Privacy policy

Who we are

Nurturing Hands is the trading name of Joan Fisher (ABN 46 970 615 828), a massage and bodywork practitioner at 9 Loddon Street, Kaleen ACT 2617. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Joan Fisher trading as Nurturing Hands. You can reach us on 0418 659 155.

We hold personal information in four ways, and each is handled differently:

• Website enquiries: messages you send through this website’s booking and contact forms.
• Email: those enquiries arrive in our email inbox, along with any emails you send us directly.
• Phone calls, text messages and voicemail.
• Client treatment records: paper records about clients who come for treatment, which can include health information.

Website enquiries: what we collect

You can use this website without telling us who you are. We collect personal information only when you choose to contact us.

• Booking request form: your name, email address and phone number; the treatment, session length, location, preferred date and preferred time you choose; and anything you write in the message box.
• Contact form: your name, email address, phone number if you give it, and your message.

Please don’t include detailed health information in a form. If a health matter is relevant to your appointment, Joan will talk with you about it directly. If you do include health information in a message, we treat it as sensitive information and use it only to respond to you.

We use enquiry information only to reply to you, arrange and confirm appointments, and keep a record of our correspondence. We don’t sell personal information, use it for marketing or add you to a mailing list.

How the website forms and email work

• When you send a form, our web server turns it into an email. The form itself is not saved on the website.
• The email is sent through Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES) in Amazon Web Services’ Sydney region, over an encrypted connection, to our business inbox, which is a Microsoft Outlook.com account. Only Nurturing Hands receives it; no copy is sent to anyone else.
• Microsoft provides the Outlook.com inbox and may store email outside Australia. Emails you send us directly are stored in the same inbox.
• We send you a short email to acknowledge your message. It goes only to the email address you entered.
• To stop spam and misuse, the website sets one short-lived security cookie (__Host-nh_form) on the booking and contact pages. It expires after two hours and contains no personal information. The server also keeps scrambled (one-way hashed) counters of recent submissions, linked to your IP address and email address, so it can limit repeated messages. They are not stored in readable form and are cleared periodically.
• The form system records technical events, such as “message sent” or “delivery failed”, without your name, contact details, message or IP address.

Phone calls, text messages and voicemail

When you call or text Joan, we receive your phone number and whatever you choose to tell us. Text messages, call history and voicemail are kept on Joan’s mobile phone, which is not backed up to a cloud service.

Calls, text messages and voicemail are carried by telecommunications providers, which process them and may keep records of them under their own privacy policies and legal obligations.

Website server logs

Like most websites, our web server automatically records each request in a log: your IP address, the date and time, the page requested, the page you came from, and your browser type. We use these logs only to keep the website secure and working, and they are deleted after 14 days. The website is hosted on Amazon Web Services servers in Sydney.

Website analytics

We use Google Analytics 4, a service provided by Google, to understand how visitors use this website, for example which pages are viewed and how many people send an enquiry. This helps us improve the site.

• Google Analytics sets cookies named _ga and _ga_… in your browser. They identify your browser with a random number, not by name, and last up to two years unless you delete them.
• Google receives information such as the pages you visit, how you arrived at the site, your approximate location, and your device and browser type. Google says Google Analytics 4 does not log or store IP addresses.
• We record when an enquiry form is sent successfully, and when someone taps the phone number or a directions link. We do not send your name, email address, phone number, message, preferred date or any other details you enter in a form to Google.
• Google signals and advertising personalisation are turned off. We do not use Google Analytics for advertising.
• Analytics data is kept by Google for 14 months after your last visit, then deleted by Google.
• Google may process this information outside Australia, including in the United States. You can read how Google uses information from sites that use its services at policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
• You can block analytics by blocking or deleting cookies in your browser settings, or by installing the Google Analytics opt-out browser add-on. The website and its forms work normally either way.

Website analytics is never linked to client treatment records.

Links to other websites

This website links to Google Maps and Google reviews for Nurturing Hands. When you follow those links, Google’s privacy policy applies to what you do there.

Client treatment records

When you come for treatment, we collect the information we need to treat you safely, such as your contact details, relevant health history and notes about each treatment. We collect it from you, with your consent, and use it to provide and plan your care. We don’t disclose it to anyone else unless you agree, or the law requires or permits it (for example, in an emergency).

Client treatment records are kept on paper at the clinic, in a lockable filing cabinet. Joan Fisher holds the only key. The records are not stored in an electronic records system or online.

If you become a client, details from your enquiry may be added to your treatment record.

We plan to offer an online client assessment form in future. It is not in use yet. Before it is introduced, it will have its own privacy, security and retention review, and we will update this policy.

How long we keep information

• Website enquiries, emails, text messages and voicemail: we keep these only while they are reasonably needed for our correspondence with you, appointment administration, other legitimate business purposes, or to meet a legal obligation. There is no automatic deletion. Joan reviews enquiry emails, text messages and voicemail daily, and deletes those that are no longer needed.
• Client treatment records: kept for at least the period the ACT Health Records (Privacy and Access) Act 1997 requires: generally seven years after your last treatment, or, for information collected while you were under 18, until you turn 25. We don’t destroy treatment records before that period ends. After it ends and the records are no longer needed, we securely destroy them or remove the details that identify you.
• Business and tax records, such as receipts and invoices, which can include your name: generally five years, as required by Australian tax law, subject to some exceptions.
• Website systems: server logs for 14 days, the security cookie for two hours, and spam-prevention counters for a short time before they are cleared.

Security

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference and loss, and from unauthorised access, change or disclosure. The website uses an encrypted (HTTPS) connection, and form emails are sent over an encrypted connection to Amazon SES. Paper treatment records are stored in a lockable filing cabinet, and only Joan Fisher holds the key.

Information stored outside Australia

Amazon SES processes form emails in Sydney. Microsoft may store email in our Outlook.com inbox outside Australia. Google Analytics data may be processed in the United States and other countries. The website’s web server is in Sydney.

Access, correction and questions

You can ask to see the personal information we hold about you, including your treatment record, and ask us to correct it. You can also ask us to delete a website enquiry. Please email privacy and access requests, correction requests and questions about this policy to privacy@nurturinghands.com.au, or call Joan on 0418 659 155. Emails to this address are delivered to our business inbox. We will respond as soon as we reasonably can.

Complaints

If you have a concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first at privacy@nurturinghands.com.au so we can try to resolve it. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au or on 1300 363 992. Complaints about health records can also be made to the ACT Human Rights Commission at hrc.act.gov.au.

Changes to this policy

We will update this policy when the way we handle personal information changes. The current version is always on this page.

Last updated: 23 October 2026