The Private Practice Mentor Privacy Policy

The Private Practice Mentor is a UK-based mentoring business supporting counsellors, counselling students and therapists who are developing or establishing their private practice.

I am the data controller responsible for the personal information I process in connection with my business.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or how your information is handled, please contact me:

Email: hello@theprivatepracticementor.com

What Information I Collect

Depending on how you interact with me and the services you receive, I may collect:

Your name
Email address
Telephone number
Postal address, where required
Information provided through enquiry, contact, booking or onboarding forms
Professional registration, qualification and training information where relevant to the mentoring service
Information about your employment or private practice
Your mentoring goals and objectives
Notes made during mentoring sessions
Communications between us
Payment and invoicing information
Information relating to your use of my website, including technical information such as IP address, browser type and pages visited, where collected through analytics or cookies

I aim to collect only information that is necessary for the purposes for which it is being processed.

I do not generally require you to provide sensitive or special category information as part of my mentoring service. If you choose to provide information of this nature, I will only process it where there is an appropriate lawful basis to do so.

How I Collect Your Information

I may collect personal information when you:

Visit or interact with my website
Complete an enquiry or contact form
Complete an online form, including forms provided through Google Forms
Contact me by email or telephone
Book or purchase mentoring services
Complete an onboarding or intake form
Participate in mentoring sessions
Attend online mentoring sessions using platforms such as Google Meet or other agreed video-conferencing services
Make a payment
Subscribe to my email newsletter or other marketing communications

I may also receive information directly from you during our communications or mentoring relationship.

How Your Information Is Used

I may use your personal information to:

Respond to enquiries
Communicate with you about my services
Provide and manage mentoring services
Arrange appointments and online sessions
Understand and support your mentoring goals
Maintain appropriate mentoring records
Process payments and issue invoices
Maintain appropriate business and financial records
Send newsletters, resources or information about relevant services where you have consented to receive marketing communications
Improve my website and services
Meet legal, regulatory, accounting or insurance requirements
Protect the security of my business, systems and information

I will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with those described in this Privacy Notice without an appropriate lawful basis.

I will never sell your personal information.

Lawful Basis for Processing

I process personal information under one or more of the lawful bases provided by the UK GDPR.

Contract

Where processing is necessary to provide mentoring services that you have requested or agreed to receive, including arranging sessions, maintaining appropriate records and communicating with you about the service.

Legitimate Interests

Where processing is necessary for the reasonable operation and administration of my business, responding to enquiries, maintaining appropriate business records, improving my services and protecting my business, provided that these interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

Legal Obligation

Where I need to process or retain information to comply with a legal, regulatory, accounting or other applicable obligation.

Consent

Where I rely on your consent, for example for certain marketing communications or non-essential cookies, you can withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Email Marketing

If you choose to subscribe to my mailing list, your contact information will be processed using my email marketing service provider, currently MailerLite.

Marketing emails may include newsletters, resources, updates and information about mentoring services or future programmes.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link provided in each marketing email or by contacting me directly.

I will not add you to my marketing list without an appropriate lawful basis.

Third-Party Services

I use carefully selected third-party service providers where necessary to operate my business and provide my services.

Depending on the service you use, these may include providers for:

Website hosting and maintenance
Email and email marketing
Cloud storage and document management
Online forms
Scheduling and appointment management
Online meetings and video conferencing
Payment processing
Accounting and financial administration
Website analytics and performance monitoring

These providers may process personal information on my behalf where this is necessary to provide their services.

Where a third party processes personal information on my behalf, I take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate contractual, security and data protection arrangements are in place.

Some providers may process or store information outside the UK. Where this applies, I will ensure that any required safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable UK data protection law.

Google Workspace and Data Storage

I use Google Workspace, including Gmail and Google Drive, to manage business communications and store relevant business information and documents.

Confidential information is stored using access-controlled systems and appropriate security measures. Access to confidential information is restricted to those who have a legitimate need to access it.

Google Workspace applies technical and organisational security measures to protect information processed through its services. Further information about Google’s privacy and security practices is available from Google.

Data Storage and Security

I take the security and confidentiality of your personal information seriously and use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures include appropriate access controls, authentication, encryption, secure devices and appropriately maintained software and systems.

Where particularly sensitive information is stored in electronic files, additional access controls and, where appropriate, file-level encryption may be used.

I regularly review my security arrangements and take reasonable steps to keep relevant software and systems appropriately maintained and up to date.

No method of electronic transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be completely secure. However, I take appropriate measures to reduce the risks associated with processing personal information.

Your Rights

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

- Request access to your personal information

- Request correction of inaccurate information

- Request deletion of your information

- Restrict or object to processing in certain circumstances

- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

To exercise any of these rights, please contact me using the details above.

How Long I Keep Your Information

I retain personal information only for as long as it is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet relevant legal, regulatory, accounting, professional or insurance requirements.

Mentoring client records

Mentoring client records, including relevant session notes, contracts and correspondence, are normally retained for seven years after the end of the mentoring relationship, unless there is a lawful reason to retain them for longer.

Enquiries

Information relating to enquiries that do not result in a mentoring relationship is normally retained for up to 12 months, unless there is a legitimate reason to retain it for longer.

Financial records

Financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by applicable tax and accounting requirements.

Marketing information

If you subscribe to my marketing communications, your information will generally be retained while you remain subscribed.

Where you unsubscribe, I will remove you from active marketing communications. I may retain limited information where necessary to record your withdrawal of consent and ensure that you are not inadvertently contacted again.

When personal information is no longer required, I take appropriate steps to securely delete or dispose of it.

Cookies

This website uses cookies and similar technologies for purposes such as website functionality, security, remembering preferences and, where enabled, analytics and website performance monitoring.

Where non-essential cookies require consent, I will ask for your consent before setting them and provide appropriate options to manage your preferences.

Further information about the cookies used on this website, their purposes and how you can manage your choices is provided in my Cookie Policy.

The ICO states that non-essential cookies generally require active consent before they are set, while strictly necessary cookies may fall within an exemption.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have rights including:

The right to be informed about how your personal information is used
The right to request access to your personal information
The right to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information
The right to request deletion of your information in certain circumstances
The right to request restriction of processing in certain circumstances
The right to object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests and, where applicable, direct marketing
The right to data portability in certain circumstances
The right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent

These rights are subject to certain conditions and exemptions under data protection law.

To exercise your rights or ask a question about how your information is processed, please contact me using the details above.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how I handle your personal information, I encourage you to contact me first so that I can try to resolve your concerns.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Changes to This Privacy Notice

I may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes to my business, services, technology, data-processing arrangements or applicable legislation.

The latest version will be published on this website.

I will review this Privacy Notice regularly and update it where necessary.

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