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Privacy notice

Last updated: [DATE BEFORE LAUNCH] · Version 1.0

Who I am

Choose Mediation is a family mediation practice run by Lucy [SURNAME], operating from [BUSINESS ADDRESS], Guildford, Surrey. For the purposes of UK data protection law I am the data controller for the information described here.

Contact: lucy@choosemediation.co.uk · 07934 249434

[CONFIRM: whether registration with the Information Commissioner's Office is required. Most mediators handling client data must register and pay the annual data protection fee — check at ico.org.uk and add the registration number here.]

What information I collect

If you enquire through this website

• Your name, email address and, if you give it, your phone number
• The category of help you selected and anything you write in the message box
• Technical information logged by the hosting platform, including your IP address, for security and to prevent abuse

If you become a client

• Contact and identity details, including proof of identity where required
• Information about your family circumstances, relationship history and living arrangements
• Financial information, where the mediation concerns finances
• Information about children in your family
• My notes of meetings, and the documents produced during mediation
• Screening information relating to domestic abuse and safeguarding

Some of this is special category data under UK GDPR — for example information about health, or about criminal allegations. It is treated with corresponding care and is never shared beyond what is described below.

Why I use it, and my lawful basis

• To respond to your enquiry — consent, which you give by ticking the box on the form and may withdraw at any time.
• To deliver mediation you've engaged me for — performance of a contract.
• To meet professional and legal obligations, including Family Mediation Council standards, safeguarding duties and anti-money-laundering rules — legal obligation.
• To keep records for insurance and complaints — legitimate interests, balanced against your privacy.
• For special category data — processing is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, and for reasons of substantial public interest in safeguarding.

I do not use your information for marketing, and I do not sell it to anyone.

Confidentiality in mediation

Mediation is confidential and legally privileged. What you say in mediation cannot normally be referred to in court. There are limits, and you should know them before you start:

• Where I believe a child or vulnerable adult is at risk of significant harm, I must pass that on to the appropriate authority, and I will do so whether or not you agree.
• Where the law requires disclosure — for example under anti-money-laundering legislation, or in response to a court order.
• Financial disclosure is open, not privileged, so that it can be used in a consent order.

Who I share it with

I share your information only where necessary:

• My professional supervisor, [SUPERVISOR NAME], who reviews cases as part of my accreditation. They are bound by the same confidentiality.
• Service providers who process data on my behalf under contract: [EMAIL PROVIDER], [VIDEO CONFERENCING PROVIDER], [CASE MANAGEMENT / FILE STORAGE], and Vercel, which hosts this website.
• Authorities, where safeguarding or the law requires it, as described above.
• Your solicitor or the court, where you ask me to send documents.

[CONFIRM: list the actual providers. If any process data outside the UK, name the safeguard relied on — usually the UK International Data Transfer Addendum.]

How long I keep it

• Website enquiries that don't become cases — deleted within [12] months.
• Case files — retained for [6] years from the end of the case, in line with professional and insurance requirements.
• Cases involving children — [CONFIRM: many mediators retain until the youngest child turns 21. Set and state the actual policy.]

Files are then securely destroyed.

How I keep it safe

Electronic records are stored on encrypted, password-protected systems with multi-factor authentication. Paper records, where they exist, are kept in a locked cabinet. This website is served over HTTPS, and enquiries are transmitted encrypted. I review these arrangements periodically.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to ask me for a copy of your information; to have inaccurate information corrected; to have information erased in some circumstances; to restrict or object to how it's used; and to receive it in a portable format. Where I rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

These rights have limits. I may not be able to erase information I'm professionally required to keep, and I can't disclose information about your ex-partner to you.

To exercise any right, email lucy@choosemediation.co.uk. I'll respond within one month.

Complaints

If you're unhappy with how I've handled your information, please tell me first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk, or on 0303 123 1113.

Cookies

This site sets no tracking or advertising cookies. See the cookie notice.

Changes

If this notice changes materially I'll update the date at the top and, where the change affects current clients, tell them directly.