What is the purpose of this document?

Carr & Co Solicitors are a “data controller”. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. You are being sent/handed a copy of this privacy notice because you are a current or a potential client. It makes you aware of how and why your personal data will be used, namely for the purposes of enabling us to deal with your case, and how long it will usually be retained for. It provides you with certain information that must be provided under the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (GDPR).

Data protection principles

We will comply with data protection law and principles, which means that your data will be:

  • Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
  • Collected only for valid purposes relating to your case or arising out of it.
  • Relevant to these purposes.
  • Accurate and kept up to date.
  • Kept only as long as necessary.
  • Kept securely.

The kind of information we hold about you

In connection with the service we provide to you we will collect, store, and use the following categories of personal information about you:

  • The information you provided to us in relation to your case, including verbally whether in person or over the phone.
  • The information obtained from other organisations or persons including if appropriate banks, building societies, medical practitioners, local authorities, government departments and agencies.
  • This may include information regarding your finances and personal circumstances.

We may also collect, store and use the following “special categories” of more sensitive personal information if it is relevant to the services provided to you:

  • Information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs and sexual orientation.
  • Information about your health, including any medical condition, health and sickness records.
  • Information about criminal convictions and offences.

How is your personal information collected?

We collect and hold personal information about you from the following sources:

  • You, the client.
  • Third parties provided it assists with the conduct of your case and the services we offer.
  • From publicly accessible sources.

How we will use information about you

We will use the personal information we collect about you to:

  • To enable us to carry out work on your behalf.
  • To communicate with you about your case.
  • To keep records relating to services carried out.
  • To comply with legal or regulatory requirements.

We have a legitimate interest in obtaining and storing this information to enable us to provide a service to you and to enable us to comply with any laws and/or regulations we are subject to.

For other purposes including improving our services and identifying other legal issues we may be able to assist you with.

If you fail to provide personal information

If you fail to provide information when requested, which is necessary for us to progress with your case  (such as up-to-date ID), we will not be able to progress your case and may have to cease to act.

How we use particularly sensitive information

We will use your particularly sensitive personal information in the following ways:

  • We will use information about your disability status to consider whether we need to provide appropriate adjustments.
  • We will use information about your race or national or ethnic origin, religious, philosophical or moral beliefs, or your sexual life or sexual orientation, to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting.
  • We will use this information to enable us to effectively progress your case.

Information about criminal convictions

We do not envisage that we will process information about criminal convictions. However, we may collect information about your criminal convictions history if required by a regulatory body or in connection with your case.

We have in place an appropriate policy document and safeguards which we are required by law to maintain when processing such data.

Data sharing:

Why might you share my personal information with third parties?

We will only share your personal information with the third parties for the purposes of progressing your case or to comply with legal or regulatory requirements. All third-party service providers and other entities in the group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions save where it is required to comply with legal or regulatory requirements, such of money laundering.

Data security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal information to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need-to-know. They will only process your personal information on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality, save where we are lawfully required to disclose that information.

We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data retention:

For how long will you use my information?

We will retain your personal information for a period of 10 years upon closure of your file. We retain your personal information for that period so that we can respond in the event of a legal claim or complaint. After this period, we will securely destroy your file in accordance with our data retention policy and applicable laws and regulations. We will however retain basic information such as your name and address to enable us to identify you in the event of a conflict of interest in the future or unforeseen issues relation to your case.

Where we are instructed by you for preparation of a Will, your personal information will be retained for up to 80 years.

Rights of access, correction, erasure and restriction:

Your rights in connection with personal information

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

  • Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
  • Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
  • Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below). Please note however that legal and regulatory requirements will mean that not all information will be capable of being deleted (for example to comply with money laundering regulations).
  • Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
  • Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
  • Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.

If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact Mrs S G Smith Senior Director at 2 Fountain House, New Market, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 1LA.

Right to withdraw consent

However, as a consequence of our contractual relationship we have to collect personal information. Failure to provide this information may prevent us in complying with that contract. As stated above, the same information will be retained and where appropriate shared to enable us to comply with the contract.

Data protection manager

We have appointed a data protection manager Mr R A Smith, to oversee compliance with this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the data protection manager. You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.