Case study · Youth mental health & AI
Safe launch of a youth mental health & AI platform
An early-stage charitable platform bringing AI-assisted wellbeing support to children, teenagers and families. Not a website-documentation exercise — the compliance infrastructure a high-risk digital service needs to launch, with legal, safeguarding, technical and governance work run as one integrated workstream.
- Ongoing
- Support as the business evolves
- 16
- Documents, assessments and procedures delivered
- AI + children
- Sensitive data and safeguarding handled together
- 1
- Integrated workstream instead of four separate ones
The objective
Launch safely to children. Use AI responsibly.
The goal: build the legal and safeguarding framework before public release, reduce exposure around children's data and health information, and establish clear governance and accountability.
Ongoing specialist support as the business evolves — combining legal drafting, regulatory analysis, AI governance, data protection, safeguarding design, technical review and charity guidance — so the client didn't need four separate advisers.
The operating engine
From diagnostic to launch programme
Diagnostic — what we reviewed
- Website architecture, user journeys and accessibility
- AI-assisted functionality and how children interact with it
- Existing legal documents and donation functionality
- Third-party integrations, data flows and retention
- Overall regulatory exposure
User-facing documents
- Privacy Notice, Terms of Use and website disclaimer
- Point-of-use legal notices
- Data subject rights materials
- Data protection complaint procedures
Data protection infrastructure
- Data Protection Impact Assessment
- Record of Processing Activities
- Appropriate Policy Document
- International Transfers Assessment and ICO registration assessment
Safeguarding and governance
- Safeguarding Protocol and Complaints Handling Procedure
- Governance recommendations
- Charity structure guidance
- Ongoing launch-readiness review
In effect, the legal adviser became part of the platform's launch and risk-management function — not just an external document drafter.
Technical risk protection
Legal advice that changed the product
What was reviewed
- AI provider architecture and hosting
- Speech-to-text and text-to-speech tools
- Feedback systems, video integrations and tracking
- Administrator access, retention and international transfers
What changed in the product
- Safeguarding-specific fallback messaging
- Stronger administrator access logging
- Automated retention and deletion
- Less information in negative-feedback notifications
- Self-hosted website assets; no third-party connections before consent
Inside the framework
Data, safeguarding, governance, readiness
Children's personal data, potential health and wellbeing information, special category data, AI-generated responses, safeguarding disclosures, retention, international transfers and third-party AI providers. The framework set documented purposes, risk controls, retention principles, provider oversight, internal accountability and safeguarding escalation — designed around the actual technology and user journey, not bolted on through generic policies.
Younger users could disclose serious distress, mental health concerns or risk of harm. We introduced formal safeguarding procedures, escalation routes, responsible adult oversight, crisis-support signposting, serious-distress fallback responses and complaint handling — plus AI controls: safety-first response classification, defined fallback messaging, review mechanisms and administrator controls. The AI supports wellbeing without replacing safeguarding infrastructure or professional support.
Controller responsibilities, administrator permissions, access controls, responsible adult oversight, feedback and complaints, regulatory registration, charity governance, trustee considerations and launch sequencing — with guidance on charitable status, incorporated charity structures, future governance and liability. The platform moved from founder-led decision-making to a model fit for a public service involving children.
- Regulatory — children's privacy, special category data, international transfers, ICO registration, accountability.
- Safeguarding — escalation protocols, crisis messaging, responsible oversight, complaints.
- Technical — fewer third-party data flows, better logging, retention controls, stronger admin controls.
- Governance — defined responsibilities, charity structure guidance, accountability.
The result
Legal support as launch infrastructure.
The client moved toward launch with a comprehensive compliance framework, defined safeguarding procedures, stronger privacy-by-design controls, documented AI risk management, clearer responsibilities, greater ICO readiness and a governance roadmap for future charitable operations.
Where AI, children, sensitive data and safeguarding overlap, specialist legal support works best as part of the product and launch — not as website terms added at the end.
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