Our Privacy Statement
ACT Alcohol Ltd takes your privacy seriously. This notice explains what personal information we collect, why, how long we keep it and your rights. We are the data controller for your information. ICO registration number: ZB138152.
Contact: info@actalcohol.co.uk, 01527 304072, or write to 53 Worcester Road, Bromsgrove B61 7DN.
1. Information we collect
- When you enquire: your name, email, phone number, preferred office, how you’d like us to contact you, and anything you tell us in your message.
- When you become a client: your address, date of birth, GP details, an emergency contact, and an assessment covering your drinking, health and the issues you’d like help with.
- During sessions: your therapist’s session notes.
- Payment: records of fees and payments, made by credit card or bank transfer. If a third party funds your sessions, we’ll hold their details and anything you agree we can share with them.
- On the website: see section 6.
Information about your health and alcohol use is special category data under UK GDPR. We treat it with extra care.
2. Why we use it, and the legal basis
| What we do | Legal basis |
|---|---|
| Reply to your enquiry and arrange your free consultation | Steps taken at your request before a contract |
| Provide counselling and treatment, and arrange, rearrange and cancel appointments | Contract with you; for health data, the provision of health or social care (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(h)) |
| Take payment and keep financial records | Contract; legal obligation |
| Keep clinical records and respond to queries about your treatment | Legitimate interests; health or social care |
| Act on a safeguarding concern | Legal obligation; vital interests |
| Keep the website working and secure | Legitimate interests |
| Website statistics | Your consent, given through our cookie banner |
We will never sell your details or use them for marketing or research, and we will only use them to provide your service.
3. Who we share it with
We only share your information where needed:
- with another organisation you’ve asked us to refer you to (we share your assessment form and will tell you first)
- with a third-party funder, only with your agreement
- with your GP or the emergency services if we believe you or someone else is at serious risk
- where the law requires us to
- with service providers who help us run the business, such as our website host and email provider, under contracts that protect your data
4. How we keep it safe
Contact details are stored in password-protected systems that only the management team and your therapist can access. Paper notes are kept in a locked cabinet that only our admin team and your therapist can access. Email between our servers is encrypted in transit, but standard email isn’t fully secure, so please don’t send highly sensitive details by email unless you’re comfortable doing so.
5. How long we keep it
- Enquiries that don’t lead to sessions: 30 days.
- Client records: for the length of your sessions, then 7 years after they end, so we can respond to any queries about your notes and treatment.
- Records involving a safeguarding concern: up to 75 years.
- Financial records: 6 years, as tax law requires.
6. Our website
When you use the contact form, we receive what you type into it by email. We use Google reCAPTCHA to block spam, which shares some technical information with Google. With your consent, we use Google Analytics, through Google Site Kit, to count visitors and see which pages are used. You can change your choices at any time in our Cookie Policy. Our website is hosted by Heart Internet, a UK hosting provider.
7. Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
- ask us to correct anything that’s wrong
- ask us to delete your information, or limit how we use it, where the law allows (we may have to keep clinical records for the period above)
- object to how we use your information
- withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent
- ask us to move your information to another provider
To use any of these rights, contact us using the details above. We’ll respond within one month and won’t charge a fee.
8. Complaints
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, please tell us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.
9. Changes
We’ll update this notice when how we use your information changes. The date below shows the latest version.
Last updated: 23 October 2026