Switchboard Confidentiality Statement

Switchboard’s Confidentiality Statement

Switchboard LGBTQIA+ offers a listening service to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as their friends, family and those supporting them.

We aim to deliver a service that is confidential within Switchboard, meaning we keep the contents of our communications and any identifiable information provided private where possible. However, there may be occasions where we do share information about our communications and where we ask for more information about your identity.

This statement outlines when this may occur, what information we may look to share and how we might approach sharing this information. This statement should be read alongside our Safeguarding Policy and Privacy Policy, which can be found on our website [LINK].

What information do we have access to as an organisation?

When contacting us via phone or instant message, our system is able to identify:

The number you use to contact us
The location you are calling us from (country of origin, city, business/residential number etc)

When contacting us via email, our system enables us to identify:

Your email address
The name you may have chosen to provide within the “from” field and the body of the email

What information do our volunteers have access to when communicating with you?

The written contents of the email or instant message you send us
Any information you provide within the contents of your email, instant message or phone conversation
Your email address

When you are communicating with one of our volunteers (whether via phone, instant message or email), they will not ask for any identifiable information about you or anyone you tell us about, unless they believe it will enable them to keep you or another person safe (as outlined below) or provide more tailored referrals and information. For example, they may ask where you live to find suitable housing services. You do not need to reveal any information that you do not want to.

The themes discussed during our conversations are anonymously logged in our central database. We use this database to identify trends, such as an increase in calls regarding sexual health, and to train our volunteers more effectively by identifying topics of conversation they may struggle to discuss.

We monitor and record conversations (across our phone, instant messaging and email services) for training/quality and safeguarding purposes. Recording conversations enables us to manage complaints and concerns, safeguard our service users and volunteers, provide information when requested to by public authorities (if required by law) and train our volunteers effectively.

All recordings we hold are held on our system for eight months. They will only be accessed for safeguarding and quality control purposes or in the event that a complaint has been raised, or Switchboard believes it has been misrepresented (for example in comments online). You can request access to any information we hold about you within eight months of contacting us by emailing our Secretary via secretary@switchboard.lgbt. Our Privacy Policy ([LINK]) has more information about your rights in relation to the information we hold about you. After eight months, your records are then deleted and wiped from any systems we use unless we need to retain them for a longer period (for example, if we are in the process of investigating a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of a legal claim).

We will always seek to ensure that appropriate or suitable safeguards are in place to protect any personal information you provide and that storage of your personal information is in compliance with applicable data protection laws. Take a look at our Privacy Policy ([LINK]) for more information.

When might we break our confidentiality and share information with another party?

Whilst our operating policy is one of confidentiality, there may be an occasion in which we need to break confidentiality and tell other people about the communications we have had. This will most likely happen when you ask us to, or we believe you or someone else have or may come to harm.

Examples of when we may break confidentiality include the following circumstances:

When we believe there is a threat to life:
- We believe there is a threat to life when a service user discloses information which suggests their life, or that of another person, is in imminent danger and that a life is at risk. This could be because someone has acted on suicidal thoughts or is at risk of violence at the hands of another person, for example.
- Our policy is that, in cases where there is an imminent threat to life, the conversation will be treated as though it is a safeguarding disclosure and our volunteers will take steps, such as contacting emergency services, to get you or another person help.
- For more information, please check out our Safeguarding Policy.

You ask us to contact the emergency services via 999:
- For example, if you have hurt yourself, you might want us to call the emergency services (999) on your behalf and seek help.

We have concerns about a child or adult at risk (a safeguarding concern):
- If we have concerns about the safety of a child or adult at risk (for example potential abuse or neglect), we will act in line with Switchboard's Safeguarding Policy. This may include passing on details of our conversation to other organisations (for example the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) or Local Safeguarding Adults Board in England, or their equivalents in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and abroad).

We are legally required to share information:
- For example, a judge orders us to share information for a court case

What happens if we share any information about you?

Our volunteers will always begin every conversation on an anonymous basis and will not ask you to provide personal information. However, as outlined above, if you or another person are in immediate danger (and there is a threat to life or safeguarding risk present), they may ask for your personal details so they can share information with another party (such as the police or ambulance service).

When doing so, the volunteer may ask you questions like your name and age, details about what is happening (for example, if you have already taken steps to hurt yourself, what they were etc) and your location. They may share this information, as well as other things you have discussed during the conversation. It is your choice what to tell us, but if we don’t know certain things - such as your location, and what help you need - it may not be possible for the emergency services to help you.

If they have a safeguarding concern, about a child or adult at risk of being harmed, our volunteers share this with our internal Safeguarding Team. They will record this on our database, consider what has been reported, and take any action needed in-line with our Safeguarding Policy.

If you have any questions regarding this confidentiality statement, please contact admin@switchboard.lgbt