This information sheet is to provide you with privacy information under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and my practice is fully compliant with her requirements to protect your/the child’s personal information.

 

1. What information I collect, where it comes from and how it is collected

I collect information from you and may receive information about the child from the child’s educational setting or other professionals, if agreed by you. This information is likely to include names of your child and key people, contact and address details, date of birth, names of class and educational setting and relevant information about your child’s development, including health and care issues, SEND, or other professional involvement. I am also likely to collect and hold information regarding your child’s attendance, attainments or results of other assessments, skills and personality (e.g. child’s interests and strengths and weaknesses) and personal characteristics (incl. cultural background, languages spoken, position in the family) that is relevant to my role and the tasks I typically carry out.

 

2. Why I collect and hold this data, how I will use it and who I will share it with

• For identification and communication purposes. Your child’s/your address is needed if I am doing a home visit and/or if safeguarding issues arise.

• To decide whether my involvement is appropriate and judge how I might contribute to the best interests of your child, in collaboration with you.

• Ensure that any formal assessment materials I might decide to use with your child are appropriate and used correctly.

• To make judgements about your child’s rate of progress over time.

• To be able to fulfil my duty of care towards your child, including my safeguarding responsibilities.

• To allow me to liaise with other professionals, if appropriate and agreed by you, including sharing reports.

• To enable me to provide full explanations and justifications of my actions in the case of any concerns raised about my work or complaints made against me. 

 

I will only record and keep information about your child/you if I need it to do my work well. Once I hold it, I will not make it available to anyone without your knowledge or permission, including reports. I work in close contact with you so that you know exactly what is going on and you decide how that information will be shared and who with- you do not have to share any information with anyone you do not want to and you have the right to object to any of the work that I do. The only exception to this is if the law allows or compels me to provide information about you or your child without your consent, such as a court order or a safeguarding issue. I have a duty of care to your child and so I would have to disregard any promises of confidentiality if I thought the child was in any kind of danger and would be harmed, or cause harm to others, if I did not disclose some information about them or intervene in some way. In these exceptional circumstances, I would follow national and HCPC and BPS guidelines.  

 

All my decisions are made by me, in collaboration with you, and your/your child’s data is not used for anything else. I will store your/your child’s information safely so that others cannot access it. If there is a breach in data protection, I will notify the ICO within 72 hours and follow the advice given. If it affects your/your child’s personal information, I will also notify you within 72 hours.

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I may wish to discuss the work I do with you and your child during a supervision session in order to get their advice and to check that I am drawing reasonable conclusions and making good decisions. In this instance, I will not share any personal information about you or your child that would allow them to identify you. They are also bound by the same confidentiality and data protection laws as I am. If I wished to share any work that I do to support the learning or training of others, such as describing a case for training purposes, your/your child’s personal information would be thoroughly anonymised and so they would not be able to identify you.

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3. Lawful reason for me having this data and your legal rights

Providing me with your personal information is part of our contractual requirement and for me to provide the services you have requested. Parental consent is also required from those adults with parental responsibility for a child up to the age of 13 in the UK, although I request it up to the age of 18. My procedures ensure that they cover your rights, and your child’s rights, including:

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• The right to be informed

• The right of access*

• The right to rectification

• The right to erasure**

• The right to restrict processing

• The right to data portability

• The right to object

• Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

 

Please see ICO website for further information.*At any time, you, or your child, have the right to request to see any information that I hold about you or your child. **Should you wish for your details to be amended or deleted, please e-mail me and I will do so within 1 month free of charge.

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4. How long I will store your personal information for, and why, and where I will store it

Your/your child’s personal information will be kept as electronic forms and as paper forms, alongside any informal notes. I send electronic copies of my reports to clients as digitally signed pdf email attachments, and anyone they wish to also have a copy (this is noted on the report). E-mails may be printed and kept in the paper file if they contain important information and will be deleted up to 1 year after last contact.

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I will store information regarding under 18s until they turn 25 and for 7 years after the last involvement for over 18s. This is so that information is available if future involvement is needed/requested, or so that I am able to explain or defend my professional decisions and actions if an accusation of professional negligence or other misconduct was made against me in the future. After this time, your information in electronic form will be deleted and removed from the recycle bin. Any paper forms will be shredded.

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It is my responsibility to ensure that your/your child’s information is stored securely and not accessed by anyone else during this time. Your/your child’s information will be stored on my PC that is password protected and protected with up to date anti-virus software. All paperwork is kept in a lockable case. Your contact information is also stored on my mobile telephone that is password protected. Texts will be deleted, unless they provide important information in which case they will be printed and filed first. I do not use ‘cloud’ storage on any device and I switch off Wi-Fi whenever possible. Details on my mobile telephone will be deleted 1 year from our last contact.

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Consent Policy

I seek explicit consent from all those adults with parental responsibility before working with a child under the age of 18. I seek explicit consent directly from young adults aged 18-25. This is done via a clear section of the consultation request form that requires a signature and states what you are consenting to, how this information will be used and who your information will be shared with and your right to withdraw consent at any time and how to do this. The consultation request form is kept as a paper version in your child’s file in a lockable case. I will work closely with you and your child at all stages of my involvement so that you are happy with the process.

 

Professional/Quality Assurances

The aim of all my work is to help your child. If I feel at any point that my involvement is detrimental to your child in any way, I will stop my involvement and explain my reasons to you and we can discuss next steps. You also have the right to withdraw consent at any time.

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I have enhanced DBS clearance and professional indemnity insurance. I am HCPC registered and a member of the BPS and AchiPPP. See the Safeguarding section for more information.  

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If you wish to make a complaint about the way I have handled your personal information, you should contact the ICO (ico.org.uk, reference: ZA290768).