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Privacy Policy

General Information on Data Processing

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is concerned with the personal information about you and how it is collected, stored and shared. This is the GDPR statement and Privacy Policy of Caroline Linda Bucher, M.A, MAS, career and personal counselor offering personal counseling, career and academic counseling, and humanist/interfaith care in-person and online. Here you find information on how I collect, store, and share information collected. Please note that information collected varies according to your interaction with me, i.e. whether you access services online and/or in person/online counseling and coaching.

 

Name and Address of the Responsible Person

Caroline Linda Bucher

Dahliastrasse 8, 8008 Zurich/Switzerland

Email: info@belearnbecome.com

Website: belearnbecome.com

 

Name and Address of the Data Protection Officer

Caroline Linda Bucher

Dahliastrasse 8, 8008 Zurich/Switzerland

Email: info@belearnbecome.com

Website: belearnbecome.com

 

Scope of Processing Personal Data

I generally only process personal data of our users insofar as this is necessary to provide a functional website and my content and services. The processing of personal data of my users takes place regularly only with the consent of the user. An exception applies in cases in which prior consent cannot be obtained for factual reasons and the processing of the data is permitted by law.

 

Legal Basis for the Processing of Personal Data

Insofar as I obtain the data subject's consent for the processing of personal data, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as the legal basis. When processing personal data, which is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is a party, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR as the legal basis. This also applies to processing operations that are necessary to carry out pre-contractual measures. Insofar as the processing of personal data is necessary to fulfill a legal obligation to which our company is subject, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. c GDPR as the legal basis. In the event that vital interests of the data subject or another natural person require the processing of personal data, Art. 6 para. 1 lit. d GDPR serves as the legal basis.

If processing is necessary to safeguard the legitimate interests of our company or a third party and if the interests, fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject do not outweigh the former interest, Art. 6 (1) lit. f GDPR as the legal basis for processing.

Web Access and Collection of Information Online

When you contact me to request any services, I collect information about you. I also collect information about you when you voluntarily complete contact forms. Information is also collected about you when you visit my website www.belearnbecome by using Google Analytics and cookies. When you enter my website, you are required to confirm whether you allow information to be submitted to Caroline Linda Bucher before entering the site. 

 

Cookies and Marketing

On the website www.belearnbecome.com you are informed of the use of cookies to ensure the ease of use. 

Data Collection and Confidentiality 

Your data is kept confidential within the service and all information is stored securely. I follow the ethical guidelines of the National Career Development Association www.ncda.org/aws/NCDA/pt/sp/guidelines and the American Counseling Association https://www.counseling.org/docs/default-source/ethics/2014-code-of-ethics.pdf?sfvrsn=2d58522c_4

to ensure that the information about you is collected and stored securely. 

 

When you contact me for career, academic, or personal counseling and agree to work with me, you will be given an intake form where I collect your personal information including: your name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address, family relationship status, nationality, ethnicity, gender, education, current employment status, career development needs, challenges, goals and expectations, career ideas, educational interests, hobbies, stressors in life, physical and psychological issues, optional: previous counseling/coaching experiences and assessments. 

When you contact me for personal/humanist counseling, I collect your personal information including: your name, date of birth, address, phone number, email address, family relationship status, nationality, ethnicity, gender, education, current employment status, hobbies, career- or school-related stressors and other stressors in life, mental and physical issues, professional health care/mental health support, and medication. 

I keep records of your appointments, brief notes on the topics covered during the sessions and your concerns, and any letters and/or psychometric testing concerning you.

Session related information attendance and topics covered in the sessions will be initially stored electronically without identifying details and protected by a coding system. Your personal details and any information collected during the initial intake meeting (including possible referral letters, questionnaires) are stored in paper format in a locked cabinet or electronically without identifying details and protected by a coding system. Once you have finished working with me I store the information up to 6 years for legal reasons.

As part of the counseling process, I may recommend to you to seek further professional support and how satisfied you are with your current professional support. If necessary, I may seek further consent from you for sharing information with a professional.

Storage Methods for my Services

  • Paper written notes as described above.

  • Electronic storage: Unidentifiable, brief session notes covering the topics are held stored electronically and protected with a password until we stop working together. Then the notes are printed out and placed in your hard copy file which is stored in a locked cabinet.

  • Phone: I use a mobile phone for communication and I do not store any communication information with you. There are no contact details on it.

  • Email: I use gmail based email. Your email address and our correspondence will be stored in my email account.

  • Zoom and Skype (Microsoft):  The data transmitted during meetings, webinars, chat sessions are encrypted and secure. Zoom is compliant with the EU-US Privacy Shield agreement. They also have a GDPR compliance statement on their website https://zoom.us/gdpr  and https://privacy.microsoft.com/en-gb/privacystatement .

  • Website: Your personal information is not stored on my website, other than to momentarily collect & send it to my Gmail account for the purposes of our initial contact. Wix.com is 100% committed to the GDPR data protection. For more information see https://support.wix.com/en/article/general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr.

 

Sharing Information

Supervision

As part of ethical practice, I seek regular consultation with another professional counselor (consultant) who is qualified in this process. This is to ensure that I am able to work to my best ability and offer an ethical service that is helpful to you. The consultation process is also protected by confidentiality and my consultant will not know you personally or professionally. It takes place verbally and I refer to you by “client”. This process is to ensure my professional development.

You are asked to sign a consent form if your information is necessary to share with a third party. As discussed above the exceptions to sharing information about you may take place if there was a danger to yourself or others.

In Case of Emergency

If I have a reason to believe that you are at risk to yourself, to someone else or there are child protection issues I am required to act upon these concerns. In that case I am obliged to breach confidentiality by speaking to i.e.. a crisis team (harm to self) or the police (harm to others/an organisation e.g. in case of terrorism) or child protection services. If I have to breach confidentiality, wherever possible I aim to discuss this with you first. If I was to encounter an emergency myself and was unable to contact you myself, your name and contact details might be shared with a trusted person to inform you about the changes in our meetings. No other personal information would be shared.

 

Complaints

Complaints should be addressed to the board of American Counseling Association (USA) or Profunda Suisse (Switzerland). However, to prevent matters from escalating, I hope to establish a counseling relationship, which includes open communication and you feeling comfortable to share any of your concerns in the session. 

Your Rights

You have the following rights…

  • To be informed what information is collected and how it is stored

  • To see the information I hold about you

  • To rectify any inaccurate or incomplete personal information

  • To withdraw consent to me using your personal information

  • To request your personal information be erased. Although, if the information is needed for me to practice lawfully and ethically I can decline.


If you have any further questions about our data protection declaration, you can contact me any time at info@belearnbecome.com.

 

Warmly,

 

Caroline Linda Bucher, May 2021

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