Privacy and your consultation information

Updated 5 November 2026. This page describes my current privacy arrangements. I am still completing the documentation of the legal bases for core consultation records and the arrangements for service providers that process information outside the UK. I will update this notice as that work is completed.

I am Luke Norland, a homeopath offering consultations in Frome and online. I am responsible for deciding how your personal information is used in my practice. You can contact me about your information or privacy at info@lukenorland.co.uk.

You can have a consultation without recording or transcription, and without birth-chart preparation. These are separate choices. Saying no to either does not prevent you from working with me.

Information I use

I use your contact details to respond to enquiries, arrange appointments and keep in touch. For a consultation, I also use the information you share about your health, medical history, medicines, symptoms and wellbeing, together with my consultation notes and our relevant correspondence. Health information needs particular protection.

If you choose birth-chart preparation, I ask for your date, time and place of birth. I use these for Human Design, astrology and I Ching preparation, alongside my Archetypal Voices system, before we meet. This is optional; you can leave out these details and discuss your preferences with me. I use my own software for this preparation and keep the information locally on password-protected systems.

Please avoid including other people's names or identifying details in your history unless they are necessary to explain your situation.

Recording and transcription

With your written permission, I use a consultation transcription tool I developed in conjunction with Zeus Soft to help turn our conversation into notes. Recording and transcription are optional. You can ask me not to start recording, or ask me to stop during a consultation.

Transcription and AI-assisted organisation of the case run on equipment under my control. I do not use cloud AI models for this process. The software helps me organise what we have discussed; I remain responsible for reviewing my notes and for decisions about your consultation.

The tool helps remove identifying details from a separate working version of the text, which I review before further analysis. I still hold the original recording and records needed for your consultation. Removing names does not make the whole record anonymous, so I continue to treat these materials as confidential personal information.

How I protect your records

The recordings and consultation records I hold in the transcription system are stored on encrypted storage. The transcription system restricts each case to the practitioner who records it. For my patients, that is me. Zeus Soft does not have access to these records.

Encryption helps protect stored records; it does not replace careful handling when I use them. The optional teaching-recording arrangements below are a separate use of material that you may choose to authorise.

I use backups to protect against accidental loss. Copies in backups need to be included in the retention and deletion arrangements described below.

Calls, email and payments

Online consultations normally use Zoom, with Teams or WhatsApp as alternatives. I send the joining link shortly before the appointment. I do not use Zoom's AI features for consultations. These services process information needed to provide the call. I use Google Workspace for practice email. If you pay through a payment link on my website, Stripe handles the card payment.

These services are separate from the local transcription and case-organisation process. Local AI processing does not mean that calls, email or payments avoid external providers.

My public website is hosted on Cloudflare Pages. I also use my own server for supporting online services and backups. The information processed by external providers depends on the service: calls involve your connection and conversation, email contains our correspondence, and Stripe processes payment details. Website delivery involves technical information such as your IP address and browser.

Why I use information

I use information for responding to enquiries, arranging and providing consultations, keeping appropriate practice records, communicating with you, and administering payments. Recording/transcription and birth-chart preparation are optional additional purposes. Video recording for teaching is a further, separate choice described below.

I ask for separate permission for optional recording, birth-chart preparation and teaching use. Reading this notice is not itself consent. The legal basis for maintaining core practice records is part of the documentation review mentioned above; permission for an optional activity is not blanket permission for other uses.

How long I keep information

I follow professional guidance to retain clinical records for at least seven years after the last consultation. For a child, I retain records until at least their 25th birthday and for at least seven years after the last consultation. These are professional record-keeping periods, rather than a single retention period imposed by GDPR. The Society of Homeopaths Code of Ethics and the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths Code of Ethics set out their guidance.

Working audio and transcripts are different from the clinical record and from optional teaching videos. I am reviewing their retention arrangements, including copies in backups. I do not currently promise automatic deletion of consultation audio after a fixed number of days. The relevant considerations include whether the material is still needed to prepare or check notes, professional and insurance requirements, and any outstanding complaint or claim. Archiving a record does not delete it.

Birth-chart information and correspondence that form part of your consultation record follow the clinical-record arrangements. For other enquiries and administrative information, retention depends on the outstanding enquiry, appointment or payment matter and any applicable record-keeping requirements. I will explain the retention period for an optional teaching recording in our written agreement before recording.

Your choices and rights

You can change your mind about optional recording/transcription or birth-chart preparation by telling me or emailing me. Where I rely on your consent, you can withdraw it. Withdrawal does not undo processing that was lawful before you withdrew, but I must stop further processing that depends on that consent.

You can ask for access to your information, correction of inaccurate details, or deletion. Depending on the circumstances and the legal basis, you may also have rights to restrict processing, object to it, or receive information in a portable form. These rights are not all unconditional: if there is a lawful reason I must retain particular records, I will explain it.

You can make a request verbally or in writing. Email is a convenient way to reach me, but you do not have to use a special form. If you ask for a copy of your records, I will arrange appropriate identity checks and a secure way to provide the information, protecting any information about other people.

Optional video recording for teaching

You can choose to have your consultation video-recorded for use as a teaching case with my students. I confirm the reduced consultation fee individually in writing before you decide; it is not a fixed discount. You can decline and have a consultation at the standard rate. Your decision does not change the care or attention I give you.

A teaching video can reveal your face, voice, personal circumstances and health information. It is not an anonymous record. Permission for teaching is separate from permission to transcribe a consultation for my own notes, and separate from birth-chart preparation.

Before asking for your agreement, I will explain which session or material I want to use, who will see it, how they will view it and how long I will keep it. I ask for your explicit written permission for the agreed teaching use with my students in a confidential setting. I store the video on my password-protected machine and keep a backup on my personal server. This permission does not authorise public website or social-media publication, advertising, or AI model training. Teaching permission does not give students access to my case vault.

You can ask me to stop recording at any time. You can also withdraw permission for future teaching use by telling me or emailing me. I will stop further use that depends on that permission. I cannot undo a teaching session that has already taken place or make students forget information they have already seen.

The written agreement records the session or excerpts, the teaching audience, viewing and copying restrictions, retention period and how withdrawal will be handled, including controlled copies and backups. These terms are agreed before recording, so you can decide whether this option suits you.

Agreement to a consultation, transcription or teaching video does not give me blanket permission to use your information for research, software development or AI model training. Any other purpose needs a separate explanation and an appropriate lawful basis.

Questions or complaints

Please contact me at info@lukenorland.co.uk if you have a question, wish to exercise your rights, or want to complain about how I have handled your information. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

I will update this notice when my information-handling arrangements change.