We Will Keep Any Data You Share With Us During Our Work Together Safe And Secure. Our Business (Philip Blake) Is Registered With The Jersey Office Of Information Commissioner And Follows All Appropriate Guidelines Regarding Data Protection. We Will Not Share Your Data With Anyone Unless We Have A Professional Or Legal Obligation. If You Wish To Read Our Privacy Policy Please Click Here

Introduction

We are responsible for protecting your privacy and any personal information you may share with us when we work with you. For this purpose, under GDPR we would be “data controllers” which means we are responsible for taking measures to ensure your data is safe and for policies on such things as how long data is kept and who if any, we might share it with.

This Notice explains the kinds of personal data we may collect about you and that are necessary for us to work effectively. It also explains how we store and handle the data and how we keep it safe.

First of all, it’s important to understand a few terms. “Personal data” is information that identifies you. It will also be information about your problems and progress in therapy and will include any therapy notes.

“Processing” your data includes various activities using your data. These may include collecting, recording, organising, using, disclosing, storing and deleting it.

A “Condition for processing data” is essentially our justification for processing the information. We will for example ask you for your consent for to process your data to deliver psychological therapies to you.

The law requires us to:

  • To process your data in a lawful, fair and transparent way. We will always be clear about what data we are processing and why;
  • To only collect your data for explicit and legitimate purposes. We can only collect data that is with reference to your therapy;
  • To only collect data that is relevant, and limited to the purpose(s) We have told you about.

We will not record any data that isn’t directly relevant to your condition;

  • To ensure that your data is accurate and up to date. We are required to ensure data is up to date, We may check with you from time to time to make sure of this;
  • To ensure that your data is only kept as long as necessary for the purpose(s) We have told you about. We have strict policies on how long We will keep your information after which it will be securely destroyed;
  • To ensure that appropriate security measures are used to protect your data. We are very careful about my security arrangements and constantly update my systems and procedures.

The following sections should answer any questions you have but if not, please do let us know.

It is likely that we will need to update this Privacy Notice from time to time, and you are we welcome to come back and check this at any time, or contact us about this policy.

 

Conditions for Processing your Data

The law on data protection sets out a number of different conditions, or justifications if you like for which an organisation, or individual that is collecting and processing your personal data. When collecting your personal data, we will always make all of this very clear to you. Most commonly, we will process your data on the following lawful grounds:

  1. Your Explicit Consent
    In most situations, we collect and process your data with your explicit consent.We may discuss your personal information in supervision. All supervisors are fully qualified therapists and this is for the purposes of ensuring that our practice is safe and effective. This is mandated by our professional bodies. We do not reveal your name when we share your information in supervision. Our supervisors do not share your personal information with anyone else. If applicable, we will from time to time write to your referrer (or GP) with a summary of your treatment and progress. We will always obtain your consent and show you the content of such letters before sending them.If you have not engaged with us for more than six years, you may be flagged as an inactive individual and we will delete your file. If you would like us to keep your information for future reference, then please make this clear.
  2. Contractual obligations.
    When we begin working together, we will ask you to agree to our therapy contract. This is normal practice and lays out what we expect of one another. For example, we will give you the support you have asked for. In return you agree to promptly pay your fees. By entering into these terms, we enter into a contract together. Please refer to our terms and conditions for more detailed information.
  3. Vital use of data
    We may also use your data, typically in an emergency, where this is necessary to protect your life, or someone else’s life. In a small number of cases, where other lawful bases do not apply, we will process your data on this basis and in your best interest.We do not discuss your personal information with third parties, except for the purposes of supervision. However, if our professional opinion was that there was an immediate and serious risk that you might harm yourself or someone else, then we may have to share your personal information with a third party such as your GP, or the emergency services without first obtaining your consent. This might be because it is not practically possible to obtain your consent, or because attempting to do so might lead to a delay in accessing help and therefore endanger your life, or that of another.In situations where we did have to share your personal information with third parties to protect you or another, we will only share your personal information in so far as it is relevant and necessary to protect you, or someone else. We will inform you what personal information we shared and with whom.
  4. Legal Obligation.
    It is possible that your personal information may be requested by the Police, a Court of Law, Coroners Office or Professional Body in which circumstances we would have no option but to comply with the law.
  5. Legitimate interest
    In certain circumstances, we may require your data to pursue our legitimate interest in a way, which might reasonably be expected as Chartered Psychologists. When we process data in this way, we will make sure there isn’t a chance of any impact upon your rights, freedom or interests. We will never use our Legitimate Interest to process your sensitive data, such as your case notes relating to your mental health.

Special Category Data

How we might collect your data:

  • When you write to us about any subject by any means
  • When you enquire about our services but do not engage
  • When you attend an appointment
  • When you complete questionnaires
  • When you access or engage with our website

We are committed to your data protection rights.

  • Right to Object
  • Right to a copy of your information and a chance to correct inaccuracies
  • Right to be Forgotten
  • Right to be informed
  • Right to Restriction
  • Your right of portability
  • Data retention and how long we may keep information
  • How to complain about our processing of your data

We collect information about your current and previous psychological and physical health, and where relevant sexual health, and your current and previous social and family circumstances during your appointments. We will also collect information about you when you voluntarily complete questionnaires. This sensitive personal information is defined as “Special Category Data” and we collect it because we are providing psychological assessment or treatment to you. “Special categories” of particularly sensitive personal data, require higher levels of protection. We need to have clear justification for collecting, storing and using this type of personal data. We aim to collect and process only the special category data relevant to your mental health.

We collect your data in different ways that may include, but are not limited to:

We collect personal data in order to deliver our services. The data collected is most likely in electronic format but can also be in paper form.

For your security, we use all appropriate organisational and technical security controls to safeguard your data.

You have important rights detailed in the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, here’s a brief explanation of them.

You have the right to object to our processing or use of your personal information. But remember in some cases we are bound by law to process your data. If you have given consent for us to collect and process your personal data, you have the right to change your mind at any time and to withdraw that consent. However, please remember that if you withdraw your consent, because of the nature of our services, we will not be able to continue supporting you.

You have the right to request a copy of any information about you that we may hold at any time to check whether it is accurate. To ask for that information, please contact us in the normal way. To protect the confidentiality of your information and the interests, we will ask you to verify your identity before proceeding with any request for information. If you have authorised a third party to submit a request on your behalf, we will ask them to prove they have your permission to request such information.

You have the right to ask us to forget you from our records. We will uphold this right unless there is a legal obligation such as a contractual agreement, or it is in my legitimate interest to keep your data.

You have a right to be informed, to know what we are doing with your data and why. We promise to publish privacy notices wherever they may be required to clearly explain our reasons.

You have the right to ask us to stop processing your data for a number of difference reasons. For example, it might be because you think the data we hold about you is incorrect. Or maybe you think we are doing something wrong. Please contact us for further details.

If we hold information about you and you want us to ‘port’ it, or send it to another organisation that does similar work, or provides a similar service, you can ask us to do this. This service will be free of charge and we will endeavour to provide this service without undue delay.

Whenever we collect or process your personal data, we will only keep it for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

If you feel that your data has been handled incorrectly, or you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your query regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to complain to the Jersey Office of The Information Commissioner JOIC) which regulates the use of information in Jersey.

You can call them on 01534 716530 or go online to www.jerseyoic.org