www.shellybouse.com Privacy Policy

Introduction

This Privacy Policy outlines BOUSE Mediation (" we ", " our " or " the Company ") practices with respect to information collected from users who access our website atwww.shellybouse.com (" Site "), or otherwise share personal information with us (collectively: " Users "). 

What information we collect?

We collect two types of data and information from Users. 


The first type of information is un-identified and non-identifiable information pertaining to a User(s), which may be made available or gathered via your use of the Site (“ Non-personal Information ”). We are not aware of the identity of a User from which the Non-personal Information was collected. Non-personal Information which is being collected may include your aggregated usage information and technical information transmitted by your device, including certain software and hardware information (e.g. the type of browser and operating system your device uses, language preference, access time, etc.) in order to enhance the functionality of our Site. We may also collect information on your activity on the Site (e.g. pages viewed, online browsing, clicks, actions, etc.).


The second type of information Personal Information which is individually identifiable information, namely information that identifies an individual or may with reasonable effort identify an individual. Such information includes:


1. Information Collection and Intake Processes


BOUSE Mediation collects personal information when users voluntarily submit forms via our website, scheduler, or client portal. This information is essential for identifying potential conflicts of interest and determining the suitability of mediation for each case.

Data Category Examples of Collected Information Source Personal Identifiers Name, work/home email address, phone number, mailing address. Sensitive Data Details of disabilities, health issues, ethnicity, or domestic abuse history (only when relevant to the mediation case). Case Information Origin/destination of disputes, time spent on duty (for workplace mediation), and relevant legal credentials.

Eligibility: To use this site and its intake tools, you must be at least 18 years old. Our services are not intended for use by children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from individuals in this age group.


2. Financial Transactions and Payments


We utilize secure third-party applications to process payments for mediation services. When you pay for a session via bank transfer or credit card, we may request information to facilitate the transaction and verify your identity.

Payment Data: This may include bank account information, credit card details, and bank statements provided to ensure the secure processing of fees.

Security: BOUSE Mediation does not store full credit card numbers; all financial data is handled by authorized third-party service providers who perform billing and payment functions on our behalf.

Business Necessity: Use of financial data is strictly limited to performing obligations in accordance with the mediation contract.


3. The BOUSE Client Portal and Document Security


To reduce reliance on unencrypted email and protect confidential legal and mediation documents, BOUSE Mediation utilizes a dedicated Client Portal.

Security Standards: Portals are used for sharing documents, bills, and notes, providing a higher level of confidence in data protection than traditional communication methods.

Confidentiality: In accordance with professional conduct rules, we make "reasonable efforts" to prevent unauthorized access to portal information.

Access Control: Users are permitted to create only one account for individual use and are prohibited from sharing login credentials or soliciting the credentials of other users.   


4. Tracking Technologies: Cookies and Site Stat Analytics


BOUSE Mediation uses cookies, pixel tags, and web beacons to improve website functionality and understand how visitors interact with our services.

Browser Cookies: These are small files placed on your device to track your behavior on the website and gather aggregate usage metrics, such as total visitors and page navigation patterns.

Pixel Tags/Web Beacons: These tiny graphics allow us to determine if specific actions have been performed, such as opening an email or clicking a link, which helps us better tune our content to meet your needs.   

Site Statistics: We use automated tools like Google Analytics to track device information, operating systems, browser types, and time zones.

Control: Users have the ability to change their browser settings to limit cookie collection; however, some features of the Client Portal or website may not function properly if cookies are disabled.


5. Third-Party Applications and Integrations


We permit authorized third-party service providers to interact with our website to perform functions on our behalf, including data analysis, technical support, and marketing automation.

Limited Use: These providers may only use data in accordance with our instructions and are not permitted to use your personal information for their own purposes.

Responsibility: While we use trusted partners, BOUSE Mediation is not responsible for the privacy practices of external sites linked from our platform and encourages users to review those specific policies.


6. Mediation Confidentiality and Privilege


Unless subject to specific public meeting acts, all communications occurring during the mediation process are confidential.

Legal Privilege: Statements made during mediation are generally privileged and not subject to discovery or admissible in judicial proceedings unless the privilege is waived by all parties.

Exceptions: Confidentiality does not apply to threats of physical harm, statements of intent to commit violence, or materials submitted to purposefully avoid discovery in a criminal matter. Disclosures may also be required by a final court order or search warrant.

What information we collect?

We do not rent, sell, or share Users’ information with third parties except as described in this Privacy Policy.


We may use the information for the following:

Neutrality Assessment: Identifying potential conflicts of interest to ensure the impartiality of the mediator before accepting a case.

Service Delivery: Facilitating the mediation intake process and delivering requested arbitration or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services.

Keep You Informed: Maintaining direct communication to keep you informed of case status updates, scheduled sessions, or requested resources.

Market Our Website: Marketing our website and services through targeted content, educational updates, and newsletters where consent has been provided.

Statistical Analysis: Conducting statistical analysis of site usage data to evaluate preferences, trends, and the efficiency of our service offerings.

Financial Management: Processing payments, verifying identities for bank transfers, and managing secure billing records.

Administrative Record-Keeping: Maintaining internal accounts and case files for the duration of the mandatory six-year retention period.

Platform Optimization: Improving the performance of our website and Client Portal through the analysis of site statistics and user navigation patterns.

Legal Compliance: Fulfilling legal obligations, such as responding to court orders, search warrants, or professional ethics investigations.


In addition to the different uses listed above, we may transfer or disclose Personal Information to our subsidiaries, affiliated companies and subcontractors.


In addition to the purposes listed in this Privacy Policy, we may share Personal Information with our trusted third party providers, who may be located in different jurisdictions across the world, for any of the following purposes: 

Hosting and Operating: Hosting and operating our Site and secure Client Portal;

Service Delivery: Providing you with our services, including intake processing and providing a personalized display of our Site;

Storage and Processing: Storing and processing such information on our behalf;

Financial Transactions: Facilitating financial transactions and secure payment processing;

Advertising and Retargeting: Serving you with advertisements and assisting us in evaluating the success of our advertising campaigns and helping us retarget any of our users;

Marketing and Promotions: Providing you with marketing offers and promotional materials related to our Site and services;

Analytics and Diagnostics: Performing research, technical diagnostics, or statistical analytics.


 

We may also disclose information if we have good faith to believe that disclosure of such information is helpful or reasonably necessary to: (i) comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request; (ii) enforce our policies (including our Agreement), including investigations of potential violations thereof; (iii) investigate, detect, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities or other wrongdoing, suspected fraud or security issues; (iv) to establish or exercise our rights to defend against legal claims; (v) prevent harm to the rights, property or safety of us, our users, yourself or any third party; or (vi) for the purpose of collaborating with law enforcement agencies and/or in case we find it necessary in order to enforce intellectual property or other legal rights.

How do we receive information about you?

We receive your Personal Information from various sources:

  • When you voluntarily provide us your personal details in order to register on our Site;
  • When you use or access our Site in connection with your use of our services;
  • From third party providers, services and public registers (for example, traffic analytics vendors).

User Rights

You may request to: 

  1. Receive confirmation as to whether or not personal information concerning you is being processed, and access your stored personal information, together with supplementary information. 
  2.  Receive a copy of personal information you directly volunteer to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. 
  3.  Request rectification of your personal information that is in our control.
  4.  Request erasure of your personal information. 
  5.  Object to the processing of personal information by us. 
  6.  Request to restrict processing of your personal information by us.
  7.  Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

 

However, please note that these rights are not absolute, and may be subject to our own legitimate interests and regulatory requirements. 


If you wish to exercise any of the aforementioned rights, or receive more information, please contact our Data Protection Officer (“DPO”) using the details provided below:

shellybouse@gmail.com

Retention

We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services, and as necessary to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes, and enforce our policies. Retention periods will be determined taking into account the type of information that is collected and the purpose for which it is collected, bearing in mind the requirements applicable to the situation and the need to destroy outdated, unused information at the earliest reasonable time. Under applicable regulations, we will keep records containing client personal data, account opening documents, communications and anything else as required by applicable laws and regulations. 


We may rectify, replenish or remove incomplete or inaccurate information, at any time and at our own discretion.

Cookies

We and our trusted partners use cookies and other technologies in our related services, including when you visit our Site or access our services. 


A "cookie" is a small piece of information that a website assign to your device while you are viewing a website. Cookies are very helpful and can be used for various different purposes. These purposes include allowing you to navigate between pages efficiently, enable automatic activation of certain features, remembering your preferences and making the interaction between you and our Services quicker and easier. Cookies are also used to help ensure that the advertisements you see are relevant to you and your interests and to compile statistical data on your use of our Services. 


The Site uses the following types of cookies:


a. 'session cookies' which are stored only temporarily during a browsing session in order to allow normal use of the system and are deleted from your device when the browser is closed; 


b. 'persistent cookies ' which are read only by the Site, saved on your computer for a fixed period and are not deleted when the browser is closed. Such cookies are used where we need to know who you are for repeat visits, for example to allow us to store your preferences for the next sign-in; 


c. 'third party cookies' which are set by other online services who run content on the page you are viewing, for example by third party analytics companies who monitor and analyze our web access.


Cookies do not contain any information that personally identifies you, but Personal Information that we store about you may be linked, by us, to the information stored in and obtained from cookies. You may remove the cookies by following the instructions of your device preferences; however, if you choose to disable cookies, some features of our Site may not operate properly and your online experience may be limited.


We also use a tool called “Google Analytics” to collect information about your use of the Site. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users access the Site, what pages they visit when they do so, etc. We use the information we get from Google Analytics only to improve our Site and services. Google Analytics collects the IP address assigned to you on the date you visit sites, rather than your name or other identifying information. We do not combine the information collected through the use of Google Analytics with personally identifiable information. Google’s ability to use and share information collected by Google Analytics about your visits to this Site is restricted by the Google Analytics Terms of Use and the Google Privacy Policy .

Third party collection of information

Our policy only addresses the use and disclosure of information we collect from you. To the extent you disclose your information to other parties or sites throughout the internet, different rules may apply to their use or disclosure of the information you disclose to them. Accordingly, we encourage you to read the terms and conditions and privacy policy of each third party that you choose to disclose information to. 


This Privacy Policy does not apply to the practices of companies that we do not own or control, or to individuals whom we do not employ or manage, including any of the third parties which we may disclose information as set forth in this Privacy Policy. 

How do we safeguard your information?

We take great care in implementing and maintaining the security of the Site and your information. [explain about your security practices, such as: we employ industry standard procedures and policies to ensure the safety of the information we collect and retain, and prevent unauthorized use of any such information, and we require any third party to comply with similar security requirements, in accordance with this Privacy Policy] . Although we take reasonable steps to safeguard information, we cannot be responsible for the acts of those who gain unauthorized access or abuse our Site, and we make no warranty, express, implied or otherwise, that we will prevent such access.

Transfer of data outside the EEA 

Please note that some data recipients may be located outside the EEA. In such cases we will transfer your data only to such countries as approved by the European Commission as providing adequate level of data protection, or enter into legal agreements ensuring an adequate level of data protection.

Advertisement

We may use a third-party advertising technology to serve advertisements when you access the Site. This technology uses your information with regards to your use of the Services to serve advertisements to you (e.g., by placing third-party cookies on your web browser). 


You may opt-out of many third-party ad networks, including those operated by members of the Network Advertising Initiative ("NAI") and the Digital Advertising Alliance ("DAA"). For more information about this practice by NAI and DAA members, and your choices regarding having this information used by these companies, including how to opt-out of third-party ad networks operated by NAI and DAA members, please visit their respective websites: http://optout.networkadvertising.org/#!/ and http://optout.aboutads.info/#!/ .

Marketing

We may use your Personal Information, such as your name, email address, telephone number, etc. ourselves or by using our third party subcontractors for the purpose of providing you with promotional materials, concerning our services, which we believe may interest you. 


Out of respect to your right to privacy we provide you within such marketing materials with means to decline receiving further marketing offers from us. If you unsubscribe we will remove your email address or telephone number from our marketing distribution lists. 


Please note that even if you have unsubscribed from receiving marketing emails from us, we may send you other types of important e-mail communications without offering you the opportunity to opt out of receiving them. These may include customer service announcements or administrative notices.

Corporate transaction

We may share information in the event of a corporate transaction (e.g. sale of a substantial part of our business, merger, consolidation or asset sale). In the event of the above, the transferee or acquiring company will assume the rights and obligations as described in this Privacy Policy.

Minors

We understand the importance of protecting children’s privacy, especially in an online environment. The Site is not designed for or directed at children. Under no circumstances shall we allow use of our services by minors without prior consent or authorization by a parent or legal guardian. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from minors. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with Personal Information without their consent, he or she should contact us at shellybouse@gmail.com.

Updates or amendments to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to periodically amend or revise the Privacy Policy; material changes will be effective immediately upon the display of the revised Privacy policy. The last revision will be reflected in the "Last modified" section. Your continued use of the Platform, following the notification of such amendments on our website, constitutes your acknowledgment and consent of such amendments to the Privacy Policy and your agreement to be bound by the terms of such amendments.

How to contact us

If you have any general questions about the Site or the information we collect about you and how we use it, you can contact us at [add applicable email address] .


BOUSE Mediation


Last Modified 2/20/2026