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Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice sets out details about the personal data that we, Clarkslegal LLP, may collect and process about you. For the avoidance of doubt, Clarkslegal is also the data controller for any data held by forburyTECH and Employmentbuddy.

This Privacy Notice covers:

  • Job applicants
  • Website users
  • Clients/Potential Clients
  • Professionals we engage such as barristers
  • Other parties to a matter e.g. Legal Representatives
  • Marketing recipients
  • Third parties we contact for information (or who contact us)

This Privacy Notice is non-contractual, regularly reviewed and may be amended by us from time to time.

The types of data we hold, purposes of and legal basis for processing, data sharing and retention periods

Job Applicants

The types of data we hold

Recruitment Stage

We may process the following information at the recruitment stage:

  • Personal contact details including name, address and email;
    Information collected during the recruitment process such as your CV/application (including details of previous work experience, education and references) and answers to any interview/recruitment questions relevant to the role you applied for;
  • Equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory and is not made available to anyone outside of the recruitment team (including hiring managers and HR) save in an anonymised format so as not to identify you; and
  • Information supplied through Recruitment Agencies – we may collect your personal details, details of your application and details of your experience and qualifications from the recruitment agency you applied through.

With the exception of the equal opportunities information, you are obliged to provide this personal data to us as it is necessary for us to explore potentially entering into a contract with you. If you fail to provide it we may be unable to process your application and, if appropriate, offer you employment. The equal opportunities form is not mandatory and there are no consequences if you fail to provide it.

Conditional Offer/Shortlisted

We may process the following information after you have been shortlisted and/or as part of a conditional job offer:

  • Proof of your identity (such as driving licence) and any relevant right to work checks;
  • Proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, and we will take copies; and
  • Depending on your role, you may be asked to complete an application for a Basic Criminal Record Check via the Disclosure and Barring Service (“DBS”) which will verify your declaration of unspent convictions. We will then get details of your criminal convictions from DBS.

We will contact your referees (with express consent), using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references.
The above is usually part of a conditional offer of employment and therefore you are obliged to provide this as it is necessary to enable us to enter into a contract with you. Right to work checks and the DBS check are statutory requirements which you are obliged to provide. A failure to provide these may result in us being unable to offer you employment.

The purposes of processing

  • For recruitment purposes i.e. to ensure you are suitable for the role being advertised and so we can contact you about this role;
  • To comply with legal obligations including right to work checks;
  • To seek professional advice /defend claims arising from the recruitment process;
  • In relation to the equal opportunities form, to monitor equality in recruitment practices.

Legal basis for processing

We process your personal data on the basis of consent and/or because it is necessary for our legitimate interests, namely to ensure that you are qualified and suitable for the role you are applying for and to ensure we have a record of the recruitment process for the defence of legal claims.

We process details of your right to work and DBS checks in line with our legal obligations to do so.

Website Users

The types of data we hold

When you access our website, we may collect the following personal data:

  • Login data (i.e. username and password) which you input in respect of our subscriber services;
  • Data you input into online forms. For example, if you are signing up to legal updates, you will be asked for your name, employer details and email address. If you are subscribing to a paid service, for example, full membership of Employmentbuddy, you will be asked for financial information for the purposes of payment.
  • If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence.
  • We may also ask you to complete surveys that we use for research purposes, although you do not have to respond to them.
  • Details of your visits to our site including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data and the resources that you access.

Cookies

When you access our website cookies will be created. Cookies are small text files that are stored on your device when you visit a website. Cookies are used for a variety of reasons including to ensure the website can function, to improve its efficiency, to recognise you when you return to the site and to make improvements to content.

You can change your cookie preferences at any time by clicking on the ‘C’ icon in the bottom right corner. You can then adjust the available sliders to ‘On’ or ‘Off’. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.

Alternatively, most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings.
Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:

To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer’s website.

Clients/Potential Clients

The types of data we hold

  • Contact details of those instructing us (such as name, job title, address and email address) or potential clients;
  • In some instances, we may require documentation to verify identity including passport or driving licence details for individuals or details of shareholders and directors from Companies House for organisations;
  • Information about the matter you are instructing us on;
  •  In some instances, we may also need to carry out credit checks or other financial checks with (and obtain personal data from) the HMRC or similar financial organisations;
  • We may also need to process personal data from third parties which are necessary for the performance of the contract with you, for example, where you are an individual instructing us on the sale of a house, we will need to obtain records from the HM Land Registry confirming your ownership and may also require information from your mortgage provider.

You are obliged to provide this information to enable us to perform our contract or to take steps to enter into a contract with you and to enable us to comply with statutory obligations, such as verifying identity and source of funds for anti-money laundering purposes. If you do not provide this information, we may not be able to provide any services to you.

The purposes of processing

To enable us to:

  • Perform our contractual obligations (e.g. to contact you, provide advice etc) or take steps to enter into a contract (e.g. provide a cost estimate);
  • Preparatory steps to deal with your enquiry to potentially engage you as a client;
  • Verify identity and source of funds where legally required to do so (for example, in accordance with anti-money laundering legislation);
  • Retain a record for the defence of legal claims or insurance purposes;
  • Retain a record for the purpose of regulatory audits or audit requests from clients and for external audits/quality checks (e.g. for Lexcel);
  • To register you as a new client and provide services to you as requested.
  • To be able to contact you in relation to the service and effectively manage our relationship with you.
  • To enable us to ensure efficiency and security of our systems (e.g. prevention of unauthorised access) and make improvements where necessary, including for user experience of the website.
  • To make business decisions about the provision of services and our website.
  • Where you have opted in to events or legal updates, your data is also processed for marketing purposes (please see Marketing Recipients below)
  • For legal directory submissions (subject always to your express consent).

Legal basis for processing

  • To perform the contract that we have entered into with you or take steps to enter into a contract (e.g. provide a costs estimate);
  • It is also necessary for our legitimate interests (to provide the service efficiently, to maintain accurate records for the defence of legal claims, to retain accreditations and to grow our business);
  • To comply with our legal and regulatory requirements including regulatory audits; and
  • In relation to legal directory submissions, we will only process such data with your explicit consent.

Sharing your data

Your data will be shared internally to the extent necessary to carry out our obligations under our contract with you and/or in line with the purposes set out above. This is likely to include the fee earner responsible for the work, their supervisor and subordinates, IT and Finance. Your data may also be shared with our bank as necessary where you are making payments to us.

Your contact details may also be shared with our Marketing team to ensure you are invited to events and provided with legal updates that we believe may be of interest to you. Please note, you have a right to opt out of any marketing communications (see below section on ‘Marketing Recipients’).

We may need to share your data with professional advisers we contract with such as barristers to obtain advice in relation to the matter you have instructed us on.

We will also share your personal information with third parties where required by law (for example to comply with anti-money laundering legislation) and where it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you (as stated above). We may also need to share personal data with third parties such as potential buyers of the business where applicable (the recipient of this information will be bound by confidentiality restrictions if the data cannot be anonymised). We are bound by principles of legal privilege and confidentiality and, in line with our professional obligations, will not share your personal data more widely without your explicit consent.

Once we have completed our obligations under our contract with you, your personal data will be archived. Hard copy files are sent to a data processor to store. We have imposed contractual obligations on those processing data on our behalf to protect the security of your data and ensure compliance with data protection legislation.

 

Purposes of processing for website users

Legal basis for processing

We process this data as it is necessary for our legitimate interests, namely to keep records of user experiences, provide the information you have requested, improve our services, ensure our services remain accurate and up to date, study how our website is used and popular content, for marketing strategies/communications and to maintain and grow our business.

We also process data as required by law, including, to comply with legal obligations such as security obligations in data protection legislation (such as prevention of unauthorised access).

We do not rely solely on consent to process your data, however, where you have signed up for services we may also process your data on the basis of your consent.

Sharing your data

Your data will be shared internally with our IT and Marketing departments. It may also be provided to Partners at the firm (and their support staff and subordinates where appropriate) to the extent necessary for their role and to make decisions about the business, however, this will usually be in an anonymised format (e.g. statistics).

Our website contains links to third-party websites. Clicking on those links may allow third parties to collect your personal data. We do not have control over such websites and would encourage you to read the privacy notices for websites you visit.

The type of data we hold

  • Contact details of those instructing us (such as name, job title, address and email address) or potential clients;
  • In some instances, we may require documentation to verify identity including passport or driving licence details for individuals or details of shareholders and directors from Companies House for organisations;
  • Information about the matter you are instructing us on;
  • In some instances, we may also need to carry out credit checks or other financial checks with (and obtain personal data from) the HMRC or similar financial organisations;
  • We may also need to process personal data from third parties which are necessary for the performance of the contract with you, for example, where you are an individual instructing us on the sale of a house, we will need to obtain records from the HM Land Registry confirming your ownership and may also require information from your mortgage provider.

You are obliged to provide this information to enable us to perform our contract or to take steps to enter into a contract with you and to enable us to comply with statutory obligations, such as verifying identity and source of funds for anti-money laundering purposes.   If you do not provide this information we may not be able to provide any services to you.

The purposes of processing

To enable us to:

  • Perform our contractual obligations (e.g. to contact you, provide advice etc) or take steps to enter into a contract (e.g. provide a cost estimate);
  • Preparatory steps to deal with your enquiry to potentially engage you as a client;
  • Verify identity and source of funds where legally required to do so (for example, in accordance with anti-money laundering legislation);
  • Retain a record for the defence of legal claims or insurance purposes;
  • Market services to you (such as legal updates and event invitations) which we consider would be of interest to you;
  • Retain a record for the purpose of regulatory audits or audit requests from clients and for external audits/quality checks (e.g. for Lexcel);
  • For legal directory submissions (subject always to your express consent).  

Legal basis for processing

  • To perform the contract that we have entered into with you or take steps to enter into a contract (e.g. provide a costs estimate);
  • It is also necessary for our legitimate interests (to provide the service efficiently, to maintain accurate records for the defence of legal claims, to retain accreditations and to grow our business);
  • To comply with our legal and regulatory requirements including regulatory audits;
  • In relation to legal directory submissions, we will only process such data with your explicit consent.  

Sharing your data

Your data will be shared internally to the extent necessary to carry out our obligations under our contract with you and/or in line with the purposes set out above.  This is likely to include the fee earner responsible for the work, their supervisor and subordinates, IT and Finance.  Your data may also be shared with our bank as necessary where you are making payments to us.

Your contact details may also be shared with our Marketing team to ensure you are invited to events and provided with legal updates that we believe may be of interest to you.  Please note, you have a right to opt out of any marketing communications (see below section on ‘Marketing’).

We may need to share your data with professional advisers we contract with such as barristers to obtain advice in relation to the matter you have instructed us on.

We will also share your personal information with third parties where required by law (for example to comply with anti-money laundering legislation) and where it is necessary to administer the working relationship with you (as stated above).   We may also need to share personal data with third parties such as potential buyers of the business where applicable (the recipient of this information will be bound by confidentiality restrictions if the data cannot be anonymised). We are bound by principles of legal privilege and confidentiality and, in line with our professional obligations, will not share your personal data more widely without your explicit consent.

Once we have completed our obligations under our contract with you, your personal data will be archived.  Hard copy files are sent to a data processor to store.  We have imposed contractual obligations on those processing data on our behalf to protect the security of your data and ensure compliance with data protection legislation.

Professionals we engage

The types of data we hold

This may include barristers, medical professionals, accountants, tax advisers or other experts.

We will hold your contact details (such as name, email and phone number) and your opinion/advice as per the terms of our contract with you.

You are obliged to provide this information to enable us to perform the contract entered into with you or to make enquiries to potentially engage your services.  A failure to provide this information may mean we are unable to enter into a contract with you or may leave you exposed to claims (for example where you enter into a contract but do not provide the advice/report as per the terms of the contract).

The purposes of processing

To ensure we can contact you and you can provide the service contracted or make enquiries to obtain such service.  We also retain this data to ensure we have a record of services to establish/exercise/defend legal claims and to assess the provision of future services to you.

Legal basis for processing

The personal data is processed to enable us to perform the contract we have entered into but is also necessary for our legitimate interests (being able to comply with our obligations to our client under our contract with them, maintain a record of advice provided, to assess suitability for instructions and to establish/exercise/defend legal claims) and the legitimate interests of our client (obtaining advice as appropriate).  We also process on the basis of consent where you have agreed to provide your services.

Sharing your data

Your data will be shared internally to the extent necessary to carry out our functions under our contract with you and our client.  This is likely to include sharing data with our client (on whose matter you are instructed), the lawyer/fee earner responsible for the work, their supervisor and subordinates, together with our IT and Finance teams, where appropriate.

Your contact details may also be shared with other lawyers and support staff at the firm for the purposes of considering future instructions to you.

Other parties to a matter

The type of data we hold

Other parties to a matter may include legal or lay representatives, other parties to the claim/dispute/advice, judges, judicial staff, ACAS representatives, shareholders, beneficiaries, medical experts, third party witnesses etc.

We may be informed by you or by a third party (including but not limited to our client, a party to a transaction/claim or a court/Tribunal) of your name and contact details if you are involved on a particular matter we are instructed on.

In these instances, the likely data we will hold on you will be your name, the organisation you work for and your contact details.  It may also include information that you have given us or the client and your opinion on matters, for example those captured in pleadings, legal bundles, correspondence and documents relating to the matter we are instructed on, witness statements or medical reports.

You are not obliged by us to provide your personal data, however, you may be subject to regulatory or legal requirements to do so.  Failure to provide us with your personal data may impact the effective management of the matter in question.

The purposes of processing

The personal data is processed to ensure we are able to contact relevant parties on a matter and, in some cases comply with professional requirements (i.e. to speak with legal representatives where we are aware they are instructed).

It may also be processed to provide further information relevant to the matter in question (e.g. witness account of events etc).

Legal basis for processing

We process this on the basis of our legitimate interests (to be able to advise our client) and our clients’ legitimate interests (to be able to effectively carry out the matter/receive informed legal advice etc).

We may also process this data on the basis of consent (if you have provided these details to us yourself) and where required by law (e.g. pursuant to a court order).

Sharing your data

Your data will be shared internally to the extent necessary to carry out our contract with our client and ensure the smooth running of the matter in question.  This is likely to include sharing data with our client, the lawyer/fee earner responsible for the work, their supervisor and subordinates, Finance and IT.

Marketing recipients

Type of data we hold

We may process your personal data including your name, employer, job title and email address for marketing purposes.

In most cases we will have receive this data from you directly when you have signed up for services or events, however, we may also obtain data from publicly available sources (such as your employer’s website).

You are not obliged to provide this information, however, if you do not do so we may not be able to provide the services requested (for example, to receive legal updates, we would need a valid email address).

You may opt out of marketing communications by emailing marketing@clarkslegal.com.  Alternatively, each of our marketing communications contain an ‘opt out’ hyperlink so that you can opt out easily at any time.

Purposes for processing

We may process this personal data to send you marketing updates by email (and in some cases by post) such as legal news, details of new services and event invitations that we believe may be of interest to you or that you have expressly requested.

If you have opted out of marketing updates, we may retain your personal data as a record of those who have opted out to ensure that we do not contact you further for these purposes.

Legal basis for processing

We process this data on the basis of consent and legitimate interests, namely to maintain and grow our business.

Sharing of data

We will always treat your personal data securely and with respect and do not share this with other organisations save where you have expressly asked us to do so.

Your personal data is shared internally with lawyers/fee earners, and our Marketing and IT teams.  We may use external marketing companies for marketing purposes, however, we do not envisage needing to share your personal data with them and will only do so if it is necessary for particular tasks assigned to them pursuant to their role.  Where fees are charged for a service, our Finance team will also have access to your personal data to the extent necessary to recover payments from you and record your payment record and financial details.

Where you sign up to attend events ordinarily a badge stating your name, job title and organisation (and/or a sign in sheet stating the same) will be on display at the event which others attending the same event may have sight of.

Third parties we contact for information (or who contact us)

General information about our processing of personal data

Other purposes

Please note that if we intend to further process your personal data for a purpose other than that for which it was collected, we shall provide you with information on this other purpose and all other information as set out in this notice.

Transfer outside the EEA

We will not transfer your personal data to any country outside the European Economic Area without your consent.  Information about the transfer and any relevant safeguards will be provided to you in advance of you giving consent.

Retention

In terms of retention periods, we will not keep your data for longer than is necessary. When deciding how long to hold your data we have regard to the purposes for which this is processed,  legal and regulatory requirements (including any contractually agreed periods) and statutory limitation periods (under which it is prudent for us to retain records for longer periods).

Consent

Where we rely on consent to process your personal data, you have a right to withdraw your consent at any time.  This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

You can withdraw your consent to our processing at any time by contacting data@clarkslegal.com. Please specify the type of processing that you are withdrawing your consent to in your email.

Your rights

You have a number of rights in relation to the personal information that we process about you. You:

  • Have the right to be informed about your data (as set out in this Privacy Notice)
  • Can request access to your personal data
  • Can request that your personal data be rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
  • Can request that the processing of your personal data be restricted or erased in certain circumstances, for example, where the data is no longer necessary to meet its purpose
  • Can object to processing in certain circumstances, for example where this is based on legitimate interests or involves direct marketing.
  • Can request to receive personal data that you have provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and can request to have this transmitted without hindrance where the data is processed on the basis of consent or performance of a contract
  • Can lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
    The ICO’s address:
    Information Commissioner’s Office
    Wycliffe House
    Water Lane
    Wilmslow
    Cheshire
    SK9 5AF

    Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
    ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk

Automated Decision Making (ADM)

ADM occurs when decisions are made about you by a computer or some other information analysing machine. Examples of this include the machine scanning of CVs, computer processed aptitude or personality tests and website profiling.

We do not use ADM.

Contact Details

Clarkslegal LLP (registered in England and Wales with company no. OC308349) can be contacted at 5th Floor, Thames Tower, Station Road, Reading, RG1 1LX, Tel: 0118 958 5321, Fax: 0118 907 4070

If you have any enquiries regarding data protection or wish to exercise any of your rights please do contact our dedicated team at data@clarkslegal.com.