Data & Privacy Notice

Our Privacy Policy

This Notice is primarily for the benefit of my clients or potential clients or for related third parties whose data I may process as part of the provision of legal services.

This consultancy processes your data in accordance with the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and the relevant provisions relating to the General Data Protection Regulation contained within the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (UK GDPR). This Data & Privacy Notice explains, in detail, the types of personal data I may collect about you when you interact with me. It also explains how I will store and handle that data and keep it safe. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this Data and Privacy Notice to the GDPR refer to the UK GDPR.

I know that there’s a lot of information here, but I want you to be fully informed about your rights, and how I use your data. I hope the following sections will answer any questions you have but if not, please do get in touch with me at enquiries@haworthfamilylaw.co.uk.

Conditions for Processing Data

I am only entitled to hold and process your data where the law allows me to. The current law on data protection (Article 6 GDPR) sets out a number of different reasons for which a law firm may collect and process your personal data. These include:

Contractual obligations

The main purpose for holding your data is to provide you with legal services.

Legitimate Interests

In specific situations, I require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running the consultancy and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests.

Legal compliance

If the law requires us to, I may need to collect and process your data. For example, we can pass on details of people involved in fraud or other criminal activity.

Consent

In some situations, I can collect and process your data with your consent. When collecting your personal data, I will always make clear to you which data is necessary in connection with a particular service.

When do I collect your data?

I normally collect your data when you provide it to me or when it is provided to me by others during your case. You may give us your data by email; through an online web form; over the telephone or face to face.

What sort of data do we collect?

Information you provide to us

You voluntarily give us your personal information for instance when:

you contact me via our website
interact with me on social media platforms, and/or
use my services.

Where I request information from you I will collect the information set out in the relevant web pages, or as explained to you over the telephone or face to face.

Client services

I may collect personal data as follows:

name and contact details (including address, email and phone numbers).
date of birth
personal information that may be included in communications with us

I may gather details of your age; ethnicity; gender etc.

I also collect and hold information about your case or legal problem.

How do we use your data?

Provision of services

I only use your data for the purposes of providing you with legal advice, assistance and where appropriate, representation and for reasons directly associated with those services.

In particular:

to deliver my services
to manage my relationship and communicate with you
to provide you with advice or guidance about our services
to respond to complaints and seek to resolve them

Regulatory

I also use data to communicate with our regulators or legislators and to obey laws, regulations and codes of conduct that apply to us.

For example, I may process your data to enable me to identify and/or verify your identity and conduct fraud, credit and anti-money laundering checks in accordance with anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing legislation and regulation.

Consent

I may use your data to notify you of other services but only where we have your consent to do so.

Website enhancement and business development

I also use data to develop our business and services. In particular:

to respond to individual experiences shared with us and for editorial content
to enhance your online experience
to conduct research and surveys
to develop and manage our services including marketing of new or enhanced services
to research your views and experiences for research and editorial purposes, including through requests for feedback on our services
to understand your website journey, including what pages you have viewed and for how long
to administer and keep safe and secure our website and for internal operations, including data analysis, testing, statistical purposes.

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

By law, cookies cannot be placed on your computer without your consent, unless they are strictly necessary to the operation of the service on the website.

How do we protect your data?

I take protecting your data very seriously. The data you give me may be subject to Legal Professional Privilege and is often extremely sensitive and confidential.

With this in mind I will treat your data with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it.

How long will we keep your data?

I only keep your data for as long as is necessary for the purpose(s) for which it was provided.

I use the following retention periods and review these periodically to make sure I am only keeping personal data and other data for as long as is needed:

information in a matter file or related to a matter or instructions to me will usually be kept for a period of six years after the case or matter ends unless it is required to be kept for longer (for instance, the information is required for another or related case or matter or where the person is currently under the age of eighteen, in which case data will need to be held for six years after they reach the age of eighteen), or I have another legal basis to process that information. This also protects you should you be unhappy with my services and want to complain after your case ends.
data obtained for compliance with crime or fraud prevention has to be retained by me to meet my legal or regulatory obligations for five years from the close of the individual matter or the end of our business relationship with a relevant person, whichever is later
enquiries where I do not take on your case are kept for only 12 months
any complaints files for six years after the complaint is concluded

For some data I may decide that it is proper and appropriate to keep data for longer than the above, but I will notify you if I believe that your case falls into this category or there is another reason your data has to be retained.

Who do we share your personal data with?

I sometimes share your personal data with trusted third parties. I only do this where it is necessary for providing you legal services or for the effective operation of my consultancy.

For example, I may share your data with barristers; experts; translators; costs draftsmen; process servers; and others.

I apply a strict policy to those recipients or data processors to keep your data safe and protect your privacy. In particular:

I provide only the information they need to perform their specific services.
They may only use your data for the exact purposes I specify.
I work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and protected at all times.
If I stop using their services, any of your data held by them will either be deleted or rendered anonymous.

Where is your data processed?

Your data is stored and processed within the United Kingdom (UK). If I ever have to share your personal data with third parties and suppliers outside the UK I will seek your specific consent to do so.

What are your rights?

You have the following rights under the UK GDPR:

the right to be informed – the provision of clear and concise information about what we do with your personal data, as outlined within this Data & Privacy Notice
the right of access – commonly referred to as a ‘data subject access request’, this enables you to request a copy of your personal data to understand how and why I am using your data, and to check I am doing so lawfully. If I choose not to action your request, I will explain to you the reasons for my refusal
the right to rectification – the ability to have inaccurate personal data rectified or, in specific circumstances dependent on the purposes for our processing of your data, the ability to have incomplete personal data completed
the right to erasure – also known as the right to be forgotten, this permits you to request I erase your personal data. This only applies to data I hold at the time your request is received and does not apply to any data that may be obtained in the future. Please note that this is not an absolute right and only applies in certain circumstances. I may have overriding duties to retain some data which you cannot ask to be erased immediately or at all. For instance, once you become a client or you are an interested party in a case, I will be required for legal purposes to retain some of your personal data and other information within casefiles for a certain period
the right to restrict processing – the ability to request a temporary restriction on the processing of your personal data, where one of a limited number of reasons specified by the ICO applies
the right to data portability – the ability to receive personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format. This also gives you the right to request that I transmit this data directly to another Data Controller
the right to object – the ability, in certain circumstances, to request I stop processing your personal data. This request may relate to all of your personal data I hold or only certain information, and may only apply to a particular purpose for processing
rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling – restrictions on the use of automated decision making and profiling where such decisions have a legal or similarly significant effect on you. It is unlikely that our firm will use automated decision making and profiling.

For further details on your rights, please visit the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

Contact Details

For information on how your information is used, how I maintain the security of our information, and to exercise your rights to access information I hold on you, please contact me at enquiries@haworthfamilylaw.co.uk. Similarly, if you believe that the information I hold is wrong or out of date, please let my know and I will update it.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave this site, you should note that I do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, I cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this policy. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement or policy applicable to the website in question.

The Regulator

If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with my response to any requests you have made to me regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Changes to this Notice

I do not intend to process a client or related third party’s personal information for any reason other than stated within this privacy notice. If this changes, I will update this privacy notice on this webpage and in any documentation I will send to you. However, internet and data privacy best practice and acceptable standards are developing. I therefore reserve the right to revise this Notice at any time. If this Notice changes in any way, I will place an updated version on this webpage. For all other clients with ongoing instructions, I will provide a copy directly. Continued instructions to us will signify that you agree to any such changes.