Family Mediator Website Privacy Policy

01 / Privacy Policy

Privacy across browsing and a personal enquiry

This policy explains the information involved in using the Family Mediator website and the questions to consider when contacting the service. Browsing a page, making a telephone enquiry and participating in mediation are different activities. The information needed for each may differ. Reading general content should not require you to provide a personal account of your family's circumstances.

The website is presented under the name Family Mediator. Call 0330 010 0028 for a privacy question or request about personal information. When a service involves processing personal data, you are entitled to clear information identifying the responsible organisation and explaining that processing. Ask for the relevant service privacy information before supplying detailed records or proceeding with an appointment.

This policy describes the website's features and explains the limits of what those features establish. It does not claim that every system used in a later telephone or mediation service operates in the same way as the pages. Recordkeeping, any call recording and the handling of case documents require information specific to the activity, rather than assumptions based on a general website visit.

02 / Privacy Policy

What a browser needs to request a page

When you open a website, your device sends a request to the server providing it. That request necessarily involves technical information, which can include a network address, the requested resource and browser or device details. This is distinct from completing a form with your name or explaining a family issue. The fact that you have not typed personal details does not mean there is no technical processing.

The pages themselves do not ask you to create an account, upload records or submit an enquiry form. There is no payment checkout, embedded map, video service, social widget or third-party font request in this website build. Navigation opens another page or image within the site, while a telephone link asks your device to initiate a call.

Server and network services can have their own logging and security functions. The presence or absence of those functions cannot be established merely by looking at a page. If you need information about technical logs, their recipients or retention, raise that question through the contact number. Do not assume that this website can erase information held independently by your internet or telephone provider.

03 / Privacy Policy

Cookies, storage and choices on your device

These pages do not contain analytics, advertising trackers or code that writes cookies or browser storage. The navigation menu changes its visible state while you use the page; it does not create a persistent user profile. There is no website account or saved personal questionnaire. Ordinary navigation does not submit family details in the background.

Your browser can retain its own history, downloaded files and cached resources. Other software, extensions or settings on your device may also affect what is recorded. Those functions are separate from a website script. If a shared device creates a privacy concern, consider its settings and who has access to it rather than relying solely on the absence of website tracking.

If optional tracking or similar features are introduced in future, the associated information and any consent requirements need to be addressed before those features operate where the law requires it. A statement about this version does not give permission for unrelated future tracking. You can ask about a feature if its effect is unclear.

04 / Privacy Policy

Information discussed during telephone contact

During an enquiry, you may choose to give a name, an outline of the issue, a contact preference or information needed to discuss a possible appointment. The amount should be proportionate to the reason for the conversation. Begin with the question you want answered, then clarify what additional detail is needed. Detailed family records are not necessary merely to read or navigate this website.

Ask whether the conversation will be recorded or noted if that matters to your decision about what to disclose. This policy does not assert that all calls are recorded or that none are. Similarly, a telephone link does not establish how a service manages voicemail or later communication. Those arrangements should be explained directly, especially where contact itself could create a privacy concern.

Do not provide passwords, complete account identifiers or identity documents without understanding why they are required and how they will be handled. The number is a route for speaking with the service, not an instruction to send documents through an unconfirmed channel. If more information is needed later, agree an appropriate method and clarify who will receive it.

05 / Privacy Policy

Purposes, legal grounds and sensitive information

Personal information used to answer an enquiry, discuss a potential contract or provide an agreed service must have a clear purpose and an appropriate lawful basis. Depending on the activity, a basis may involve:

• Steps requested before a contract
• Performance of a contract
• A legal obligation
• A properly assessed legitimate interest

Consent is relevant where it is the appropriate basis, rather than being a universal explanation for every use.

Where legitimate interests are relied on, the interest and balancing of rights need consideration. Where consent is relied on, it must meet the relevant requirements and withdrawal must be possible without affecting processing that was lawful before withdrawal. The appropriate explanation should relate to the actual purpose. Merely making an enquiry does not authorise unrelated marketing or unrestricted sharing.

Some family information can be especially sensitive, including health details or material concerning alleged offences. Additional legal conditions and safeguards may be needed. A contractual basis for ordinary information does not automatically authorise every sensitive disclosure. Before providing such material, ask why it is required and what specific protections and processing conditions apply to it.

06 / Privacy Policy

Children and people mentioned in your account

An enquiry may concern children or another adult who has not contacted the service. Their privacy still matters. Share what is relevant to the purpose, and distinguish facts you know from an interpretation or an allegation. The ability to describe a disagreement does not make every detail about another person necessary for an initial enquiry.

The website is informational and does not provide children with accounts, chat features or a facility to submit case material. Adults should avoid involving children in collecting information for an enquiry or using them to pass private messages. If a service later involves children's information, the purposes and arrangements require specific care appropriate to the circumstances.

Being a relative, supporter or joint participant does not automatically entitle someone to all information supplied by another person. Access requests and questions about records may need an assessment of competing rights and confidentiality. A response can therefore require clarification about which information concerns you and what can lawfully be disclosed without undermining another person's rights.

07 / Privacy Policy

Recipients, confidentiality and security

Access to personal information should be limited to people and organisations with a proper reason to handle it. Technical providers, professional assistance or legal requirements can involve recipients beyond the person who answers a call. The relevant service information should explain the recipients or their categories and the safeguards appropriate to the actual activity.

Confidentiality is not an unlimited promise. Legal duties and safeguarding concerns may affect whether information needs to be disclosed. A mediation confidentiality arrangement also has its own scope and exceptions. Ask how those limits apply before assuming that every item discussed by telephone will be treated identically to information shared in a formal mediation session.

Information security requires suitable practical and organisational measures, but no general website notice can guarantee absolute security. The service's actual systems, access controls and arrangements should support the information it handles. If international transfers are relevant, you are entitled to the appropriate explanation of destinations and safeguards; these pages do not invent a list of processing countries or suppliers.

08 / Privacy Policy

Accuracy and the period a record remains useful

If information relevant to an enquiry changes, explain the correction and identify which earlier detail it replaces. A clear correction is more useful than a second account that leaves two inconsistent versions unexplained. Where a record reflects a professional opinion or an account of what was said, a disagreement about it may need to be recorded distinctly from a factual correction.

Personal data should not be retained longer than necessary for its lawful purpose. Different categories may have different requirements, including service administration, legal duties and handling a genuine dispute. This policy does not invent a fixed period for every enquiry or case file. Ask for the applicable retention period or the criteria used to determine it.

Deletion may not be immediate in every situation. A legal obligation or a justified need to retain a particular record can affect the response, and backups may have separate management arrangements. Any explanation should be specific enough for you to understand the reason. Keeping everything indefinitely merely because it may be useful is not a substitute for a proper retention decision.

09 / Privacy Policy

Exercising rights and raising a privacy concern

Depending on the circumstances, you may have rights to:

• Access personal data
• Correct inaccuracies
• Request erasure
• Restrict use
• Object to certain processing
• Receive portable information

These rights have conditions and exceptions. The basis and purpose of the processing can affect which right applies. You can also ask for information about any solely automated decision with a significant effect; these website pages contain no such decision feature.

Call to explain your request and ask how it can be handled through an appropriate process. Identity checks may be necessary to protect information. Only proportionate verification should be requested, and you should understand how to provide it securely. If a request is refused or limited, an explanation and the relevant options for challenging that response should be provided as required by law.

You may raise a concern with the service and have the right to complain to the relevant data protection supervisory authority. These pages do not require you to give up that right or accept a mediation outcome to exercise it. This policy was updated on 3 November 2026; significant changes to processing require appropriate information, rather than relying on the date alone.