PoliciesPRIVACY POLICY

Guildford Chambers is committed to protecting the personal data that you provide to us and recognise the importance of being clear about how we intend to use it.

Our address is Stoke House, Leapale Lane, Guildford GU1 4LY. Our data protection registration number is: Z7250311. Full details of our notified purposes can be viewed at the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office www.ico.gov.uk

Scope

This policy applies to all personal information collected by Guildford Chambers, our subsidiaries and partners, and contractors acting on our behalf.

Collecting, storing and using personal information

Personal information we may collect

The information we may collect about you and others could include, but is not limited to:

Personal data i.e. name, D.O.B, address

Proof of ID i.e. passport/driving license

In relation to a case

Case files/notes

Curriculum vitae details (for those enquiring about jobs or pupillages)

We will not collect information about you for any purpose other than specified within our contract with you. Guildford Chambers will ensure that the personal information we collect is updated to our systems in a timely and accurate manner.

We may apply markers to your information on our systems to allow us to tailor and deliver services to you and/or if required as we have a need to protect the vital interests of our staff, contractors and customers.

Your rights as a data subject

At any point while we are in possession of or processing your personal data, you, the data subject, have the following rights:

Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.

Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.

Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records.

Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply to have a right to restrict the processing.

Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation.

Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing.

Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the right to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling.

Right to judicial review: in the event that Guildford Chambers refuses your request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why.

All of the above requests will be forwarded on should there be a third party involved in the processing of your personal data.

Requesting a copy of your personal information

As part of our service to you, we will supply you with copies of specific pieces of information, for example a copy of your rent statement. If you want a copy of information we have received or shared with third parties or a copy of everything we have on record relating to you, you will be required to put this in writing. This is called a ‘subject access request’.

If you make a subject access request, we will provide you with a readable copy of the personal information we hold about you. To make a subject access request you must:

make your request in writing

provide proof of your identity

Please send your request to:

Name: Simon Morris
Address: Guildford Chambers, Stoke House, Leapale Lane, Guildford, GU1 4LY
Email address – smorris@guildfordchambers.com
Phone Number – 01483 539131

How we use your personal information

Guildford Chambers will process your information to respond to your enquiries, provide you with services and manage your relationship with us.

The information is used to:

Carry out technical administration

Enable Customer administration

Allow the performance of legal services

Data records held. This is usually personal information, name, address, date of birth and national insurance number.

Guildford Chambers may undertake regular reviews of the personal information we hold about you and make changes to any service or information-handling processes within the law or under the guidance of the Information Commissioner. Guildford Chambers only collects or uses personal information for those purposes indicated in our notification with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Who can access to this information?

Staff working for Guildford Chambers or on behalf of Guildford Chambers can access the data that is essential to the performance of their duties. Barrister members at Guildford Chambers can access the data that is essential to the provision of their services.

Retention Period

Guildford Chambers Retention Period has been set to 7 years. In practice, there are a number of reasons for retaining documents/information beyond the end of a case. These include:

1. Case documents may be relevant to an appeal out of time (especially in criminal cases).
2. Anonymised case documents can be used as precedents.
3. Case documents may contain the results of research into the law, which may be relevant to a current case. These should be anonymised once any need to retain the data for other purposes has disappeared (e.g. “7” below).
4. Instructions, facts or expert opinions in a previous case may be relevant to a current case. These should be anonymised once any need to retain the data for other purposes has disappeared (e.g. “7” below).
5. Correspondence or instructions contain contact details which may be useful. These should be transposed from the correspondence and instructions to a list of contacts e.g. in Outlook, once the need to retain the documents for other reasons has disappeared (e.g. “7” below), so that the documents can then be deleted.
6. Case documents or records may be important when carrying out a conflict search. It will not usually be necessary to retain substantial numbers of case files for this purpose, and you may find that it is sufficient for the necessary information to be retained on the Chambers’ system, for those who normally carry out these searches.
7. Case documents have to be retained in the event that a complaint is made against a barrister, or a barrister makes a claim against his or her insurers or solicitors. The limitation period for such claims should provide guidance as to the period of retention. In addition, an extended retention period may be required where clients are minors.

Destruction of records

When records are identified for disposal, Guildford Chambers responsibility is to delete these records in a secure manner. Guildford Chambers use a third party company “Box It” who collect the case files monthly and dispose of them securely.

Applications for Employment at Guildford Chambers

All applications for employment with Guildford Chambers will be used to process your application and to produce and monitor recruitment statistics. References will not be requested without your prior permission. Guildford Chambers will not share or disclose your information unless you have given us your consent or we are required to by law. Where Guildford Chambers is required to carry out a Disclosure, we will comply with the law and your rights when carrying out these checks.

Guildford Chambers retains personal information relating to unsuccessful applicants for no longer than a year for use in the event of an appeal. We produce statistical information to assist with recruitment analysis. We may collect additional information when an offer of employment is made to the successful applicant. This could include requesting and holding a copy of your passport, national insurance number.

How we share your personal information

We will only share your information with third parties with your consent, but there are occasions where we are required to share your information without your consent due to legal reasons. We may seek your consent directly, or may obtain it by telling you about how your information may be used at the time you provide information or enter a contract (e.g. Direct Access Client Agreement) with us.

Our legal obligations

We will share specific and relevant information with law enforcement and government agencies or public bodies where we are legally required to do so. Examples may include:

The prevention or detection of crime and fraud

The apprehension or prosecution of offenders

The assessment or collection of tax or duty owed to customs and excise

Sharing in connection with legal proceedings

Sharing in relation to the physical or mental health of an individual, where disclosure is required to protect them or others from serious harm

Research and statistical purposes

We may also share your information with emergency services and local authorities, where this is necessary to help them respond to an emergency that affects you.

Keeping your information secure

We store personal information both electronically and in paper form. We implement security policies, processes and technical security solutions to protect the personal information we hold from:

unauthorised access

improper use or disclosure

unauthorised modification

unlawful destruction or accidental loss.

When you contact us, we may ask you to provide us with some information so that we can confirm your identity. If other people (e.g. family members, support workers, solicitors) act on your behalf, we will take steps to make sure that you have agreed for them to do so. This may include asking them to provide us with supporting information to indicate your consent. We do this to protect you and to make sure that other people cannot find things out about you that they are not entitled to know.

Employees and third parties who have access to, or are associated with the processing of, your personal information will be required to ensure compliance with the GDPR Regulation and make reasonable efforts to safeguard it.

Our website/s

When accessing our website/s, Guildford Chambers will collect standard internet log information for statistical purposes. Details of how we do this are on our Privacy Policy page.

We use cookies to collect information in an anonymous way, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited.

We do not make any attempt to identify visitors to our websites. We do not associate information gathered from our sites with personally identifying information from any source.

When we collect personal information, for example via an online form, we will explain what we intend to do with it.

Our websites contain links to various third-party websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of any external websites that are linked from our sites.

Contacting us about your personal information

We will be transparent about what, why and how we collect, use and share your information. Please keep us informed if any of your information changes.

Finding out about the personal information we hold about you

You can ask us whether we are keeping personal information about you by writing to us and making a request.

The Data Protection Act 1998 gives you a number of rights in relation to your personal information. You can find out about your rights, and get further guidance, on the ICO website here.

Questions and complaints

If you are concerned about how we are collecting, using and/or sharing your personal information please contact Simon Morris in Chambers. You can also obtain more information on your rights and our obligations as a Data controller by contacting the Information Commissioner. You can also apply to the Court for compensation for distress and/or damages due to non-compliance of the Data Protection Act.

We keep our privacy policy under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated in May 2018.