ABSTRACT
The concept of respect for client confidentiality is a value of central importance to therapeutic practice regardless of context, but it is also one that seems to be increasingly under siege. However, the difficulties of translating this into day-to-day practice are often left to the practitioners to negotiate for themselves, relying upon guidance of somewhat variable quality from their employing organisation. Some of the resultant problems arise from the fact that confidentiality may well be a key value informing ethical practice, but it is also one, which is heavily constrained by contextual factors. This chapter will focus on the impact of data protection law on therapeutic recording, covering issues such as client access to files; implications of data protection law for specific types of files such as education and health records; the status of ‘process’ or ‘supervision’ notes within the context of manual and computerised recording systems. Brief reference is made to records and the legal system, particularly access by the police or courts via warrant.
