At Gloucestershire Counselling Service we take the privacy and security of your personal data very seriously. This Privacy Policy is designed to inform you about how we collect, use, share, and protect your personal information when you interact with our services. Your trust is paramount, and we are committed to safeguarding your data and ensuring transparency in how we handle it.
The type of personal information we collect.
We currently collect and process the following information:
Personal contact details such as name, title, address, telephone numbers and personal email addresses.
Date of birth.
Marital status and dependants.
Next of kin and emergency contact information.
Information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs and sexual orientation.o
Information about your physical and mental health, including any medical condition and medication.
Information about your income level to establish the cost of counselling.
How we get your personal information and why we have it
Most of the personal information we process is provided to us directly by you in order to provide a service to you. We also receive personal information indirectly, from the following sources in the following scenarios:
We may receive information about you from third parties who are referring you to GCS in order to support you.
We use the information that you have given us to provide a counselling service.
We may share this information with a referrer organisation.
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:
Processing of your data is necessary for a contract we have with you and/or with a third party (as set out above) or because you have asked us to take specific steps for you before entering into a contract.
Processing is necessary for Gloucestershire Counselling Service’s legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests.
How we store and protect your personal information
Your information is held securely either within the GCS secure IT system and with our system provider or in locked filing cabinets. Access to the information is limited to staff whose job role requires access. We do not store credit/debit card details, nor do we share financial information with third parties.
We keep all personal information which we hold about you for a period of seven years from the end of our service to you. We will then dispose of your information by confidentially disposing of it or deleting it from our computer server.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have rights including:
Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to object to processing – You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
Subject Access Request: You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
You have the right to request access to information that we hold about you. To make such a request, please contact us at [email protected]
How to complain
If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint by emailing; [email protected]
Write to: Alma House, 52-53 Hight Street, Stroud, GL5 1AP
You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.
The ICO’s address: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
