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Privacy Policy

Our Data Protection Director is Marcus Parsons.

This Policy sets out the information we collect about you and why and how we use and share your personal data. Our use of your personal data is subject to your instructions, the UK general data protection regulations (GDPR), other legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.

Personal data we WILL collect

Personal data we MAY collect

Your name address and telephone number.

Information so we can verify your identity e.g., your date of birth or passport details.

Electronic contact details e.g., email and mobile phone number.

Information relating to the matter you are seeking our advice about.

Information so we can undertake a credit or other financial checks on you.

Your financial details so far as relevant e.g., your source of funds if you are purchasing a property.

 

Your National Insurance and tax details.

Bank or building society details.

Your professional online presence e.g., LinkedIn

Details of your family e.g., if you instruct us on a family matter or Will.

Your employment status including salary and benefits e.g., if you instruct us on an employment matter.

Your nationality and immigration status.

Your pension arrangements e.g., if you instruct us in relation to financial arrangements following divorce.

Your employment records if you instruct us on an employment related matter.

Your racial or ethnic origin etc. if you instruct us on a discrimination claim.

Personal identifying information e.g., hair or eye colour or your parent’s names e.g., if you instruct us to incorporate a company for you.

Your medical records if we act for you in a personal injury claim.

IMPORTANT if you do not provide personal data we ask for it may delay or prevent us from providing services to you.

How we collect your personal data

Why we collect your personal data

Public sources e.g., Companies House.

A third party e.g., sanctions screening providers.

A third party with your consent e.g., a bank.

Our website e.g., we use cookies. Please see our cookies policy.

Information technology e.g., case management systems.

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

To perform our contract with you.

For our legitimate interests or those of a third party (a legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information as long as it is not overridden by your own rights and interests).

Where you have given consent.

Your personal data is held at our offices, third party agencies, service providers as above.

Who we share your data with

  • Professional advisors we instruct on your behalf e.g., Barristers, Accountants, Medical Professionals.
  • Other third parties e.g., mortgage providers, HM Land Registry, Companies House.
  • Our insurers and brokers.
  • External auditors.
  • Our bank.
  • External service providers e.g., the Certainty Will Register.
  • We may disclose and exchange information to law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with professional duties. 

 

What we use your personal data for

Our reasons

To provide legal services to you.

Identification checks.

Audits, enquiries or investigations by regulatory bodies.

Operational and business reasons to improve efficiency training and quality control.

To help manage our performance and efficiency.

Update and enhance client records.

Statutory returns.

Staff administration and assessments.

Marketing our services to existing and former clients.

Credit references via external credit reference agencies.

External audits and quality checks e.g., Lexcel and the audit of our accounts.

To perform our contract with you.

To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

To deliver the best service to you.

To perform our contract with you and to keep in touch about existing and new services.

To ensure we are following our own internal procedures.

To promote our business.

For our legitimate business interests.

To ensure we maintain our accreditations and operate to the highest standard.

 

 

PROMOTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

We may use your personal data to send you updates about legal developments and information about our services. We will never share or sell your personal data with anyone else for marketing purposes.

You have the right to opt in to receiving promotional communications by contacting us.

HOW LONG YOUR PERSONAL DATA WILL BE KEPT

We will keep your personal data after we have finished advising or acting for you, We will do so for one of these reasons:-

  • To respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
  • To show that we treated you fairly;
  • To keep records required by law.

We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data.

When it is no longer necessary to retain your personal data, we will delete or anonymise it.

TRANSFERRING YOUR PERSONAL DATA TO A THIRD COUNTRY OR AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATION

To deliver services to you, it is sometimes necessary for us to transfer your personal data to a third country or an international organisation, e.g.

  • With your and our service providers located outside the UK;
  • If you re based outside the UK;
  • Where there is an international dimension to the matter in which we are advising you.

These transfers are subject to special rules under UK data protection law.

YOUR RIGHTS

You have the following rights, which you can exercise free of charge:

  • Access - The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data (the right of access)
  • Rectification - The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data.
  • To be forgotten - The right to require us to delete your personal data – in certain situations.
  • Restriction of processing - The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data- in certain circumstances e.g., if you contest the accuracy of the data.
  • Data portability - The right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party – in certain situations.
  • To object - The right to object:
    • At any time to your personal data being processed for direct marketing (including profiling)
    • In certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal data e.g., processing carried our for the purpose of our legitimate interests.

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contract us or see the Guidance from the UK information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation.

If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please:

  • Explain, call or write to our Data Protection Director – see below: ‘How to contact us’; and
  • Let us have enough information to identify you (e.g., your full name, address and client or matter reference number);
  • Let us have proof of your identity and address (a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill); and
  • Let us know what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates.

KEEPING YOUR PERSONAL DATA SECURE

We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it.  Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentially.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

If you want detailed information from Get Safe Online on how to protect your information and your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and many other online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online is supported by HM Government and leading businesses.

HOW TO COMPLAIN

We hope that our Data Protection Director can resolve any query or concern you may raise about our use of your information.

The UK General Data Protection Regulation also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/concerns or telephone: 030 312 1113.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

This privacy policy was published on 27 April 2021.

We may change this privacy policy from time to time, when we do, we will inform you by post or email.

HOW TO CONTACT US

Please contact our Data Protection Director by post or email if you have any questions about this privacy policy or the information we hold about you.

Our contact details:     Marcus Parsons (Data Protection Director)

                                    2 Elwick Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PD

                                    mwp@kingsfords.net Tel: 01233 665544