PRIVACY POLICY
This Privacy Policy explains the privacy practices governing the types of information collected through the website (rescounselingservice.com) (the “Site” or “Website”) owned and operated by RES Counseling Services (“Company”, “we”, “our” or “us”), our use of that information, and your privacy choices and rights.
This Privacy Policy applies to information we collect from or about you through:
- Your use of the Site;
- Your submission of an inquiry or contact form through the Site; and/or
- Your creation of a client account through the secure client portal used by RES Counseling Services for scheduling, telehealth sessions, messaging, billing, and documentation.
You must read this Privacy Policy carefully because when you use the Site, you are consenting to the collection, processing, and retention of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, you can contact us at rachael[at]rescounselingservices.com.
If you do not agree with any part of this Privacy Policy, you may not use the Site.
If you are in the European Economic Area, and you use this Site, you consent to and permit the transfer of your data from the European Economic Area to the United States only for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy.
A Note About Website Privacy and HIPAA
Information submitted through this website is used solely to respond to inquiries and schedule consultations. Submitting information through the website does not establish a therapist-client relationship. Once a client relationship begins, privacy and confidentiality are governed by applicable healthcare privacy laws, including HIPAA, and are described in the practice’s Notice of Privacy Practices.
I. Information We Collect
We collect information that falls into two categories: information you voluntarily provide, and information that your computer, mobile phone, tablet, or other device (all referred to as “Device”) or browser provides automatically.
A. Information You Voluntarily Provide
When you interact with our Site, we, or our service providers acting on our behalf, may collect “Personal Information” — information that relates to you as an identifiable individual — that you intentionally provide to us, such as your name, email address, phone number, and other information you choose to submit through the Site or secure client portal.
We may collect this information when you:
- Submit an inquiry or message through the Site;
- Request a consultation;
- Create or use a secure client account through our practice management platform;
- Communicate with us regarding scheduling or services; or
- Provide information needed to receive services through our secure client portal.
You can always choose not to provide us with information. However, if you withhold certain information, we may be unable to respond to your inquiry or provide some or all services or features.
List of Personal Information We May Collect From You:
- Your first and last name;
- Your email address;
- Your phone number;
- Information you include in a contact form or inquiry message;
- Information submitted through the secure client portal in connection with scheduling, telehealth, billing, or services.
B. Information About You That Is Provided Automatically
Like most websites, simply by visiting our Website, you or your Device may automatically provide certain information. This may include your IP address, the date and time of your visit, the website from which you came before visiting us, the website you visit after leaving our website, your operating system, and the type of web browser you are using. Our website may automatically record this basic information.
And like many other websites, we may use cookies, web beacons, pixel tags, and similar technologies. In plain English, this means information that our website’s server transfers to your computer. This information can be used to track your session on our website, improve website functionality, and help us understand how visitors use the Site. When you browse our Site, we may also automatically receive your computer’s internet protocol (IP) address as well as other information that helps us learn about your browser and operating system (“Usage Information”).
Usage Information We Collect From You:
- Your IP address;
- Your Device type;
- Your browser type;
- Your operating system; and
- General usage and analytics information about how you interact with the Site.
If you access services through a mobile application associated with our secure practice management platform or client portal, that application may collect information such as device identifiers, operating system data, or similar technical information in accordance with its own privacy policies.
C. Cookies and Other Data Tools
Cookies
We and/or our third-party service providers may use cookies and similar technologies to collect Usage Information, improve site performance, enhance security, and better understand how visitors use the Site.
For example, we may use tools such as Google Analytics to collect information about visitors’ use of this Site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit this Site, how users find the Site, and what pages they visit. We use the information we get from these tools to improve this Site.
To opt out of Google Analytics, you may use Google’s opt-out tool:
https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
Web Beacons or Similar Technologies
The Site also may contain web beacons or similar technologies, which are small pieces of code placed on a web page or in an email to monitor behavior and collect data about visitors viewing a web page or email. For example, these technologies may be used to count users who visit a page or help evaluate the effectiveness of site communications.
Opting Out of Cookies; Do-Not-Track
You can opt out of cookies, but if you do, some features of the Site may not work correctly. To learn how to reduce the number of cookies you receive or delete cookies that have already been installed in your browser’s cookie folder, you can check your browser’s help menu or other instructions related to your browser.
We try to honor Do-Not-Track signals you send through your web browser when visiting the Site where reasonably possible.
You may also opt out of the use of cookies by some third-party vendors by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative’s opt-out page:
https://optout.networkadvertising.org/?c=1.
II. How We Use Your Information and What We Do With It
We may use the Personal Information we collect about and from you:
- To perform our responsibilities under a contract or in anticipation of entering into a professional relationship with you. For example:
- To respond to your inquiries;
- To communicate with you about scheduling, consultations, or services;
- To provide access to secure client portal functions; and
- To support telehealth sessions and practice operations.
- When we have a legitimate interest to do so. For example:
- To protect the security of our Site;
- To develop and optimize our Site;
- To resolve technical issues;
- To help us provide and operate the Site; and
- To comply with our legal obligations.
- With your consent. For example:
- Where you choose to submit information through a contact form or portal; and
- Where applicable law requires consent for certain uses of data.
- As otherwise required by applicable law. For example:
- To protect someone’s rights, safety, or property; or
- When necessary to comply with a legal obligation or lawful request.
While we may rely on your consent as one legal basis for collecting and processing certain information, if you consent to a particular use of your information and later change your mind, you may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at rachael[at]rescounselingservices.com.
III. How We May Share Your Information
A. Service Providers.
We may share your Personal Information with service providers that we engage to perform business-related functions on our behalf (“Service Providers”). This may include service providers that:
- host the Site;
- provide website analytics;
- provide customer, technical, or operational support;
- maintain databases;
- support secure scheduling, telehealth sessions, billing, documentation, or client communication; and
- otherwise support our business operations.
RES Counseling Services uses a secure third-party practice management platform, SimplePractice, to manage scheduling, telehealth sessions, documentation, billing, and secure client communication. Information submitted for purposes of scheduling or receiving services may be processed through this platform. SimplePractice maintains its own privacy and security policies and is responsible for protecting health information in accordance with applicable healthcare privacy laws, including HIPAA.
These Service Providers may use your Personal Information only as necessary to help us carry out those functions. We restrict the ways in which service providers may use information we share with them.
B. Business Transfers.
We may share your Personal Information if we are acquired by, merge with, or otherwise reorganize with another company. If that occurs, any successor entity will be subject to the commitments in this Privacy Policy unless and until you are notified otherwise.
C. Legal Disclosure or Governmental Request.
We may transfer and disclose information, including Personal Information, to third parties to comply with a legal obligation or subpoena, when we believe in good faith that the law requires it, at the request of governmental authorities conducting an investigation, to verify or enforce our Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, or other applicable policies, to respond to an emergency, or otherwise to protect the rights, property, safety, or security of the Site, third parties, visitors to the Site, or the public.
IV. Your Privacy Choices, Rights, and Access
A. In General.
You may direct us not to use your Personal Information for certain purposes, request deletion of information we have collected and maintain about you, or request access to certain information we hold about you by:
- sending us an email at rachael[at]rescounselingservices.com; or
- contacting us using the information in the Contact Us section below.
If you wish to verify, correct, or update any Personal Information collected through the Site, or request access to information we maintain about you, you may contact us at the email or address included in the Contact Us section below.
In accordance with our routine recordkeeping practices, we may delete certain records that contain Personal Information you have submitted through the Site. In addition, because of backups or other technology-related reasons, it may not always be possible to completely remove or delete all of your information from our systems.
B. For Individuals in the European Economic Area
If you are in the European Economic Area, you may have certain rights related to the Personal Information we hold about you, including rights of access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, and withdrawal of consent, subject to applicable law.
- Access. You may request access to the Personal Information we hold about you.
- Accuracy/Rectification. You may request that inaccurate or incomplete Personal Information be corrected.
- Deletion/Erasure and Processing Restriction Requests. You may request deletion of certain Personal Information or ask us to stop processing it, subject to exceptions.
- Portability Requests. You may request that we provide certain data to you or transmit it to another organization where applicable.
- Withdrawing Consent. You may withdraw your consent to certain uses of your Personal Information at any time.
- Damages. You may have the right to claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of applicable data protection laws.
If you are in the European Economic Area and have complaints about how we use your Personal Information, you may have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority in your country. A list of data protection authorities is available at
http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/article29/item-detail.cfm?item_id=612080.
For further information on these rights, see the UK Information Commissioner’s Office guidance:
ICO Guidance on Individual Rights.
The Site is governed by and operated in accordance with the laws of the United States. If you are located outside the United States, please be aware that information we collect may be transferred to and processed in the United States.
C. Rights of California Residents
California residents may have certain privacy rights under applicable California law. Although RES Counseling Services does not sell Personal Information, California residents may request:
- Information about the Personal Information we maintain and how we use it;
- Deletion of Personal Information we maintain, subject to applicable exceptions; and
- Confirmation that we do not sell Personal Information.
Please send any such request by email to rachael[at]rescounselingservices.com or write to:
RES Counseling Services
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80924
USA
D. Brazil Residents
If you reside in Brazil, you may have certain privacy rights under Brazil’s General Law on Protection of Personal Data (LGPD), to the extent applicable and not inconsistent with United States law.
V. A Note on Links to Other Websites and Your Voluntary Disclosure of Information to Third Parties
The Site may contain links to other websites maintained by third parties. These links are provided only as a convenience. We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the content, products, services, or privacy practices of third-party websites. The information practices on those websites may differ from ours and are not covered by this Privacy Policy.
VI. Minors/Children
We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13 years of age through this website. If we learn that a child under 13 has provided us with Personal Information without verified parental consent, we will delete that information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you believe we may have information from or about a child under 13, please contact us at rachael[at]rescounselingservices.com.
VII. Storage of Your Information
We will generally store information for as long as it is reasonably necessary to provide services, operate the Site, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce agreements, subject to applicable law and professional recordkeeping requirements.
VIII. Request to Access or Delete
If we grant your request to access personal data, we will confirm whether we are processing your personal data, provide a copy of personal data we possess as required by applicable law, and provide information about how we process such data.
If you request deletion of personal data we possess, we will do so unless we are required or permitted by law to retain it, including for legal, regulatory, public interest, or recordkeeping purposes.
As a general rule, there is no fee for processing a reasonable request. However, we reserve the right to refuse a request or charge a reasonable fee where permitted by law if the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive.
IX. Security: We Cannot Guarantee the Security of the Site
We take seriously our obligation to safeguard the confidentiality, security, and integrity of Personal Information collected through the Site. The Site uses SSL (secure sockets layer) technology, which provides encrypted communication between the website and internet browser. We also maintain reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect information collected through the Site.
However, no system is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee the confidentiality, security, or integrity of information maintained on the Site.
Email is not a secure form of communication. Please do not send credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, or other highly sensitive personal information through email or unsecured website forms.
We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
X. Changes
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time and will revise the Effective Date when we do so. We encourage you to review this page periodically for the latest information about our privacy practices. By continuing to use the Site after changes go into effect, you agree to the revised Privacy Policy.
XI. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us by email at rachael[at]rescounselingservices.com or write to:
RES Counseling Services
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80924
USA
XII. This Policy and Customer Agreements
If you are our client, any client agreement between us supersedes this Privacy Policy to the extent there is any conflict between the two.
