Our confidentiality policy
Sometimes it can be really hard to talk about things, particularly when you don't know if what you've talked about will be passed on to someone else.
At Get Connected we treat our calls, emails and webchats as confidential. That means we won't tell anybody outside of Get Connected about what you've told us. However, if we're connecting you through to another organisation and you want us to tell them a little bit about your situation, we can do that with your permission.Sometimes we might need to share information between colleagues at Get Connected so that we can give you the best possible help. We might ask you for your first name, age and where in the country you live so that we can try to find the help that is most suitable for you, but it is always up to you how much information you give us.
There are a few limited circumstances when we might have to pass on what you've said to someone else.
- One example of this is if you're in life threatening danger and you need help from the emergency services. We'll explain that we ‘d like to tell the relevant emergency service about your situation, and ask for details such as your address and phone number. If you give them to us, we'll then contact the emergency service, even if you don't want us to.
Get Connected will also do this if your situation seems dangerous enough to be life-threatening but not immediate, for example if you're being seriously neglected by a parent or carer, or seriously physically harmed so that your life might be in danger.
- We don't provide a confidential service to anyone abusing a child, and will ask for the abuser's details so we can pass them to the police. We will signpost the abuser to services aimed at stopping the abuse. If they are pursuing this sort of help, we may continue to help them with other issues.
- The other situation where we would ask for your details in order to give them to someone outside of Get Connected is if we believe you or someone you know of is a threat to someone else's life. This includes Get Connected and our staff, or anyone around you whose life seems to be in danger.
We will always let you know if we think you're in one of the above situations, and if we're considering sharing anything you've told us with someone outside Get Connected. If you have any concerns about confidentiality, just ask the Helpline Worker at the beginning of your call, email or webchat. The policy applies to all three ways of contacting us.
If you'd like to read the full Confidentiality Policy, you can download it below.