Privacy policy
Data Privacy Notice
How we collect data
We collect personal information about you in connection with the legal services we provide. This happens in the following ways:
- as part of our new business intake procedure – this may include ID checks
- through direct interactions with us, such as meetings, phone calls, emails, text messages and other correspondence
- reviewing information about you and third parties from publicly available sources, such as Companies House.
Information we collect
We may collect the following personal information:
- basic data such as your full name, title, date of birth, gender and your relationship to others
- contact data such as postal address, email address and phone numbers
- financial data to establish source of funds and wealth, such as your bank account details
- new business intake data, such as ID documents and other information collected as part of our new client due diligence procedures
- marketing and communications data, such as your preferences about receiving marketing from us
- personal data relevant to the specific work we are doing for you (e.g. medical records).
How the law protects you
We will only process your data on one of the following legal bases:
- to fulfil a contract we have with you
- when it is our legal duty
- when you consent to it
- when it is in our legitimate interest and is not overridden by your interests, rights and freedoms.
A legitimate interest is when we have a business reason to use your information. This may include internal administrative purposes, fraud prevention, ensuring network and information security, and relaying information related to your legal matters.
How we use your personal information
We may use your personal information for:
- setting up and managing your client account
- communicating with you and providing information about specific products or services upon request
- preventing fraud and other financial crimes where legally required
- meeting our legal obligations – e.g. conducting Anti-Money Laundering or Know Your Client checks
- sending legal updates and marketing materials (with your consent, when legally required). You can withdraw your consent at any time.
Sharing your personal information
We may share your personal information with:
- our service providers
- fraud prevention and law enforcement agencies
- regulatory bodies, courts, governments, auditors and dispute resolution services.
Security
We take all reasonable precautions to protect your personal information against data loss and unauthorised access or use. We ensure that our staff and any third parties comply with our security standards. Our network security is independently audited as part of our Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation.
Retaining your information
We will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil our business purposes and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. Any personal data is securely deleted when no longer needed. You have been informed of how long we keep records of work done. ID documents are usually retained for the same period unless requested otherwise.
What rights do you have?
You have the right to:
- request access to your data
- ask us to correct and update your data
- ask us to restrict use of your data (in certain circumstances)
- ask us to delete your data (in certain circumstances)
- withdraw your consent at any time
- data portability (in certain circumstances)
- opt out of direct marketing communications.
How we respond to your rights
You can exercise your rights or raise concerns about the use of your personal data at any time. At that stage, we may need may to check your identity. We will then aim to complete any request within 30 days (often sooner).
Client Data Officer:
Jonathan Clarke, Hertford office
jonathan.clarke@attwaters.co.uk
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office about how we process your data.
