Privacy policy

Your privacy is important to us. We are constantly review our approach in order to protect and safeguard your privacy. This page outlines our approach in relation to your privacy when using our services. It applies to everyone using the site, whether you're a customer or not. It is intended to inform you of our policy and practices regarding the collection, use and disclosure of any information that you provide.

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If you are visiting from outside Australia, your rights under the privacy laws applicable in that country remain as they are and are not superseded by this policy. 

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The Privacy Policy is part of our Terms and Conditions. The terms in the Privacy Policy (such as, but not limited to, "we", "our", "us",  and "Counselor Services") have the same meaning as in our Terms and Conditions document. When you use our site to book, you accept and agree to both the Terms and Conditions and to the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to be bound to the Privacy Policy you should stop using our site. By accessing and using our site, you affirm that you have read the Terms and Conditions and the Privacy Policy and that you understand and agree to the terms contained in them.

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Please note that during walk and talk therapy we will make every effort to avoid the disclosure of information within the hearing of anyone else. However, given the public nature of this approach there is a small risk that either you or the counsellor may be speaking when someone who knows you approaches. You need to be aware of this risk and take actions to protect your own privacy at these times. Empatia Counselling is not responsible for information you accidentally disclose to others during walk and talk therapy.

In order to provide services we may collect, use, and store the information described below. We may also disclose certain information to third parties, as described further below. The information we collect is received directly or indirectly from you and generated in the course of your use of our services. The data we collect is not used for marketing or any other purposes except as specified on this page.

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Visitor Data: We collect, use and store data regarding user visits to this site, including the particular pages you visited, the amount of time you spent there, errors you encountered and information about the browser or device used to access the site. This is the same for both visitors and customers.

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Intake Data: When you book and become a customer we collect, use, and store certain information about you ("Intake Data"). This includes your name and booking details, such as the reason you have requested counselling. We do not store your payment data, this is only used during the payment transaction and is not kept by us. We will store your name, email, phone number, and emergency contact details. We may also store additional information, with your consent.

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Counselling Session Data: We collect, use, and store information about your counselling sessions such as whether a live session has been scheduled, whether the session took place, when it began and ended, and whether a counselling session was canceled or re-scheduled. Once you begin counselling with us we will store additional information you provide to us. These details will be stored for 7 years in a secure location and can only be accessed by your counselling team, although we may need to provide certain information to third parties in very specific circumstances (see below).

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Payment Data: We do not capture your payment details, they are used by the secure Wix Bookings and PayPal systems and only used for the purposes of payment. We do not store those details within our company and do not have direct access to them. If you choose to store a credit card details within your account for ease of payment this will be stored securely within Wix Bookings, and will only be available to you. We cannot access this information. We do store the incoming payment details we receive, these are stored securely within our accounting and payment details, for legal purposes.

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Communications Data: We collect, use, and store communications between us.

Protecting this information is important for us. Other than in the ways detailed in this Privacy Policy, we will never use or disclose any information unless you requested or approved us to do so.

We collect the information outlined above in order to:

• Ensure the correct operation of our website (via cookies, for example).

• Communicate with you.

• Provide our services.

• Administer those services (such as confirming payments and bookings)

• Comply with relevant laws, codes of conduct, and ethical standards of business.

We will only use your information for other purposes with your permission. Empatia Counselling will never sell your information or provide it to third parties for business purposes.

We collect the information outlined above in the following ways:

• By tracking your use of this website (within cookie data).

• By asking you for information, either directly or via forms.

• By information provided to us from third parties (for example if you are referred to us by someone else).

Most information we collect will be directly provided to us by you.

We will keep your information secure and private. However, there are limited times when we may need to disclose information:

• If we consider you to be at risk of seriously harming yourself or someone else.

• If your counselling records have been requested by a court of law.

• If another party or agency has requested your information, and you have agreed and provided your written consent to this.

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We will only use your information for other purposes with your permission. Empatia Counselling will never sell your information or provide it to third parties for business purposes.

You have the right to request to see what information we hold on you. 

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You have the right to opt-out of marketing communications at any time. Once you have done this we will still need to communicate with you in regards to services you undertake with us.

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You have the right to stop our website from storing cookies, by using your website browser settings. Please note however that this may impact certain aspects of our site, such as the online booking process.

We believe we run our business in an ethical way and according to the Australian Counselling Association's code of ethics. If you have questions about our approach or would like to discuss our services or privacy policy in more detail, please feel free to contact us via email (info@empatiacounselling.com.au) or phone 0415 792 055