16-05-2025
Mother hopeful law change will allow other bereaved parents access to children's phone data
Watch Kathy Wardle's report
A bereaved mother campaigning for tech companies to hand over data after a person dies said she's hopeful the law will now go further in allowing parents access to data from their children's phones.
Ellen Roome, from Cheltenham, has been fighting for a change in the law after her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney took his own life three years ago. She believes it was after an online challenge went wrong.
A coroner found he did not believe Jools intended to end his life. The Jools' Law amendment would make it compulsory for tech giants to automatically preserve social media data for an inquest when a child dies.
The 48-year-old met with ministers today (Thursday 15 May) to discuss the amendment, and said she is confident the campaign is "going in the right direction".
"[Ministers] understand the urgency," she said. "You've only got 90 days with a mobile phone with regards to losing data off the phone.
"So unless they preserve and request it straight away, that's the crucial bit. What I was saying is we need some training with the police, so that's actually done."
She added: ''My voice has been heard and they very clearly said, we have heard you and listened, which was good.
"I have shouted from the rooftops to try and make a difference for other parents, and I really hope this actually works for them."
Ms Roome said that while she is happy with the progress of the campaign, she's disappointed that it's coming too late for Jools:
"It's very disappointing that I can't use this bill for my own situation, and therefore I still can't get access to my son's data. So I still don't know why Jools died."
