Privacy Policy | blsolicitors
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Privacy Policy

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Berard & Lovell solicitors respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy informs you as to how we look after your personal data when you visit our website (regardless of where you visit it from) and interact with us. It also tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

It is important that you read this privacy policy so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data.

Berard & Lovell Solicitors is the controller and responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as the "Firm", "we", "us" or "our" in this privacy policy).

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact our us by email at enquiries@berard-lovell.co.uk

The data we collect about you

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:

  • "Identity Data" includes first name, maiden name, last name, title, date of birth and gender.

  • "Contact Data" includes address, email address and telephone numbers.

  • "Transaction Data" includes details about services you have received from us.

  • "Profile Data" includes services provided to you, feedback and survey responses.

  • "Usage Data" includes information about how you use our website and services.

  • "Marketing and Communications Data" includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and your communication preferences.

 

We also collect, use and share "Aggregated Data" such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

How is your personal data collected?

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

  • Direct interactions with you. You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you: use our services; subscribe to our publications; request marketing to be sent to you; give us feedback or contact us.

  • Publicly accessible sources: e.g. Companies House or HM Land Registry

 

How we use your personal data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

  • Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

  • Where we need to comply with a legal obligation (e.g., run AML risk assessment)

 

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

We have set out below a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data and what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.

Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out below.

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  • To engage you as a new client (type of data: (a) Identity (b) Contact), lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest: Performance of a contract with you.

  • To manage payments, fees and charges and collect and recover money owed to us (type of data: (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Financial (d) Transaction (e) Marketing and Communications), lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest: (a) Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to recover debts due to us).

  • To manage our relationship with you. (type of data: (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Profile (d) Marketing and Communications), lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest: (a) Performance of a contract with you (b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation (c) Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how our clients use our services).

  • To use data analytics to improve our website, services, marketing, client relationships and experiences. (type of data: (a) Technical (b) Usage, lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest: Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of clients for our services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy).

  • To make suggestions and recommendations to you about our services that may be of interest to you (type of data: (a) Identity (b) Contact (c) Technical (d) Usage (e) Profile (f) Marketing and Communications), lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest: Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our services and grow our business).

 

Marketing & opting out

We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising. We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical, Usage and Profile Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which services may be relevant for you (we call this marketing).

You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us or engaged us for our services and you have not opted out of receiving that marketing. If you wish to opt out, email us at enquiries@berard-lovell.co.uk .

We will not share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes.

Transfers of your personal data

We have adopted cloud-based systems and share your personal data with the operators of these systems. This will involve transferring your data outside the European Economic Area ("EEA"). In each case we and our processors employ mechanisms to safeguard your personal data, such that:

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  • We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission.

  • Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe.

  • Where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to them if they are part of or self-certified to the Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between Europe and the US.

 

Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the EEA.

 

Who we share your personal data with

 

We may share personal data with:

  • professional advisers whom we instruct on your behalf or to whom we 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;

  • credit reference agencies;

  • our insurers and brokers;

  • external auditors, eg in relation the audit of our accounts;

  • our bank;

  • external service suppliers, representatives and agents that we use to make our business more efficient.

 

How long your personal data will be kept

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory or other requirements.

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

Your data protection rights

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Under data protection law, you have rights including:

  • Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.

  • Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.

  • Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.

  • Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

  • Your right to object to processing - You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

  • Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

 

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

 

How to complain

 

We hope that we can assist you with any query or concern you may raise about our use of your information. Contact us. 

The General Data Protection Regulation also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. 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.

 

This policy was last updated in August 2021.

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