Privacy Notice

Last updated: July 2026

Who we are

Zoe Benouali Counselling is a sole-trader counselling practice run by Zoe Benouali, offering online counselling to adults. For the purposes of UK data protection law, Zoe Benouali is the data controller for the personal information described in this notice.

Contact: zoe@zoebencounselling.co.uk
ICO registration reference: ZC175534

What information I collect

Depending on how we're in contact, I may collect:

• Contact details — name, email address, phone number
• Information you share when enquiring or booking a session, including anything you tell me about why you're seeking counselling
• Notes from our sessions together, including details about your wellbeing, health, and personal circumstances
• Records of appointments, correspondence, and payments

Information about your health, including your mental and emotional wellbeing, is classed as "special category data" under UK GDPR, which means it's treated with extra care and requires a specific legal basis to process (see below).

How I use your information and my lawful basis

I use your information to:

• Respond to your enquiry and arrange sessions
• Provide counselling and keep appropriate clinical records
• Manage invoicing and payment
• Meet my professional, ethical, and legal obligations as a counsellor

For your contact and administrative details, my lawful basis is legitimate interests — I need this information to respond to you and provide my service. For information about your health and our session content, my lawful basis is your explicit consent, which I'll ask for before we begin working together, and which you can withdraw at any time.

Who I share your information with

As a member of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), I'm required to discuss my work in clinical supervision. Where relevant, I may discuss anonymised or minimally identifiable details of our work with my supervisor, who is also bound by confidentiality.

I use Zoom for online sessions and a private-domain email and calendar service to communicate and schedule appointments; these providers process some of your data on my behalf as part of delivering the service. I don't sell or share your information with anyone else for marketing purposes.

I may need to break confidentiality and share information without your consent in rare circumstances — for example, where I believe there's a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, or where I'm legally required to do so. Where possible, I'll discuss this with you first.

How long I keep your information

In line with BACP guidance, I keep client records for a minimum of 7 years after our last contact. Some information may be kept longer where there's a good professional reason to do so. After this period, records are securely destroyed.

How your information is protected

Your information is stored securely, with access limited to me. Email communication is handled through a private, password-protected mailbox rather than a shared inbox, and session notes are kept confidentially and separately from casual correspondence.

Cookies and this website

This website itself doesn't use tracking or advertising cookies. It loads a typeface from Google Fonts, which may involve your browser contacting Google's servers and sharing your IP address as a technical part of displaying the page.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Ask what personal information I hold about you and receive a copy of it
• Ask me to correct inaccurate information
• Ask me to delete your information, though this may be limited by my professional record-keeping obligations
• Object to or restrict how I use your information in certain circumstances
• Withdraw consent at any time where consent is my lawful basis

To exercise any of these rights, get in touch at zoe@zoebencounselling.co.uk. If you're unhappy with how your information has been handled, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.