Regulatory Policies

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Disclaimer

The content of this website is for informational purposes only. Nothing on this site constitutes legal advice. If you require specific legal advice please contact us.

The information contained in this website is for general information purposes only. The information is provided by Norrie Waite & Slater and while we endeavour to keep the information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the website or the information, products, services, or related graphics contained on the website for any purpose. Any reliance you place on such information is therefore strictly at your own risk.

In no event will we be liable for any loss or damage including without limitation, indirect or consequential loss or damage, or any loss or damage whatsoever arising from loss of data or profits arising out of, or in connection with, the use of this website.

Through this website you are able to link to other websites which are not under the control of Norrie Waite & Slater. We have no control over the nature, content and availability of those sites. The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.

Every effort is made to keep the website up and running smoothly. However, Norrie Waite & Slater takes no responsibility for, and will not be liable for, the website being temporarily unavailable due to technical issues beyond our control.

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Cookies

A cookie is an alphanumeric identifier which we transfer to your hard drive through your web browser when you visit our website. It enables our own system to recognise you when you visit our website again and improve our service to you. Cookies may also be used to compile aggregate information about areas of our website that are visited most frequently. This traffic information can be used to enhance the content of our website and make your use of it easier.

Our website only uses one type of cookie, these cookies collect information about how visitors use our web site, for instance which pages visitors go to most often, and if they get error messages from web pages. These cookies don't collect information that identifies a visitor although they may collect the IP address of the device used to access the site. All information these cookies collect is anonymous and is only used to improve how our website works, and your user experience.

By using our website (through any device) you agree that this Cookies Policy applies to that use in addition to any other terms and conditions which may apply.

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Privacy Policy

We take your privacy very seriously. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why 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 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, other relevant UK and EU legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.

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Key terms

It would be helpful to start by explaining some key terms used in this policy:

We, us, our: ‍

NORRIE WAITE AND SLATER SOLICITORS

Our data protection officer :

‍‍Jon Darwin dataprotection@norrie-waite.com

Personal data : ‍

Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual

Special category personal data: ‍

Personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership
Genetic and biometric data
Data concerning health, sex life or sexual orientation

Personal data we collect about you

The table 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

Personal data we may collect depending on why you have instructed us
Your name, address and telephone number
Information to enable us to check and verify your identity, eg your date of birth or passport details
Electronic contact details, eg your email address and mobile phone number
Information relating to the matter in which you are seeking our advice or representationYour financial details so far as relevant to your instructions, eg the source of your funds if you are instructing on a purchase transaction
Information about your use of our IT, communication and other systems, and other monitoring information, eg if using our secure online client portalYour National Insurance and tax details
Your bank and/or building society details
Details of your professional online presence, eg LinkedIn profile
Details of your spouse/partner and dependants or other family members, eg if you instruct us on a family matter or a will
Your employment status and details including salary and benefits, eg if you instruct us on matter related to your employment or in which your employment status or income is relevant
Details of your pension arrangements, eg if you instruct us on a pension matter or in relation to financial arrangements following 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 personal data), eg if you instruct us on 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, eg if you instruct us on discrimination claim
Your trade union membership, eg if you instruct us on discrimination claim or your matter is funded by a trade union
Personal identifying information, such as your hair or eye colour or your parents’ names, eg if you instruct us to incorporate a company for you
Your medical records, eg if we are acting for you in a personal injury claim
This personal data is required to enable us to provide our service to you. If you do not provide personal data we ask for, it may delay or prevent us from providing services to you.

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How your personal data is collected

We collect most of this information from you, direct or via our secure online client portal. However, we may also collect information:

from publicly accessible sources, eg Companies House or HM Land Registry;
directly from a third party, eg:
sanctions screening providers;
credit reference agencies;
client due diligence providers;
from a third party with your consent, eg:
your bank or building society, another financial institution or advisor;
consultants and other professionals we may engage in relation to your matter;
your employer and/or trade union, professional body or pension administrators;
your doctors, medical and occupational health professionals;
via our website - we use cookies on our website (for more information on cookies, please see our www.norriewaite.co.uk/regulatory-policies.html cookies policy)
via our information technology (IT) systems, eg:
case management, document management and time recording systems;
automated monitoring of our websites and other technical systems, such as our computer networks and connections, CCTV and access control systems, communications systems, email and instant messaging systems;

How and why we use your personal data

Under data protection law, we can only use your personal data if we have a proper reason for doing so, eg:

to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
for the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract;
for our legitimate interests or those of a third party; or
where you have given consent.

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.

The table below explains what we use (process) your personal data for and our reasons for doing so:

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What we use your personal data for

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 embargoesOther processing necessary to comply with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business, eg under health and safety regulation or rules issued by our professional regulator
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligationsGathering 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, eg policies covering security and internet use
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, ie to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can deliver the best service to you
Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, ie to be as efficient as we can so we can delivery the best service for you at the best price
Ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, ie to protect our intellectual property and other commercially valuable information
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Statistical analysis to help us manage our practice, eg in relation to our financial performance, client base, work type or other efficiency measures
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, ie to be as efficient as we can so we can delivery the best service for you at the best price
Preventing unauthorised access and modifications to systems
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, ie to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for us and for you to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Updating and enhancing client records
For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, eg 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
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, eg to make sure we are following our own internal procedures and working efficiently so we can deliver the best service to you

Marketing our services and those of selected third parties 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, ie to promote our business to existing and former clients
External audits and quality checks, eg for Lexcel, ISO or Investors in People accreditation and the audit of our accounts
For our legitimate interests or a those of a third party, ie to maintain our accreditations so we can demonstrate we operate at the highest standards
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

The above information does not apply to special category personal data, which we will only process with your explicit consent.

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Promotional communications

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 or products.

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 consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.

We will always treat your personal data with the utmost respect and never sell OR share it with other organisations outside of Norrie Waite and Slater for marketing purposes.

You have the right to opt out of receiving promotional communications from us by
contacting us by email to dataprotection@norrie-waite.com

We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you instruct us to provide further services in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.

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Who we share your personal data with

We routinely share personal data with:

professional advisers who we instruct on your behalf or refer you to, eg barristers, medical professionals, accountants, tax advisors or other experts;
other third parties where necessary to carry out your instructions eg your mortgage provider or HM Land Registry in the case of a property transaction or Companies House;
our insurers and brokers;
external auditors, eg in relation to ISO or Lexcel accreditation and the audit of our accounts;
our banks;
external service suppliers, representatives and agents that we use to make our business more efficient, eg typing services, marketing agencies, document collation or analysis suppliers;

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.

We may disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

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.

We will not share your personal data with any other third party.

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Where your personal data is held

Information may be held at our offices and those of our third party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents as described above (see ‘Who we share your personal data with’).

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’.

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How long your personal data will be kept

We will keep your personal data after we have finished advising or acting for you. We will do so for one of these 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.

We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data.

When it is no longer necessary to retain your personal data, we will delete or anonymise it.

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Transferring your personal data out of the EEA

To deliver services to you, it is sometimes necessary for us to share your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA), eg:

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.

These transfers are subject to special rules under European and UK data protection law.

The following countries to which we may transfer personal data have been assessed by the European Commission as providing an adequate level of protection for personal data: Argentina, Canada - private organisations only, Guernsey, Jersey, Isle of Man, Switzerland, Israel, Faroe Islands, New Zealand, Uruguay

Except for the countries listed above, non-EEA countries do not have the same data protection laws as the United Kingdom and EEA. We will, however, ensure the transfer complies with data protection law and all personal data will be secure. Our standard practice is to use standard data protection contract clauses which have been approved by the European Commission.

If you would like further information please contact, our Data Protection Officer (see ‘How to contact us’ below).

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Your rights

You have the following rights, which you can exercise free of charge:

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Access

The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data (the right of access)

Rectification

The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data

To be forgotten

The right to require us to delete your personal data- in certain situations

Restriction of processing

The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data- in certain circumstances, eg if you contest the accuracy of the 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 situations

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 processing of your personal data, eg processing carried out for the purpose of our legitimate interests.

Not to be subject to automated individual decision-making

The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us or see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.

If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please complete a data subject request form- available on our website at https://www.norriewaite.co.uk/data-subject-access-request-form

email, call or write to us, our Data Protection Officer - see below: ‘How to contact us’; and
let us have enough information to identify you - your full name, address and client or matter reference number;
let us have proof of your identity and address (a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill); and
let us know what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates.

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Keeping your personal data secure

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 processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also 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.

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.

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How to complain

We hope that we or our Data Protection Officer can resolve any query or concern you may raise about our use of your information.

The General Data Protection Regulation also gives you right to lodge a complaint 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 https://ico.org.uk/concerns or telephone: 0303 123 1113

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Changes to this privacy policy

This privacy policy was published in March 2018 and last updated March 2018

We may change this privacy policy from time to time, when we do we will inform you via our website and written correspondence.

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How to contact us

Please contact usand/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.
Our contact details are shown below:

Our contact details

Norrie Waite & Slater
Tel: 0114 2766 166

Jon Darwin
dataprotection@norrie-waite.com
Tel: 0114 2766 166