Privacy Policy
Last Updated: June 19, 2025
Couch Of H.O.P.E is committed to protecting your privacy. To better protect your privacy we provide this notice explaining our online information practices. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available on our website.
Couch Of H.O.P.E is committed to protecting the personal information of our customers, employees and other individuals. When you conduct business with Couch Of H.O.P.E you can be assured that your privacy is protected. We respect your right to control the collection and use and disclosure of your personal information.
Couch Of H.O.P.E is committed to protecting your privacy and safeguarding your personal information. Couch Of H.O.P.E has implemented the below "Privacy Code" to comply with the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Couch Of H.O.P.E respects the privacy of our clients and we are committed to keeping your personal information private, secure, accurate, and confidential.
What Is Personal Information?
Personal information includes any factual or subjective information, recorded or not, about an identifiable individual. This includes information in any form, such as:
age, name, ID numbers, income, ethnic origin, or blood type
opinions, evaluations, comments, social status, or disciplinary actions
employee files, credit records, loan records, medical records, existence of a dispute between a consumer intentions (for example, to acquire goods or services, or change jobs)
Personal information does not include the name, title, business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization.
Information We May Collect And What We Do With Such Information
We collect and use information about you and your use of our website and our products and services (herein called "Information") to:
(i) initiate and maintain a business relationship with you as our customer in connection with our products and services.
(ii) Provide you with personalized services and product offerings by use of direct marketing to our current customer base, as well as new potential customers.
(iii) Comply with any legal requirements or requests due to a legal proceeding.
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act utilizes the model code from the Canadian Standards Association(CSA). The code was developed by business, consumers, academics and government under the auspices of the Canadian Standards Association. It lists 10 principles of fair information practices, which form ground rules for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. These principles give individuals control over how their personal information is handled in the private sector. An organization is responsible for the protection of personal information and the fair handling of it at all times, throughout the organization and in dealings with third parties. Care in collecting, using and disclosing personal information is essential to continued consumer confidence and good will.
When you isit the Site, we automatically collect certain information about your device, including information about your web browser, IP address, time zone, and some of the cookies that are installed on your device. Additionally, as you browse the Site, we collect information about the individual web pages or products that you view, what websites or search terms referred you to the Site, and information about how you interact with the Site. We refer to this automatically-collected information as “Device Information.”
We may at times collect Device Information using the following technologies:
- “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, isit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
- “Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
- “Web beacons,” “tags,” and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.
When we talk about “Personal Information” in this Privacy Policy, we are talking both about Device Information and other information collected.
Additionally, we use Email Form information collected on our website to:
- Communicate with you;
- Screen initial contact for potential risk or fraud; and
- When in line with the preferences you have shared with us, provide you with information or advertising relating to our products or services.
- We use the Device Information that we collect to help us screen for potential risk and fraud (in particular, your IP address), and more generally to improve and optimize our Site (for example, by generating analytics about how our customers browse and interact with the Site, and to assess the success of our marketing and advertising campaigns).
BEHAVIOURAL ADVERTISING
As described above, we use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you. For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can isit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.
You can opt out of targeted advertising by:
FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
GOOGLE - https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
BING - https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/policies/personalized-ads
Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by isiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at: http://optout.aboutads.info/.
DO NOT TRACK
Please note that we do not alter our Site’s data collection and use practices when we see a Do Not Track signal from your browser.
DATA RETENTION
When you communicate through the Site, we will maintain your Information for our records unless and until you ask us to delete this information.
MINORS
The Site is not intended for individuals under the age of 18.
CHANGES
We may update this privacy policy from time to time in order to reflect, for example, changes to our practices or for other operational, legal or regulatory reasons.
Couch Of H.O.P.E takes our Privacy code seriously, which is based on the below 10 principles:
1. Accountability
Couch Of H.O.P.E is responsible for information under our control. We have assigned an individual who is accountable for our organization's compliance to the Privacy Principles set out by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
2. Identifying purposes
Whenever we collect information from a customer or potential customer we identify the purpose for which the information will be used.
3. Consent
Consent and knowledge of the individual is required before we collect or disclose any personal information, except in cases where it is inappropriate.
4. Limiting collection
We only collect information that is necessary for the purpose identified by our organization.
5. Limiting use, disclosure, and retention
Just as Couch Of H.O.P.E takes steps to limit the types of information we collect from you, we carefully regulate how we handle your personal information. We do not use your information for purposes other than those to which you have consented, or as required by law (for example in a legal investigation).
Should Couch Of H.O.P.E require the services of third parties to handle your information, we will require them to adhere to privacy procedures that will keep your information confidential. These third parties will be given only the information necessary for performing their information-handling services.
Couch Of H.O.P.E does not sell or trade personal information for commercial purposes.
Couch Of H.O.P.E is committed to retaining your personal information only as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. Couch Of H.O.P.E is also committed to deleting or destroying the records containing that information when they are no longer required; this will be done in ways that will ensure your continued privacy.
6. Accuracy
We are committed to ensuring that our records of your personal information are accurate, complete, and up-to-date. Although it is your responsibility to inform Couch Of H.O.P.E of any relevant changes in your personal information, we will take steps to ensure that you are able from time to time to verify the information in your file.
7. Safeguards
Couch Of H.O.P.E uses appropriate safeguards to protect the privacy of your personal information. These safeguards are designed to prevent unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. Your records are accessible only to staff who have been given the authority to access them and only as is necessary to provide services to you.
8. Openness
So that you can be confident that Couch Of H.O.P.E is handling your personal information appropriately, Couch Of H.O.P.E will make information about its policies and practices concerning management of personal information readily available to you. As such, Couch Of H.O.P.E lists our policies on our website for viewing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for reading by all.
9. Individual access
If at any time you have a question about our records containing your personal information, we will do our best to answer it. You have the right to be told about the kind of personal information Couch Of H.O.P.E maintains, how it is used, and with whom it is shared. You are entitled to challenge the factual accuracy as well as the completeness and relevance of our records. Incorrect information will be promptly corrected or, if necessary, deleted.
In special circumstances, Couch Of H.O.P.E may need to refuse or limit an access request, for example when disclosure of the information will reveal personal information about another person or interfere with a legal investigation.
Most inquiries about our records containing your personal information will be answered at no cost to you. In special circumstances, however, it may be necessary to charge a fee, for example when a lot of staff time is required to gather requested information. If a fee is necessary, you will be told in advance.
10. Challenging compliance
An important measure of Couch Of H.O.P.E compliance with the ten privacy principles is your perception of our practices and procedures. We welcome your comments and suggestions concerning this privacy statement and will respond to any concerns you may have about its application.
You can request a copy of the CSA Model code for the protection of personal information directly from the Canadian Standards Association.
11. Privacy & Confidentiality
As a Counselling Therapists regulated by the Nova Scotia College of Counselling Therapists (NSCCT), We are committed to upholding your privacy and maintaining the confidentiality of all personal health information you share in therapy.
Your information is protected under Nova Scotia's Personal Health Information Act (PHIA), which sets out how personal health information must be collected, used, and disclosed. All clinical records are securely stored and accessed only as necessary for your care.
Everything you share in therapy is kept confidential, with a few exceptions as required by law—such as risk of harm to self or others, concerns about child abuse or neglect, or a legal order requiring disclosure.
If you have questions about your rights, how your information is managed, or how confidentiality is maintained, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Couch Of H.O.P.E.
192 Wyse Rd, Dartmouth
Dartmouth, NS, B3A 1M8.