The type of personal information we collect

We will clearly inform you when information that personally identifies you (basic personal information data) is asked for and you will have the choice to provide it or not. Your basic personal information data is never shared, sold, traded to parties outside of the organisation without your permission. We have no responsibility or liability for any external website links who have their own privacy policies. Inside the organisation, your basic personal information data is securely stored with restricted user access.

When you make an enquiry via our website

When you make an enquiry via our website, you are asked to provide your contact information, including your name, telephone number and email address. We use this information to reply to your enquiry, offering information about our services, current appointment availability and fees charged.

We collect and process the following basic personal information data whenever we are contacted via word of mouth, telephone, email, our company website, employer or any third party seeking our services or any of our online advertising (e.g., BACP and UKCP registers, EMDR Find a Therapist, Counselling Directory, Psychology Today, etc.):

• Personal identifiers, contacts and characteristics (for example, name, address, date of birth and contact details, etc.)
• Request a brief summary of the issue(s) for which contact has been made.
• How you heard about the service.
• Ask if you are aware of the Hull Counselling Services Ltd website and inform you of the details of its existence and accessibility.

How we get the personal information and why we have it

Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you (Self-referral) for one of the following reasons:

• To provide you information that will allow you to use our services.
• To invoice for services used. For example, sending you a letter, text or email of invoice or taking card payments via our card payment terminal for services you have used.

We also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:

• Employers: Employers may gain consent from their employees to refer their employee for support to Hull Counselling Services Ltd. This indirect employer referral may be requested via telephone, letter or email and any indirect referral of this type may contain information concerning employees name, address, date of birth, and contact telephone number(s). In cases where Hull Counselling Services Ltd has been given consent to contact the employee directly to arrange a convenient face-to-face or online virtual clinical contact, the employee will be telephoned, emailed or text by Hull Counselling Services Ltd to achieve this aim. At the first face-to-face or online virtual meeting clinical appointment with the employee, consent for the collection and processing of basic personal information data and any basic personal data already received will be checked and added to as necessary.
• Solicitors, Personal Injury Claim Companies, Unions, etc.: Solicitors, Personal Injury Claim Companies, Unions, etc. may agree with their clients to refer their clients for support to Hull Counselling Services Ltd. This indirect Solicitors, Personal Injury Claim Companies, Unions, etc. referral may be requested via telephone, letter or email and any direct referral of this type may contain information concerning their clients name, address, date of birth, and contact telephone number(s). Additionally, this type of indirect referral may include (potentially sensitive) details of any accident or incident that caused or led to the injury or continuing psychological impacts in order for Hull Counselling Services Ltd to properly understand the impacts of the accident or incident that caused or led to the injury or continued psychological impacts for the client. In cases where Hull Counselling Services Ltd has been given consent to contact the client directly to arrange a convenient face-to-face or online virtual clinical contact, the client will be telephoned, emailed or text by Hull Counselling Services Ltd to achieve this aim. At the first face-to-face or online virtual meeting clinical appointment with the employee, consent for the collection and processing of basic personal information data and any basic personal data already received will be checked and added to as necessary. You will always be informed if we are required to share this information with the original referring Employers, Solicitors, Personal Injury Claim Companies, Unions, etc. who referred you to Hull Counselling Services Ltd.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

• Your consent: You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by speaking with us directly, in writing to: Hull Counselling Services Ltd, 157 High Street, Hull. Hu1 1NQ or emailing: info@hullcounsellingservices.co.uk.uk. Withdrawal of consent whilst actively receiving psychological support would lead to the ending of support due to the services inability to support you in an emergency and/or for the reasons outlined below.
• If we have a contractual obligation: We may be required to share information, for example progress reports, with the original referring Employer, Solicitors, Personal Injury Claim Companies, Unions, etc. who referred you to Hull Counselling Services Ltd.
• When we have a vital interest: Vital interests apply to matters of protecting life such as for unexpected or emergency medical care necessity.

In very rare instances Hull Counselling Services Ltd may disclose your personal information, without notice, only if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to:

• Conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process served on Hull Counselling Services Ltd.
• Protect and defend the rights or property of Hull Counselling Services Ltd and its website.
• Act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of Hull Counselling Services Ltd, its website, or the general public.

How we store your personal information

Hull Counselling Services Ltd is strongly committed to protecting your information and ensuring that your choices are honoured. We have taken security measures to protect your data from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. All sensitive data has restricted access:

• All paper forms and correspondence are kept in locked storage.
• All electronic files are stored on password-protected devices with appropriate virus protection software.
• All correspondence such as reports or letters are sent securely via email or posted directly to the recipient by Special Delivery Guarantee with tracking and signature requirement.
• All online virtual therapy is offered on recognized, GDPR security compliant platforms, for example Microsoft Teams.
• Hull Counselling Services Ltd endeavors to keep systems and communications protected against viruses and other harmful effects, however cannot bear responsibility for all communications being virus-free.
• Any client notes and other documentation are destroyed seven years after service discharge.
• No personal or identifiable data is stored on Hull Counselling Services Ltd website “www.hullcounsellingservices.co.uk”. Any information obtained via the contact link on the website or any enquiries sent via the email address, info@hullcounsellingservices.co.uk goes directly to a secure email account.
• Any known information data breaches will be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours.
• Any requests for collected personal data will need a written form of signed authority. Please contact us by emailing: info@hullcounsellingservices.co.uk or in writing to: Hull Counselling Services Ltd, 157 High Street, Hull. Hu1 1NQ. Any request will be responded to within one month and information sent via email or directly to the recipient by postal Special Delivery Guarantee with tracking and signature requirement.

Your data protection rights

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, you have rights including:

• Your right of access
• Your right to rectification
• Your right to erasure
• Your right to restriction of processing
• Your right to object to processing
• Your right to data portability

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. You can make this request via email to: info@hullcounsellingservices.co.uk or in writing to: Hull Counselling Services Ltd, 157 High Street, Hull. Hu1 1NQ. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

When information can be withheld

There are some situations when organizations are allowed to withhold information, for example if the information is about:

• The prevention, detection or investigation of a crime.
• National security or the armed forces.
• The assessment or collection of tax.
• Judicial or ministerial appointments.

For further guidance, please see: https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/your-right-to-get-copies-of-your-data/what-to-expect-after-making-a-subject-access-request/

Links

Hull Counselling Services Ltd website may contain links to other websites. Hull Counselling Services Ltd has no responsibility or liability for the privacy practices or Cookies policies for these links or any other external websites. Hull Counselling Services Ltd strongly encourages you, when following any external links, to read the privacy and Cookies policies for each website you visit which may collect your personally identifiable information. Hull Counselling Services Ltd.’s privacy and Cookies policies solely apply to Hull Counselling Services Ltd and are not intended in any way to apply to any other external websites.

How to complain

If you have any concerns or feel Hull Counselling Services Ltd has not adhered to these principles, please notify us in the first instance and we will do our best to promptly make any corrections.

You can make a complaint to us by:

• Email: info@hullcounsellingservices.co.uk
• In writing to: Hull Counselling Services Ltd, 157 High Street, Hull. Hu1 1NQ.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk