Privacy Statement | Way Of Growth

Privacy Policy / Statement

1. Who I Am

Practitioner Name: Yasser Saffar
Practice Name: Way Of Growth
Contact Email: info@wayofgrowth.com
I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration reference: ZC229401.

2. What Information I Collect

To provide safe, ethical counselling and coaching, I may collect and process the following information:

Contact details: Name, email address, phone number.
Administrative details: Information shared during initial enquiries or session bookings.
Counselling/Coaching notes: Brief, factual records of our sessions to support your continuity of sessions.
Special category data: Because sessions involve health and wellbeing, I may occasionally note sensitive information relevant to our work, processed securely under UK GDPR Article 9 guidelines.

If you contact me through a third‑party platform (including my website contact form provider) that platform may process your data according to its own privacy policy. I only receive the information you choose to send me and do not control how those platforms store or process your data.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing Your Data

Under the UK GDPR, I rely on the following lawful bases:

Performance of a Contract: Processing your contact details and notes to deliver the counselling/coaching services you have engaged me for.
Legitimate Interests: To run, manage, and protect my private practice (e.g., handling website enquiries, keeping basic business records).
Legal Obligation: Maintaining financial and tax records as required by UK law.

4. Confidentiality and Sharing Your Data

Everything discussed within your sessions is confidential. I will never sell or share your data for marketing purposes.

Data is only shared under very specific circumstances:

Clinical Supervision: As an ethical practitioner, I discuss my clinical work with a professional supervisor. In these discussions, identifying details are avoided to protect your anonymity, and my supervisor is bound by the same professional standards of confidentiality.
Safeguarding / Legal Duty: If there is a serious and immediate risk of harm to yourself or others, or if required by a court of law or safeguarding legislation. Where possible, I will discuss this with you beforehand.
Emergency/Medical: In rare emergencies (e.g., medical crisis during a session), information may be shared with emergency services or your GP.

5. Data Security and Storage

Digital records, emails, and notes are kept on password-protected, encrypted devices and cloud systems compliant with data protection standards.
Any physical notes or contact forms (if used) are kept in a secure, locked location.

6. How Long I Keep Your Data

I retain your records (session notes and contact information) for 7 years following the end of our work together, as required by my professional indemnity insurance and standard UK clinical governance. After this period, all records are securely deleted or shredded.
General website contact form enquiries that do not result in working together are deleted after 6 months.

7. Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have rights regarding your personal data, including the right to access what I hold about you, request corrections, or ask for deletion (subject to my legal and insurance retention obligations).

If you have any questions or concerns about how I handle your data, please contact me directly at info@wayofgrowth.com. If you remain unhappy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.