Acuspace Privacy Policy

Updated 28 april 2026

1.0 For acupuncture patients and Coaching clients:

This notice is to explain why I, Emily Lowe, owner of acuspace, collect your personal data, and what I do with it. It is also to ensure that I am working in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); terms from the regulation are indicated in bold.

I provide acupuncture treatment, somatic coaching and qigong and tai chi teaching (collectively referred to as “services”).

When you supply your personal details to me, when I communicate by phone or email, and when I take clinical or coaching notes, this information is stored and processed in order to provide safe and appropriate services and to manage my practice.

  • For acupuncture treatment and some coaching work, I may collect personal and health information in order to provide safe and appropriate care. For qigong/tai chi classes, I only collect health information where relevant (for example, injury or safety considerations by means of a Pre-Activity Readiness Questionnaire Plus (PAR-Q+) assessment before we work together). Your request for services and my agreement to provide them constitutes a contract. You can, of course, refuse to provide the information, but if you were to do that I may not be able to provide services.

  • The lawful bases for processing your data are:

    • Provision of healthcare (where relevant to acupuncture treatment and health-related information)

    • Performance of a contract (providing services you have requested)

    • Legitimate interests (managing appointments and communication)

  • I keep records of your contact information because it is important that I can contact you in order to confirm your appointments with me or to update you on matters related to your medical services.

  • I may occasionally send you individualised information related to your treatment, coaching or practice. This forms part of your services and you may opt out at any time. I will never send out generalised leaflets or advertisements. You may withdraw your preference to receive such information for me to contact you about individualised information at any time - just let me know by any convenient method.

I have a professional obligation to retain your clinical notes or session records (this includes our client contract and/or PAR-Q+) for 7 years after your most recent appointment (or after you have reached age 25, if this is longer), at which point I will destroy your records (by shredding or permanently deleting them if they are digital).

As my client or patient, your clinical records and session notes, client contract and PAR-Q+ are stored:

  • On paper (client contract and PAR-Q+ only), in a secure, locked filing cabinet within my home.

  • Electronically on Apple iCloud (for records and digital client contracts or PAR-Q+). Apple iCloud ensures end-to-end encryption for stored files. Your clinical records are encrypted and only I have access via my password-protected account along with fingerprint access to my computer and 2FA (two-factor authentication).

I also keep a file on my password protected computer at home which stores the invoices I send to those who have requested them for personal or health insurance claim purposes. These records may include your name, address and appointment dates. They are stored securely and are not shared unless legally required.

I am the only person who has access to your records, invoice files, contact details and emails. I will never share your information with anyone who does not have a legal right of access without your written consent.

You have the right to see what personal data of yours I hold, and you can also ask me to correct any factual errors. Additionally, except where I am legally required to retain records (7 years for clinical files), you can request deletion of your data at any time. I am required to respond to requests within 30 days and will carry out a reasonable and proportionate search of my records. I will ensure that I respond as soon as possible to any reasonable request for access to personal records within the 30 day period.

I want you to be absolutely confident that I am treating your personal data responsibly. If you feel that I am mishandling your personal data in some way, you have the right to complain. Please first raise your concern with me, Emily Lowe (using emily@acuspace.co.uk or 07790 328861), the Data Controller for acuspace, as I hope very much I will be able deal with any concerns you might have. I will respond to any concerns within a reasonable timeframe (usually within one month). However, you can also raise a concern directly with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Data retention summary:

  • Clinical records (acupuncture) are retained for 7 years

  • Coaching/session notes are retained for a similar period where appropriate

  • Contact details are retained only as long as necessary for active clients

  • Administrative communications (texts/emails) are deleted periodically

2.0 For newsletter subscribers:

This notice is to explain why I, Emily Lowe, owner of www.acuspace.co.uk, collect your “personal details” (in this instance, namely your first name, last name and email address) and what I do with it. It is also to ensure that I am working in accordance with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); terms from the regulation are indicated in bold.

Please note that if you are my acupuncture client, I never add you to my newsletter unless you expressly ask me to do so.

When you choose to sign up to my email newsletter and supply your “personal details” to me and when I communicate with you by email using MailChimp, this information is stored and processed for the purpose of sending you information you have requested.

  • The lawful basis for this processing is your consent.

  • Provided I have your consent (by you confirming your desire to be on my MailChimp newsletter subscription list using ‘double opt-in’), I will occasionally send you information about my clinic, my services, interesting news, articles or health information. You may withdraw consent at any time - just let me know by any convenient method (e.g. via email to emily@acuspace.co.uk) or use the unsubscribe details at the bottom of any email communications I send to you. If I don't hear from you for 2 years, I will remove your details unless you confirm you still wish to subscribe.

I will never share your data with anyone else.

Your data is stored on the MailChimp server only, in the cloud, not on my personal computer. The account is password protected and only I have access to the account. Mailchimp complies with UK GDPR through the use of Standard Contractual Clauses for international data transfers. You can view their privacy policy for more details - it can be found here: https://mailchimp.com/about/security/.

You have the right to see what personal data of yours I hold, and you can also ask me to correct any factual errors. Additionally, except where I am legally required to retain records (7 years for clinical files as indicated above), you can request deletion of your data at any time. I am required to respond to requests within 30 days and will carry out a reasonable and proportionate search of my records. I will respond, as required, to any concerns within 30 days.

As with the personal and medical data I hold for my acupuncture clients, I want you to be absolutely confident that I am treating your personal data responsibly. Of course, if you feel that I am mishandling your personal data in some way, you have the right to complain. Please first raise your concern with me, Emily Lowe (using emily@acuspace.co.uk or 07790 328861), the Data Controller for acuspace, as I hope very much I will be able deal with any concerns you might have. However, you can also raise a concern directly with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) via: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/