Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to OAKENA REIKI THERAPY (referred to as "we," "us," or "our"). We are a partnership based in Alsager, England, United Kingdom, offering professional Reiki therapy services. Your privacy is of paramount importance to us, and we are committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and share your personal information when you engage with our services, visit our website (www.oakena-reiki.com), or otherwise interact with us.

By using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

2. Who We Are

OAKENA REIKI THERAPY is a partnership based in Alsager, England, United Kingdom.

 Partners: LYNDA AND ANDREW MACLAREN
 Contact Email: SUPPORT@OAKENA-REIKI.COM
 Contact Phone: 07788 715117
 Registered Address: 47 COLLERICK CLOSE, ALSAGER, STOKE ON TRENT ST7 2ZW

For the purposes of data protection law, we are the data controllers of your personal data. This means we are responsible for deciding how and why your personal data is processed.

3. Information We Collect About You

We collect various types of personal data, which may include "special categories of personal data" (sensitive information, particularly health-related data), necessary for the provision of our Reiki therapy services.

a) Personal Data (Standard Categories):

Contact Information: Name, address, email address, phone number.
Demographic Information: Date of birth, gender (where relevant for health purposes or statistical analysis).
Payment Information: Details required for processing payments (e.g., transaction details). Please note: We typically use secure third-party payment processors and do not store full payment card details ourselves.
Communication Data: Records of your correspondence with us (emails, phone calls, text messages, online chat, or in-person conversations).
Website Usage Data: If you use our website, we may collect information such as your IP address, browser type, pages visited, and time spent on our site. This is typically collected through website analytics and cookies. (See Section 10 for more on Cookies).

b) Special Categories of Personal Data (Health Information):

Given the nature of Reiki therapy, we will collect information about your physical and mental health and wellbeing. This is crucial for providing safe and effective treatments. This may include:

Medical history, existing or past health conditions, allergies, and medications you are currently taking.
Details of any relevant lifestyle factors that may impact your wellbeing or the Reiki session.
Information about previous therapies or treatments you have received.
Detailed session notes, observations during your Reiki sessions, feedback, and records of your progress and reactions to the treatment.
Your specific goals and intentions for receiving Reiki.

4. How We Collect Your Information

We collect information from you in the following ways:

Directly from you: When you fill out client intake forms (whether paper-based or digital), communicate with us via phone, email, text message, or in person during initial consultations and subsequent sessions.
Through our website and online services: When you use our online booking system, submit inquiries via contact forms, subscribe to our newsletter, or participate in online surveys.
Through third-party service providers: If you book your appointment through an external online booking platform, they may securely transmit your basic contact and appointment details to us.

5. How and Why We Use Your Information (Lawful Basis for Processing)

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. For special categories of personal data (like health information), we need both a lawful basis and an "additional condition for processing" as required by UK GDPR.

a) For providing Reiki Therapy Services (Contractual Obligation & Health Care Purposes):

Purpose: To understand your individual needs, provide safe, personalised, and effective Reiki treatments, develop appropriate treatment plans, manage your appointments, and provide aftercare advice.
Lawful Basis: Necessary for the performance of a contract with you (i.e., delivering the Reiki service you have requested and paid for).
Additional Condition (for health data): Processing is necessary for the provision of health care or treatment. This processing is undertaken by our Reiki practitioners who are subject to professional confidentiality obligations and ethical codes of conduct.

b) For Internal Administration and Record Keeping (Legitimate Interests):

Purpose: To manage our client records, respond to your inquiries and communications, administer our services efficiently, manage our schedule, and maintain accurate business records for financial and operational purposes.
Lawful Basis: Our legitimate interests in running our business efficiently and effectively, provided your rights and fundamental freedoms are not overridden by these interests.

c) For Legal and Regulatory Compliance (Legal Obligation):

Purpose: To comply with legal obligations, such as maintaining records for insurance purposes (e.g., professional indemnity insurance requires us to keep client records for a specific duration), tax regulations, or responding to lawful requests from government or regulatory authorities.
Lawful Basis: Necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject.

d) For Marketing Communications (Consent):

Purpose: To send you updates about our services, special offers, upcoming workshops, events, or our company newsletter.
Lawful Basis: Your explicit, affirmative consent. You will only receive marketing communications if you have specifically opted in to receive them. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, easily and free of charge.

e) For Service Improvement and Feedback (Legitimate Interests):

Purpose: To gather feedback on your experience with our services, conduct internal quality assurance, and analyse trends to continually improve the client experience and the quality of our Reiki treatments.
Lawful Basis: Our legitimate interests in developing and improving our services, provided your rights and freedoms are not overridden. Where possible, we will use anonymised or aggregated data for these purposes.

6. How We Store Your Information

We are committed to ensuring that your personal data is secure. We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard and secure the information we collect from you, preventing unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.
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Electronic Records: Stored on password-protected computers, secure cloud- based systems (e.g., for online booking, email communication), and encrypted drives. We use reputable software providers for client management and booking systems, ensuring they meet high data security standards.
Paper Records: Any physical client intake forms or session notes are stored securely in locked filing cabinets at our business premises in Alsager, or at the practitioner's home office, accessible only to authorised personnel.
Anonymisation/Pseudonymisation: Where appropriate and feasible, we may anonymise or pseudonymise your data for internal analysis, statistical purposes, or for case discussions with professional supervisors (where your identity is never revealed).

7. How Long We Retain Your Information

We will retain your personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law, professional guidelines, or our insurance obligations.

Client Records (including health information): We retain client records for a minimum of 7 years after your last treatment or contact, in line with common insurance requirements and professional body guidelines for holistic therapists in the UK.
Children's Records: For clients treated as minors (under 18), records will be retained until the client reaches the age of 25. If the course of treatment extended beyond their 18th birthday, the record will be retained for 7 years from their last treatment, or until they turn 25, whichever is later.
Marketing Consent: We will retain your marketing preferences until you withdraw your consent.
Financial Records: Retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws in the UK (currently 6 years plus the current financial year).

After the applicable retention period, your data will be securely shredded (for paper records) or permanently deleted and purged from our electronic systems.

8. Confidentiality and Disclosure

We value your trust and will never sell, rent, or lease your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes.

We are committed to maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information. However, there are specific circumstances where confidentiality may be broken, in accordance with our ethical obligations and legal requirements:

Our Partners: As a partnership, your data will be accessible to all partners involved in the provision of your Reiki therapy services to ensure continuity of care and effective service delivery.
Professional Supervisors/Mentors: In some instances, our practitioners may discuss client cases (always anonymised, ensuring your identity cannot be known) with a professional supervisor or mentor for professional development, guidance, and to ensure best practice and ethical conduct.
Third-Party Service Providers: We may use trusted third-party service providers to help us operate our business effectively (e.g., online booking systems, secure payment processors, email service providers, IT support). We ensure that these providers are compliant with UK GDPR and have appropriate data processing agreements in place to protect your data.
Legal and Regulatory Authorities: If required by law, we may disclose your personal data to law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, or other authorities (e.g., HMRC) if there is a legal obligation to do so.
In case of Serious Risk of Harm, Emergencies, or Inappropriate Conduct: In rare and exceptional circumstances, if we determine there is a serious risk of harm to yourself, the practitioner, or others (including, but not limited to, disclosures of serious self-harm with intent or harm to others), or if a client engages in abusive, aggressive, discriminatory, or other significantly inappropriate conduct (including being under the influence of alcohol or non-prescribed drugs to an extent that impairs the session), we may, if deemed necessary and in accordance with our ethical obligations and legal requirements, break confidentiality and share relevant information with appropriate emergency services or authorities (e.g., police, ambulance, mental health crisis teams). We would always aim to discuss this with you first, unless it is impractical, unsafe, or unlawful to do so.

9. Your Data Protection Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following important rights regarding your personal data:

The Right to be Informed: You have the right to know how your information is collected and used (as clearly outlined in this Privacy Policy).
The Right of Access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (this is known as a Subject Access Request or SAR). We will provide this information free of charge and within one month of receiving your request. If the request is particularly complex or numerous, we may extend this period by up to two further months, but we will inform you of this extension.
The Right to Rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you without undue delay.
The Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): You can ask us to delete your personal data in certain circumstances (e.g., if it's no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, or you withdraw your consent for processing where consent was the lawful basis). However, please note that we may need to retain some data for specific legal or insurance purposes even if you request erasure, and we will inform you if this is the case.
The Right to Restrict Processing: You can request that we limit the way we use your personal data in certain situations (e.g., if you dispute the accuracy of the data, or if you object to our processing it based on legitimate interests).
The Right to Data Portability: You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and to transmit that data to another controller, where this is technically feasible and the processing is based on consent or a contract.
The Right to Object: You can object to us processing your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest as our lawful basis (e.g., for direct marketing purposes, you have an absolute right to object).
Rights in relation to automated decision-making and profiling: You have rights regarding decisions made solely based on automated processing, including profiling, which produce legal or similarly significant effects concerning you. Please be assured that we do not use automated decision- making or profiling in our services.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided in Section 2. We may need to verify your identity to ensure the security of your data before fulfilling your request.

10. Use of Cookies

If you visit our website, we may use cookies. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your device (computer, tablet, smartphone) when you visit a website. They are widely used to make websites work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the site owners.

Types of Cookies: We may use essential cookies (necessary for the website to function), analytical/performance cookies (to understand how visitors interact with our website), and potentially functionality or targeting cookies.
How We Use Them: For example, to remember your preferences, track website traffic, or to enable online booking functionalities.
Your Control: Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Please be aware that declining cookies may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website or using certain features (like online booking).
External Cookie Policy: Please see our cookie policy for more details on Cookies used on our website and how users can manage them.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our data processing practices, services, or for legal and regulatory reasons. The most current version will always be posted on our website, and we encourage you to review it periodically. We will notify you of any significant changes where appropriate (e.g., via email or a prominent notice on our website).

12. How to Complain
If you are not satisfied with how we handle your personal data, or if you believe we have not complied with data protection laws, please contact us first using the details in Section 2 so we can attempt to resolve your concerns. You also have the right to lodge a formal complaint with the Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent authority for upholding information rights.

 ICO Website: www.ico.org.uk
 ICO Helpline: 0303 123 1113

Effective Date: Date of Website Publication