.jpg)
PRIVACY POLICY
To download a PDF version, click here
We take our privacy very seriously. Please ​read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how we collect, store, use and share your personal data. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us, or supervisory authorities, in the event that you have a complaint.
​
When we use your personal data, we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as 'controller' of that personal data for the purposes of the GDPR. Our use of your personal data is subject to your instructions, the GDPR, the relevant UK and EU legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.
1. Key Terms
​
1.1 It would be help to ​start by explaining some key terms used in this policy:-
​
-
"We, us, our" relates to Haygarth Jones
-
Our Data Protection Officer is Jennifer Ryan who can be contacted by email at jennifer.ryan@haygarthjones.co.uk
-
Personal data is any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual
-
Special category personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or trade union memberships; genetic and biometric data; data concerning health, sex life or sexual orientation
2. Personal Data We Collect About You
​
2.1 The information below sets out the personal data we will or may collect in the course of advising and/or acting for you:-
Personal data we will collect
​
-
Your name, address and telephone number;
-
Information to enable us to check and verify your identity, e.g. date of birth or passport number;
-
Electronic contact details, e.g. email address and mobile phone number;
-
Your financial details so far as relevant to your instructions, e.g. the source of your funds if you are instructing on a purchase transaction;
-
Information about your user of our IT, communication and other systems, and other monitoring information
Personal data we may collect depending on why you have instructed us
​
-
Your National Insurance and tax details;
-
Your bank and/or building society details;
-
Details of your professional online presence e.g. LinkedIn profile;
-
Details of your spouse/partner and dependants or other family members e.g. if you instruct us on a family matter or a will;
-
Your employment status and details including salary and benefits, e.g. if you instruct us on a matter related to your employment or in which your employment status or income is relevant;
-
Details of your pension arrangements e.g. if you instruct us on a pension matter or in relation to financial arrangements following the breakdown of a relationship;
-
Your employment records including, where relevant, records relating to sickness and attendance, performance, disciplinary, conduct and grievances (including relevant special category data protection), e.g. if you instruct us on a matter related to your employment or in which your employment records are relevant;
-
Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs, e.g. if you instruct us on a discrimination claim;
-
Your trade union membership e.g. if you instruct us on a discrimination claim or your matter is funded by a trade union;
-
Your medical records, e.g. if we are acting for you in a personal injury claim
2.2 This personal data is required to enable us to provide our service to you. if you do not provide the personal data we ask for, it may
delay or prevent us from providing services to you.
3. How Your Personal Data Is Collected
​
3.1 We collect most of this information from you directly. However, we may also collect information:-
​
-
From publicly accessible sources, e.g. Companies House or HM Land Registry;
-
Directly from a third party, e.g:-
-
Sanctions screening providers;​
-
Credit reference agencies;
-
Client due diligence providers
-
-
Via our website - we use cookies on our website (for more information on cookies, please see our cookies policy at www.haygarthjones.co.uk/cookies)
-
Via our information technology (IT) systems, e.g:-
-
Case management, document management and time recording systems;​
-
Automated monitoring of our websites and other technical systems, such as our computer networks and connections, communication systems, email and instant messaging systems
-
4. How and Why We Use Your Personal Data
​
4.1 Under Data Protection Law, we can only use your personal data if we have a proper reason for doing so, e.g:-
​
-
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
-
For the performance of our contract with you and to take steps at your request before entering into a contract;
-
For our legitimate interest or those of a third party; or
-
Where you have given consent
​
4.2 A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, so long as this is not overridden by
your own rights and interests.
​
4.3 Below explains what we use (process) your personal data for and our reasons for doing so:-
What we use your personal data for and our reasons
​
-
To provide legal services to you - For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract
​
-
Conducting checks to identify our clients and verify their identity; Screening for financial and other sanctions or embargoes; Other processing necessary to comply with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business, e.g. under health and safety regulations or rules issued by our professional regulator - To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
​
-
Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries or investigations by regulatory bodies - To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
​
-
Ensuring business policies are adhered to, e.g. policies covering security and internet use - For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can deliver the best service.
​
-
Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control - For our own legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to protect our intellectual property and other commercially valuable information and to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
​
-
Ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information - For our own legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to protect our intellectual property and other commercially valuable information and to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
​
-
Statistical analysis to help manage our practice, e.g. in relation to our financial performance, client base, work type or other efficiency measures - For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best services for you at the best price
​
-
Preventing unauthorised access and modifications to systems - For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for us and for you and to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
​
-
Updating client records - For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. making sure that we can keep in touch with our clients about existing and new services
​
-
Statutory returns - To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
​
-
Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments - To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations and for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best services for you at the best price
​
-
Marketing our services to:-
-
Existing and former clients;
-
Third parties who have previously expressed an interest in our services;
-
Third parties with whom we have had no previous dealings
-
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to promote our business to existing and former clients
​
-
External audits and quality checks, e.g. for ISO or Investors in People accreditation and the audit of our accounts - For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to maintain our accreditations so we can demonstrate we operate at the highest standards and to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
4.4 The above does not apply to special category personal data, which we will only process with your explicit consent.
5. Promotional Communications
​
5.1 We may use your personal data to send you updates (by email, text message, telephone or post) about legal developments that
might be of interest to you and/or information about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions or new services.
​
5.2 We have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data for promotional purposes (see above 'How and Why We Use Your
Personal Data'). This means we do not usually need your consent to send you promotional communications. However, where your
consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.
​
5.3 We will always treat your personal data with the utmost respect and never sell or share it with other organisations outside Haygarth
Jones for marketing purposes.
​
5.4 You have the right to opt out of receiving promotional communications at any time by contacting us by telephone on 01744 757877​
or by email: enquiries@haygarthjones.co.uk
​
5.5 We may ask you to continue or update your marketing preferences if you instruct us to provide further services in the future, or if
there are changes in the law, or the structure of the business.
6. Who We Share Your Personal Data With
​
6.1 We routinely share your personal data with:-
​
-
Professional advisers who we instruct on your behalf or refer you to, e.g. Barristers, medical professionals, accountants, tax advisors or other experts;
-
Other third parties, where necessary, to carry out your instructions, e.g. your mortgage provider or HM Land Registry in the case of a property transaction or Companies House;
-
Our insurers and brokers;
-
External auditors, e.g. in relation to ISO accreditation and the audit of our accounts;
-
Our bank; and
-
External service supplies, representatives and agents that we use to make our business more efficient
​
6.2 We only allow our service providers to handle your personal data if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your
personal data. We also impose contractual obligations on service providers relating to ensure they can only use your personal data
to provide services to us and to you.
​
6.3 We may disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and
regulatory obligations.
​
6.4 We may also need to share some personal data with other parties, such as potential buyers of some or all of our business or during
a re-structuring. Usually, information will be anonymised but this may not always be possible. The recipient of the information will
be bound by confidentiality obligations.
7. Where Your Personal Data Is Held
​
7.1 Information may be held at our offices and those of our third party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents as described above (see above 'Who We Share Your Personal Data With').
​
7.2 Some of these third parties may be based outside the European Economic Area. For more information, including on how we safeguard your personal data when this occurs, see below 'Transferring Your Personal Data Out of the EEA'.
8. How Long Your Personal Data Will Be Kept
​
8.1 We will keep your personal data after we have finished advising or acting for you. We will do so for one of the following 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
​
8.2 We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Different retention period apply for
different types of data. Further details of this is available in our file retention policy.
​
8.3 When it is no longer necessary to retain your personal data, we will delete or anonymise it.
9. Transferring Your Personal Data Out of the EEA
​
9.1 To deliver services to you, it is sometimes necessary for us to share your personal data outside the European Aconomic Area (EEA),
e.g:-
​
-
With your and our service providers located outside the EEA;
-
If you are based outside the EEA;
-
Where there is an international dimension to the matter in which we are advising you
9.2 These transfers are subject to special rules under UK and European Data Protection Laws.
​
9.3 If you would like further information please contact our Data Protection Officer (see below 'How To Contact Us').
10. Your Rights
​
10.1 You have the following rights, which we can exercise free of charge:-
​
-
Access - The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data
-
Rectification - The right to acquire us to correct any mistakes in your personal data
-
To be forgotten - The right to require us to delete your personal data - in certain circumstances
-
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 your 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 circumstances
-
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 proceeding of your personal data, e.g. processing carried out for the purpose of legtimiate interests
-
-
Not to be subject to automated individual decision marketing - The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated proceeding (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you
​
10.2 For further information on each of those rights, including circumstances in which they apply, please contact us or see the Guidance
​
10.3 If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please:-
​​​
-
Email, call or write to us - see below 'How to Contact Us';
-
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, e.g. a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill;
-
Let us know what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates
11. Keeping Your Personal Data Secure
​
11.1 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 proceeding your information will
do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
​
11.2 We 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.
​
11.3 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.
12. How to Complain
​
12.1 We hope that we or our Data Protection Officer can resolve any query or concern you may raise about our use of your information.
​
12.2 The General Data Protection Regulation also gives you right to lodge a complain with a supervisory authority, in particular in the
European Union (or European Economic Area) state where you work, normally live or where any alleged infringement of data
protection laws occurred. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at
http://ico.ork.uk/concerns or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.
13. Changes to Privacy Policy
​
13.1 This privacy policy was published on 21st May 2018 and last updated on the 17th May 2018.
​
13.2 We may change this privacy policy from time to time, when we do we will inform you.
14. How to Contact Us
​
14.1 Please contact us and/or our Data Protection Officer by post, email or telephone if you have any questions about this privacy policy
or the information we hold about you.
​
14.2 Our contact details are shown below:-
​
Haygarth Jones Solicitors
109-111 Corporation Street
St Helens
Merseyside
WA10 1SX
​
Tel: 01744 757877
Email: enquiries@haygarthjones.co.uk or jennifer.ryan@haygarthjones.co.uk (Data Protection Officer)