This transparency notice describes how Veale Wasbrough Vizards LLP ('VWV' or 'we') collect and use your personal information during and after your relationship with us.
Our Compliance and Practice Standards team is responsible for overseeing VWV compliance with data protection law. If you have any questions about this transparency notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact 0117 314 5609 or compliance@vwv.co.uk.
It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during the course of our engagement with you.
2. What information do we hold?
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified.
There are special categories of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection (see further at section 5, below).
We collect different information depending on your relationship with us (click on the appropriate link, below, to see more about the categories of personal information from you and purposes for which we use it).
In each case we have identified our lawful basis for processing. These are described in more detail at section 4 Our lawful basis for using personal information.
We process:
To the extent permitted by law, we may monitor electronic communications for the purposes of ensuring compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and internal policies. This processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of managing our business and compliance obligations.
We use information from our Client Relationship Management ('CRM') system to monitor your engagement with our digital content in accordance with our Cookies Policy for the legitimate interest of informing and improving the service we provide to you and future product and service development.
We may, from time to time, approach you for your consent to allow us to process your personal information for other purposes. If we do so, we will provide you with details of the information that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent.
Individual prospects and other non-client contacts
We process:
Such processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of promoting and growing our business and improving our services.
We use information from our CRM system to monitor your engagement with our digital content in accordance with our Cookies Policy for the legitimate interest of informing and improving the service we provide to you, and future product and service development.
We process any feedback you provide to us in relation to our services including your decision whether or not to instruct us. Such processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of managing our business and improving our services.
To the extent permitted by law, we may monitor electronic communications for the purposes of ensuring compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and internal policies. This processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of managing our business and compliance obligations.
We may, from time to time, approach you for your consent to allow us to process your personal information for other purposes. If we do so, we will provide you with details of the information that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent.
We process:
your name, title and business contact information including addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses
details relating to the performance of the contract between us, including financial information and bank details for payment
Such processing is necessary for performance of the contract between us.
We may perform due diligence in the form of credit checks and verification of your identity including checking photographic identification and proof of address. We do this to comply with our legal obligations, and as necessary for our legitimate interests of understanding the party or parties with whom we are contracting.
To the extent permitted by law, we may monitor electronic communications for the purposes of ensuring compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and internal policies. This processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of managing our business and compliance obligations.
We may, from time to time, approach you for your consent to allow us to process your personal information for other purposes. If we do so, we will provide you with details of the information that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent.
Corporate Clients, suppliers and third party business contacts and prospects
We process names, titles and business contact information including addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses for your employees and representatives. Such processing is necessary for performance of the contract between us. Where you are an employee of a corporate Client or contractor, we process this information for the legitimate interest of performing our contract with your employer.
If you are a new or prospective Client, we process personal information as part of our Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Client procedures (see section 7 below). We do this to comply with our legal obligations, and as necessary for our legitimate interests (provided that the interests and fundamental rights of the individual do not override our interests).
We may perform due diligence in the form of credit checks on companies, including checking photographic identification and proof of address of directors and, in some cases, your shareholders, and verification of the company registration details. We do this to comply with our legal obligations, and as necessary for our legitimate interests (provided that the interests and fundamental rights of the individual do not override our interests).
We process personal information contained in documents reviewed by us as part of any due diligence and provided to us in disclosure. Such processing is necessary for the purpose of providing legal advice.
We process your marketing preferences and details of any services you have subscribed to, and any events your employees and representatives have attended. Such processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of promoting and growing our business (provided that the interests and fundamental rights of any individual employees and representatives do not override our interests).
We process any feedback you (your employees or representatives) provide to us on our services. Such processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of managing our business and improving our services (provided that the interests and fundamental rights of any individual employees and representatives do not override our interests).
We process background information about you, and your employees and representatives, and your relationship with the firm. Such information may include how you found us and what your interests are. Such processing is necessary for the legitimate interest of informing and improving the service we provide to you (provided that the interests and fundamental rights of any individual employees and representatives do not override our interests).
To the extent permitted by law, we may monitor electronic communications for the purposes of ensuring compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and internal policies.
Parties on the other side in Client matters
We process the details of parties on the other side in Client matters for the purpose of carrying out conflict checks. Such processing is necessary for our legal obligations and the legitimate interest of meeting our compliance requirements.
For third parties involved in Client matters, including lawyers and professional advisor's acting on the other side of a particular matter, we will collect your contact details and such information about you (and, where applicable, your clients) as necessary for us to advise our Clients, including personal information contained in documents reviewed by us as part of our due diligence and/or as provided to us in disclosure. Such processing is necessary for:
We may process your (or, where applicable, your client's) bank details. Such processing is necessary where we are required to pay funds to you (or your client), for example on completion of a sale of property.
To the extent permitted by law, we may monitor electronic communications for the purposes of ensuring compliance with our legal and regulatory obligations and internal policies.
3. How do we collect personal information?
We collect personal information direct from you when you enquire about our services, when we establish you as a Client of the firm, if you register with us for an event or to receive updates and information from us, or where we enter into a contract to receive services from you.
We collect further information from you during the period of our retainer or for the duration of your providing services to us.
We collect information about our Clients, and about third parties, from our Clients and from parties acting on the other side in a transaction, or from lawyers or other professional advisors acting on their behalf.
We collect information from other third parties, such as other professionals advising our Clients on a matter, from referrers, partner organisations (if we have run a joint event), and from credit reference agencies or other background check agencies.
We may collect information about our Clients and about third parties from public sources, such as Companies House or the Land Registry, from an online search or from social media sites.
4. Our lawful basis for using personal information
We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:
where we need to perform the contract we have entered into with you
We may also use your personal information in the following situations, which are likely to be rare:
Some of the above grounds for processing will overlap and there may be several grounds which justify our use of your personal information.
We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
Please note that we may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
5. How we use particularly sensitive personal information
Special categories of particularly sensitive personal information require higher levels of protection. We need to have further justification for collecting, storing and using the following types of personal information.
Depending on the nature of our instructions, we may collect, store and use any of the following special categories of information about Clients and prospective Clients of VWV and/or about parties on the other side of the matter:
We process this type of information where it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.
We may process particularly sensitive personal information if we are under a legal obligation to do so, or if it becomes necessary to protect your vital interests or those of another person, or for reasons of substantial public interest.
We do not process particularly sensitive personal information for non-clients as part of our usual course of business. However, we may process information:
We may approach you for your written consent to allow us to process certain particularly sensitive information. If we do so, we will provide you with full details of the information that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent.
6. Information about criminal convictions
We may only use information relating to criminal convictions where the law allows us to do so. Except where this is necessary in the course of the legal advice we are providing to you, we do not envisage that we will hold information about criminal convictions.
We may use information relating to criminal convictions where it is necessary in relation to legal claims, where it is necessary to protect your interests (or someone else's interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public.
7. Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Client Information
We are required by law to verify the identity of all new Clients and, in certain circumstances, existing Clients. In addition, our internal requirements may require us to conduct background checks on new or existing Clients. These may necessitate verification of the identity and good standing of Clients. For corporate Clients this will include verifying one or more of their directors or other officers, and verifying the identity of shareholders, beneficial owners, management and/or other relevant background information.
We may require evidence of source of funds, at the outset of and possibly from time to time throughout our relationship with Clients, which we may request and/or obtain from third party sources. The sources for such verification may comprise documentation which we request from the prospective or current Client, or through the use of online sources, or both. We may also be required to make detailed enquiries of any unusual transactions such as the transfer of large amounts of cash.
In some circumstances we may decline to, or may not be permitted to, act until such procedures have been completed. We reserve the right to decline to act or, if appropriate, cease to act should these procedures not be completed to our satisfaction.
Where we instruct counsel or other professionals on behalf of Clients, they may request us to provide them with copies of evidence of identity of Clients or their representatives which we have obtained from you or from other sources. We will be entitled to send such copies to them if we so decide.
8. Who do we share your personal information with?
We will share your personal data with third-party service providers who provide services to us and to other third parties who use your information, as data controller, for their own purposes.
If you are a Client, we share your personal information with other data controllers where required by law, for example if we are required to share information in accordance with our Anti-Money Laundering procedures, or to meet our regulatory requirements or as required by our insurers.
We share personal information with:
We may share your information if we refer you to a third party adviser for specialist advice or if we are prevented from acting for you due to a conflict.
Where we share information with other data controllers, they are responsible to you for their use of your information and compliance with the law.
The following activities are carried out by third-party service providers on our behalf: archiving and records management; confidential waste disposal; IT support and maintenance; hosting our website (including analytics); marketing campaigns; carrying out surveys and obtaining feedback on our services.
All our third-party service providers 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 information for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal information for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
If you are a delegate at an event, we share names and contact details with third party event organisers and on the delegate list which is shared with other attendees, unless you ask us not to.
We may share your personal information with other third parties in the context of the negotiations for a sale or restructuring of the business.
9. Transferring information outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
All our personal information is hosted on servers located within the EEA.
If we are required to transfer information outside the EEA, we have put in place the following appropriate measures to ensure that your personal information is treated by those third parties in a way that is consistent with and which respects the EU and UK laws on data protection.
If you are based outside the EEA we may transfer personal information to the correspondence address you provide to us. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that such transfers are secure. By instructing us from outside the EEA you acknowledge and agree that such transfers are necessary for us to provide services to you.
10. How do we keep your personal information safe?
We have put in place robust technical measures to protect the security of your information. Details of these measures are available upon request.
Third parties will only process your personal information on our instructions and where they have agreed to treat the information confidentially and to keep it secure.
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 where they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
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.
11. How long do we keep your personal information?
We will only retain your personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we collected it, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Where a minimum retention period is required by law (such as retaining records for HMRC purposes or for compliance with the SRA requirements, or anti-money laundering law), we comply with that minimum period plus up to 12 months to allow time for us to anonymise or delete information in accordance with our internal data management processes.
Unless particular circumstances warrant retention for longer periods, we retain Client documents in line with the National Archives recommended best practice and (where applicable) Law Society's recommended retention periods for Client files. We apply the same rules to electronic files as to paper files. Access to archived files is restricted. Please contact compliance@vwv.co.uk if you would like to discuss specific retention periods applicable to your matters.
Our backup and disaster recovery service provider retains a copy of all emails and attachments for 10 years. Access to this information is restricted.
If we are required to retain your information longer than our standard retention periods, we will let you know (unless we are prevented by law from doing so).
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.
12. Your rights in connection with personal information
Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
Last Updated: VWV 12 April 2018