The Olive Branch Company are committed to safeguarding the privacy of individuals who interact with us, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your personal data in relation to our mediation services.

For any privacy-related questions, please contact us at: info@theolivebranchco.uk

1. Data We Collect About You

We may collect the following categories of personal data for the purposes outlined below:

• Contact Information: Name, email address, phone number, postal address, and other similar information.
• Professional Information: Employment details, role, public profiles (e.g., LinkedIn), and affiliations, where necessary for mediation purposes.
• Case Information: Specific details and documentation relevant to a mediation, including any sensitive data provided by the parties (e.g., case details, dispute information).
• Financial Information: Payment details for billing purposes, where applicable, such as bank account information.
• Website Usage Information: IP address, browser type, and how you interact with our website to improve our online services.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We will only use your personal data where there is a lawful basis under UK GDPR. These purposes include:

• Providing Mediation Services: Managing and delivering our mediation services, including communication with parties involved, scheduling sessions, and preparing documentation.
• Legal Obligations: Complying with regulatory, legal, or professional obligations.
• Administrative Activities: Managing your account, providing billing or payment support, and responding to enquiries.
• Consent-Based Activities: Where you give your explicit consent, e.g., for future communications or other marketing activities.
• Website Improvements: Monitoring and improving the functionality of our website and services.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we process personal data under the following lawful bases:

• Contractual Necessity: Where the use of your data is required to provide mediation services under a contract or agreement.
• Legal Obligation: For compliance with applicable laws or regulations.
• Legitimate Interest: For our legitimate business purposes, such as improving our services and ensuring efficient delivery of mediation.
• Consent: Where you have provided explicit consent for us to process your data for particular purposes (e.g., newsletters).

4. Sharing Your Data

We may need to share your personal data with:

• Other parties involved in the mediation process (e.g., other disputants, their legal advisors), only as necessary for delivering our service.
• Regulators or legal authorities, where legally required (e.g., law enforcement).
• Professional advisors (e.g., accountants, insurance providers), where operationally necessary.

6. Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to Object: Object to processing where we rely on legitimate interests as the basis.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Withdraw previously given consent at any time.
• Right of Access: Request access to the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Right to Erasure: Request erasure of your data, subject to certain criteria.
• Right to Restrict Processing: Request that we suspend processing your data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: Request transfer of your personal data to another service provider.

7. Cookies and Online Tracking

Our website uses cookies to provide essential functionality and gather analytics to improve the user experience.

8. Data Security

We are committed to ensuring that your personal data is secure. We implement appropriate measures to prevent unauthorised access, loss, or misuse of your data using safeguards such as:

• Data encryption, secure servers, and firewalls.
• Restricted access policies for sensitive data.
• Regular monitoring and auditing of systems.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may occasionally review and update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our practices, services, or legal obligations. The most current version will always be available on our website. Please review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we are protecting your data.

10. Contact Us

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor's IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.