Privacy Notice
How your personal information is collected, used, and protected when you make an enquiry or work with me. Confidentiality is the foundation of therapy — this notice explains how that principle extends to your data.
i. Who is responsible for your information
Martin Alderton is the data controller for the information described in this notice. I am a psychotherapeutic counsellor registered with the UK Council for Psychotherapy (UKCP) and work in accordance with its Code of Ethics and Professional Practice, as well as UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).
ii. The information I collect
Depending on how you engage with me, I may hold:
- Enquiry details — your name, email address and phone number, and anything you choose to tell me when you first make contact.
- Contact & appointment records — the practical details needed to arrange and hold sessions.
- Clinical notes — brief, secure notes kept during ongoing work, held only as long as is professionally and legally necessary.
- Special category data — information about your health and wellbeing is, by the nature of therapy, sensitive personal data and is treated with corresponding care.
iii. Why I hold it, and my lawful basis
I use your information only to respond to your enquiry, to arrange and provide therapy, and to meet my professional and legal obligations. My lawful bases are your consent (which you may withdraw at any time), the performance of our agreement to work together, and — for clinical records — the provision of health care by a professional bound by a duty of confidentiality.
I do not use your information for marketing, and I never sell it.
iv. Confidentiality and its limits
What you bring to therapy is held in confidence. The only exceptions are the statutory ones — a serious risk to your life or someone else's, or where I am required to disclose by law or a court order. Where it is safe and possible, I will always discuss this with you first.
v. How your information is kept safe
Records are kept to a minimum and stored securely, whether on paper or electronically. Where I use third parties — such as a secure video platform for online sessions or an email provider — I choose services that take their own data protection responsibilities seriously, and I share only what is necessary.
vi. How long I keep it
If your enquiry does not lead to ongoing work, I delete your details within a reasonable period. Where we work together, clinical records are retained for the period recommended by my professional body and insurer, after which they are securely destroyed.
vii. Your rights
You have the right to ask for a copy of the information I hold about you, to have inaccurate information corrected, to ask me to delete it, and to object to or restrict how it is used. To exercise any of these, simply get in touch.
viii. Contact & complaints
If you have any questions about this notice, or wish to exercise your rights, please contact me:
If you are unhappy with how I have handled your information, you may also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.