Who we are and what this notice covers

Mediation Rescue Limited is the controller of the personal information described in this notice. This notice explains how we use information about website visitors, people who enquire about our services and our professional and marketing contacts.

It covers mediationrescue.co.uk and communications connected with enquiries and marketing. Mediation case records may require additional privacy information and confidentiality arrangements. This notice does not replace those arrangements or give permission to disclose confidential mediation discussions.

Alan Dillon is our privacy lead. Contact him at alan@mediationrescue.co.uk, or contact us at info@mediationrescue.co.uk or on 020 3857 5690. Please mark an email “Privacy enquiry”. The shared inbox is monitored by our three directors.

Information we receive

When you contact us, we receive the information you provide, such as your name, email address, telephone number, job title, organisation and the subject of your enquiry. Our website contact form asks for your name, email address and message. We also keep relevant correspondence, service preferences and records of requests or objections about marketing.

We may receive information about an enquiry from an organisation commissioning mediation, a professional adviser or another person referring the matter. We use information from these sources only where relevant and lawful. Where required, we provide privacy information to the person concerned when their information comes from someone else.

Website hosting and security services may process technical information such as IP addresses, request times, browser information and security logs to operate and protect the website. Optional analytics, described below, is separate from these operational functions.

Please keep an initial enquiry brief. Avoid sending unnecessary names of other participants, detailed allegations, health information or other sensitive material through the general contact form. We can discuss what information is needed and how to provide it. An enquiry may contain special category information or criminal allegation information; handling it requires an appropriate additional legal condition, not simply a general business interest.

Why we use information and our lawful bases

Enquiries and service arrangements: we use information to respond, assess whether we can help, arrange an initial discussion and prepare proposals. Where you are personally entering a contract with us, this may be necessary to take steps at your request before a contract or to perform it. Where you act for an organisation, we normally rely on our legitimate interests in responding to requests and arranging our services.

Administration and security: we rely on our legitimate interests in running and protecting our business, maintaining appropriate records and managing correspondence and complaints. We consider the effect on the people concerned and do not rely on these interests where their rights override them.

Legal obligations and claims: we use information where needed to meet a legal obligation, including applicable accounting and tax requirements. Where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, we rely on an appropriate lawful basis and any additional condition required for sensitive information.

Optional analytics: we rely on your consent. Marketing: the basis depends on the recipient and communication, as explained below. Giving us an enquiry does not itself mean you have consented to marketing.

You do not have to accept analytics or marketing to use our services. We do need enough contact and background information to respond meaningfully to an enquiry. Without it, we may be unable to help.

Marketing and your choices

We do not currently send a regular newsletter. If we send marketing emails, articles, service updates or event invitations in future, we will identify ourselves and provide a simple way to stop further marketing. You can also object at any time by contacting info@mediationrescue.co.uk. We will stop using your information for direct marketing when you object. This notice does not sign you up to a future newsletter.

For marketing emails to individual subscribers, including sole traders and certain partnerships, we obtain consent unless the applicable existing-customer exception has been satisfied. That exception requires that we obtained the address directly during a sale or negotiations for a sale, market only our own similar services, and offered a clear opt-out both when collecting the address and in every message. An enquiry alone does not satisfy all those requirements.

For relevant business marketing to corporate subscribers, such as limited companies, we may rely on legitimate interests where appropriate, subject to applicable electronic marketing rules and your right to object. Where consent is required, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of earlier use.

We retain a minimal suppression record where necessary to respect a request not to receive marketing, rather than deleting the request and risking contacting you again.

Cookies and optional website analytics

We use optional Google Analytics 4. Google Analytics loads only after you select Accept analytics. Reject analytics is equally available, and you can change your choice through Cookie settings in the website footer.

With permission, analytics measures page visits, successful enquiry-form submissions and selections of telephone, email and calculator links. A telephone or email click does not prove that a call or message took place. We do not send enquiry-field contents, names, email addresses, telephone numbers or details of disputes through this analytics implementation.

Google Analytics processes cookie identifiers and information about website use, browser and device. These identifiers are not the same as completely anonymous information. The planned configuration excludes Google Signals, user-provided data collection and advertising personalisation.

The preference record mr_analytics_choice_v1 is browser local storage, not an analytics cookie. It remembers acceptance or rejection for 180 days. Google’s _ga and _ga_* cookies distinguish visitors and sessions. Our proposed configuration limits their lifetime to 180 days without renewing that lifetime on every visit; browsers may shorten it further.

Withdrawing permission stops future analytics collection on this browser and removes accessible Analytics cookies set by this website. It does not automatically erase data already collected. Clearing browser storage or using another browser may mean you are asked again.

The Google Analytics event-data retention setting is two months. This does not set a two-month limit on every report: standard aggregated reports are treated separately. Cookie duration and the duration of data held in Analytics are also different things.

Technical storage needed to provide or secure a function is considered separately from optional analytics. Rejecting analytics does not prevent you using the contact form or requesting our services.

The Conflict Cost Calculator

The calculator at calculator.mediationrescue.co.uk can be used without providing contact details. Please use estimates and do not enter names or identifying details about individuals or disputes. If you contact us after using it, the enquiry provisions in this notice apply.

The calculator is separately hosted. Consent controls on the main website should not be assumed to control storage or processing on that separate service. Its hosting, storage and any analytics arrangements must be described in the calculator’s own privacy information.

Who can receive information

Enquiries sent to info@mediationrescue.co.uk are forwarded to Antony Sendall, Alan Dillon and Sue Granshaw so that they can respond and arrange appropriate support. Relevant information may be shared with an associate mediator where needed to consider or provide the service, subject to appropriate confidentiality arrangements.

Service providers may process information to support website hosting, security, email delivery, email marketing, IT, administration and backups. The main website is hosted by IONOS. If we use an email-marketing provider, it processes the relevant contact details, message content and delivery or preference records to provide that service. We assess a replacement provider before using it. When optional analytics is enabled, Google processes analytics information. Access should be limited to what each provider needs for its role.

We may also share relevant information with professional advisers, insurers or public authorities where necessary and lawful, for example to meet a legal obligation or deal with a legal claim. Sharing must respect applicable mediation confidentiality arrangements as well as data protection requirements.

International processing

Some service providers may process information outside the UK, including through overseas support or infrastructure. Google’s processing can involve international locations. The arrangements must be assessed for the particular provider and service; UK hosting alone does not establish that every use of information stays in the UK.

Where a transfer is restricted under UK data protection law, an applicable transfer route is required, such as UK adequacy regulations or approved contractual safeguards with any necessary assessment and supplementary protections. You can contact us for information about the safeguards relevant to your information.

How long we keep information

For enquiries that do not lead to work, our policy is to delete or anonymise the record 12 months after the last meaningful contact. If a discussion remains active, you have requested later follow-up, or a complaint or legal claim requires retention, we record the reason and a new review date. Information linked to an instruction is managed under the relevant case and business record arrangements.

For marketing contacts, our policy is to review the record after 24 months without meaningful engagement and delete it unless there is a documented, lawful reason for continued retention. We do not treat the mere sending of another marketing email as meaningful engagement. An objection or withdrawal of consent takes effect immediately rather than at that review date.

We retain only the contact details and preference information needed to honour a marketing objection for as long as there remains a realistic risk of contacting that address again, and review that need periodically. Security logs and backups follow the relevant operational retention arrangements; deleting an active record may not remove it immediately from a protected backup.

Legal duties and the need to deal with claims may require some records to be kept longer. We review information and securely delete or anonymise it when no longer required. The specific analytics periods are explained above.

Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect information and limit access to people who need it for their work. No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure. Please contact us before sending particularly sensitive material so that we can discuss a suitable method.

Your rights and complaints

Depending on the circumstances, you can request access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate or incomplete information, erasure, restriction of use and a portable copy of information where that right applies. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests. Your right to object to direct marketing is absolute.

Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it. This does not affect lawful processing before withdrawal. Rights are subject to the conditions and exemptions in data protection law, including protection of other people’s information and applicable confidentiality obligations.

Contact info@mediationrescue.co.uk to exercise a right or complain about our use of information. We may need proportionate information to verify your identity. We respond to rights requests within the applicable statutory timescales, normally one month, and explain any lawful extension or restriction.

For a data protection complaint, we will acknowledge receipt within 30 days, investigate appropriately and communicate the outcome without undue delay. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. You do not lose that right by contacting us first.

Changes to this notice

We review this notice when our services or use of information change. Material changes will be explained where appropriate. A new purpose must have an appropriate lawful basis; updating this notice does not by itself provide consent.