Privacy policy

This policy explains how The Online Psychologists collects, uses and protects your personal data. It applies to all visitors to our website and all clients who use our services.

We aim to keep this policy clear, accessible and legally compliant while ensuring you understand how your personal data is handled.

Last updated: March 2026

Who we are

The Online Psychologists is a trading name of Thriving Minds Collective Ltd (Company No. 16358249), a UK-based online clinical psychology practice. Dr Rachel Whatmough, Director, is responsible for overseeing data protection compliance.

ICO registration: Thriving Minds Collective Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, you can contact us at info@theonlinepsychologists.co.uk.

Data controller

Thriving Minds Collective Ltd (trading as The Online Psychologists) is the data controller for information collected and processed in connection with clinic administration, including handling enquiries, sending initial communications and managing bookings.

When you engage with a clinical psychologist for clinical services, your psychologist becomes the data controller for the personal data they collect and process in the course of therapy. Each psychologist is individually responsible for their clinical records and is registered with the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC).

What data we collect

We collect different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us.

Personal data

  • Name, email address, phone number
  • Date of birth
  • GP contact details (if provided)

Sensitive personal data (special category data)

  • Health information relevant to therapy
  • Therapy session notes and assessments
  • Referral details and treatment history
  • Assessment and outcome measure data

Contact form submissions

  • Your name, email address and any information you provide in your message

Payment data

  • Payments are typically made by bank transfer. We do not store your full card details on our systems. We may retain transaction references and invoicing records.

Website analytics

  • We collect anonymised data about how visitors use our website, including pages visited, time on site and referral sources. See the cookies and third-party services sections below for more detail.

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. The bases we rely on are:

  • Consent , for processing data you submit through our contact form and for processing health data in the course of therapy. You can withdraw consent at any time by contacting us.
  • Performance of a contract , for processing data necessary to deliver therapy services you have engaged us to provide, including session booking and payment processing.
  • Legal obligation , where we are required by law to process your data, for example in relation to safeguarding concerns.
  • Legitimate interests , for website analytics that help us understand how people use our site and improve the experience. We have assessed that this processing does not override your rights and freedoms.

How we use your data

We use your personal data to:

  • Respond to your enquiry and arrange an initial consultation
  • Match you with an appropriate psychologist
  • Deliver and manage your therapy sessions
  • Maintain clinical records as required by our professional obligations
  • Process payments for services
  • Improve our website and services through anonymised analytics
  • Comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including safeguarding obligations

We will never use your data for marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

Data sharing and confidentiality

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal data to third parties.

Information about you is stored securely and treated as confidential. We may share your data in the following limited circumstances:

  • Your matched psychologist , who will have access to information relevant to your care
  • With your consent , if you ask us to share information with another professional, for example a GP, psychiatrist or insurer
  • Payment processor , who processes transactions on our behalf and is bound by their own data protection obligations
  • Legal or safeguarding obligations , where there is a risk of serious harm to you or others, or where we are required to disclose information by law, by a court order, or to comply with the requirements of the HCPC

All third parties who process data on our behalf are required to handle it in accordance with UK data protection law.

Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected:

  • Contact form data is retained for up to 2 years after your last interaction with us, then securely deleted
  • Clinical records are retained for a minimum of 7 years after the last session, in line with HCPC guidelines and NHS best practice, or longer where clinically appropriate
  • Payment records are retained for 7 years to meet HMRC requirements
  • Analytics data is anonymised and does not identify individual users

You can request deletion of your data at any time, subject to our legal and professional obligations to retain certain records.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights:

  • Right of access , to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
  • Right to rectification , to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data
  • Right to erasure , to ask us to delete your data where there is no compelling reason to continue processing it
  • Right to data portability , to request your data in a structured, commonly used format
  • Right to object , to object to processing based on legitimate interests
  • Right to restrict processing , to ask us to limit how we use your data

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@theonlinepsychologists.co.uk. We will respond within one month.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to ensure it functions correctly and to help us understand how visitors use the site. For full details on the cookies we use and how to manage your preferences, please see our cookie policy.

Security measures

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including:

  • Encrypted video sessions for all therapy appointments
  • Secure, encrypted storage of clinical records
  • Access controls to ensure only authorised personnel can view your data
  • Regular review of our security practices

Therapy sessions are conducted via secure, encrypted video. Psychologists do not record sessions and ensure they are conducted in a private and secure setting.

We also use email for professional communication. While we take all reasonable steps to secure emails, clients should be aware that email is not a fully secure method of communication for sensitive information.

Third-party services

Our website uses the following third-party services:

  • Cloudflare , for website hosting, performance and security. Cloudflare may process limited technical data such as IP addresses to deliver these services. See Cloudflare’s privacy policy.
  • Cloudflare Turnstile , for spam protection on our contact form. This service verifies that form submissions are made by real people without using intrusive CAPTCHAs. See Cloudflare’s privacy policy.
  • Google Analytics , for anonymised website usage statistics. We use IP anonymisation and do not combine analytics data with other identifying information. See Google’s privacy policy.
  • Microsoft Clarity , for anonymised session replay and heatmap analytics to help us understand how visitors use our website. Clarity does not collect personal information. See Microsoft’s privacy statement.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. Any significant changes will be noted on this page with an updated date.

Contact us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or wish to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us:

Email: info@theonlinepsychologists.co.uk

We aim to respond to all data protection queries within 48 hours.