top of page

Privacy Policy

Talking Therapy North’s Privacy Policy

 

Looking for the Cookie Policy? It can be found here
 

Last updated 8th January 2025 
 

When you visit our website www.talkingtherapynorth.co.uk (the "Website"), and more generally, use any of our services (the "Services", which include the Website), we appreciate that you are trusting us with your personal information. We want you to understand that this is a safe place for you to discuss your feelings and concerns, and we operate in a highly confidential environment.  
 

In this privacy policy, we seek to explain to you in the clearest way possible what information we collect, how we use it and what rights you have in relation to it. We hope you take some time to read through it carefully, as it is important. If there are any terms in this privacy notice that you do not agree with, please discontinue use of our Services immediately. 
 

Please read this privacy policy carefully as it will help you understand what we do with the information that we collect. 
 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

  1. WHO IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR DATA? 

  2. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

  3. HOW DO WE COLLECT PERSONAL DATA? 

  4. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION? 

  5. WILL INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE? 

  6. DO YOU TRANSFER MY DATA INTERNATIONALLY? 

  7. DO WE USE THIRD-PARTY LINKS?

  8. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES? 

  9. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION? 

  10. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

  11. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS? 

  12. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS? 

  13. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE? 

  14. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE? 

  15. NOT HAPPY WITH SOMETHING?

 

1. WHO IS IN CHARGE OF YOUR DATA? 

The controller of your data is Talking Therapy North Ltd and we can be contacted on: 

 

2. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

‘Personal data' is information that identifies you. If we've removed your identity (by making the data anonymous), it won’t be classed as personal data. We might collect, use, store, and share various types of personal data about you as follows:

 

  • Identity details such as first and last name, username or similar identifier, marital status and title, date of birth and gender.

  • Contact details such as your billing address and delivery address, email address and telephone number.

  • Technical information such as your internet protocol (IP address), your login data, browser type, version, browser plug-in types and versions, time zone setting and location, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access our website. 

  • Financial information such as your bank account and payment card details.

  • Information about transactions like details about payments to and from you, and other details of products and services you have purchased from us. 

  • Account details such as your username, password, purchases or orders made by you, and your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses.

  • Usage information about how you use our website, products and services.

  • Special Category Data:  Includes information about your health, including information about your existing and previous medical health conditions, medication details, psychiatric history and any other relevant health information to enable us to carry out our services to you.  We may also collect  other Special Category Data about you  relating to your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership and genetic and biometric data). We may occasionally  collect information about criminal convictions and offences if required.

 

Consents for Health Data:  We require your specific consent to process Special Category Data so, when you submit your details, we will ask you to confirm your consent to this processing.

 

3. HOW DO WE COLLECT PERSONAL DATA? 

We use different methods to collect data from and about you. The majority of the time, our information is collected directly when you contact us in the following ways:

 

  • When you fill in any new client onboarding forms;

  • When you complete any forms before or during an appointment;

  • Verbally during discussions and therapy/counselling sessions;

  • When you contact us to provide supervision services to you;

  • Correspondence with us via post, phone, email, WhatsApp, website contact forms or otherwise;

  • When you use our therapy, counselling or supervision services; or

  • When you give us feedback or contact us. 

 

4. HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?

We use personal information collected via our Website for a variety of business purposes described below. We process your personal information for these purposes in reliance on our legitimate business interests, in order to enter into or perform a contract and provide our therapy or supervision services to you, with your consent, and/or for compliance with our legal obligations. We indicate the specific processing grounds we rely on next to each purpose listed below. 

We use the information we collect or receive: 

  • To send administrative information to you. We may use your personal information to send you therapy service information and/or information about changes to our terms, conditions, and policies.

  • To protect our Services. We may use your information as part of our efforts to keep our Website safe and secure (for example, for fraud monitoring and prevention).

  • To enforce our terms, conditions and policies for business purposes, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or in connection with our contract.

  • To respond to legal requests and prevent harm. If we receive a subpoena or other legal request, we may need to inspect the data we hold to determine how to respond.

  • To deliver and facilitate therapy, counselling and supervision services to the user. 

  • To respond to user inquiries/offer support to users. We may use your information to respond to your inquiries and solve any potential issues you might have with the use of our Services.

  • For other business purposes. We may use your information for other business purposes, such as data analysis, identifying usage trends, determining the effectiveness of our promotional campaigns and to evaluate and improve our Website, products, marketing and your experience. We may use and store this information in aggregated and anonymised form so that it is not associated with individual end users and does not include personal information. We will not use identifiable personal information without your consent.

​

5. WILL YOUR INFORMATION BE SHARED WITH ANYONE?

We take your data's security seriously and only allow certain people to access it.  We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes as stated further above.

 

  • Service providers, acting as processors who provide IT and system administration services.

  • Professional advisers including healthcare professionals, lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services.

  • If you are referred by your health insurance provider then we may need to share details about your appointment schedule with your insurer for the purposes of billing and to provide treatment updates.

  • As HCPC and BACP accredited clinicians, we are obliged to consult with another mental health professional for supervision purposes. This may include one-to-one or group based supervision meetings. This is to ensure we reflect and improve on our clinical skills.  When discussing clients in supervision we only refer to clients by their first name and identifiable information is minimised.

  • Sometimes we may need to share details with your GP or a social worker.  We will always get your consent prior to doing this.  When the information concerns risk of harm to the client or another person then we may need to disclose information about you without your consent for your own safety or for the safety of someone else.  

  • HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and other authorities who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.

  • Debt collection agencies in the event that payment is not received for services rendered. This will be done to recover any outstanding debts, and the debt collectors will process your data solely for this purpose.

 

All of the above third parties have a requirement to respect the security of your personal data. We do not permit them to use your personal data for their own purposes – they are only permitted to process your data for specified purposes in line with our instructions. 

 

6. DO YOU TRANSFER MY DATA INTERNATIONALLY? 

We may transfer your data outside of the United Kingdom/EEA, but only when we can be sure it is protected.

 

Many of our external third parties are based outside the United Kingdom/EEA and so their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the United Kingdom.

 

Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the United Kingdom, we make sure it is protected by at least implementing one of the following safeguards:

 

  • We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the United Kingdom

  • Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe. 

 

Please contact us if you want further information on the specific process used by us when transferring your personal data out of the United Kingdom. 

 

7. DO WE USE THIRD-PARTY LINKS?

Our website might link to third-party websites, tools and apps. Clicking on these links may allow third parties to collect or share your data.  We do not control said websites and are not responsible for said websites’ privacy policies. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.
 

8. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?

We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to access or store information. Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our Cookie Policy here. 

​

9. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting or other legal requirements). By law we have to keep medical information about patients for 7 years after treatment has finished.

When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymise such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible. 

​

10.  HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process.  Only authorised individuals who have a need to know are granted access to your data, such as our employees or trusted partners. They will process your data in accordance with our confidentiality terms. 

However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorised third parties will not be able to defeat our security, and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Website is at your own risk. You should only access the Website within a secure environment. 

In the rare circumstances that there is a personal data breach, we have procedures in place and will notify you, along with any applicable regulator, when we’re legally required to.

​

11. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?

​​

We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Website, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent's use of the Website. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at info@talkingtherapynorth.co.uk

​

12. WHAT ARE YOU PRIVACY RIGHTS?

​​

You have the following rights regarding your personal data: 

 

Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. This is known as a "data subject access request." 

 

Correction: If the personal data we have about you is incomplete or incorrect, you can ask us to correct it. 

 

Erasure:  You can ask us to delete your personal data. It's important to note, however, that there might be legal reasons that prevent us from fulfilling this request. If such reasons exist, we will inform you when you make your request. 

 

Objection: In certain situations, you have the right to object to the processing of your personal data.

 

Restriction of Processing: You can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data under specific circumstances. 

 

Data Portability: You have the right to request the transfer of your personal data directly to you or to a third party of your choice. 

 

Withdrawal of Consent: At any point where we rely on your consent to process your personal data, you have the right to withdraw this consent. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the legality of the processing done before the consent was withdrawn. Should you withdraw your consent, we might be unable to provide you with certain products or services. We will inform you if that is the case when you withdraw your consent.

 

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us. 

 

We won’t charge any fees for you to request access to your personal data. However, a reasonable fee may be charged if your request is clearly unjustified, repetitive or excessive. We also reserve the right to not comply in this scenario.    We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated. 

​

13. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS POLICY?

​​​​

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy policy, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy policy frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information. 

 

14. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS POLICY?

If you have questions or comments about this policy, you may email us at info@talkingtherapynorth.co.uk

 

15. NOT HAPPY WITH SOMETHING? 

 

Let’s chat and try to fix it. You've also got the right to talk to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at (www.ico.gov.org.uk), but we hope to resolve any issues directly.

bottom of page