Privacy notice.

Mind Check is the private psychology practice of Nare Matlou, an HPCSA-registered Clinical Psychologist. Under POPIA, Mind Check is the responsible party: the organisation that decides why and how your personal information is processed.

Practice

Mind Check (Nare Matlou, Clinical Psychologist)

Address

11 Sussex Road, Parkwood, Johannesburg, 2193

Email

Nare@mindcheck.co.za

Phone

078 643 5948

Website

www.mindcheck.co.za

Our Information Officer is Nare Matlou, who is responsible for making sure your information is handled lawfully and for dealing with any privacy requests or concerns. You can get in touch at Nare@mindcheck.co.za.

Through the contact form

When you send an enquiry, we receive:

• your full name and email address
• your phone or WhatsApp number (optional)
• how you'd like us to contact you
• who the sessions are for, whether you'd prefer in-person or online sessions, and your preferred language
• your medical aid and cover plan, if you have one (optional)
• anything you choose to write in the message box (optional)
• a record that you gave consent, and when

Please don't include detailed personal or medical information in the form. We can talk about that privately.

When you contact us directly

If you WhatsApp, call or email us, we receive your number or email address and whatever you choose to share. WhatsApp and your email provider have their own privacy policies, which apply to how they handle your messages.

Collected automatically

This website does not use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, and we don't use tools such as Google Analytics or social media pixels. Our fonts are served from our own website, so browsing it doesn't send your details to font providers. Our hosting provider keeps short-term technical logs (such as IP address, browser type and the pages requested) to keep the site secure and working. If we ever introduce analytics or cookies, we'll update this notice first and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

Links to Google Maps and WhatsApp take you to those services, whose own privacy policies then apply.

We use the information you send us only to:

• reply to your enquiry and answer your questions
• arrange your appointments
• let you know about fees, medical aid and practical details you've asked about
• meet our legal and professional obligations

We rely on your consent (which you give by ticking the box on the form or by contacting us) and on the need to take steps you've asked for before you become a client (POPIA section 11). We don't use your information for marketing, and we don't add you to any mailing list.

Information about your mental or physical health is special personal information under POPIA and receives extra protection. We only process it from the website with your explicit consent, and only to respond to your enquiry. That's why we ask you to keep the message short and to save personal details for a private conversation.

If you become a client, the information you share in therapy forms part of your clinical record. Clinical records are handled separately under the HPCSA's ethical rules and guidelines on confidentiality and record-keeping, health legislation and POPIA, and are explained to you in more detail at your first session.

You can withdraw your consent at any time by letting us know. This won't affect anything we did lawfully before you withdrew it.

We never sell, rent or trade your personal information. We share it only when necessary:

• Service providers (“operators”) that help us run the practice: our website host, the email delivery service that passes form messages to our inbox (Resend), and our practice email provider. They may only use your information to provide their service to us and must keep it secure.
• Your medical aid, for clients only, and only the details needed if you ask us to submit claims.
• When the law requires it, for example a court order, or where there is a serious risk of harm to you or someone else, in line with HPCSA ethical rules.

Some of our service providers, including our email delivery service and website host, may process or store information on servers outside South Africa (for example in the United States or European Union). Under section 72 of POPIA, we only allow this where the provider is bound by law, binding corporate rules or an agreement that gives your information a level of protection similar to POPIA, or where the transfer is needed to respond to your request or you have consented to it.

We keep enquiry emails and messages only for as long as we need them to respond and arrange your first appointment. If you don't go on to book, we delete them within 12 months.

The website itself doesn't keep a copy of your enquiry: the form passes it straight to our email provider for delivery to the practice inbox. If you become a client, your clinical records are kept for the periods required by the HPCSA and health legislation, then securely destroyed.

We take reasonable technical and organisational steps to protect your information, including:

• encrypting the website connection (HTTPS), so the form can't be read in transit
• not storing enquiries in a website database
• limiting access to the practice inbox to Nare Matlou, with strong passwords and two-step verification
• choosing reputable service providers that are required to keep information secure

No system is completely secure. If we believe your information has been accessed without authorisation, we will notify you and the Information Regulator as soon as reasonably possible, as POPIA requires (section 22).

Under POPIA, you have the right to:

• ask whether we hold personal information about you, and request a copy of it
• ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date or incomplete
• ask us to delete information we no longer have a lawful reason to keep
• object to us processing your information, and withdraw your consent at any time
• complain to the Information Regulator if you're unhappy with how we've handled your information

To make a request, email Nare@mindcheck.co.za. We may need to confirm your identity before sharing or changing anything, and we'll respond within a reasonable time, usually within 30 days. Some information, such as clinical records, may need to be kept for a period required by law even if you ask us to delete it; if so, we'll explain why.

We work with preteens and teens, but we don't knowingly process a child's personal information from this website without the consent of a parent or legal guardian (a “competent person” under POPIA). If you're enquiring about your child, please share only what's needed to arrange a first conversation.

If you're under 18 and would like to talk to someone, please ask a parent, guardian or another trusted adult to get in touch with you or for you. If you need help urgently, the free 24-hour crisis lines at the bottom of every page are there for you.

We may update this notice from time to time, for example if the law or our service providers change. The “last updated” date at the top of this page shows when it was last changed. We'll highlight significant changes on this page.

If you have a question about this notice or want to make a request, please email Nare@mindcheck.co.za, call 078 643 5948 or write to us at 11 Sussex Road, Parkwood, Johannesburg, 2193.

Ready to reach out? Get in touch.