Privacy Policy
Your privacy is very important to me and 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 registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office. My registration number is A11186
Why I am able to process your information, and for what purpose.
G.D.P.R. states that I must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data.
For more information about the lawful basis for processing personal information visit the ICO website https://ico.org.uk/
If you have had therapy with me and it has now ended, I will use legitimate interest as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information.
If you are currently having therapy or if you are in contact with me to consider therapy, I will process your personal data where it is necessary for the performance of our contract.
The GDPR also makes sure that I look after any sensitive personal information that you may disclose to me appropriately. This type of information is called ‘special category personal information’. The lawful basis for me processing any special categories of personal information is that it is for provision of health treatment (in this case counselling) and necessary for a contract with a health professional (in this case, a contract between you and me)
How I use your information during our initial contact.
When you contact me with an enquiry about my counselling services I will collect information to help me satisfy your enquiry. This will include contact details such as your address, telephone number and email address. Alternatively, your GP or other health professional may send me your details when making a referral or a relative or trusted individual may give me your details when making an enquiry on your behalf. If you decide not to proceed I will ensure all your personal data is deleted within three months. If you would like this information deleted sooner just let me know using my e-mail address hello@peteaskewtherapy.com
How your information is stored and shared once you are in therapy.
Your information, including contact details and session notes are kept securely on a password protected, encrypted, web based system. For security reasons I do not retain text messages or emails for more than two weeks. All my devices such as laptops and mobile phones use password or fingerprint protection and encryption. I do not store current client information in filing cabinets.
If there is relevant information contained in a text message or email I will transfer this to the web based system described above.
Once counselling has ended your records are kept for seven years from the end of our contact with each other and are then securely destroyed.
I sometimes share personal data (most likely your name only) with third parties for running my business (for example my client management and accounting software, both of which are password protected and encrypted, and H.M.R.C for my tax return). I take great care to ensure that I have a contract with the third party that states what they are allowed to do with the data I share with them. I ensure that they do not use your information in any way other than the task for which they have been contracted.
Private Practice Executor
All therapists and counsellors are required to have a private practice executor who agrees to take over and wind up the private practice in the event of a therapist’s death or incapacity.
The executor for my private practice is a counselling colleague who will have access to your contact details only in case of the events described above. Once the private practice has been wound up your contact details, notes and any other documentation will be destroyed after seven years, or immediately following my death.
Your Rights
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. You also have a right to ask for a copy of any information that I hold about you and to object to the use of your personal data in some circumstances. You can read more about your rights at
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 my email address hello@peteaskewtherapy.com
If you have any complaint about how I handle your personal data please do not hesitate to get in touch with me by writing or emailing to the contact details given above. I would welcome any suggestions for improving my data protection procedures. If you want to make a formal complaint about the way I have processed your personal information you can contact the ICO which is the statutory body that oversees data protection law in the UK. For more information go to ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint..I am happy to chat through any questions you might have about my data protection policy and you can contact me via my email address hello@peteaskewtherapy.com
Visitors to my website When someone visits my website, I use a third party service, Squarespace, 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. This information is only processed in a way that does not identify anyone. I do not make, and do not allow Squarespace to make, any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting my website. I use legitimate interests as my lawful basis for holding and using your personal information in this way when you visit my website. I use Google Analytics so that I can continually improve my service to you, You can read Google Analytics privacy notice here. I use Squarespace as the content management system for our website - find out about Squarespace and data protection. Like most websites we use cookies to help the site work more efficiently - find out about our use of cookies. No user-specific data is collected by me or any third party. If you fill in a form on my website, that data will be temporarily stored on the web host before being sent to me.