Our confidentiality promise

You can talk to Childline about anything. That includes self-harm, suicidal feelings, running away or doing something to hurt yourself.

Most of the time we can keep what you’ve said confidential. But there are sometimes when we might need to tell someone, including if we think your life is in danger now or in the future.

If you tell us something that makes us think you’re unsafe, we’ll want to talk to you about it. We might talk to you about:

• how you can keep yourself safe right now
• if there’s anyone around who can support you
• what could help keep you safe in the future.

It can be upsetting if you get cut off before you’ve finished, but we’re still here to support you.

If you’re worried that we’ll tell someone what you’ve said, contact us as soon as possible to talk about it. The fastest way to get through is by calling for free on 0800 1111. You can also send a message using your Childline account.

No. There are things that Childline can keep confidential that a teacher or other professional might need to pass on. If you’re worried about talking to your teacher, then it can help to talk to us about it first.

If you’re not sure if something can be kept confidential, you can always ask about it before you start talking.

Yes, you can.

If you want someone else to know about what's happening, you can talk to a Childline counsellor about it any time. We can help you to talk to someone like a police officer, teacher, family member or social worker. Or we can talk to them for you.

To tell someone else, the counsellor would need to know more about you. They might ask for things like your full name, address, your date of birth and the name of your school.

We won’t know anything about you unless you tell us. And you can say as much or as little as you want to when you talk to us.

Sometimes we might ask you your name, gender and how old you are, but it’s up to you if you want to tell us.

There are a few things we can see when you contact us:

• When you call us, we can see your phone number
• If you contact us online, we can see your IP address, a number used by your internet provider

Phone calls to Childline aren’t recorded and our number won’t appear on phone bills. But whenever you talk to us we’ll write some notes about what you’ve said. If you contact us again, the counsellor you talk to will be able to read those notes.

We’ll only ever pass on your phone number or IP address with your permission, or if you’ve told us something we can’t keep confidential.

If you're not sure about anything, you can post on the message boards or ask a Childline counsellor.

Lots of young people talk to us when they’re worried about someone else, and that’s always okay.

Our confidentiality promise is the same whether it’s about you or someone else. We’ll always try to tell you if we’re worried about someone else’s safety. And we can talk about ways to keep the other person safe.

If someone isn’t old enough to tell someone else, or they can’t understand what’s happening then it’s important that we keep them safe. That means there might be times we can’t keep things confidential.

Some examples of when we might need to tell someone else are:

• ‘My dad threw my 3 year old brother across the room.’
• ‘My mum is not feeding my young sister who is 2 years old.’
• ‘I am 10 and my younger brother has been left at home all night by himself. He’s 4.’
• ‘My older brother left a bottle of vodka in his room and my six year old younger sister has been drinking it.'
• ‘I’m worried about a friend, her boyfriend has a gun.’
• ‘I’m being sexually abused by my father and I also think it’s happening to my younger sister, she’s three.’
• ‘My grandfather had sex with me and he also had sex with my sister who has a learning difficulty, she’s got down's syndrome.'

Very rarely, we might be told that we have to share what you've said by law. We'll always try to ask for your permission first if this happens, or tell you about it so that you're aware.

There are different reasons why this might happen. For example, if something goes to court because of a crime or because social services want to keep you safe.

If the people involved in the court case know that you've spoken to Childline, they might ask the judge to make us share what you've said. By law, we have to do this if a judge tells us to.

We will always try to do what's safest for you. If you're ever worried about whether we'll have to tell someone, you can speak to a Childline counsellor about it.

If we think that you’re going to seriously hurt someone else or commit a crime against someone, then we may need to tell someone else. This could include if you’re planning on using a weapon.

Things that we might not be able to keep confidential include: 

• planning revenge on someone, another group or gang because you have been attacked
• if you're being bullied and you were planning to seriously hurt the person who bullies you
• intending to kill someone.

It’s okay to talk to Childline when you’re angry at someone, and we’ll always try to talk to you if we’re worried about something you’re doing or planning.