privacy policy

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Throughout our website we may link to other websites owned and operated by certain trusted third parties. These other third party websites may also gather information about you in accordance with their own separate privacy polices. For privacy information relating to these other third party websites, please consult their privacy policies as appropriate.

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Our policy

We take your privacy very seriously. Please read this Privacy Policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal data. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.

We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal data about you. When we do so we are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).

Key terms

It would be helpful to start by explaining some key terms used in this policy:

We, us, our	Alexander & Co Solicitors LLP
Personal data	Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual
Special category personal data	Personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership Genetic and biometric data (when processed to uniquely identify an individual) Data concerning health, sex life or sexual orientation
Data subject	The individual who the personal data relates to

Personal data we collect about you

The table below sets out the personal data we will or may collect in the course of providing legal services.

Personal data we will collect	Personal data we may collect depending on why you have instructed us
Your name, address and telephone number Information to enable us to check and verify your identity, e.g. your date of birth or passport details Electronic contact details, e.g. your email address and mobile phone number Information relating to the matter in which you are seeking our advice or representation Your financial details so far as relevant to your instructions, e.g. the source of your funds if you are instructing on a purchase transaction	Your National Insurance and tax details Your bank and/or building society details Details of your spouse/partner and dependants or other family members, e.g. if you instruct us on a family matter or a will Your employment status and details including salary and benefits, e.g. if you instruct us on a matter related to your employment or in which your employment status or income is relevant Details of your pension arrangements, e.g. if you instruct us in relation to financial arrangements following breakdown of a relationship Your employment records including, where relevant, records relating to sickness and attendance, performance, disciplinary, conduct and grievances (including relevant special category personal data), e.g. if you instruct us on a matter related to your employment or in which your employment records are relevant Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs, e.g. if you instruct us on a discrimination claim Your medical records, e.g. if we are acting for you in a personal injury claim

Personal data we will collect

Personal data we may collect depending on why you have instructed us

Your name, address and telephone number

Information to enable us to check and verify your identity, e.g. your date of birth or passport details

Electronic contact details, e.g. your email address and mobile phone number

Information relating to the matter in which you are seeking our advice or representation

Your financial details so far as relevant to your instructions, e.g. the source of your funds if you are instructing on a purchase transaction

Your National Insurance and tax details

Your bank and/or building society details

Details of your spouse/partner and dependants or other family members, e.g. if you instruct us on a family matter or a will

Your employment status and details including salary and benefits, e.g. if you instruct us on a matter related to your employment or in which your employment status or income is relevant

Details of your pension arrangements, e.g. if you instruct us in relation to financial arrangements following breakdown of a relationship

Your employment records including, where relevant, records relating to sickness and attendance, performance, disciplinary, conduct and grievances (including relevant special category personal data), e.g. if you instruct us on a matter related to your employment or in which your employment records are relevant

Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs, e.g. if you instruct us on a discrimination claim

Your medical records, e.g. if we are acting for you in a personal injury claim

We collect and use this personal data to provide legal services. If you do not provide personal data we ask for, it may delay or prevent us from providing those services.

How your personal data is collected

We collect most of this information from you. However, we may also collect information:

from publicly accessible sources, e.g. Companies House or HM Land Registry;
directly from a third party, e.g.:
- sanctions screening providers;
- credit reference agencies;
- client due diligence providers.
from a third party with your consent, e.g.:
- your bank or building society, another financial institution or advisor;
- consultants and other professionals we may engage in relation to your matter;
- your employer, professional body or pension administrators;
- your doctors, medical and occupational health professionals.
via our information technology (IT) systems, e.g.:
- case management, document management and time recording system.

How and why we use your personal data

Under data protection law, we can only use your personal data if we have a proper reason, e.g.:

where you have given consent;
to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
for the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract; or
for our legitimate interests or those of a third party.

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your personal data, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests.

The table below explains what we use your personal data for and why:

What we use your personal data for	Our reasons
Providing legal services to our clients	To perform our contract with you or to take steps at our client's request before entering into a contract
Preventing and detecting fraud against you or us	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to minimise fraud that could be damaging for you and/or us
Conducting checks to identify our clients and verify their identity Screening for financial and other sanctions or embargoes Other activities necessary to comply with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business, e.g. under health and safety law or rules issued by our professional regulator	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries or investigations by regulatory bodies	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Ensuring business policies are adhered to, e.g. policies covering security and internet use	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can deliver the best service to you
Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service for you at the best price
Statistical analysis to help us manage our practice, e.g. in relation to our financial performance, client base, work type or other efficiency measures	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service for you at the best price
Preventing unauthorised access and modifications to systems	For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for us and for you and/or us To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Updating and enhancing client records	To perform our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. making sure that we can keep in touch with our clients about existing and new services
Statutory returns	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments	To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures and working efficiently so we can deliver the best service to you
Marketing our services to existing and former clients	For our legitimate interests, i.e. to promote our business to existing and former clients
External audits and quality checks, e.g. for Lexcel, CQS and WIQS accreditation and the audit of our accounts	For our legitimate interests or a those of a third party, i.e. to maintain our accreditations so we can demonstrate we operate at the highest standards To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations

Where we process special category personal data, we will also ensure we are permitted to do so under data protection laws, e.g.:

we have your explicit consent;
the processing is necessary to protect your (or someone else's) vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent; or
the processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims—this includes using special category personal data, where necessary, for:
- actual or prospective court proceedings;
- obtaining legal advice; or
- establishing, exercising or defending legal rights in any other way.

Marketing

We may use your personal data to send you updates (by email, telephone or post) about legal developments that might be of interest to you and/or information about our services.

We have a legitimate interest in using your personal data for promotional purposes (see above 'How and why we use your personal data'). This means we do not usually need your consent to send you marketing information. However, where consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.

We will always treat your personal data with the utmost respect and never sell or share it with other organisations for marketing purposes.

You have the right to opt out of receiving promotional communications at any time by:

contacting us by email to enquiries@aandco.co.uk; and/or
writing to us at 56 Friar Gate, Derby DE1 1DF.

We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you instruct us to provide further services in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.

Who we share your personal data with

We routinely share personal data with:

professional advisers who we instruct on your behalf or refer you to, e.g. barristers, medical professionals, accountants, tax advisors or other experts;
other third parties where necessary to carry out your instructions e.g. your mortgage provider or HM Land Registry in the case of a property transaction or Companies House;
our insurers and brokers;
external auditors, e.g. in relation to Lexcel accreditation and the audit of our accounts;
our banks;
external service suppliers, representatives and agents that we use to make our business more efficient.

We only allow our service providers to handle your personal data if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your personal data.

We may disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

Where your personal data is held

Information may be held at our offices and those of our service providers, representatives and agents as described above (see 'Who we share your personal data with').

How long your personal data will be kept

We will keep your personal data while we are providing services to you. Thereafter, we will keep your personal data for as long as is necessary:

to respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
to show that we treated you fairly;
to keep records required by law.

We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data.

Transferring your personal data out of the UK

To deliver services to you, it may sometimes be necessary for us to share your personal data outside the UK, e.g.:

with your and our service providers located outside the UK;
if you are based outside the UK;
where there is a European and/or international dimension to the matter in which we are advising you.

Under data protection law, we can only transfer your personal data to a country or international organisation outside the UK where:

the UK government has decided the particular country or international organisation ensures an adequate level of protection of personal data (known as an 'adequacy decision');
there are appropriate safeguards in place, together with enforceable rights and effective legal remedies for data subjects; or
a specific exception applies under data protection law.

These are explained below.

Adequacy decision

We may transfer your personal data to certain countries, on the basis of an adequacy decision. These include:

all European Union countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (collectively known as the 'EEA');
Gibraltar; and
Andorra, Argentina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland and Uruguay.

The list of countries that benefit from adequacy decisions will change from time to time. We will always seek to rely on an adequacy decision, where one exists.

Other countries we are likely to transfer personal data to do not have the benefit of an adequacy decision. This does not necessarily mean they provide poor protection for personal data, but we must look at alternative grounds for transferring the personal data, such as ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place or relying on an exception, as explained below.

Transfers with appropriate safeguards

Where there is no adequacy decision, we may transfer your personal data to another country if we are satisfied the transfer complies with data protection law, appropriate safeguards are in place, and enforceable rights and effective legal remedies are available for data subjects.

The safeguards will usually include using legally-approved standard data protection contract clauses.

Transfers under an exception

In the absence of an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards, we may transfer personal data to a third country or international organisation where an exception applies under data protection law, e.g.:

you have explicitly consented to the proposed transfer after having been informed of the possible risks;
the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between us or to take pre-contract measures at your request;
the transfer is necessary for a contract in your interests, between us and another person; or
the transfer is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We may also transfer information for the purpose of our compelling legitimate interests, so long as those interests are not overridden by your interests, rights and freedoms. Specific conditions apply to such transfers and we will provide relevant information if and when we seek to transfer your personal data on this ground.

Your rights

You have the following rights, which you can exercise free of charge:

Access	The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data
Rectification	The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data
To be forgotten	The right to require us to delete your personal data—in certain situations
Restriction of processing	The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data—in certain circumstances, e.g. if you contest the accuracy of the data
Data portability	The right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party—in certain situations
To object	The right to object: —at any time to your personal data being processed for direct marketing; —in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal data, e.g. processing carried out for the purpose of our legitimate interests.

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us or visit https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/individual-rights/

If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please:

email, call or write to us—see below: 'How to contact us'; and
let us have enough information to identify you e.g. your full name, address and client/ matter reference number;
let us have proof of your identity and address (a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill); and
let us know what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates.

Keeping your personal data secure

We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

How to complain

Please contact us if you have any query or concern about our use of your information (see below 'How to contact us'). We hope we will be able to resolve any issues you may have.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or by telephone: 0303 123 1113.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, when we do we will inform you via email of post.

How to contact us

You can contact us by post, email or telephone if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the information we hold about you, to exercise a right under data protection law or to make a complaint.

Our contact details are shown below:

Our contact details
Post: Alexander & Co Solicitors LLP, 56 Friar Gate, Derby DE1 1DF Email: enquiries@AandCo.co.uk Telephone: 01332 600005

Our contact details

Post: Alexander & Co Solicitors LLP, 56 Friar Gate, Derby DE1 1DF

Email: enquiries@AandCo.co.uk

Telephone: 01332 600005

This version of our privacy policy was published 21 December 2021