This Privacy Statement explains what information Cook & Talbot Limited (“Cook & Talbot”) hold about you as our client, why we have that information in our possession and what we do to protect it and how you can have that information removed if you require us to do so.
We are providing you with this information pursuant to the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Cook & Talbot’s Privacy Officer and who is responsible for overseeing compliance with this Privacy Statement is John Wroblewski and who can be contacted at john.wroblewski@cookandtalbot.co.uk or Ground Floor, The Old Courthouse, 2a Albert Road, Southport, PR9 0LE.
In the event that he is not available please contact Mark Lloyd on mark.lloyd@cookandtalbot.co.uk or at the same address provided above.
Cook & Talbot reserve the right to change this Privacy Statement from time to time and you should, therefore, check the Cook & Talbot website to make sure that you are aware of our up to date policy.
It is important that you read this Privacy Notice and our Terms and Conditions of business so that you are aware of the terms upon which we will undertake work for you and how we treat your personal information.
Who We Are
Cook & Talbot is a registered company based at Ground Floor, The Old Courthouse, 2a Albert Road, Southport, PR9 0LE Company number 11036013.
This address is the Company’s registered office address.
Ground Floor
The Old Courthouse
2a Albert Road
Southport
PR9 0LE
What Information Do We Hold About You and Why?
The information that we hold about you is necessary for us to carry out your instructions and may include such information as your name, address, date of birth, contact details, gender and nationality.
Any information that you provide to us is vitally important as it enables us to carry out any work on your behalf accurately and to the best of our ability. For that reason should any of your personal information change it is essential that you let us know of this as soon as possible.
We use the information you provide to us primarily for the provision of legal services to you and related purposes including updating and enhancing client records, analysis to help us manage our Practice, statutory returns and legal/regulatory compliance.
Our use of that information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 1998 and, from 25th May 2018, the GDPR and our duty of confidentiality.
Your personal information is primarily collected from you directly but may, on occasions, be provided by third parties.
The information that we hold about you will only be information that is directly relevant to your instructions to Cook & Talbot. The personal information that we receive will vary depending upon the type of work that we undertake.
Additional Information – Lawful Basis for Processing
In order to comply with data protection legislation, Cook & Talbot must have a lawful basis for processing personal data.
The lawful bases relied upon by Cook & Talbot may include:
- the performance of a contract where processing is necessary to provide legal services to you
- compliance with legal and regulatory obligations
- the legitimate interests of Cook & Talbot in managing and operating its legal practice
- your consent where this is specifically obtained.
Additional Information – Special Category Data
In some circumstances Cook & Talbot may process special category personal data where this is necessary in order to provide legal services or to comply with legal obligations.
Where this occurs such processing will be undertaken in accordance with the provisions of data protection legislation including where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Sources of Personal Data
Whilst most personal information is provided by you directly, Cook & Talbot may also obtain personal information from other sources where this is necessary to provide legal services.
Such sources may include:
- search providers
- identity verification providers
- government bodies and public registers
- financial institutions
- courts or tribunals
- other professional advisers.
Who Do We Share Your Personal Information With?
The personal information that we hold about you will be used for the purposes of carrying out our work on your behalf.
Accordingly, that information may be provided, for example, to Defective Title Insurers, Search Providers, Barristers and IT Support.
You have the right of access under the Data Protection Legislation to the personal data that we hold about you.
Regulatory and Legal Disclosures
We will only seek to use your personal information for the purpose for which it was originally collected.
However, and because of the legal and regulatory requirements that Solicitors operate in accordance with, information may be shared, insofar as it is necessary, in particular, with the Solicitor’s Regulation Authority, the Law Society, the Legal Ombudsman and our Insurers.
Where permissible and appropriate any such information will be anonymised.
Please note that external firms or organisation may conduct audit or carry out quality checks on our Practice. These external firms and organisations are required to retain confidentiality in relation to your files just in the same way as we are.
How Long Will We Hold Your Information For?
Whilst we will hold your information for as long as we are undertaking work on your behalf we have certain legal and insurance obligations to keep a record of that information for a period of time after the work that has been undertaken for you has been completed.
This varies from case to case but broadly any such information will be held for at least 6 years from the date of the conclusion of your instructions.
Data Security
Our Responsibilities
We take the utmost care with confidential information that we hold about you.
When we contact you by email or other electronic means we do this with your consent and in order to carry out your instructions. The same applies to communications by telephone and by letter or fax.
We ensure that any personal information that you provide to us, in any paper format, is stored securely within our offices and, likewise, any electronic information that we hold is stored securely on our computer system.
The only people with access to that information are those who specifically need to work on your matter in order to carry out your instructions, and our IT Support who assist in protecting the confidentiality of your information.
We employ measures to protect the security of any personal information that you provide to us from being accessed by anyone who is unauthorised to access that information or from being lost or inadvertently disclosed in any way.
You will appreciate that email is not a totally secure medium but we do endeavour to ensure in all ways possible that your personal information is kept safe.
We will use our best endeavours to ensure that no unauthorised parties have access to your private information.
Additional Information – International Transfers
Cook & Talbot primarily stores and processes personal information within the United Kingdom.
However, where technology providers or service providers are located outside the UK, personal data may be processed outside the UK.
Where this occurs Cook & Talbot will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to ensure that personal data remains protected in accordance with data protection legislation.
Your Rights
You have a right to have personal information amended if any of the information held about you is inaccurate in any way.
You may also have a right to be forgotten where, in particular circumstances, you can ask for personal information about you to be erased subject to our legal and regulatory obligations.
You may have a right to restrict processing though this may have an impact on our ability to provide legal advice and assistance to you.
You also have the right to have personal information held about you to be transferred to another organisation.
You also have the right to object to certain types of processing such as marketing.
However, we will only contact you for such purposes where you have provided your specific consent and authority for us to do so.
In limited circumstances where you have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose you may have the right to withdraw such consent for that specific processing at any time.
To withdraw your consent please contact Cook & Talbot’s Privacy Officer.
Complaints Process
If you have a complaint about how we have handled your personal information you may contact us using the details above and we will investigate your complaint.
If your concern relates to the way your personal information has been handled, we will review it under our data protection complaints process.
We may ask you to provide information to confirm your identity, particularly where your complaint involves access to personal information or where we need to ensure that we are communicating with the correct person. We will only ask for information that is necessary and proportionate.
We will acknowledge your complaint within 3 working days and keep you informed of progress. We will investigate your concerns and provide you with the outcome of our review without undue delay and in any event within 8 weeks.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which is the UK regulator for data protection matters. However, we would welcome the opportunity to consider your concerns first and try to resolve them directly with you.
The ICO’s contact details are:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
