Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy explains:
What information we collect and how we collect it.
Why and how long we use your information.
How long we keep your information.
How we may share your information.
Your rights on the information we hold about you.
How we keep your information safe.
Changes to this Privacy Policy.
How to Contact Us.
Information We Collect
In order to provide mediation services and for the other purposes set out in Use of Information below, we collect and process Personal Data from clients and potential clients. We may collect the following information;
- Personal information, for example: title, first and middle names, surname, gender, contact details i.e. postal and email address and phone numbers, date of birth, ethnics origin and disability. We also collect names and dates of birth of client’s children if provided to us.
- Any additional information provided by the client at a MIAM (Mediation Information Assessment Meeting) and during the Mediation process.
- Sensitive Personal Data relating to criminal and child protection matters.
We collect your information from
- Direct communication from users via telephone, email, website or letter.
- Self-Referral forms on our website.
- Referrals from organisations, for example Solicitors.
- We may also collect information from telephone conversations, emails and written and verbal communications and from records of any meetings attended by clients.
How We Use Your Information
Your Personal Data may be used in the following ways:
- To provide our mediation services to you.
- To respond to your requests and enquiries.
- To improve our mediation services.
- To comply with applicable law(s) (for example, to comply with our Legal Aid contract requirements).
- To enable us to provide, to maintain our own accounts and records and to support and manage our employees.
Consent and Lawful Processing of Data
Our legitimate interests, which include processing such Personal Data for the purposes of
- Conducting the mediation process as requested by the user.
- Providing access to the mediation information assessment process introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014, s10.
- Providing and enhancing the provision of our mediation services.
- Administration of our mediation services.
How long will we keep your information?
Upon file closure, personal data is currently securely stored for six years.
Sharing and Disclosure to Third Parties
We may disclose your Personal Data to third parties from time-to-time under the following circumstances:
- You request or authorise the disclosure of your personal details to a third party, for example to your legal adviser and/or professional consultants such as Financial Advisors, Pension Specialists.
- To provide information to the Legal Aid Agency under the terms of our contract with them. A legal aid file is defined as one or both clients receiving legal aid funding for mediation.
- Hosting providers for the secure storage and transmission of your data.
- Legal and compliance consultants, such as external auditors.
- Technology providers who assist in the development and management of our web properties.
Parents and Children
If the person about whom we are holding information is below the age of thirteen and participates in child inclusive mediation, we will need to seek consent from the parent or legal guardian if consent is required.
If a child over the age of thirteen years participates in child inclusive mediation, we will seek consent from them.
Subject Access/User Rights
As a user, you are subject to the following rights:
- The right to be informed of the use of your Personal Data.
- The right to access and/or to require the correction or erasure of your Personal Data.
- The right to block and/or object to the processing of your Personal Data.
- The right to not be subject to any decision based solely on automated processing of your Personal Data.
If you have a complaint in relation to the processing of your data carried out under this Privacy Policy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner Office.
You may seek to exercise any of these rights by sending a written request to Victoria Hewitt, Avalon, 26-32 Oxford Road, Bournemouth, Dorset, BH8 8EZ.
Information Security
We endeavour to protect your personal information that we hold, its confidentially, integrity and availability.
- We review our information collection, storage and processing practices, including physical security measures, to guard against unauthorised access to systems.
- We restrict access to personal information to Staff subject to strict contractual confidentiality obligations and may be disciplined or terminated if they fail to meet these obligations.
- We have a Security Information Policy in place which defines the measures we take to protect your personal information. We use a combination of technology and procedures to ensure that our paper and computer systems are protected, monitored and are recoverable.
- We only use third party service providers where we are satisfied that they provide adequate security for your personal data.
Compliance and cooperation with regulatory authorities
We regularly review our compliance with our Privacy Policy. If we receive formal written complaints, we will contact the person who made the complaint to follow up.
Changes
Our Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We will not reduce your rights under this Privacy Policy without your explicit consent.
How to Contact Us
The Data Controller is Wessex Family Mediation Centre Limited.
Our contact details are as follows:
Avalon
26-32 Oxford Road
Bournemouth
Dorset
BH8 8EZ
01202 298341
www.wfmc.co.uk