Privacy notice

Last updated: 6 July 2026

The short version

• This website uses no cookies and no analytics. I don't track you.
• If you email me, I keep what you send me so I can reply and, if we work together, support you properly.
• Client records are kept securely, under code rather than name, for 7 years after our work ends, then deleted.
• I never sell your information or use it for marketing, and I only share it in the narrow circumstances described below.

Who I am

Local Dialect is the counselling and coaching practice of Dan Pearson, based in Lewes, East Sussex and working online across the UK. For data protection purposes I am the data controller for the personal information described in this notice.

I am registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), registration number ZB956025. You can contact me about anything in this notice at hello@localdialect.co.uk.

The information I collect

If you enquire

Your name, email address, and whatever you choose to tell me in your message.

If you become a client

Your contact details, the information you share on your intake form (which may include health information, information about neurodivergence, and other sensitive details), brief factual session records, and information needed for scheduling and payment.

If you visit this website

This site sets no cookies and runs no analytics. My hosting provider keeps standard server logs, including IP addresses, for security purposes. The site's fonts load from Google Fonts, which means your browser requests those font files from Google's servers when the page loads; that request includes your IP address, as with any web request.

Why I use your information, and the legal bases

UK data protection law requires me to have a lawful basis for everything I do with your information. In plain terms:

• Responding to enquiries: legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR). You've asked me something; I need your details to answer.
• Providing counselling and coaching: our agreement together (Article 6(1)(b), contract).
• Health and other sensitive information: this is "special category" data with extra protection. I process it for the provision of health care under Article 9(2)(h) UK GDPR, with the corresponding condition in Schedule 1, paragraph 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018, and under my professional duty of confidentiality as a counsellor.
• Meeting legal obligations: Article 6(1)(c), for example safeguarding duties or records I am required to keep.

Who I share your information with

Almost no one. Specifically:

• Google Workspace processes my email, video sessions and document storage on my behalf, with the data region set to Europe. Google acts as a processor under contractual terms that meet UK GDPR requirements.
• Clinical supervision. Like all ethical counsellors, I discuss my client work with a clinical supervisor. This is done in anonymised form; my supervisor does not know your identity.
• Where the law requires it, for example a safeguarding duty, a court order, or a serious and imminent risk to someone's safety. The limits of confidentiality are set out fully in my counselling agreement, and I will involve you wherever safely possible.
• My insurer or professional advisers, only if ever necessary in connection with a legal claim or complaint.

I never sell your information, share it for marketing, or share it with an employer, even where an employer funds your sessions.

How I protect it

Client records are pseudonymised: they are stored under a client code rather than your name, with the key held separately. Access is limited to me, protected by two-step verification, and data is stored in Google Workspace's European data region.

How long I keep it

• Client records: 7 years after our work together ends, then securely deleted. This reflects professional and insurance guidance on the period during which records may be needed.
• Enquiries that don't become client work: deleted within 6 months.

Your rights

You have the right to ask for a copy of the information I hold about you, to have inaccurate information corrected, to ask for information to be deleted or its use restricted, to object to certain uses, and to receive your information in a portable format. These rights have some legal limits, but if you ask, I will always explain what I can do and why. Email hello@localdialect.co.uk and I will respond within one month.

Complaints about your data

If you think I've got something wrong with your personal information, you have a legal right to complain to me directly (under section 164A of the Data Protection Act 2018). Email hello@localdialect.co.uk with "Data protection complaint" in the subject line, or raise it with me by any other route; I will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, look into it without undue delay, keep you informed, and tell you the outcome.

If you're not satisfied with my response, you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this notice

If how I handle your information changes, this page will be updated and the date at the top revised. Significant changes affecting current clients will be flagged to them directly.