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A Helping Mind Privacy Policy

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

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The General Data Protection Regulations mean that we are required to inform you of any personal data we collect and how we hold and use this personal data.  We take this responsibility and your confidentiality seriously and we hope this Privacy Notice answers any queries you may have about our data collection processes.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

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We are committed to keeping your data safe at all times.  We respect your right to privacy and your right to make informed choices about how we collect, hold or use your personal data.

 


Who we are:


A Helping Mind is a Counselling & Psychotherapy Service based in Athlone, Ireland. We provide Counselling & Psychotherapy services in person at various locations, online and over the phone. We also continue to expand and develop other services in relation to psychoeducation in the form of books, blogs, workshops, online courses and more. Our website is: https://www.ahelpingmind.com/

 


What data do we process:

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As part of the services we provide, we may collect and process both personal data and relevant information for the purpose of providing the most effective therapeutic service we can.

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Consent for collecting and processing your personal data is sought from you during the first counselling session and you have the right to request that data about you is not held or processed.

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We will explain these circumstances fully to you before you commence counselling.

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Security of Data:


A Helping Mind processes both digital and hard copies of intake forms, consent forms, notes, etc.

 

All hard copies are stored in locked filing cabinets, and all digital data is password protected, stored and processed on a secure server. 

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In order to improve the security of your data, A Helping Mind partners with a third-party healthcare practice management platform (Powerdiary https://www.powerdiary.com/uk/security/) which adheres to the highest standards across all jurisdictions including being:

  • GDPR compliant

  • HIPAA compliant

  • ISO 27001 certified

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Any contact information or appointment details stored on our phone will be password-protected.

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The security of your data is important to us, but no transmission over the Internet, or method of physical or electronic storage is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means and incorporate the experience and expertise of third-party platforms to communicate and protect your Personal Data, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

 

If for any reason we suspect that your data has been breached, or we question the security of third-party platforms, we will carry out an immediate risk assessment and comply with GDPR requirements (https://www.dataprotection.ie/en/organisations/know-your-obligations/breach-notification).

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Information is only shared with a 3rd party within the ethical framework of The Association of Professional Counsellors & Psychotherapists, when required by law, and/or for improved security. Your data will never be shared without your written consent unless a court has made a legal order (subpoena).

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Retention Period:

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We will retain your Personal Data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy. We will retain and use your Personal Data to the extent necessary to comply with our legal obligations (for example, we are required to retain your data to comply with applicable laws), resolve disputes, and enforce our legal agreements and policies.  The law requires that we keep all notes for a period of 7 years after we have completed sessions. After this period the notes will be destroyed.

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Usage Data for internal analysis and analytical purposes may also be retained. Usage Data is generally retained for a shorter period of time, except when this data is used to strengthen the security or to improve the functionality of our Service, or we are legally obligated to retain this data for longer time periods.

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Your Rights:

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You have rights in relation to your personal data:

  • You have a right to know what we collect and what we do with it

  • You can ask to see your personal data

  • You can check your personal data for accuracy and if it’s not, we must correct it

  • You can withdraw your consent to the collection of personal data at any time

  • You can ask us to delete your personal data (which we can only carry out in accordance with relevant data, legal and ethical frameworks and regulations)

  • You also have the right to make a complaint with a supervisory authority. The Irish supervisory authority is the Data Protection Commission. The website of the Data Protection Commissioners is www.dataprotection.ie where you can find details of how to contact the Irish supervisory authority.

 

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Changes:

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We may need to update our Privacy Policy from time to time.

All modifications will be in accordance with the appropriate data, legal, and ethical frameworks and regulations.

Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective when they are posted on this page.

You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.

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