Privacy policy

Last updated: 14 September 2026

This policy explains how Emma Rossouw Counselling collects and uses personal information through this website and when you get in touch. It is written to meet South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA).

Who is responsible for your information

Emma Rossouw Counselling is run by Emma Rossouw, who is the responsible party for your personal information and the Information Officer under POPIA.

• Address: Claremont, Cape Town, 7708, South Africa
• Email: info@ercounselling.co.za
• Phone: +27 82 067 0589

What this policy covers

This policy covers the website and the enquiries you send before counselling begins. If you become a client, what you share in sessions is covered by the client agreement you receive before your first session, and by the professional confidentiality obligations of my registration with the Association for Supportive Counsellors and Holistic Practitioners (ASCHP).

What information I collect

When you use the contact form

Your name and email address, and, if you choose to give them, your phone number, the service you're interested in, whether you'd like the six-session offer, and your message. Your message may include information about your health, wellbeing or relationships, which POPIA treats as special personal information. Please only share what you're comfortable with; the details can wait for our first conversation.

When you email or phone

Your contact details and whatever you choose to tell me.

When you visit the site

This website is hosted by Cloudflare, which processes technical information such as your IP address, browser type and the pages you request, in order to deliver the site and protect it from attacks.

The site doesn't use analytics, advertising or tracking cookies.

I don't sell personal information, use it for advertising, or make automated decisions about you.

Why I use it

• To reply to your enquiry and arrange a free consultation, with your consent and because you've asked me to take these steps before we agree to work together.
• To handle any health or wellbeing information in your message, with your explicit consent, which you give by ticking the consent box on the contact form.
• To keep the website secure and working, because this is necessary for the legitimate interest of running a safe website.
• To meet legal or professional obligations, where these apply.

Children and young people

Individual counselling is available for children and adolescents. If you're under 18, please ask a parent or legal guardian to get in touch on your behalf. I only process a child's personal information with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, or where the law otherwise allows it.

Who I share it with

Your information is shared only with the service providers that help run this website and my practice, and only as far as they need it:

• Web3Forms, which delivers contact form messages to my email inbox.
• Cloudflare, which hosts the website.
• My email provider, which stores the messages I send and receive.

I may also disclose information where the law requires it, or where there is a serious and imminent risk to someone's life or safety. These limits to confidentiality are explained before counselling begins.

Information processed outside South Africa

Web3Forms, Cloudflare may process information on servers outside South Africa. This transfer happens with your consent, which you give when you tick the consent box on the contact form.

How long I keep it

• Enquiries that don't lead to counselling are deleted within 12 months of our last contact.
• If you become a client, your records are kept for as long as your client agreement and my professional record-keeping obligations require.
• Cloudflare's technical logs are kept for a short period under Cloudflare's own policies.

How I protect it

The site is only served over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and enquiries are accessible only to me. No way of sending information over the internet is completely secure, so please keep detailed or sensitive information for our conversation rather than the contact form.

Your rights

Under POPIA you can:

• ask what personal information I hold about you, and for a copy of it;
• ask me to correct or delete it;
• object to how I use it;
• withdraw your consent at any time (this doesn't affect anything done before you withdrew it);
• complain to the Information Regulator (South Africa) at inforegulator.org.za.

To use any of these rights, email info@ercounselling.co.za. If you're in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you have similar rights under the GDPR and can also complain to your local data protection authority.

Cookies

The cookie policy lists the cookies this site uses and explains how to control them.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new date at the top.

Contact

Questions about this policy or your information? Email info@ercounselling.co.za or call +27 82 067 0589.