Privacy and data protection

The nature of the work we carry out with children and families means that we often deal with information that is sensitive and which we wouldn’t want to fall into the wrong pair of hands. We have procedures in place to protect your information set out below. Our privacy notice for adults in family court proceedings  also shows what information we collect and how it is used and protected.

 

Protecting your information

 

Cafcass staff should follow security standards set out in the Information Assurance policy and IT Policy and Procedures

 

Phone communication

 

When you speak to Cafcass staff you may be asked some security questions before any case related information can be discussed. This is done to confirm your identity against our records, in order to ensure that your personal information is not shared with anyone who should not have access to it.

Please note that Cafcass does not record telephone calls.

Text (SMS): We will only contact you via text in response to a text you have sent to us. We will never discuss case specific information via text as it is not a secure communications channel. This ensures that your personal information is not shared with anyone who should not have access to it. 

 

Email communication

 

We send a lot of information by email, as this is quicker and more convenient for the families we work with and other agencies.

Email address verification: When we are provided with your email address, we need to verify that it belongs to you before we send you private and confidential information electronically. We will email you and ask you to confirm your identity to our central email address [email protected] by providing two pieces of verification, such as your date of birth and your address. Once you have confirmed your identity we will be able to send you information in the quickest and most secure way.

If for some reason you suspect that an email you have received is not from Cafcass, please follow the below guidance:

• All Cafcass official email addresses end in @cafcass.gov.uk.
• If you receive an email stating to be from Cafcass that does not end in @cafcass.gov.uk please contact us at [email protected] to let us know.
• If you receive an email from someone stating to work for Cafcass but you do not know them, please contact our Call Centre on 0300 456 4000 and we can confirm things for you.
• If you believe someone is pretending to work for Cafcass please contact [email protected]

Secure email: Cafcass uses Egress which allows Cafcass staff to ensure any information sent by email is secure. All recipients can securely reply to emails sent via Egress for free by following a few simple steps.

The first time someone sends you an email using Egress email you will receive a link that will enable you to set up your account. You only need to provide your email address and create a password – that’s it. For each email you receive after this you will need to sign in with that email address and password to view the email.

Step-by-step guides on setting up and using an Egress account can be accessed below.

How to read and reply to an Egress email.

How a recipient can allow a family member or friend to access their emails on an Egress account

For help with any further questions please see our Egress FAQs.

For technical support with Egress accounts please visit Egress support: https://www.egress.com/support/contact-support (live chat); [email protected] (email); +44(0)844 8000 173 (phone). If you continue to have questions after viewing the website please contact [email protected].

Surveys: we may occasionally send you emails which contain a hyperlink allowing you to respond to feedback surveys. The links contained in these emails will take you to a secure webpage allowing you to enter feedback. 

Data collected through these surveys are securely stored and the data held in line with our policy. We use the information collected to help improve what we do.  

All survey emails we send will come from an email address which ends with cafcass.gov.uk. 

 

Chatbot Communication

 

Via this website you can also access our Virtual Agent Chatbot. The Chatbot It is kept up to date with the answers to questions which are regularly asked. If there is anything it cannot answer, or if we need more information, it will securely connect you to one of our call centre agents who will be able to help. 

When you use the online chat service to contact Cafcass, you may be asked some security questions before any case related information can be discussed. This is the same security protocol you would face if calling us. This verification is done to confirm your identity against our records, in order to ensure that your personal information is not shared with anyone who should not have access to it.