Digital Policy
I don’t use an e-mail encryption programme, so any emails we send to each other may be vulnerable to viruses or human error. This means it’s best to rely on email for non-confidential communications, like arranging appointment times.
Text messages
Please feel free to contact me by text message or WhatsApp if you need to re-schedule a session or if you are running late, but it’s not the best method for telling me about personal matters.
Social Media
It is better that our relationship remain as much as possible in the online or physical consultation room, as it reduces the chances of misunderstandings and is important to preserve your privacy. So I won’t follow you, but you are free to follow me on my professional accounts.
I will learn about you from our meetings, so I won’t Google you after you make contact. If you searched me and found something out that you have questions about, please do bring them to a session so we can discuss it.
Online Meetings
I prefer to use Zoom as it is adequately encrypted – I will send you a link to our meeting and you just click on it. If we do meet online, we can discuss how best this is done, and both agree not to use any recording devices.
Privacy Policy
Your privacy is very important to me and you can be confident that your personal information will be kept safe and secure. I will not use your personal data to contact you for any other purpose than therapy, unless you have asked me to do otherwise, and to invoice you (if arranged in advance). I will never share clients’ data to other parties for marketing purposes, or similar. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (EU/2016/679) (the GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.
I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can contact me via cricieli.psicologa@gmail.com ‘Data controller’ is the term used to describe the person/ organisation that collects and stores and has responsibility for people’s personal data. In this instance, the data controller is me.
As a ‘data controller’, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is concerned with the personal information about you that I collect, store, and share, as below:
What I collect & where I store the information
When you come for therapy, I ask you for:
Name
Address
Telephone number/s (plus permission to text or not)
Email address
Your GP practice
An emergency contact
Gender (or preferred identity)
Age
Occupation
Names of key family members
Brief therapy history
Relevant medical conditions
Prescribed medication/s
A note of your current difficulties and therapy objectives
If your health insurer will be paying for my fees, I will email them with your policy details/date of birth/name and address via my invoice. Each health insurer will have its own GDPR scheme.
I store your mobile number. This allows me to contact you in emergencies. Your emails, telephone contact history and texts may also be stored here should we exchange messages in this way. My smartphone is password protected.
Computer:
Working contract and document with the personal information you provided (name, occupation and etc.) is stored in a password-protected file.
Website:
None of your personal information is stored on my website, other than momentarily if you use the ‘Contact Me’.
Paper:
I keep paper copies of the following in a locked cabinet:
Working contract and document with the personal information you provided (name, occupation and etc).
Handwritten Session Notes. I use a code on this, not your name.
What I may share
All your personal information and everything you say is treated in the strictest confidence. I will not share your data or personal information with anyone else or with any other body. As a registered psychotherapist in the UK, and to support best practice, I am requested to attend regular Clinical Supervision during which time some client material is discussed, on an anonymous and confidential basis.
By Order of Law
If I am ordered by a court of law to share any of the information I hold about you, I will share only the minimum detail required and only after discussion with you wherever possible.
Suicidal Intent, serious harm
If I believe there is a significant risk of you causing serious harm to yourself or another person, or of taking your own life, I may share your contact information and brief mental health details with your doctor or relevant emergency service. I will attempt to discuss this with you first whenever possible.
Terrorism and Money Laundering
If I have become aware of your intent to commit an act of terrorism, or money laundering, the law may require that I inform an authority without seeking your permission or your knowledge.
Erasing your information
I will securely hold your written information for up to seven years (for insurance purposes). After this time has passed, I destroy all the information. At any time before then, you have the right to be informed about the data I have, receiving a response within a calendar month and to withdraw consent to its use and to change/delete information. To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to cricieli.psicologa@gmail.com
You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters.