Privacy policy

1. Who processes your data

The controller of your data is Sofia Vizinho, owner of the Psicologias da Sofia brand. For questions about your data or to exercise your rights, contact [email protected].

2. Which data we use and why

• Bookings and contact: name, email, phone number, billing information and appointment details, to manage bookings, respond to enquiries and send confirmations and reminders. If you provide notes when booking, we process that information to prepare for your appointment.
• Sessions: information needed for psychological support and associated professional records, protected by confidentiality. Sessions are not recorded and clinical records are not stored on this website.
• Payments and invoicing: data needed to collect payment, issue invoices and manage any refunds. The Portuguese tax number (NIF) you provide is used to issue the invoice. Payment details are entered in the payment service integrated into the booking process.
• Browsing: technical data needed to provide and protect the site. With your permission, we also measure page visits, interactions and bookings originating from adverts.

The data needed to book and provide the service allows us to fulfil your request. Without essential data, we may be unable to make the booking or meet the related obligations.

The reflection on the anxiety page runs in your browser: answers are neither saved nor sent by the site and do not constitute a diagnosis.

3. Legal basis

We process data needed for booking and providing the service to perform the contract or respond to your request before entering into a contract. We also meet legal obligations, particularly tax obligations.

Clinical information is processed to provide healthcare and manage psychological support, under professional confidentiality. The operation and security of the site rely on our legitimate interest in providing a secure service.

Analytics and storage of advert identifiers require your permission. You can withdraw it in cookie preferences without losing access to content or booking.

4. Who may receive the data

Staff at Psicologias da Sofia have access to booking data and administrative notes to manage scheduling, respecting confidentiality. Recording, retaining and deleting clinical notes is the responsibility of your psychologist, in line with her professional duties. These notes are kept separately from the administrative data managed by the practice.

We use providers for booking, payment, video calls, communications, automation and hosting. With your permission, we also use providers for website usage analytics and advertising effectiveness measurement. We may disclose data to authorities or other recipients where legally required.

See the booking service's privacy policy and the payment service's privacy policy. Some providers may process data outside the European Economic Area. You can contact us for information about recipients and the conditions applying to transfers of your data.

5. How long we keep data

We keep data for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, taking account of legal and professional obligations and the need to exercise or defend rights.

• Professional records: at least five years after the intervention ends, in accordance with the Code of Ethics of the Portuguese Psychologists' Association.
• Tax documents: for the applicable statutory retention periods.
• Administrative booking data: for as long as needed to manage appointments for active clients. For inactive clients, it is deleted when applicable retention periods end and it is no longer needed to meet legal obligations or exercise or defend rights.
• Communications: for as long as needed to respond to the enquiry and manage support, respecting applicable retention obligations.
• Cookies and local storage: according to the periods stated in the cookie policy.

You can ask us about the retention of your data and request its deletion, subject to obligations requiring us to keep it.

6. Confidentiality and minors

Psychological support is subject to professional confidentiality. Access to and use of data must be limited to what is necessary for each purpose. The site uses an HTTPS connection to protect information in transit.

We see adolescents aged 14 and over with permission from a parent or legal guardian. The parent or guardian must make the booking. We ensure that the confidentiality rules applicable to the adolescent's care are respected.

7. Your rights

Where applicable, you may request access, rectification, erasure, portability or restriction of processing of your data. You can object to processing based on legitimate interest and withdraw consent without affecting processing previously carried out on that basis.

Send your request to [email protected]. We usually respond within one month; if an extension is needed under the law, we will let you know. We may request information needed to confirm your identity.

You can also lodge a complaint with the Portuguese Data Protection Authority (CNPD).

8. Cookies and updates

Articles have public view and like counters hosted on Cloudflare. To remember a like and allow you to remove it, your browser saves a random reference specific to that article, created only when you click the heart. The counting database saves this reference and totals, without names, contact details, IP addresses or questionnaire answers. The view count does not save a visitor identifier in your browser.

See the cookie policy to learn about the elements used and manage your preferences. We do not send booking form fields or reflection answers for website measurement. Measurement may include the public pages visited and the type of booking process chosen.

We may update this policy when the service or data processing changes. The date at the top of the page identifies the latest update.