I am committed to maintaining the confidentiality of my clients and those who provide me with their personal information and data.
Please let me explain how I collect, store, use and otherwise process personal information and data. I will also inform you about your rights under data protection laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR). I keep this policy updated from time to time; please therefore consult it for any updates. This policy is valid as of 7 April 2020.
Defined terms:
Personal information / personal data means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person; and
identifiable natural person means a person who can be directly or indirectly identified, in particular by reference to an identification number or to one or more factors.
My Website Visitors
Cookies: my website is powered by Squarespace. I have disabled Squarespace Analytics Cookies until you click ‘ok’ on the cookie banner.
Apart from the cookies (see above), I only collect the personal information you give me by way of the Contact page. This will be: (a) your email address only, if you sign up to my newsletter; (b) the information and data you enter when you submit a query to me via the “contact me with your query form” and / or (c) the information and data you enter when you book an appointment with me via the “book a free phone consultation” form.
I also receive data from Google, Inc. (based outside the EU) through the Google Analytics platform which is integrated with my website. My website is powered by Squarespace (based outside the EU). Google Analytics data shows me amongst other things which search terms drive traffic to my site from the google search engine.
The data I received from Squarespace (if cookies are activated) and from Google includes information about the number of visitors, which pages were visited, the type of page interaction that a visitor engaged in (i.e. scrolling, clicking, browsing, etc.), websites the visitors have come from and which they go to after having visited my website, information about how quickly my website responded, information about any errors in the forms on my website and any other technical information, information such as your IP address and your location (which may be estimated from your IP address).
I look at this information to understand where my potential clients and business partners are, how they interact with the information that I publish on my website and which areas of my work they are interested. This processing is crucial to the running of my website and business, because it enables me to pursue my legitimate interest in not only improving my website but, crucially, providing the best possible service for the visitors of my website. The information that I receive from Google and Squarespace about my website visitors is anonymised and not used to develop a personal profile of you or any other website visitors.
In terms of the personal data that I receive from you by virtue of you providing it to me, I will only retain it for as long as necessary. For example, if you get in touch to enquire about my legal advice services, then I will only retain this information for as long as we have decided that you either instruct me as your solicitor through My Business Counsel or that you will not instruct me. Equally, if you have provided me with your email address for the purpose of signing up to my newsletter and subsequently decide that you no longer wish to receive my newsletter, then you can easily unsubscribe by clicking on the unsubscribe option in my newsletter or by contacting me through the contact form on my website.
My clients and business partners and customers
Legal advice: because I only provide legal advice through My Business Counsel, once we decide that you would like to engage me as your solicitor, we will be signing you up as my client through My Business Counsel. Their engagement letter and terms of business also set out their confidentiality policy, complaints procedure as well as their privacy and data protection policy. This Privacy Policy is therefore only valid in relation to the data and information I receive outside of my work with My Business Counsel.
Of course, we may decide to enter into a business relationship, either with you in the role of a customer or we may enter into a business relationship. In either case I will only ask you to provide me with the personal information which is necessary for me to carry out my services, which may include your fill name, email address, full postal address, telephone and / or mobile numbers and, where necessary bank account details or such other payment details as may be required for the particular business relationship that we may enter into. This information will be used for the purpose of my providing you with the services that we agreed upon at the outset of our business relationship. This includes the provision of business advice (for example to provide background and relevant facts), administration (such as invoicing, billing and collecting fees) and any required regulatory compliance (such as, without limitation, the prevention of fraud). As part of our business relationship, I may also ask you for your email address for the purpose of sending you my newsletter – you will of course be given the chance to opt in before I include you on my list of subscribers.
Depending on the services that I will be providing you with, you may ask me to collect and process personal data and information for the purpose of providing you with those services. When you ask me to collect and process this data and information, you confirm that you have obtained all appropriate licences, clearances and consents for this purpose.
Unsubscribing from my newsletter
If you have subscribed to my newsletters through the sign-up form on my website and you would like to unsubscribe, please either use the unsubscribe function on my newsletters or send me a message via the ‘contact me’ field on my website to let me know that you’d like to unsubscribe.
When will I share your personal information?
I will not disclose your personal information to third parties other than with your consent or where I am required by law or where it is legally permitted and in my legitimate interest to administer my database or improve my business or services.
Your rights
You have the following rights over the way I process personal information relating to you. I aim to comply without undue delay:
to ask for a copy of data I have about you.
to have inaccuracies corrected.
to ask me to restrict, stop processing, or to delete your personal data.
to request a machine readable copy of your personal data.
If you would like to make a subject access request at any time, please contact me via that ‘contact me’ form on my website. You may also contact me if you are unhappy with the way that I am processing your personal information. Alternatively, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Officer to make a complaint – they are the data protection supervisory authority in the UK: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/
Security
I take commercially reasonable, appropriate technical measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk that could be encountered via the use of my website and services. I only use reputable third parties, such as Squarespace and Google for the provision of certain business services. I maintain anti-virus software for all devices that I process your information with and digitally store any documents that we may be working on together on password-protected devices.
Please note: whilst I design and maintain the security of my devices and my website, no security system is 100% secure. Please therefore advise me of any particular sensitivities around any information you may provide and with whom it may be shared (and to which correspondence addresses which may write to you at).
Retention
In accordance with data protection laws and good commercial practice, I do not retain data in a form that permits identification of the person(s) to whom it relates for any longer than is necessary. I may use anonymised data for research and/or business analysis purposes.
Transfers of personal data outside the EU
I use the services of Squarespace and Google, which store data and information outside the EU. I store the information you provide me with on my own, password-protected devices.
Contact Me
Questions and requests in relation to this privacy policy are welcome and should be submitted to me through my ‘contact me’ form on my website.