Who we are
This practice is operated by Steven Booth, practising as Steven Booth Transpersonal Acupuncture, from a private clinic at Ewingsdale, NSW, Australia. This policy explains how your personal and health information is collected, used, stored, and protected when you engage with this practice — including through the online intake form, in consultations, and in any follow-up care.
We take the privacy of your information seriously. The information you share here is often sensitive, and we treat all of it — from your contact details to your health history to your birth details — at the highest level of care.
This Clinic Privacy Policy covers your patient and health information. For how we handle information collected through our website (cookies, the online shop, newsletters), see our separate Website Privacy Policy.
The information we collect
Depending on what you choose to share, we may collect:
- Identity and contact details — your name, date of birth, contact details, and emergency contact.
- Health information — your presenting concerns, medical and family history, medications and supplements, symptoms, cycles and reproductive history, emotional and psychological wellbeing, and related details. Under privacy law this is “sensitive information” and receives the highest level of protection.
- Lifestyle and environmental information — diet, sleep, movement, stress, home environment, and daily rhythms.
- Birth and interpretive details — if you choose to provide them, your time and place of birth and related details, used only for the optional interpretive frameworks (such as astrology or Human Design) that this practice offers. This part of the intake is entirely optional and you may skip it with no effect on your care.
- Any documents you upload — such as recent blood work or a tongue photo, if you choose to provide them.
You decide what to share. Almost every question is optional, and you may answer “prefer not to answer,” leave sections blank, or bring things up in person instead.
How we use your information
We use your information only to provide and support your care. Specifically, to:
- prepare for and conduct your consultations;
- develop and adjust your treatment;
- communicate with you about your care and appointments;
- keep accurate clinical records, as a health practitioner is expected to; and
- where you have given specific permission, share a summary with your GP or another practitioner involved in your care.
We do not sell or trade your information to anyone, ever.
Newsletters and updates
From time to time we may send you a newsletter or practice updates by email. You will only receive these if you have chosen to receive them, and every email includes a simple way to unsubscribe. You can opt out at any time without affecting your care.
The intake form and how your data is stored
When you complete the online intake form:
- Your answers are saved as you go, so you can complete the form over more than one sitting.
- Your information is transmitted securely (over an encrypted connection) and stored in a secured database hosted in Australia (Sydney), encrypted at rest.
- Access is restricted: only Steven Booth can view completed intakes. The database is protected by row-level security and access controls, and any files you upload are held privately.
- The infrastructure that runs the form is provided by established service providers engaged solely to operate the service on our behalf: Vercel (website and application hosting), Supabase (database, hosted in the Australian region), and Resend (transactional email). Some of these providers are overseas companies, and while your intake information is stored in Australia, aspects of the service may be operated from outside Australia. All are engaged under obligations of confidentiality and used only to run this practice’s systems.
How we use artificial intelligence
In the interest of being open with you: this practice uses software tools, which may include artificial intelligence (AI), to help with preparation and analysis — for example, to help organise and summarise the information you provide into a clear picture before your consultation, or to assist with drafting and clinical research. One such tool we currently use is Claude (made by Anthropic); we may use other similar tools over time.
Two things we want to be clear about:
- No decisions about your care are made by a computer. These tools assist and inform; every clinical judgement about you and your treatment is made by Steven Booth, a human practitioner. The form may calculate simple summaries or highlight things worth attention, but these only ever surface information for the practitioner to consider — they do not decide anything about you.
- Your information is handled with the same care throughout. Where AI tools are used, they are used as part of providing your care, consistent with this policy, and not to make automated decisions that significantly affect you.
Australian privacy law is being updated to require greater transparency about automated decision-making, with new obligations taking effect in December 2026. We are staying ahead of these changes and will update this policy as the details are finalised, so that our disclosures remain clear, current, and honest.
When your information might be shared
We will share your information only:
- with your consent — for example, sending a summary to your GP when you’ve asked us to;
- where the law requires or permits it — for example, a court order, or a situation where sharing is necessary to lessen a serious threat to someone’s life, health, or safety; and
- with the service providers named above, solely to operate the intake and record-keeping systems, under obligations of confidentiality.
We will never share your information for any other purpose without asking you first.
A note on the wellbeing questions
The intake includes a short, optional set of questions about emotional wellbeing. If your answers suggest you may be struggling, the form will show you some support resources, and your intake will be flagged for prompt attention so that we can follow up with care. This is only ever used to support you.
How long we keep your information
We keep health records for as long as we are required to. In NSW, the standard is a minimum of 7 years from your last visit, and for anyone who was under 18 at their last visit, until they turn 25. After that, records are securely destroyed or de-identified.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal and health information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct anything that is inaccurate or out of date;
- ask questions about how your information is handled; and
- withdraw consent for uses that rely on your consent (such as sharing with your GP).
To make any of these requests, contact us using the details below. We’ll respond within a reasonable time, and there is generally no charge for a straightforward request.
Keeping your information secure
We protect your information with encryption in transit and at rest, Australian-based storage, restricted access, two-factor authentication on the accounts that can reach your data, and a deliberately small number of systems and people who can access it. No online system can be guaranteed perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps — and keep the number of places your information lives as small as possible — to protect it. If a data breach ever occurred that was likely to cause you serious harm, we would notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as required under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.
Scope of practice
This practice works alongside your medical care, not in place of it. Nothing here replaces the advice of your GP or other treating practitioners, and we encourage you to keep them involved in your health. Where it would serve your care and you’ve given permission, we’re glad to communicate with them directly.
Contact us
If you have any questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy, please contact:
Steven Booth Transpersonal Acupuncture
privacy@stevenboothacupuncture.com.au
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au) or, for health-information matters in NSW, the Information and Privacy Commission NSW (ipc.nsw.gov.au).