PRIVACY
Privacy Policy
This explains what information Make SENse handles, why, and the choices you have. We have tried to keep it plain and short.
Effective date: TODO: confirm effective date · Last updated: 29 September 2026
1. Who we are
Make SENse is a free website offering general guidance for parents and carers in England and Wales. The data controller responsible for your information is TODO: legal name of the person or business operating Make SENse.
For privacy questions or to use your rights, email TODO: privacy contact email, or use our contact form.
TODO: confirm whether you are registered with the ICO (data protection fee) and add your registration number if so
2. What information we process
- Tool answers. The answers you choose in the Health, Education and Benefits tools (for example referral status, nation, areas of development you want support with, school setting or benefit stage). The tools use set multiple choice options, not free text.
- Report and newsletter signup. Your email address, the date, which tool or signup form you used, and the exact consent wording shown to you.
- Contact messages. Your email address, optional name, message topic, area (if you choose "Guidance in my area"), your message, and whether you agreed to us replying.
- Technical information. Like any website, the servers delivering it receive your IP address and browser details when you visit. We do not use analytics or advertising tools. TODO: confirm with your hosting provider what server logs are kept and for how long
3. What happens to your tool answers
In your browser: your answers are saved in your browser's session storage so you can move between steps and see your report. This is cleared when you close the browser tab or window.
Usage records: as you move through a tool, each answer you pick is also sent to our database as a usage record containing only the tool name, the question, the option chosen and a timestamp. These records do not include your email, name, IP address or any account or device identifier, and they are not linked to each other or to your email signup. We use them to understand, in aggregate, how the tools are used and to improve them.
Because these records hold only general option choices with nothing identifying attached, we do not believe they can be used to identify you or your child. We do not describe them as fully anonymous in a legal sense, because we cannot rule out every possibility of combination with other information.
Your answers are not sent to any AI service or other third party. Your report is generated from fixed guidance written in advance.
4. Health and special category data
Some tool questions relate to a child's development, health or support needs. Under UK GDPR, health information about an identifiable person is "special category data".
The usage records described above are not linked to you, your email or your child, and we do not build a profile of anyone. Where answers are held only in your browser, we do not receive them in identifiable form.
Please do not put health details about your child in the contact form. If you do, we will use them only to read and respond to your message, relying on your explicit consent in sending it (Article 9(2)(a)) alongside legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)). TODO: confirm this position with your adviser
5 and 6. Why we use information and our lawful bases
| Purpose | Information | Lawful basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Running the website and showing tool guidance | Tool answers in your browser; technical request data | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): providing the free service you asked to use |
| Unlocking your full report and sending occasional updates | Email, date, source, consent wording | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)). Withdraw at any time by unsubscribing or contacting us |
| Newsletter signup | Email, date, consent wording | Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) |
| Replying to contact messages | Contact form details | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): answering questions and understanding which areas want support |
| Improving the tools | Unlinked usage records (option choices only) | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): learning which guidance families use |
| Security and preventing abuse | Technical request data; hidden anti-spam form field | Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): keeping the site safe |
We do not use your information for automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects, and we do not sell personal information. We may share or sell aggregated, anonymised statistics about how the tools are used (for example, how many families choose each option). These statistics contain no personal data and cannot identify any individual or child.
8. International transfers
TODO: confirm the region where the backend database is hosted, and where Lovable's hosting processes requests
Where our hosting provider processes data outside the UK, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to standard contractual clauses. TODO: confirm the database region and transfer mechanism with the hosting provider
9. How long we keep information
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Tool answers in your browser | Until you close the tab or window |
| Unlinked usage records | Currently kept indefinitely, as they contain no identifiers. TODO: confirm or set a period |
| Signup emails | While you remain subscribed. After you unsubscribe, the record is marked unsubscribed and kept so we respect your choice. TODO: set a deletion period |
| Contact messages | No automatic deletion yet. TODO: set a period, for example 12 months after we reply |
| Server logs | TODO: confirm with hosting provider |
10. Keeping information secure
The site is served over an encrypted connection (HTTPS). Signup emails, contact messages and usage records sit in a database with access rules that stop the public reading them; only the site administrator, who must sign in, can view them. Forms are checked on our server before anything is saved. No system is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.
11. Your rights
Under UK GDPR you have the right to be informed, and to ask for access to, correction of, erasure of, or restriction of your personal information. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests, ask for data you gave us by consent in a portable format, and withdraw consent at any time. We do not make automated decisions about you.
Some rights have legal limits. For example, we cannot find usage records that are not linked to you. To use your rights, email TODO: privacy contact email. We will reply within one month.
12. Children
Make SENse is for parents and carers, not for children to use directly. Please do not enter unnecessary identifying details about your child, such as their name, date of birth or school, into the contact form.
14. Emails and updates
When you unlock a report or sign up for updates, you agree to occasional updates and recommendations for SEN families. We record the exact wording you saw. Our lawful basis is consent. Every email will include an unsubscribe link, and you can also ask us to unsubscribe you by email. We do not share your email with anyone else.
We are not sending emails yet. TODO: name the email provider once connected
15. Links to other websites
We link to organisations such as the NHS, GOV.UK, GOV.WALES, NICE and Citizens Advice. These open in a new tab and have their own privacy policies. We do not control those websites.
16. Changes to this policy
We will update this policy when our service or the law changes, and change the "Last updated" date above.
17. Complaints
Please contact us first so we can try to help. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
18. About our guidance
Make SENse gives general information to help families understand possible next steps. It does not diagnose, provide medical diagnosis or treatment, decide eligibility for services or benefits, replace professional advice, or make decisions for schools, health professionals or local authorities. Please seek professional advice where you need it.