Legal
Cookie policy
This policy explains what cookies are, which ones mediationguide.co.uk uses, and how you can control them. The site is published by Family Legal Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales, company number 16431127, and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under number ZC018853.
We keep cookies to a minimum. You can read the site, use every guide and run every free tool whether or not you accept anything beyond the essentials. For the wider picture of how we handle personal information, see our privacy policy.
What cookies are
A cookie is a small text file that a website places on your computer or phone when you visit. It lets the site remember something about your visit, such as a choice you made, or recognise your device when you return. Cookies cannot run programs or read other files on your device.
Some cookies disappear when you close your browser (session cookies), while others stay on your device for a set period (persistent cookies). Cookies set by the site you are visiting are called first party cookies; cookies set by another organisation through that site, such as an analytics service, are third party cookies.
The cookies this site uses
We use two categories of cookie, summarised below.
| Category | What it does | When it is set |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | Makes the site work and remembers the cookie choice you made, so we do not ask you on every page. | Automatically. These cannot be switched off through our banner. |
| Analytics | Counts visits and tells us, in aggregate, which pages people read and how they found them, so we can improve the guides. | Only if you accept analytics cookies. |
We do not use advertising or marketing cookies, and we do not allow anyone to track you across other websites through this one.
Analytics and third parties
Our analytics cookies are set by Google Analytics, a measurement service provided by Google. It gives us aggregated reports: how many people visited, which guides they read, what kind of device they used and roughly where in the country they were. We use these reports to see which pages help people and which need rewriting.
We do not use analytics to build profiles of individual visitors, and the reports we see do not identify you by name. Google processes this data on our behalf, and its own policies explain how it handles it. If you would rather not be counted, simply decline analytics cookies when the banner appears; the site works exactly the same either way.
Your consent
When you first visit, a banner asks whether you accept analytics cookies. Nothing non-essential is set until you choose. If you accept and later change your mind, you can clear the cookies for this site in your browser, and the banner will ask again on your next visit. Declining does not hide any content or disable any tool.
Managing cookies in your browser
Every mainstream browser lets you view, block and delete cookies. In Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari you will find the controls in the privacy or security section of the settings menu. You can block all cookies, block only third party cookies, or clear everything a particular site has stored.
Blocking all cookies can stop parts of some websites working, though this site is built to cope well without them. Your browser’s help pages have step by step instructions for your exact version, and the Information Commissioner’s Office publishes plain English guidance about cookies at ico.org.uk.
Changes and contact
If we add, remove or change cookies, we will update this page and the date shown at the top. Significant changes, such as introducing a new category of cookie, would also mean the consent banner asks for your choice again.
Questions about cookies on this site are welcome through our contact page. For how we handle personal information more generally, including your rights under UK data protection law, see the privacy policy.