We understand that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your information is used through paper and electronic means. We take the privacy of information seriously, and we ask that you read the privacy policy to understand what we do with your information.
BACKGROUND
Where we collect information, we are doing so to offer you a better and complete service. If any of the information we hold about you is incorrect, we will do our best to correct it quickly on our databases once you notify us. We may need to retain archive copies of personal information for legal & review purposes. With the exception of the reasons below, we will not disclose your personal information to others. The exceptions:
1. Credit referencing purposes after you provide us your consent, for example mortgage references that require financial information;
2. Where it is necessary for the provision of information or services to you;
3. Where we are required to by the courts or to comply with other legal, statutory and/or regulatory obligations including accounting and tax requirements;
4. To prevent and/ or detect crime.
We will not pass your information on to other people and organisations outside our normal working practices without your approval.
HOW WE COLLECT INFORMATION FROM YOU
We obtain information about you when you engage us to deliver our services. Information is stored on our Practice Management software which enables us to deliver our services to you.
TYPES OF INFORMATION COLLECTED FROM YOU
The personal information we collect from you will vary depending on which services you engage us to deliver. The personal information we collect might include your name, address, telephone number, email address, your Unique Tax Reference (UTR) number, your National Insurance number and bank account details
HOW YOUR INFORMATION IS USED
In general terms, and depending on which services you engage us to deliver, as part of providing our agreed services we may use your information to:
• contact you by post, email or telephone
• verify your identity where this is required
• understand your needs and how they may be met
• maintain our records in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory obligation
• process financial transactions
• prevent and detect crime, fraud or corruption
We are required by legislation, other regulatory requirements and our insurers to retain your data where we have ceased to act for you. The period of retention required varies with the applicable legislation but is typically six years. To ensure compliance with all such requirements it is the policy of the firm to retain all data for a period of SEVEN years from the end of the period concerned. Please see our data retention policy.
FINANCIAL INFORMATION
We do not collect any financial information with regards to debit or credit card numbers, or bank account details for any payments made online.
REQUESTS FOR ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION
Keeping your information up to date and accurate is important to us. We commit to regularly review and correct where necessary, the information that we hold about you. If any of your information changes, please email or write to us. We are happy to provide you with details of the personal information we hold on you. A copy of this data can be requested at any time. We do not charge a fee for this, and we require identification to be sent before the information is issued.
SECURITY PRECAUTIONS IN PLACE TO PROTECT THE LOSS, MISUSE OR ALTERATION OF YOUR INFORMATION
Whilst we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given, or where you have chosen, a password which enables you to access information, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.
Your data will usually be processed in our offices in the UK. However, to allow us to operate efficient digital processes, we may sometimes need to store information in servers located outside the UK, within the European Economic Area (EEA), USA & New Zealand. We take the security of your data seriously and so all our systems have appropriate security in place that complies with all applicable legislative and regulatory requirements such as GDPR and EU-US Privacy Shield.
DELETION OF YOUR INFORMATION
You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where:
• you consider that we no longer require the information for the purposes for which it was obtained
• you have validly objected to our use of your personal information
• our use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations
• we are using your information with your consent and you have withdrawn your consent
WITHDRAWING CONSENT TO USE YOUR INFORMATION
Where we use your personal information with your consent you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purpose(s) for which consent was given. Please contact us if you wish to exercise any of these rights.
CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY NOTICE
We keep this privacy notice under regular review. Paper copies of the privacy notice may also be obtained on request.
This privacy notice was last updated on 24th May 2018.
COMPLAINTS
We seek to resolve directly all complaints about how we handle your personal information but you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns
