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
Should you be concerned about the way in which we
handle your personal data at any time, we would ask you to raise this with us
in the first instance.
You do ultimately, have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory body such as the Information Commissioner’s Office, the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Legal Ombudsman.
