Who is responsible for your information
I am Dana Corfield, an independent counsellor, psychotherapist and clinical supervisor in private practice in Torquay, Devon. I am the data controller for the personal information described in this notice. You can reach me at dana@danacorfield.co.uk or 07970 64 00 43.
What information I collect
If you make an enquiry
When you email, call me, or use the form on the contact page, I receive your name, your contact details, what you said you were getting in touch about, and whatever you choose to tell me about what you are looking for. I only use this to respond to you and to arrange an initial conversation.
Messages sent through the form are delivered to my own inbox by Resend, an email delivery service acting on my instructions. The form is not stored in a database, and nothing you write is kept on this website.
If we work together
If you become a client or supervisee, I keep a small amount of contact and administrative information, along with brief session records. Counselling and supervision records can include information about your health and wellbeing, which data protection law treats as a “special category” requiring extra care. I keep such notes to the minimum needed to work safely and well.
When you visit this website
This website does not use cookies, advertising trackers or analytics. Nothing you do here is recorded or profiled, and you are not followed around the internet afterwards. My hosting provider keeps standard server logs, including IP addresses, for a short period for security and reliability.
Why I am allowed to hold it
For enquiries and for arranging and delivering sessions, my lawful basis is legitimate interests and the performance of our agreement. For the health-related information in session records, I rely on the additional condition in UK GDPR Article 9(2)(h): the provision of health or social care by a professional bound by a duty of confidentiality.
Who I share it with
I do not sell your information, and I do not share it for marketing. In the ordinary course of the work, your information may be seen by:
- My clinical supervisor. Ethical practice requires me to discuss my work in supervision. This is done without identifying you wherever possible, and my supervisor is bound by the same duty of confidentiality.
- Service providers. A small number of trusted suppliers process information on my behalf under contract: the video platform used for online sessions, the secure services where records and email are held, Resend for delivering enquiries from the contact form, and my accountant for invoicing. They may only act on my instructions, and none of them may use your information for their own purposes.
If you would like to know which specific suppliers I use, please ask and I will tell you.
When confidentiality may be broken
What you share with me is confidential. There are a small number of circumstances where I may need to pass information on without your consent: where there is a serious and immediate risk to your life or to someone else’s, where a child or vulnerable adult may be at risk of harm, where the law specifically requires it (such as certain terrorism or money-laundering duties), or where a court orders it. Wherever it is safe and possible to do so, I will discuss this with you first.
How long I keep it
I keep information only for as long as there is a good reason to. Enquiries that do not lead to us working together are deleted once it is clear no further contact is needed.
Client and supervisee records are kept securely for a set period after our work ends, and are then securely destroyed. That period is set by the guidance of my professional bodies and the requirements of my professional indemnity insurer, which exist so that I can respond properly if a question about our work is raised later. Where the work involved someone under 18, records are held for longer, as that guidance requires. If you would like to know the period that applies to your own records, please ask.
How it is kept safe
Records are stored securely, with access limited to me alone. Digital information is held on password-protected, encrypted devices and services; any paper notes are kept locked away and separately from anything that identifies you.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to ask for a copy of the information I hold about you, to have inaccurate information corrected, and (in some circumstances) to ask for information to be deleted or its use restricted. You can also object to particular uses of it, and withdraw consent where consent is what I have relied on.
These rights are not absolute; where professional or legal obligations mean I must retain certain records, I will explain that to you. To make a request, just contact me at dana@danacorfield.co.uk. I will respond within one month.
If you are unhappy
Please do tell me first. I would much rather put something right directly. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this notice
If this notice changes, the updated version will always appear on this page.