Privacy Notice - Connected Therapy Oxford

Who is responsible for your information

Connected Therapy Oxford is the trading name of Sam Plumb, who is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this notice.

If you have any questions about how your information is used, you can contact me at hello@connectedtherapyoxford.com.

About this privacy notice

This privacy notice explains how I collect, use, store and protect your personal information when you contact or work with Connected Therapy Oxford.

Relationship counselling involves sharing personal and sometimes sensitive information. I take your privacy and confidentiality seriously and only collect and use information where there is a reason for doing so.

This notice applies when you use this website, contact me, book a consultation or counselling session, or receive counselling from me.

What information I collect

Depending on how you contact me and the work we do together, I may collect and use information including:

  • your name and contact details;

  • appointment, booking and payment information;

  • information you provide when making an enquiry or completing a booking or intake form;

  • information you share with me during consultations and counselling sessions;

  • brief counselling notes and other records necessary for providing and managing the counselling service; and

  • relevant communications between us.

Because this is a relationship counselling service, some of the information you choose to share may be particularly sensitive. This could include information about your physical or mental health, relationships, sex life or sexual orientation, religious or philosophical beliefs, or other personal circumstances.

Where more than one person is involved in counselling, I may sometimes receive information about you from your partner or another person involved in the work, for example when they make the initial booking or provide contact details.

Why I use your information

I use personal information where necessary to:

  • respond to enquiries and arrange consultations or counselling sessions;

  • provide relationship counselling and manage our work together;

  • manage appointments, payments, cancellations and other administration;

  • keep appropriate records of the counselling provided;

  • communicate with you about your appointments or counselling;

  • maintain the safety, confidentiality and professional standards of my practice; and

  • meet legal, regulatory, insurance or professional obligations where these apply.

For information needed to arrange and provide a counselling service you have requested, I generally rely on the lawful basis that the processing is necessary to take steps towards, or perform, our contract.

Counselling may also involve special category personal information, such as information about health, sex life, sexual orientation, religious or philosophical beliefs. Where I rely on explicit consent to process this information, I will ask for that consent separately and keep a record of it.

There may be limited circumstances where I need to use or disclose information for another lawful reason, for example where this is necessary to protect someone's vital interests or to comply with a legal obligation.

How I keep your information secure

I take reasonable steps to protect personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure.

Electronic information is protected using appropriate security measures, such as password-protected accounts and access controls. Any paper records containing personal information are stored securely and are not accessible to clients or members of the public.

I aim to collect and retain only the information that is reasonably necessary for providing and managing the counselling service.

Where I use other organisations to provide services involved in running the practice, I take reasonable steps to use reputable providers and appropriate privacy and security arrangements.

Who I may share information with

I do not sell your personal information.

Where necessary for providing and running the counselling service, personal information may be processed using services that support my practice, including:

  • Squarespace and Acuity Scheduling for the website, enquiries and appointment booking;

  • Stripe for processing payments;

  • Zoom where counselling or consultations take place online; and

  • my email provider for communications.

I may discuss my counselling work in professional clinical supervision. Supervision is confidential and is used to support safe and ethical practice. I aim to minimise identifying information when discussing clients in supervision.

I may also share information where I am legally required to do so, or where disclosure is necessary because of a serious concern about safety or another overriding legal or professional obligation.

I will not routinely share information with your partner, family members, employer, GP or other professionals without your agreement.

International transfers

Some of the services I use to run my practice may process or store personal information outside the UK, including in the United States.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, I use service providers that put appropriate safeguards in place in accordance with UK data protection law. Depending on the provider and destination, these safeguards may include recognised adequacy arrangements or approved contractual protections for international data transfers.

This may apply, for example, to services provided by Squarespace and Acuity Scheduling, Stripe and Zoom.

How long I keep your information

I keep personal information only for as long as there is a reasonable need to do so, taking account of the purpose for which it was collected and any legal, insurance or professional requirements that apply.

Counselling records are normally retained for seven years after our work together ends, in line with my professional insurance requirements. After the relevant retention period, records are securely deleted or destroyed unless there is a specific reason why they need to be kept for longer.

Other information, such as enquiries that do not lead to counselling, may be kept for a shorter period where there is no continuing reason to retain it.

I review my retention arrangements periodically and aim not to keep identifiable personal information for longer than is necessary.

Website and cookies

This website uses cookies and similar technologies. Some cookies are necessary for the website to function correctly.

With your permission, non-essential cookies may also be used to help understand how the website is used. This includes Google Analytics, which I use to understand general information about website use, such as which pages are visited and how visitors interact with the site. I do not use Google Analytics to collect information you provide in counselling enquiry, booking or intake forms.

Google Analytics is provided by Google and may process information such as information about your device, browser and use of the website. I have configured the website so that non-essential analytics cookies are subject to your cookie choices.

You can accept, decline or manage non-essential cookies using the cookie controls provided on the website, and you can change your preferences later using the Cookie Preferences control.

Your data protection rights

Data protection law gives you a number of rights over your personal information. Depending on the circumstances, these may include the right to:

  • ask for a copy of the personal information I hold about you;

  • ask me to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;

  • ask me to delete personal information in certain circumstances;

  • ask me to restrict how I use your information in certain circumstances;

  • object to certain uses of your personal information; and

  • receive or transfer certain information electronically where the right to data portability applies.

These rights are not absolute and whether a particular right applies can depend on the circumstances and the lawful basis on which the information is being used.

Where I rely on your consent to process information, you can withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing that took place before it was withdrawn.

If you would like to exercise a data protection right or have a question about how I use your information, please contact me at hello@connectedtherapyoxford.com.

Questions or complaints about your information

If you have a question or concern about how I collect or use your personal information, or would like to make a data protection complaint, please contact me in the first instance at:

hello@connectedtherapyoxford.com

I will take appropriate steps to consider any data protection complaint and will acknowledge receipt within 30 days.

If you are unhappy with how I have handled your personal information or my response to a complaint, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent regulator for data protection.

Last updated: September 2026