Privacy Notice
Who we are
Joana Acupuncture is run by Joana Cerqueira, a sole practitioner and BAcC-registered acupuncturist, at Erth Wellbeing Studio, 11A Leicester Road, Blaby, Leicester LE8 4GR.
Joana is the data controller for your personal information. This means she decides how it is used and is responsible for keeping it safe. Joana Acupuncture is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
This notice explains what information is collected about you, why, and what rights you have.
What information we collect
Contact details: name, address, phone number, email address, date of birth, and a delivery address if you order products from us.
Health information: medical history, current conditions, medication, lifestyle, treatment notes and your response to treatment. For fertility support this may include reproductive health information.
Skin and aesthetic information: skin type, skin history, treatments you have had, and photographs where you have agreed to them.
GP details: your GP's name and surgery, in case they need to be contacted.
Payment and insurance details: records of payments, and insurer or policy details if your treatment is funded by a health insurer. Card details are handled by the payment provider and are not stored by us.
Communications: emails, messages and booking requests you send.
Most of this comes directly from you. Some may come from your GP, another healthcare professional or your insurer, if you have asked them to share it.
How and why we use it
Data protection law requires a lawful reason for each use of your information.
Assessing you and providing safe, appropriate treatment: contract with you; for health information, the provision of health care by a professional bound by confidentiality.
Keeping clinical records required by the BAcC and our insurer: legal and professional obligations; health care provision.
Booking appointments, reminders, taking payment and posting products you order: contract with you.
Invoicing your health insurer, where you ask us to: contract with you; health care provision.
Responding to enquiries: legitimate interests in running the clinic.
Handling complaints or insurance claims: legitimate interests; establishing or defending legal claims.
We will never sell your information or use it for anything unrelated to your care without asking you first.
Photographs and testimonials
For facial acupuncture and microneedling, we may take photographs to track your progress. We only do this with your written consent, and they are kept with your clinical record.
We will never use a photograph on our website or social media unless you have given written consent for that specific use. Photographs used in this way will not show your name. You can withdraw consent at any time, and we will remove the image from anything we control, although we cannot recall content others have already shared.
If you give us a testimonial, we will only publish it on our website or social media with your consent. Testimonials are published without your name, and will never include details of your health without your permission. You can ask us to remove it at any time.
Who we share it with
Your information is confidential. We only share it when necessary, and only as much as is needed:
Your GP or another healthcare professional, with your agreement, unless there is a serious risk to your health or someone else's.
Your health insurer, if your treatment is being funded by them and you ask us to invoice them. Invoices are sent securely through WriteUpp.
Service providers that store or process information on our behalf: WriteUpp (clinical records and bookings), Microsoft Outlook (email), Squarespace (website) and Lopay (card payments, taken in person or by payment link), and Royal Mail or a courier to deliver products you order. They may only use it on our instructions.
The British Acupuncture Council or our professional insurer, if needed to deal with a complaint, claim or adverse incident.
Authorities, where the law requires it, for example safeguarding concerns or a court order.
Some of these providers may store data outside the UK. Where they do, they are required to protect it to UK standards.
How we store and protect it
Clinical records are kept electronically in WriteUpp, a secure system designed for healthcare practitioners, protected by passwords and two-factor authentication. Any paper forms are scanned and then stored securely or shredded. Only Joana has access to your records.
How long we keep it
Adult clinical records and photographs: 7 years after your last treatment.
Records for patients treated under 18: until their 25th birthday, or 7 years after the last treatment if later.
Payment and accounting records: 6 years, as required by HMRC.
Enquiries from people who did not book: 12 months.
After that, records are securely deleted or shredded.
Your rights
You have the right to:
Access your information and receive a copy of it.
Correct anything that is inaccurate or incomplete.
Ask for it to be deleted, although we may need to keep clinical records for the periods above.
Restrict or object to certain uses of it.
Receive it in a portable format, or have it sent to another practitioner.
Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on it (for example photographs or testimonials).
To use any of these rights, email joana.acupuncture@outlook.com. There is no charge, and we will reply within one month.
Website, cookies and contact forms
Our website is hosted by Squarespace. If you send an enquiry through the contact form, we receive your name, email address, phone number, the treatment you are interested in, your message, your preferred appointment times and whether you have had recent cosmetic procedures. We use this only to reply to you and arrange your appointment.
Squarespace uses cookies to make the site work and to give us anonymous visitor statistics. You can manage non-essential cookies through the cookie banner on the site, or in your browser settings. Please only give a brief outline of your concern in the form, and do not send detailed health information through the form or by email. We will ask for it through our secure WriteUpp intake forms when you book.
Complaints and contact
If you have any questions or concerns about how your information is used, please contact Joana first at joana.acupuncture@outlook.com, or write to Joana Acupuncture, Erth Wellbeing Studio, 11A Leicester Road, Blaby, Leicester LE8 4GR.
If you are not satisfied with the response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.
This notice was last updated in October 2026. We may update it from time to time, and the latest version will always be on this page.