DATA PROTECTION POLICY

CROWN AND LAW SOLICITORS
UNITED KINGDOM

1. About this Policy

1.1 This policy explains when and why we collect personal information about our clients, how we use it and how we keep it secure and your rights in relation to it.

1.2 We may collect, use and store your personal data, as described in this Data Protection Policy and as described when we collect data from you.

1.3 We reserve the right to amend this Data Protection Policy from time to time without prior notice. Every client of Crown and Law Solicitors will however be notified accordingly when the policy has been amended (but amendments will not be made retrospectively).

1.4 We will always comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when dealing with your personal data. Further details on the GDPR can be found at the website for the Information Commissioner(www.ico.gov.uk). For the purposes of the GDPR, we will be the“controller” of all personal data we hold about you.

2. Policy Scope

2.1 This Policy applies to all clients and staff of Crown and Law Solicitors. It also applies to any third parties or stakeholders that are associated with Crown and Law Solicitors.

2.2 This policy applies to all data that Crown and Law Solicitors holds in relation to identifiable individuals including the following:

(i) Names, addresses, telephone numbers and emails
(ii) Date of Birth
(iii) Gender
(iv) Marital status
(v) Nationality
(vi) Bank details
(vii) Any other information relating to our clients.

3. What are our Data Protection Obligations?

3.1 GDPR requires data protection (or privacy)“by design and by default” as a legal obligation.

3.2 To comply with this, Crown and Law Solicitor will embed data protection at every level of our enterprise and incorporate it into our processes. This means we will have to take privacy into account throughout the whole lifecycle of any activity or transaction, to minimise privacy risks and avoid infringing data protection rules.

3.3 To achieve this, we will employ a combination of detective, preventative, proactive and reactive security controls. We will ensure that every process, IT application, and case work that we will be involved in revolves around protection of privacy.

4. How we  protect your personal  data

4.1 We will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.
4.2 We will ensure that where information is collected, processed and stored electronically, generally accepted standards of technology and operational security is used and implemented in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse, or unauthorised alteration or destruction.

4.3 We will ensure that every electronic device is password protected and that only authorised persons have access to the device and the password. Only strong passwords shall be used. Where there are more than one authorised persons with access to one electronic device, each person will have their own password.

4.4 Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

4.5 Personal data will not be stored on permanent basis on small portable devices like memory sticks or smart phones unless it is for data transmission purposes.

4.6 Use of paper storage of personal data will be minimised. Any paperwork containing personal data shall be stored in a secure place and access to such paperwork shall be restricted to authorised persons.

4.7 Our paper files shall be stored in secure and lockable cabinets. Closed files shall also be securely stored.

4.8 Any electronically stored data that is no longer needed shall be deleted from the device permanently. Similarly, papers containing personal data shall be shredded or destroyed securely when no longer needed.

4.9 We will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.

5. Who else has access to the information you provide us?

5.1 We will never sell your personal data. We will not share your personal data with any third parties without your prior consent (which you are free to withhold) except where we are required to do so by law.

5.2 We may pass your personal data to third parties who are service providers, agents and subcontractors to us for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you
on our behalf. However,we disclose only the personal data that is necessary for the third party to deliver the service and we will ensure that we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own purposes.

5.3 It is possible that third parties may themselves engage others(subprocessors) to process your data. Where this is the case third parties will be required to have contractual arrangements with their sub-processor(s) that ensure your information is kept secure and not used for their own purposes.

5.3 We may also pass your personal data to the Law society, Solicitors Regulators and other regulators, and to Her Majesty’s Revenue Commission (HMRC) for matters relating to tax.

6. How long do we keep your information?

6.1 We will hold your personal data on our systems for as long as you are our client and for as long afterwards as it is in the company’s legitimate interest to do so or for as long as is necessary to comply with our legal obligations. We will review your personal data every year to establish whether we are still entitled to process it. If we decide that we are not entitled to do so, we will stop processing your personal data except that we will retain your personal data in an archived form in order to be able to comply with future legal obligations e.g. compliance with SRA regulations, tax requirements and exemptions, and the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

6.2 We will securely destroy all financial information once we have used it and no longer need it.

7. Your rights

7.1 You have rights under the GDPR:

(a) to access your personal data
(b) to be provided with information about how your personal data is processed.
(c) to have your personal data corrected
(d) to have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
(e) to object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
(f) to have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances.

7.2 You have the right to take any complaints about how we process your personal data to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted through the following website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ and by telephone on 03031231113.

Written complaints can be sent to the following address:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

-CROWN AND LAW SOLICITORS-