PRIVACY NOTICE
Last updated September 24, 2025
This Privacy Notice for Bayside Counseling & Consulting (doing business as Bayside Counseling) ("we," "us," or "our"), describes how and why we might access, collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your personal information when you use our services ("Services"), including when you:
Questions or concerns? Reading this Privacy Notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. We are responsible for making decisions about how your personal information is processed. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services. If you still have any questions or concerns, please contact us at info@BaysideCounseling.org.
SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS
This summary provides key points from our Privacy Notice, but you can find out more details about any of these topics by reading further in the sections following.
What personal information do we process? When you visit or use our Services, we may handle personal information depending on what you choose to share with us.
Do we process any sensitive personal information? Some of the information may be considered "special" or "sensitive" in certain jurisdictions, for example your racial or ethnic origins, sexual orientation, and religious beliefs. We may process sensitive personal information when necessary with your consent or as otherwise permitted or required by applicable law.
Do we collect any information from third parties? We do not collect any information from third parties.
How do we process your information? We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent. We process your information only when we have a valid legal reason to do so.
In what situations and with which parties do we share personal information? We may share information in specific situations and with specific third parties only with your consent or as required by law.
How do we keep your information safe? We have adequate organizational and technical processes and procedures in place to protect your personal information. However, no electronic transmission over the internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information.
What are your rights? Depending on where you are located geographically, the applicable privacy law may mean you have certain rights regarding your personal information.
How do you exercise your rights? The easiest way to exercise your rights is by contacting us at james@BaysideCounseling.org. We will consider and act upon any request in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Want to learn more about what we do with any information we collect? Review the full Policy below.
1. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT
In Short: We collect personal information that you provide to us.
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our Services, when you participate in the Services, or otherwise when you contact us.
Personal Information Provided by You. The personal information that we collect depends on the context of your interactions with us and the Services, the choices you make, and the services you use. The personal information we collect may include the following:
Sensitive Information. When necessary, with your consent or as otherwise permitted by applicable law, we process the following categories of sensitive information:
All personal information that you provide to us must be true, complete, and accurate, and you must notify us of any changes to such personal information.
2. HOW DO WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short: We process your information to provide, improve, and administer our Services, communicate with you, for security and fraud prevention, and to comply with law. We may also process your information for other purposes with your consent.
We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including:
3. WHEN AND WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?
In Short: We may share information in specific situations described below.
We may need to share your personal information in the following situations:
4. DO WE USE COOKIES AND OTHER TRACKING TECHNOLOGIES?
In Short: We may use cookies and other tracking technologies to collect and store your information.
We may use cookies and similar tracking technologies (like web beacons and pixels) to gather information when you interact with our Services.
Some online tracking technologies help us maintain the security of our Services, prevent crashes, fix bugs, and assist with basic site functions.
We also permit service providers to use online tracking technologies on our Services for analytics and advertising. The service providers use their technology to provide information that help us provide services tailored to your interests which may appear either on our Services or on other websites.
These online tracking technologies do not “sell or share” your information.
Specific information about how we use such technologies and how you can refuse certain cookies is set out in our online Cookie Notice.
5. HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION?
In Short: We keep your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Notice unless otherwise required by law.
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Notice, unless a longer retention period is required by law (such as health regulations or other legal requirements).
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
In California, mental health records must generally be kept for a minimum of seven years from the date of the last service or discharge. For minor patients, the records must be retained for seven years after they reach the age of 18.
6. HOW DO WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SAFE?
In Short: We aim to protect your personal information through a system of organizational and technical security measures.
We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure, so we cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk. You should only access the Services within a secure environment.
7. DO WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM MINORS?
In Short: We only collect data from children under 18 years of age with parental consent.
We do not knowingly collect, solicit data from, or market to children under 18 years of age, nor do we knowingly sell such personal information. By using the Services, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent's use of the Services. If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected without parental consent, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at james@BaysideCounseling.org.
8. WHAT ARE YOUR PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: You may review, change, or terminate your account at any time, depending on your country, province, or state of residence.
Withdrawing your consent: If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, which may be express and/or implied consent depending on the applicable law, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us by using the contact details provided below.
However, please note that this will not affect the lawfulness of the processing before its withdrawal nor, when applicable law allows, will it affect the processing of your personal information conducted in reliance on lawful processing grounds other than consent. As a reminder, in California mental health records are required by law to be kept for a minimum of seven years from the date of the last service or discharge. For minor patients, the records must be retained for seven years after they reach the age of 18.
Cookies and similar technologies: Most Web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can usually choose to set your browser to remove cookies and to reject cookies. If you choose to remove cookies or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our Services.
If you have questions or comments about your privacy rights, you may email us at james@BaysideCounseling.org.
9. CONTROLS FOR DO-NOT-TRACK FEATURES
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage, no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online. If a standard for online tracking is adopted that we must follow in the future, we will inform you about that practice in a revised version of this Privacy Notice.
California law requires us to let you know how we respond to web browser DNT signals. Because there currently is not an industry or legal standard for recognizing or honoring DNT signals, we do not respond to them at this time.
10. DO UNITED STATES RESIDENTS HAVE SPECIFIC PRIVACY RIGHTS?
In Short: If you are a resident of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, lowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, or Virginia, you may have the right to request access to and receive details about the personal information we maintain about you and how we have processed it, correct inaccuracies, get a copy of, or delete your personal information. You may also have the right to withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information. These rights may be limited in some circumstances by applicable law.
Categories of Personal Information We Collect
Listed below are illustrative examples of each category and does not reflect the actual personal information we may collect from you.
We only collect sensitive personal information, as defined by applicable privacy laws or the purposes allowed by law or with your consent. Sensitive personal information may be used, or disclosed to a service provider or contractor, for additional, specified purposes, such as insurance claims. You may have the right to limit the use or disclosure of your sensitive personal information. We do not collect or process sensitive personal information for the purpose of inferring characteristics about you.
We may also collect other personal information outside of these categories through instances where you interact with us in person, online, or by phone or mail in the context of:
We will use and retain the collected personal information as needed to provide the Services for the seven year period required by California law:
How We Use and Share Personal Information
Will your information be shared with anyone else?
We may disclose your personal information with our service providers pursuant to a written contract between us and each service provider.
We may use your personal information for our own business purposes, such as for undertaking internal research for technological development and demonstration. This is not considered to be "selling" of your personal information.
We have not disclosed, sold, or shared any personal information to third parties for a business or commercial purpose in the preceding twelve (12) months. We will not sell or share personal information in the future belonging to website visitors, users, and other consumers.
Your Rights
You have rights under certain US state data protection laws. However, these rights are not absolute, and in certain cases, we may decline your request as permitted by law. These rights include:
Depending upon the state where you live, you may also have the following rights:
How to Exercise Your Rights
To exercise these rights, you can contact us by visiting james@BaysideCounseling.org, by emailing us at info@BaysideCounseling.org, or by referring to the contact details at the bottom of this document.
Under certain US state data protection laws, you can designate an authorized agent to make a request on your behalf. We may deny a request from an authorized agent that does not submit proof that they have been validly authorized to act on your behalf in accordance with applicable laws.
Request Verification
Upon receiving your request, we will need to verify your identity to determine you are the same person about whom we have the information in our system. We will only use personal information provided in your request to verify your identity or authority to make the request. However, if we cannot verify your identity from the information already maintained by us, we may request that you provide additional information for the purposes of verifying your identity and for security or fraud-prevention purposes.
If you submit the request through an authorized agent, we may need to collect additional information to verify your identity before processing your request and the agent will need to provide a written and signed permission from you to submit such request on your behalf.
Appeals
Under certain US state data protection laws, if we decline to take action regarding your request, you may appeal our decision by emailing us at james@BaysideCounseling.org. We will inform you in writing of any action taken or not taken in response to the appeal, including a written explanation of the reasons for the decisions. If your appeal is denied, you may submit a complaint to your state attorney general.
California "Shine The Light" Law
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year. If you are a California resident and would like to make such a request, please submit your request in writing to us by using the contact details provided in the section
11. DO WE MAKE UPDATES TO THIS NOTICE?
In Short: Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date at the top of this Privacy Notice. If we make material changes to this Privacy Notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this Privacy Notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
12. ADDITIONAL PRIVACY RIGHTS AND NOTICES
Bayside Counseling and Consulting requires additional paperwork and notices to be accepted prior to beginning treatment or the provision of services. These (may) include:
Copies of all forms and notices are provided to the client(s) and kept as part of our protected information and records.
Copies of these forms can be provided by contacting info@BaysideCounseling.com or at the address below.
13. HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US ABOUT THIS NOTICE?
If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us at james@BaysideCounseling.org or contact us by post at:
Bayside Counseling & Consulting
14375 Saratoga Ave
Suite 206
Saratoga, CA 95070
United States
THIS NOTICE DESCRIBES HOW MEDICAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU MAY BE USED AND DISCLOSED AND HOW YOU CAN GET ACCESS TO THIS INFORMATION. THIS NOTICE IS PROVIDED FOR EACH CLIENT AND AN ACCEPTANCE SIGNATURE IS REQUIRED.
What is “Medical Information?”
The term “medical information” is synonymous with the terms “personal health information” and “protected health information”(PHI) for purposes of this Notice. It essentially means any individually identifiable health information (either directly or indirectly identifiable), whether oral or recorded in any form or medium, that is created or received by a health care provider (me), health plan, or others and, 2) relates to the past, present, or future physical or mental health or condition of an individual (you); the provision of health care (e.g., mental health) to an individual (you); or the past, present, or future payment for the provision of health care to an individual (you).
I am a mental health care provider. More specifically, I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, licensed by the State of California through the Board of Behavioral Sciences. I create and maintain treatment records that contain individually identifiable health information about you. These records are generally referred to as “medical records” or “mental health records,” and this notice, among other things, concerns the privacy and confidentiality of those records and the information contained therein.
Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information
Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information for Which Your Authorization Is Not Required
Federal privacy rules (regulations) allow health care providers (me) who have a direct treatment relationship with the patient (you) to use or disclose the patient’s personal health information, without the patient’s written authorization, to carry out the health care provider’s own treatment, payment, or health care operations. I may also disclose your protected health information for the treatment activities of any health care provider. This too can be done without your written authorization.
An example of a use or disclosure for treatment purposes: If I decide to consult with another licensed health care provider about your condition, I would be permitted to use and disclose your personal health information, which is otherwise confidential, in order to assist me in the diagnosis or treatment of your mental health condition.
Disclosures for treatment purposes are not limited to the minimum necessary standard, because physicians and other health care providers need access to the full record and/or full and complete information in order to provide quality care. The word “treatment” includes, among other things, the coordination and management of health care among health care providers or by a health care provider with a third party, consultations between health care providers, and referrals of a patient for health care from one health care provider to another.
An example of a use or disclosure for payment purposes: If your health plan requests a copy of your health records, or a portion thereof, in order to determine whether or not payment is warranted under the terms of your policy or contract, I am permitted to use and disclose your personal health information.
An example of a use or disclosure for health care operations purposes: If your health plan decides to audit my practice in order to review my competence and my performance, or to detect possible fraud or abuse, your mental health records may be used or disclosed for those purposes.
PLEASE NOTE: I, or someone in my practice acting with my authority, may contact you to provide appointment reminders or information about treatment alternatives or other health-related benefits and services that may be of interest to you. Your prior written authorization is not required for such contact.
Other Permitted and Required Uses and Disclosures That May Be Made Without Your Consent, Authorization, or Opportunity to Object
I may be required or permitted to disclose your personal health information (e.g., your mental health records) without your written authorization. The following circumstances are examples of when such disclosures may or will be made:
PLEASE NOTE: The above list is not exhaustive, but informs you of most circumstances when disclosures without your written authorization may be made. Other uses and disclosures will generally (but not always) be made only with your written authorization, even though federal privacy regulations or state law may allow additional uses or disclosures without your written authorization.
Uses and Disclosures of Protected Health Information For Which Your Authorization Is Required
Other uses and disclosures of your PHI will be made only with your written authorization, unless otherwise permitted or required by law as described above.
An example of a use of your personal health information that would be authorized by you, would be if we were to decide that it would be helpful if I were to consult with a previous therapist, school official or medical doctor.
Uses or disclosures made with your written authorization will be limited in scope to the information specified in the authorization form, which must identify the information “in a specific and meaningful fashion.” Usually this involves the use and disclosure of therapy notes, background information, medical history and observations.
You may revoke your written authorization at any time, provided that the revocation is in writing and except to the extent that I have taken action in reliance on your written authorization. Your right to revoke an authorization is also limited if the authorization was obtained as a condition of obtaining insurance coverage for you.
If California law protects your confidentiality or privacy more than the federal “Privacy Rule” does, or if California law gives you greater rights than the federal rule does with respect to access to your records, I will abide by California law. In general, uses or disclosures by me of your personal health information (without your authorization) will be limited to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose of the use or disclosure.
Similarly, when I request your personal health information from another health care provider, health plan or health care clearinghouse, I will make an effort to limit the information requested to the minimum necessary to accomplish the intended purpose of the request. As mentioned above, in the section dealing with uses or disclosures for treatment purposes, the “minimum necessary” standard does not apply to disclosures to or requests by a health care provider for treatment purposes because health care providers need complete access to information in order to provide quality care.
Your Rights Regarding Protected Health Information
PLEASE NOTE: In order to avoid confusion or misunderstanding, I ask that if you wish to exercise any of the rights enumerated above, that you put your request in writing and deliver or send the writing to me. If you wish to learn more detailed information about any of the above rights, or their limitations, please let me know. I am willing to discuss any of these matters with you. As mentioned elsewhere in this document, I am the Privacy Officer of this practice.
My Duties
I am required by law to maintain the privacy and confidentiality of your personal health information. This notice is intended to let you know of my legal duties, your rights, and my privacy practices with respect to such information. I am required to abide by the terms of the notice currently in effect. I reserve the right to change the terms of this notice and/or my privacy practices and to make the changes effective for all protected health information that I maintain, even if it was created or received prior to the effective date of the notice revision. If I make a revision to this notice, I will make the notice available at my office upon request on or after the effective date of the revision and I will post the revised notice in a clear and prominent location.
As the Privacy Officer of this practice, I have a duty to develop, implement and adopt clear privacy policies and procedures for my practice and I have done so. I am the individual who is responsible for assuring that these privacy policies and procedures are followed not only by me, but by any employees that work for me or that may work for me in the future. I have trained or will train any employees that may work for me so that they understand my privacy policies and procedures. In general, patient records, and information about patients, are treated as confidential in my practice and are released to no one without the written authorization of the patient, except as indicated in this notice or except as may be otherwise permitted by law. Patient records are kept secured so that they are not readily available to those who do not need them.
Because I am the Contact Person of this practice, you may complain to me and to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services if you believe your privacy rights may have been violated either by me or by those who are employed by me. You may file a complaint with me by simply providing me with a writing that specifies the manner in which you believe the violation occurred, the approximate date of such occurrence, and any details that you believe will be helpful to me. My telephone number is 408-533-9986. I will not retaliate against you in any way for filing a complaint with me or with the Secretary. Complaints to the Secretary must be filed in writing. A complaint to the Secretary can be sent to U.S Department of Health and Human Services, 90 Seventh Street, San Francisco, CA 94103.
If you need or desire further information related to this Notice or its contents, or if you have any questions about this Notice or its contents, please feel free to contact me. As the Contact Person for this practice, I will do my best to answer your questions and to provide you with additional information.
This notice first became effective on January 1, 2019.
THIS NOTICE OUTLINES OUR TEXT MESSAGING POLICIES. IT IS PROVIDED FOR EACH CLIENT AND AN ACCEPTANCE SIGNATURE IS REQUIRED WHO CHOOSES TO "OPT IN" TO MESSAGING WITH US..
Bayside Counseling & Consulting may use SMS text messaging for certain types of communication with you, including billing, customer service, appointment reminders and other administrative requests.
Please initial each section for your consent.
_____ You agree to receive SMS occasional text messages from us, related to services that we are providing to you, including appointment reminders and wellness tips. Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply.
_____ You understand that you can text us STOP at any time to opt out of receiving SMS text messages from us. You can text us HELP at any time to receive help.
_____ Your mobile information will not be shared with any third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All policies are followed as per CTIA (Cellular Telephone Industries Association) guidelines 5.2.1. At any time if you want your information to be removed, you can contact us via our email address or regular mail.
You can contact us for any privacy related queries via our email address or regular mail.
Our email address:
james@BaysideCounseling.org
Our address:
14375 Saratoga Ave, Suite 206
Saratoga, CA 95070
Bayside Counseling & Consulting
Call - (408) 533-9986
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