Note for review
This policy is a working draft prepared for the website. It is not legal advice. Please read it through and confirm it matches how you actually handle enquiries and records before the site goes live — in particular the retention periods, which are marked below.
This policy covers this website only. It does not cover the counselling relationship itself, which is governed separately by the confidentiality agreement discussed in your first session.
Who is responsible for your data
Ian McManus, counsellor and psychotherapist, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15, Ireland. Email imcmanus@gmail.com, phone +353 85 219 9600. I am the data controller for information submitted through this site.
What the contact form collects
The contact form asks for your first name, last name, email address, phone number, general availability, and your message. Only first name, email and message are required.
The form is delivered by this website itself, running on Cloudflare, which passes the message straight to my email inbox. The message is not stored on the website or anywhere else along the way — it exists only as an email with me. It is never used for marketing, advertising or profiling.
When you send the form, you also receive a short automatic confirmation at the email address you gave. It does not repeat what you wrote.
Please don't include detailed clinical or medical information in a first message. A brief line about what you'd like to work on is enough — the detail belongs in the room, not in an email.
Why I'm allowed to hold it
Because you asked me to reply. Under the GDPR the lawful basis is your consent, given by ticking the box on the form, together with the legitimate interest of responding to an enquiry about my service.
How long it's kept
Enquiries that don't lead to sessions are deleted [retention period to be confirmed — commonly 12 months].
If you go on to become a client, your contact details move into my client records, which are kept separately and are subject to the retention requirements of my professional body and Irish law [to be confirmed].
Cookies and analytics
This site sets no cookies at all unless you allow them.
If you choose "Allow analytics", Google Analytics is loaded and sets cookies to measure which pages people find useful. IP addresses are anonymised. If you decline, no analytics script is loaded and no request is made to Google.
Your choice is stored in your browser's local storage under the key imc-consent, so you aren't asked on every page. You can change your mind at any time using cookie settings.
Fonts and images are served from this website, not from a third party, so simply reading these pages sends no data to anyone else.
The contact page uses Cloudflare Turnstile to tell people from spam bots. It runs in the background and only shows a check if something looks unusual. It does not set advertising or tracking cookies and is not used to follow you across other sites.
Who else can see it
- Cloudflare — hosts this website, delivers form submissions by email and runs the Turnstile spam check.
- My email provider — stores the message once it arrives.
- The website host (Cloudflare) — keeps standard request logs, which may include IP addresses.
- Google Analytics — only if you consented.
Nobody else. I don't sell data, and I don't share it for advertising.
Your rights
Under the GDPR you can ask me to show you what I hold about you, correct it, delete it, restrict what I do with it, or send it to you in a portable form. You can also withdraw consent at any time. Email me and I'll deal with it within one month.
If you're not satisfied with how I've handled it, you can complain to the Irish Data Protection Commission at dataprotection.ie.
Security
The site is served over HTTPS, so anything you type into the form is encrypted in transit.
Changes
If this policy changes materially, the date below will change with it.
Last updated: [date to be set at launch]