Rgsolicitors.com Privacy Policy
In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR), this Data & Privacy Notice explains, in detail, the types of
personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also
explains how we’ll store and handle that data and keep it safe.
We know that there’s a lot of information here, but we want
you to be fully informed about your rights, and how our firm uses your data. We
hope the following sections will answer any questions you have but if not,
please do get in touch with us.
Conditions for Processing Data
We are only entitled to hold and process your data where the
law allows us to. The current law on data protection 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 our holding your data is to provide you with legal
services under the agreement we have with you. This agreement is a contract
between us and the law allows us to process your data for the purposes of performing
a contract (or for the steps necessary to enter in to a contract). We may also
need to process your data to meet our contractual obligations to the Legal Aid
Agency where you receive legal aid to fund your case or advice.
Legitimate Interests
In specific situations, we require your data to pursue our legitimate interests
in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and
which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests. This may
include to satisfy our external quality auditors or our Regulators.
Legal compliance
If the law requires us to, we 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, we can collect and process your data with your consent. For
example, when you tick a box to receive email newsletters. When collecting your
personal data, we’ll always make clear to you which data is necessary in
connection with a particular service.
When do we collect your data?
We normally collect your data when you provide it to us or
when it is provided to us by others (your opponent’s solicitors for example)
during your case. You may give us your data by email; through an online web
form; over the telephone; face to face; or by post.
What sort of data do we collect?
We collect your name and contact details. This may include
asking for and keeping a copy of your passport/driving licence and proof of
address.
We may gather details of your age; ethnicity; gender etc. if
required to do so by the regulators. We also collect and hold information about
your case or legal problem.
How do we use your data?
We 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 (i.e. providing information to quality
auditors; the Legal Aid Agency etc.).
We may use your data to notify you of our other services but
only where we have your consent to do so.
How do we protect your data?
We take protecting your data very seriously. The data you
give us may be subject to Legal Professional Privilege and is often extremely
sensitive and confidential.
With this in mind we will treat your data with the utmost
care and take all appropriate steps to protect it. We have clear data
protection and information security policies and procedures in place (along
with Regulatory and other legal obligations to keep your data safe) and these
are regularly assessed as part of our Quality Standards and compliance
processes.
We protect our IT system from Cyber Attack. Access to your
personal data is password-protected, and sensitive data is secured by
encryption.
We regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities
and attacks, and we carry out penetration testing to identify ways to further
strengthen security.
How long will we keep your data?
We only keep your data for as long as is necessary for the
purpose(s) for which it was provided. Normally this is for 6 years after your case
or matter ends (enquiries where we do not take on your case are kept for only
18 months).
This is because we are required to keep client files for
that period by our Regulator and/or by the SRA. This also protects you should
you be unhappy with our services and want to complain or even due us after your
case ends.
For some cases we may decide that it is proper and
appropriate to keep data for longer than 6 years, but we will notify you if we
believe that your case falls into this category.
Who do we share your personal data with?
We sometimes share your personal data with trusted third
parties. We only do this where it is necessary for providing you legal services
or for the effective operation of our legal practice.
For example, we may share your data with barristers;
experts; translators; costs draftsmen; process servers; secure file storage and
destruction companies; auditors; the company that securely hosts our off-site
cloud storage servers.
Here’s the policy we apply to those organisations to keep your
data safe and protect your privacy:
- We
provide only the information they need to perform their specific services.
- They
may only use your data for the exact purposes we specify in our contract
with them.
- We
work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and
protected at all times.
- If
we 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 EEA. If we ever
have to share your personal data with third parties and suppliers outside the
European Economic Area (EEA) we will seek your specific consent to do so. The
EEA includes all EU Member countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and
Norway.
What are your rights?
You have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation
and these include the right to be informed what information we hold about you.
In particular, you have the right to request:
- Access
to the personal data we hold about you, free of charge in most cases.
- The
correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete
(for example, when you withdraw consent, or object and we have no
legitimate overriding interest, or once the purpose for which we hold the
data has come to an end.)
- That
we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you
withdraw that consent.
You have the right to request a copy of any information
about you that we hold at any time, and also to have that information corrected
if it is inaccurate.
If we choose not to action your request, we will explain to
you the reasons for our refusal.
Contact Details
For information on how your information is used, how we maintain the security
of our information, and to exercise your rights to access information we hold
on you, please contact us. Similarly, if you believe that the information we
hold is wrong or out of date, please let us know and we will update it. The
person in this firm responsible for data protection is Hashim Raza, emil: hr@rgsolicitors.com and postal address is
17 Willesden Lane, ,London, NW6 7RB.
Your right to withdraw consent
Whenever you have given us your consent to use your personal data, you have the
right to change your mind at any time and withdraw that consent.
Where we rely on our legitimate interest
In cases where we are processing your personal data on the basis of our
legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop for reasons connected to your
individual situation. We must then do so unless we believe we have a legitimate
overriding reason to continue processing your personal data.
Cookies
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, we may not place cookies on your computer without your consent, unless
they are strictly necessary to the operation of the service that we provide on
the Website.
e.g. We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This
helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order
to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical
analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
We use Google Analytics to monitor how our website is being
used so we can make improvements. Our use of Google Analytics requires us to
pass to Google your IP address (but no other information) – Google uses this
information to prepare site usage reports for us, but Google may also share
this information with other Google services. In particular, Google may use the
data collected to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising
network. Related information:
- Google’s
privacy policy
- How
Google uses this information
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest.
However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that
we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we 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.