in a portable format.

To exercise any of these rights, contact me at [email protected] or [Your phone number]. I will respond within one calendar month of receiving your request. If a request is particularly complex, this may be extended by a further two months, and I will let you know if that's the case and why.

If you have a concern

If you're unhappy with how your data has been handled, please contact me directly first at [email protected] so I can try to resolve it. If you're not satisfied with my response, or would prefer to raise it independently, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office:

Cookies & website analytics

This website does not currently use tracking cookies or analytics software. If that changes in future, this policy will be updated and, where required, a cookie consent option will be added.

Contact

If you have any questions about this policy or how your data is handled, contact Sue Brown at [email protected] or [Your phone number].