Ash Beachey Privacy Notice

I am a sole practitioner offering private counselling services. I adhere to current data protection legislation, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR), where applicable.

This privacy notice tells you what I will do with your personal information from initial point of contact through to after your therapy has ended. I am happy to discuss any questions you might have about my data protection policy, and you can contact me via Beacheytherapy@outlook.com.

‘Data controller’ is the term used to describe the person or organisation that collects and stores personal data and has responsibility for how it is used. In this instance, the data controller is me. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number ZB811057. My email address is Beacheytherapy@outlook.com.

The UK GDPR states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. When you contact me to make an enquiry about counselling, I will process your personal data where this is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. If you decide to proceed with counselling, I will process your personal data where this is necessary for the performance of our contract. After therapy has ended, I will use legitimate interests as my lawful basis for retaining and using your personal information where necessary, including for professional, legal and insurance purposes.

The UK GDPR also provides additional protection for special category personal information. This includes information relating to your physical or mental health, which may be disclosed to me during counselling. The condition I rely on for processing this information is the provision of health or social care or treatment, where applicable. I will only collect and use special category information where it is necessary for providing counselling and managing my professional responsibilities.

When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services, I will collect information to help me respond to your enquiry. This may include your name, telephone number and email address, together with any information you choose to provide about your circumstances or reasons for seeking counselling. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral. If you decide not to proceed, I will ensure that your personal data is deleted within 1 year, unless there is a legal, professional, insurance or other legitimate reason for retaining it. You may request earlier deletion, which I will comply with where there is no legal or professional reason to retain the information.

Rest assured that everything you discuss with me is confidential. There are, however, some circumstances where information may need to be shared. This includes discussing my work with you in professional supervision, which is a standard ethical requirement, with supervisors bound by appropriate confidentiality requirements. Information may also need to be shared if I believe there is a significant risk of serious harm to yourself or to others, or where there is a legal or professional obligation to disclose information. This may include certain safeguarding circumstances or a court order. Where possible and appropriate, I would discuss this with you beforehand.

I will keep a record of your personal details to help the counselling services run smoothly. These details are kept securely electronically and may be processed by trusted third-party service providers that I use to operate my practice, such as providers of email, video conferencing, website and data-storage services. I take appropriate steps to ensure that these providers have suitable data protection and security arrangements in place.

I will keep brief written notes of sessions. These are also kept electronically and encrypted, using reputable and recognised software. In the event of my death or incapacitation, a clinical will has been drawn up so that relevant data can be accessed and appropriately managed or deleted by a chosen clinical professional in accordance with my professional and legal obligations.

Once counselling has ended, your records and relevant correspondence will be kept for up to 7 years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed or deleted. This retention period allows me to meet appropriate professional, legal and insurance requirements and to protect both you and me in the event of a complaint or legal claim. You have the right to request erasure of your personal data; however, this right is not absolute. In some circumstances, I may be required to retain certain records to meet legal, regulatory, professional or insurance obligations.

If counselling sessions are conducted online, I use a paid Zoom account as a video conferencing service. Zoom may process personal information necessary to provide the video conferencing service, which may include your name, account or display information and the audio and video transmitted during the session. I do not record counselling sessions. Zoom provides data protection and security measures for its customers. Further information about how Zoom processes personal information can be found in Zoom’s privacy information. I use Microsoft Outlook for email correspondence. Personal information contained in emails, including information you provide when making an enquiry or during counselling, may therefore be processed through Microsoft’s email services. I take appropriate steps to secure my email account, devices and access to email. I will only use email for purposes connected with the provision and administration of my counselling service.

I take the security of the data I hold about you very seriously and take every reasonable effort to make sure it is kept secure. I do this by using appropriate technical and organisational measures, including encrypted devices, password protection, appropriate access controls and reputable software and service providers. While no electronic system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, I take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.

When someone visits my website, I use a third-party service, Squarespace, to host my website and to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. I do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site and to help me operate and improve the website. I do not seek to identify individual visitors using this information. Where cookies or similar technologies are used, further information about these is provided in my Cookie Policy. You can read Squarespace’s privacy policy here: Privacy Policy — Squarespace. If you are accessing my services through Manchester Counselling & Therapy Ltd, then minimal scheduling information may be shared with Manchester Counselling & Therapy Ltd for administrative and booking purposes.

I may use other trusted third-party service providers from time to time where they are necessary to operate my counselling practice, for example for email, online sessions, website hosting, secure storage or administrative purposes. Where another organisation processes personal data on my behalf, I take reasonable steps to ensure that appropriate data protection and confidentiality arrangements are in place. Some of the third-party services I use may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom. Where this involves a restricted international transfer under UK data protection law, I will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place as required by the UK GDPR.

I try to be as open as I can be in terms of giving people access to their personal information. You have a right to ask me to delete your personal information, to limit how I use your personal information, or to stop processing your personal information in certain circumstances. You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to certain uses of your personal data. You may also have a right to ask for inaccurate information to be corrected and, in certain circumstances, to have your information transferred to another organisation. These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal, professional or other exemptions. You can read more about your rights at ico.org.uk/your-data-matters. If I do hold information about you, I will provide you with a description of it and, where appropriate, tell you why I am holding it, how long I will store your data, who it may be disclosed to and where the information came from. You can also ask me at any time to correct any mistakes there may be in the personal information I hold about you. To make a request for any personal information I may hold about you, please put the request in writing addressing it to Beacheytherapy@outlook.com. If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data, please do not hesitate to get in touch by emailing the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures.

This privacy notice may be updated from time to time to reflect changes to my practice, the services I use or data protection requirements.

last edited: 25/08/2026