GetMediation Privacy Policy

GetMediation values your privacy and cares about the way in which your personal information is treated. 

This policy describes:

• what personal information we collect about you
• how we obtain your personal information
• how we use your personal information
• on what basis we use your personal information
• how long we keep your personal information 
• who we share your personal information with 
• how we protect your personal information
• which countries we transfer your personal information to
• your rights regarding your personal information

What personal information do we collect about you?

We may collect personal information from you in the course of our business, including through your use of our website, when you contact or request information from us, when you engage our mediation services or as a result of your relationship with one or more of our staff and clients. 

The personal information that we process includes:

• Basic information, such as your name (including name prefix or title), the company you work for, your title or position and your relationship to a person
• Contact information, such as your postal address, email address and phone number(s)
• Financial information, such as payment-related information
• Technical information, such as information from your visits to our website or applications or in relation to materials and communications we send to you electronically
• Information you provide to us for the purposes of attending meetings and events, including access and dietary requirements
• Identification and background information provided by you or collected as part of our business acceptance processes
• Personal information provided to us by or on behalf of our clients or generated by us in the course or providing services to them, which may include special categories of data
• Any other information relating to you which you may provide to us 

How we obtain your personal information

• We collect information from you as part of our business acceptance processes and about you and others as necessary in the course of providing mediation services
• We collect your personal information while monitoring our technology tools and services, including our websites and email communications sent to and from GetMediation
• We gather information about you when you provide it to us, or interact with us directly, for instance engaging with our staff or registering on one of our digital platforms or applications
• We may collect or receive information about you from other sources, such as keeping the contact details we already hold for you accurate and up to date using publicly available sources 

How we use your personal information

GetMediation collects and processes personal information about you in a number of ways, including through your use of our website and in the provision of services by us.  We use that information:

• To provide and improve this website, including auditing and monitoring its use
• To provide and improve our services to you and to our clients, including handling the personal information of others on behalf of our clients
• To provide information requested by you
• To promote our services, including sending updates, publications and details of events
• To manage and administer our relationship with you and our clients
• To fulfil our legal and risk management obligations
• For the purposes of recruitment

Use of GetMediation website

• Our website may invite you to provide us with personal information, such as the contact form and our email queries facilities.  The purpose of these facilities is apparent at the point that you provide your personal information and we only use that information for those purposes.
• Our website uses Google Analytics, a web-based analytics tool that tracks and reports on the manner in which the website is used to help us to improve it. Google Analytics does this by placing small text files called ‘cookies’ on your device. The information that the cookies collect, such as the number of visitors to the site, the pages visited and the length of time spent on the site, is aggregated and therefore anonymous.  Please also see ‘Marketing and other emails’ below.
• You may refuse the use of cookies or withdraw your consent at any time by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser but please note that this may affect your use and experience of our website. By continuing to use our website without changing your privacy settings, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.  To find out more about cookies, including how to manage and delete them, visitallaboutcookies.org.

Marketing and other emails

• We use personal information to understand whether you read the emails and other materials that we send to you, click on the links to the information that we include in them and whether and how you visit our website after you click on that link (immediately and on future visits).  We do this by using software that places a cookie on your device which tracks this activity and records it against your email address.  Please see ‘Use of GetMediation website’ for more information on cookies and how to manage and remove them.  Removal of this cookie will not affect your experience on our websites. 
• We may also use a relationship management tool, where permitted by applicable local law, to assess the strength of the relationship between individuals in GetMediation and our clients or potential clients based on the frequency of email contact between them. We use that information in order to assess, analyse and improve the services that we provide.
• If you receive marketing communications from us and no longer wish to do so, you may unsubscribe at any time by emailing us at hannah@getmediation.co.uk.

Meetings, events and seminars

• We will collect and process personal information about you in relation to your attendance at our offices or at an event or seminar organised by GetMediation or its business partners. We will only process and use special categories of personal information about your dietary or access requirements in order to cater for your needs and to meet any other legal obligations we may have. We may share your information with IT and other service providers or business partners involved in organising or hosting the relevant event.

Mediation services

• We collect, create, hold and use personal information in the course of and in connection with the services we provide to our clients.  We will process personal information provided to us by or on behalf of our clients for the purposes of the work we do for them.  The information may be disclosed to third parties to the extent reasonably necessary in connection with that work.  Please also see ‘Who we share your personal information with’ and ‘Which countries we transfer your personal information to’ below.

On what basis we use your personal information

We use your personal information on the following bases:

• To perform a contract, such as engaging with an individual to provide mediation services
• For the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or proceedings
• To comply with legal obligations
• For legitimate business purposes.  Please see ‘How we use your personal information’ for more detail

How long we keep your personal information

Your personal information will be retained in accordance with our data retention policy which categorises all of the information held by GetMediation and specifies the appropriate retention period for each category of data.  Those periods are based on the requirements of applicable data protection laws and the purpose for which the information is collected and used, taking into account legal requirements to retain the information for a minimum period, limitation periods for taking legal action, good practice and GetMediation’s business purposes.

Who we share your personal information with

We may share your personal information with certain trusted third parties in accordance with contractual arrangements in place with them, including:

• Our professional advisers and auditors
• Suppliers to whom we outsource certain support services such as word processing, translation, photocopying and document review
• IT service providers to GetMediation
• Third parties engaged in the course of the services we provide to clients and with their prior consent, such as mediators
• Third parties involved in hosting or organising events or seminars

Where necessary, or for the reasons set out in this policy, personal information may also be shared with regulatory authorities, courts, tribunals, government agencies and law enforcement agencies.  While it is unlikely, we may be required to disclose your information to comply with legal or regulatory requirements. We will use reasonable endeavours to notify you before we do this, unless we are legally restricted from doing so.

If in the future we re-organise or transfer all or part of our business, we may need to transfer your information to new GetMediation entities or to third parties through which the business of GetMediation will be carried out.

GetMediation may use social media sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.  If you use these services, you should review their privacy policy for more information on how they deal with your personal information.

We do not sell, rent or otherwise make personal information commercially available to any third party, except with your prior permission. 

How we protect your personal information

We use a variety of technical and organisational measures to help protect your personal information from unauthorised access, use, disclosure, alteration or destruction consistent with applicable data protection laws.  

Where will we hold your personal information?

We will not transfer your personal information to locations outside the European Economic Area (the “EEA”) unless we have to. 

The level of information protection in countries outside the EEA may be less than that offered within the EEA. Where this is the case, we will implement appropriate measures to ensure that your personal information remains protected and secure in accordance with applicable data protection laws.  EU standard contractual clauses are in place between all GetMediation entities that share and process personal data.  Where our third party service providers process personal data outside the EEA in the course of providing services to us, our written agreement with them will include appropriate measures, usually standard contractual clauses.

Your rights regarding your personal information

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable data protection laws provide certain rights for data subjects.  

You are entitled to request details of the information we hold about you and how we process it.  You may also have a right in accordance with applicable data protection law to have it rectified or deleted, to restrict our processing of that information, to stop unauthorised transfers of your personal information to a third party and, in some circumstances, to have personal information relating to you transferred to another organisation. You may also have the right to lodge a complaint in relation to GetMediation’s processing of your personal information with a local supervisory authority. 

If you object to the processing of your personal information, or if you have provided your consent to processing and you later choose to withdraw it, we will respect that choice in accordance with our legal obligations. 

Your objection (or withdrawal of any previously given consent) could mean that we are unable to perform the actions necessary to achieve the purposes set out above (see ‘How we use your personal information’) or that you may not be able to make use of the services and products offered by us. Please note that even after you have chosen to withdraw your consent we may be able to continue to process your personal information to the extent required or otherwise permitted by law, in particular in connection with exercising and defending our legal rights or meeting our legal obligations.  

We must ensure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. Therefore, please advise us of any changes to your information by emailing hannah@getmediation.co.uk.

Data Protection Officer

The Data Protection Officer for GetMediation is Brian McKibbin and you can contact him at brian@getmediation.co.uk.