Privacy notice

Who we are

New Ground is a health booking platform based in the Philippines, currently focused on mental health services. We handle the personal information needed to arrange and manage bookings and, where applicable, the information described below. New Ground is the personal information controller for everything described on this page. We have a designated data protection officer. Write to hello@newground.ph about anything on this page and it will reach them.

What we collect

To make a booking:

• name
• email address
• mobile number
• appointment details: therapist, date, time, duration, fee, booking reference
• payment status
• anything you choose to write in the optional note when you book
• how you heard about us, if you choose to answer

The note is optional and can be left empty. It is read by your psychologist, and it is never included in your confirmation, your reminders or any other message we send you. Like the rest of your booking, it passes through and is stored by the service providers listed below.

We do not collect card numbers, wallet credentials or bank details. Those are handled by our payment provider and do not reach us. No account is created and no password is stored.

If you choose to save your details on the confirmation screen, they are stored on your own device only.

We count how many people reach each step of booking, as a total per day. Nothing that identifies you is attached: no visitor ID, no IP address, no device details and no page addresses. When you arrive, your browser checks which kind of site sent you here and reports only a category, such as “search” or “Instagram”. The referring web address itself is never sent to us or stored.

Before your first session

Before a first session, your psychologist asks you to complete an intake form. The form is hosted by a form provider, and what you write in it is read by your psychologist and kept as part of her clinical records. The link we send carries your booking reference, name and email address so that the form can be matched to your booking. New Ground records only that the form has been submitted, not the answers.

After booking a first session we send you a private link to a page where you can write down what you want to bring to it. It asks five questions: what you would like to talk about, what you would like to leave the session with, anything you would rather not go into yet, anything that would make the session easier, and anything you want to ask.

All five are optional and the page can be left empty. You do not have to open it, and not opening it changes nothing about your appointment. Your psychologist reads what you write before your session. It is stored with your booking record and accessible to the same authorised people, and it never appears in your confirmation, your reminders or any other message we send you.

You can change what you have written, or clear it, any time before the session starts by returning to the same link. Saving an empty page erases what was there. After the session it is kept as long as the rest of your booking record.

After your session

After a session we may email you a link to a short survey about your experience of using New Ground. It is optional, and so is every question in it.

Your responses are not anonymous. The link is tied to your booking, so what you write can be seen alongside it by the same authorised people who can see the rest of your record. That is what lets us come back to you if something went wrong; if you ask us to, we use the contact details already on your booking. Responses are kept with your booking record.

Workshops

If you register for a New Ground workshop, we keep your name and email address on that workshop’s list so we can email you a link to a short survey about it afterwards. The survey is optional, and so is every question in it. For an online workshop, we also note from the meeting’s attendance report whether you joined, and whether you later booked a session with us, so we can tell how well each workshop is working.

Your answers are linked to your email address, so we can reply if you ask us to. Only the New Ground team can see them. You can ask us to take you off a workshop list at any time.

If you leave your email on the Workshops page, or tick that you want to hear about the next workshop in a survey, we keep it only to tell you about upcoming workshops. Every one of those emails has an unsubscribe link, and you can also write to us to be taken off the list.

Clinical information

Once therapy begins, your psychologist keeps clinical records of your care, because her profession requires it. These may include session notes, clinical observations and assessment results. The Data Privacy Act calls this sensitive personal information, which puts stricter obligations on us than ordinary appointment details do.

Why we collect it

• to arrange, confirm and deliver your appointment
• to let you prepare for a first session, if you choose to
• to send confirmations and reminders
• to take payment and keep financial records
• to maintain clinical records as required by professional regulation
• to ask how your experience of the service was, if you choose to answer
• to respond when you contact us

We do not sell personal data, share it for advertising, or use it for marketing.

Who else processes it

We use other companies to run the service. Each one gets only the data it needs to do its part, and is under contract to use it only as we tell them to. They are:

• website hosting
• database and data storage
• payment processing
• email delivery
• calendar and scheduling
• video conferencing for sessions
• form hosting, for the first-session intake form

Some of them are outside the Philippines, so some of your booking data is handled abroad. Your rights under the Data Privacy Act still apply. Ask us any time which companies we are using and we will tell you.

Who can access it

Your psychologist, and the New Ground staff who need it to arrange your appointment. We do not disclose that you are a client to your employer, insurer, family or anyone else, and we will not confirm it if asked.

Limits of confidentiality

Sessions are confidential. There are four situations where we may have to disclose something:

• there is a serious and immediate risk to your life or another person’s
• a child or vulnerable person is at risk of harm
• a court order or the law requires it
• you ask us in writing to share information

Your psychologist will explain these in your first session.

How long we keep it

Booking and payment records are kept as long as accounting and tax law requires. Clinical records are kept for the period your psychologist’s profession requires. Ask her and she will tell you what that period is for your records.

Your rights

Under the Data Privacy Act you have the right to:

• be informed about how your data is processed
• access the data we hold about you
• correct inaccurate data
• object to processing
• request erasure, where no legal or professional obligation requires retention
• request a portable copy
• withdraw consent, where processing relies on it
• be notified of a data breach affecting you
• claim damages for unlawful processing

We may not be able to delete clinical records: the law and your psychologist’s profession require them to be kept for a period. If that applies to what you have asked for, we will tell you why. You can still ask what the records say. Using any of these rights is free, and it will not affect your care.

How to make a request or complaint

Write to our data protection officer at hello@newground.ph, or message us on WhatsApp. We will reply. If you are not satisfied with the answer, you can complain to the National Privacy Commission.

Changes

If what we do with your information changes, this page changes, and so does the date below.

Last updated 21 September 2026. See also our terms and consent.