Who we are

This website address is: https://www.heroncounselling.co.uk. Heron Counselling is an independent counselling service. I collect data for the purposes of marketing and operating this business, and contacting my clients with regards to appointments.  

This privacy policy explains how I, Jacqui Whittingham of Heron Counselling, use and protect any information that you give me when you use this service.

I am committed to ensuring your data is protected. Should I ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using my services, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

I may change this policy from time to time and I suggest that your regularly check this page to ensure that you continue to be comfortable with the measures I am taking to protect your privacy. This policy is effective from 25^th May 2018.

By visiting Heroncounselling.co.uk you are accepting and consenting to the practices described in this policy.

By continuing to use my site you are agreeing to my use of cookies described below.

Any changes I make to my privacy and cookie policy will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any changes to my privacy and cookie policy.

For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the data controller is Jacqui Whittingham.

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Contact forms

These are used for the purpose of initial contact to enquire about the counselling service. They will create and send an e-mail to hello@heroncounselling.co.uk.  Sending this form gives permission for Heron Counselling to use the e-mail address provided for the purpose of contacting you about your enquiry. We will not use your e-mail for marketing purposes without explicit permission. 

Cookies

My site does use cookies in order to distinguish you from other users, to enable social media functions and for the website to monitor traffic to the site.

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

You are able to disable cookies, which will prevent your visit being tracked. Some cookies are essential for the website to work properly.  I would advise you to disable cookies on your internet browser regularly.  Please see www.youronlinechoices.com/uk to provide you with information about cookies and www.aboutcookies.org  for advice about deleting and managing cookies.

Analytics

Currently none in place.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Who we share your data with

I do not share your data with anyone unless ;

The information you pass to me in the contact form or on the phone will be kept confidential except in the instance that you disclose serious illegal, terrorist or criminal activity where I may be required to contact the police.  If you indicate that you or someone else is at significant imminent risk of harm I may also be required to disclose this to the police or a GP if I have these details.  Some details you give me about your circumstances may form part of your client record should we meet for an initial appointment.  I can provide further detail about client records at a later stage or by request.

Information sent by contact form or email is not SSL protected and is therefore not encrytped. Therefore the security of this information is unknown, so you may wish to consider how you feel about sending personal details via email and may prefer to do so by phone.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on this website (if any), the personal information they provide in their user profile is stored for future use. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

Contact data provided for the purposes of an initial enquiry in the form of an e-mail will be kept for 1 month unless they refer to a future appointment, in which case they are kept until after that date. E-mails relating to our therapeutic work may be printed and kept as part of your client record if we go on to work with one another.

If you make an inquiry and we do not proceed, I will not keep a record.

My business phone is dedicated and password protected. Your first name and initial of your second name will be stored on this phone, along with your e-mail address and phone number until we finish working together or until your account has been settled. 

Where we send your data

Visitor comments and contact forms may be checked through an automated spam detection service before we receive them. We do not give your data to anyone else.

Your contact information

If provided for the purposes of an initial counselling inquiry, your data will only be used for that purpose. If a counselling relationship is formed the contact details obtained via this website will only be used for the purposes of contacting you in relation to arrangements relating to that relationship.

Access to Information

You can request access to the personal information that I hold about you and except in limited circumstances when I am not permitted to do so for legal reasons, I will provide this information to you within 30 days.

If you feel that any information that I hold about you is inaccurate then you are able to ask me to update your information.  If you want me to delete your information then please do so in writing and I will endeavour to do so unless I need to keep it for legal, professional or internal business purposes.

Contact

If you wish to contact me with questions, concerns, complaints or request for your information then please contact me, Jacqui Whittingham  at:

Heron Counselling, 30 Maslen Road,St Albans, Herts AL4 0GT

Website: www.Heroncounselling.co.uk

Email: Jacqui@heroncounselling.co.uk

Telephone number: +447484800122