Data and Privacy Policy

This website is operated by Caulker & Co Solicitors. We process your data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, and the relevant provisions of 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 we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also explains how we 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.

Caulker & Co Solicitors are registered with the Information Commissioner Organisation (ICO), and our registration number is ZA081321.

Our privacy policy contains important information about who we are, how and why we collect, store, use and share personal information, your rights in relation to your personal information and on how to contact us and supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint

We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union and the United Kingdom, and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for those laws.

Our collection and use of your personal information

As a data controller, we must:

• process personal data lawfully and fairly in line with data protection principles
• process the data in a way that protects the subject (person)
• use the right systems
• be accountable
• cooperate with the ICO
• make sure that we follow the rules when sending data abroad (cross-border data flows)

We collect personal information about you when you access our website, register with us, contact us, send us feedback, purchase services via our website, post material to our website and complete customer surveys or participate in competitions via our website or indirectly, such as your browsing activity while on our websites

The personal information we collect about you depends on the activities carried out through our website. This information includes:

• your name, address and contact details
• date of birth
• details of any feedback you give us by phone, email, post or via social media
• information about the services we provide to you

What we do with your personal information:

• create and manage your account with us
• verify your identity
• provide services to you
• improve our services

This website is not intended for use by children, and we do not knowingly collect or use personal information about them.

 Why we process your personal information

When we use your personal information, we are required to have a legal basis for doing so. We may rely on various legal bases, depending on what personal information we process and why.

The legal bases we may rely on include:

• consent: where you have given us clear consent for us to process your personal information for a specific purpose
• contract: where our use of your personal information is necessary for a contract we have with you, or because you have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract
• legal obligation: where our use of your personal information is necessary for us to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations)
• vital interests: where our use of your personal information is necessary to protect you or someone else’s life
• public task: where our use of your personal information is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
• legitimate interests: where our use of your personal information is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party (unless there is a good reason to protect your personal information which overrides our legitimate interests)

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 your which data is necessary in connection with a particular service. We will only process personal data, in accordance with applicable law, for the following purposes:

1. a) responding to your queries, requests and other communications.
2. b) providing the Services, including, where applicable, procuring acts from foreign

organisations;

1. c) enabling suppliers and service providers to carry out certain functions on behalf of Caulker & Co Solicitors to provide the Services, including webhosting, data storage, identity verification, technical, logistical, courier or other functions, as applicable;

1. d) allowing you to use features on our website when you choose to do so.
2. e) sending you personalised marketing communications requested by you, as well as serving personalised advertising to your devices based on your interests in accordance with our Cookie Statement below. You have the right to disable cookies as set out above or to unsubscribe by clicking the cookie statement on our website;

1. f) ensuring the security of Caulker & Co Solicitors and preventing or detecting fraud;
2. g) administering our business, including complaints resolution, troubleshooting of our

website, data analysis, testing of new features, research, statistical and survey

purposes;

1. h) developing and improving our Services, and
2. i) complying with applicable law, including Notary Practice Rules, guidelines and regulations or in response to a lawful request from a court or regulatory body.

Who we share your personal information with

• We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by the applicable law.
• We will share information when we need to instruct a barrister, experts or other third parties to progress your case.
• We will share information when we need to use outsourced providers to carry out work on your file such as cost draftsman services and billing services. We will not share your personal information with any other third party.

We will not release information if it breaches:

• legal professional privilege
• duty of confidentiality towards you the client.

Whether you must provide information, and if so why

We require you to provide your personal data (e.g. name, address, delivery address etc) to enable us to deal with your case. We will inform you when collecting information from you, whether you are required to provide the information to us.

Warranties

In relation to the personal data of data subjects, you warrant to Caulker and Co Solicitors continuously that:

1. a) where applicable, you are authorised to share such personal data with Caulker and Co Solicitors in connection with the Services and wherever another data subject is referred to, you have obtained the explicit and demonstrable consent from all relevant data subjects to the inclusion and use of any personal data concerning them;

1. b) to the extent this is required in connection with the Services, such personal data is accurate, complete and up to date; and

1. c) either you provide your explicit consent and warrant that each data subject has provided explicit consent for the transfer of personal data to foreign organisations in connection with the Services or that an alternative legal gateway for such transfer (such as transfer necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract concluded in the interest of the data subject) has been satisfied.

Marketing

We would like to send you information about our services and special offers which may interest you. Where we have your consent or it is in our legitimate interests, we may do this by post, email, telephone, text message (SMS) or automated call. For more information on your rights in relation to marketing, see ‘Your rights’ below.

 Your rights

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have several important rights free of charge. In summary, those include rights to:

• fair processing of information and transparency over how we use your use personal information
• access to your personal information and to certain other supplementary information that this Privacy Notice is already designed to address
• require us to correct any mistakes in your information which we hold
• require the erasure of personal information concerning you in certain situations
• receive the personal information concerning you which you have provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and have the right to transmit those data to a third party in certain situations
• object at any time to processing of personal information concerning you for direct marketing
• object to decisions being taken by automated means which produce legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affect you
• object in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal information
• otherwise restrict our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances
• claim compensation for damages caused by our breach of any data protection laws.

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, 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

• email, call or write to us at info@caulkerandcosolicitors.com
• let us have enough information to identify you like
• your account number, username, registration details,
• let us have proof of your identity and address. (E.g. a copy of your driving
• licence or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill), and
• let us know the information to which your request relates including any account or reference numbers, if you have them

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. We use the following cookies on our website:

Strictly necessary cookies. These cookies are essential to enable you to move around our website and use its features. Without these cookies, Services you have asked for cannot be provided. They are deleted when you close the browser. These are first party cookies.

1. Performance cookies. These cookies collect anonymous information about how visitors use our website. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors, see how visitors move around the website when they use it, and determine the approximate regions from which they visit. These are first-party cookies.
2. Functionality cookies. These cookies allow our website to remember choices you make (such as your username, language or the region you are in, if applicable) and provide enhanced, more personal features. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites. These are first party cookies.
3. Targeting or advertising cookies. These cookies allow us and our advertisers to deliver information more relevant to you and your interests. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advertisement as well as to help measure the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. They remember that you have visited our website and may help us compile your profile. These persistent cookies will be kept on your device until their expiration or earlier manual deletion.
4. Social Media cookies. These cookies allow you to connect with social media networks such as LinkedIn and Twitter. These persistent cookies will be kept on your device until their expiration or earlier manual deletion.
5. We may combine information from these types of cookies and technologies with information about you from other sources. We assume you are happy for us to place cookies on your device. Most Internet browsers automatically accept cookies. However, if you or another device user wish to withdraw your consent at any time, you can accept or decline cookies by modifying your browser settings. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to fully experience the interactive features of our website, our platforms, and our services.

If you have any queries about the cookies that we use, or would like more information, please contact julia@caulkerandcosolicitors.com

How do we protect your data?

We take protecting your data very seriously. Your data may be subject to Legal Professional Privilege and is often extremely sensitive and confidential.

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. 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 data is password-protected, and sensitive data is secured by encryption.

We regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks and conduct penetration testing to identify ways to strengthen security further.

How long will we keep your data?

We only keep your data for as long as necessary for the purpose(s) it was provided. We use the following retention periods and review these periodically to make sure we are 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 us such as information on our case management system 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 we have another legal basis to process that information. 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.
• data obtained for compliance with crime or fraud prevention has to be retained by us to meet our 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 we do not take on your case are kept for only 18 months.
• any complaints files for six years after the complaint is concluded (with the associated matter file(s).

• financial information and any financial transactions will be kept for a period of seven years to comply with HMRC requirements except for cardholder data which will generally be destroyed immediately after the transaction is processed.

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

Where is your data processed?

Your data is stored and processed within the United Kingdom (UK). If we ever have to share your data with third parties and suppliers outside the UK, we will seek your specific consent. However, we may transfer personal data overseas if your matter requires the expertise of an individual who does not reside in the UK.

Your data will be transferred via our secured cloud case management system. We use cloud IT and similar data storage facilities, so we may store, process, and transmit data in locations outside the UK. Our information systems, including electronic matter files, client information, and finance systems, may be accessible by our offices in different counties, which means personal data may be accessed by our firm’s personnel overseas.

If your matter involves obtaining legal or other professional advice from another country, our firm may need to transfer details about your matter, including personal data, to a third party in that country.

Whenever we transfer any data out of the UK, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it and treated with the same security measures regardless of location and in accordance with our internal processes and policies as well as regulatory and legal obligations. We ensure that at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

• we will only transfer personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the UK by means of an adequacy decision or similar in accordance with UK adequacy regulations or otherwise comply with EU GDPR transfer restrictions, as applicable,
• where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contractual provisions which gives personal data the same protection it has within the UK and ensures a similar level of protection to the personal data as if it was processed within the UK, as applicable, and/or • we will require that any overseas third party to which we disclosure personal data to:

(a) only use that personal data for the purposes for which it was disclosed

(b) use all technical and organisational measures which are reasonable in the

circumstances to secure that personal data

(c) delete that personal data when it is no longer required, and

(d) treat that personal data in accordance with this Data and Privacy Notice and that appropriate data privacy law.

Contact Details

Please contact us for information on how your information is used, how we maintain its security, and how to exercise your rights to access the information we hold about you. Similarly, if you believe the information we hold is wrong or outdated, please let us know, and we will update it.

Mrs Julia Caulker, our Data Protection Officer, and enquiries and/or requests can be sent to her in writing: Caulker & Co Solicitors, Suite 25, Mill Mead Business Centre, Mill Mead Road, London, N17 9QU.

• by telephone: 0208 801 9020 and
• by email: info@caulkerandcosolicitors.com, julia@caulkerandcosolicitors.com & caulkerco@aol.com.

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 control that other website.

Therefore, we cannot be responsible for protecting the privacy of any information you provide while visiting such sites, which are not governed by this policy.

You should exercise caution and examine the privacy statement or policy applicable to the website.

The Regulator

If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made regarding the use of your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113.

You can also visit www.ico.org.uk/concerns (opens in a new window); please note that we are not responsible for the content of external websites.

Changes to this Notice

We 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, we will update this privacy notice on this webpage and in any documentation, we will send to you.

However, internet and data privacy best practices and acceptable standards are developing. We, therefore, reserve the right to revise this Notice at any time.

If this Notice changes in any way, we will place an updated version on this webpage. We will provide a copy directly for all other clients with ongoing instructions. Continued instructions will signify that you agree to any such changes.