Hawsons Privacy Notice

Effective 25 May 2018

Hawsons Privacy Notice

This privacy notice explains how Hawsons and Hawsons Limited use any personal information we collect about you.

Hawsons takes all reasonable steps to ensure data privacy. We will only use your personal information to deliver the services you have requested from us, and to meet our legal responsibilities.

This notice covers:

• How we collect information from you
• What type of information we collect from you
• How your information is used
• How long we keep your data for
• Who has access to your information
• Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf
• How you can access and update your information
• Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information
• Your choices
• Newsletters
• Your rights
• Website cookies
• Changes to our privacy notice
• Contact information
• Complaints

How we collect information from you

We obtain personal information about you when you engage us to deliver our services and/or when you use our website, for example, when you contact us about our services.

What type of information we collect from you

The personal information we collect from you will vary depending on which services you engage us to deliver. The personal information we collect might include your name, address, telephone number, email address, date of birth, your Unique Tax Reference (UTR) number, your National Insurance number, passport and bank account details. When you visit our web site we may collect other information but not information which personally identifies you. Further information is detailed below in the ‘Website cookies’ section.

How your information is used

Depending on which services you engage us to deliver we may use your personal information to:

• contact you by post, email or telephone
• verify your identity where this is required
• understand your needs and how they may be met
• provide you with information which may be relevant to your circumstances
• maintain our records in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory obligations
• process financial transactions
• prevent and detect crime, fraud, money laundering or corruption

How long we keep your data for

We are often required by legislation, other regulatory requirements and our insurers to retain your data including where we have ceased to act for you. The period of retention required varies with the applicable legislation but is typically six years. To ensure compliance with all such requirements it is the policy of the firm to retain all data for a period of seven years from the end of the period concerned.

Where we consider your data may be of continuing significance we may retain your personal information for longer than seven years. However you should not rely upon this. If you require us to retain any document for longer periods please tell us in writing and request an acknowledgement of your request. A fee may be charged for this service.

Who has access to your information

We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.

We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Any staff with access to your information have a duty of confidentiality under the ethical standards that this firm is required to follow. Each year, all Partners and staff are reminded of their responsibilities and sign an annual declaration confirming their understanding of, and adherence to, their duty of confidentiality.

Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf

In providing our services we may need to pass your information to third parties including for example service providers, agents, subcontractors and other associated organisations. This may include solicitors, bankers and also for example in the use of Hawsons client web portal or for software support provision. When we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the relevant service.

We may also pass your data to third parties where we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime, fraud, money laundering or corruption.

Please be assured that other than third party service providers or where we are required by law we will not release your information to third parties unless you have requested that we do so.

How you can access and update your information

Keeping your information up to date and accurate is important to us. We commit to regularly review and correct where necessary, the information that we hold about you. If any of your information changes, please email or write to us, or call us using the ‘Contact information’ noted below.

You have the right to ask for a copy of the information Hawsons holds about you.

Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information

Whilst we strive to protect the personal information we receive, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk.

Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given, or where you have chosen, a password which enables you to access information, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone.

Your data will usually be processed in our offices in the UK. However, to allow us to operate efficient digital processes, we sometimes need to store information in servers located both outside the UK and outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Data stored on servers in the United States of America is generally done so with providers working under the EU-US Privacy Shield Framework. We take the security of your data seriously and so all our systems have appropriate security in place that complies with all applicable legislative and regulatory requirements.

Your choices

We may occasionally contact you by post, email or telephone with details of any changes in legal and regulatory requirements or other developments that may be relevant to your affairs and, where applicable, how we may assist you further. If you do not wish to receive such information from us, please let us know by contacting us as indicated under ‘Contact information’ below.

Newsletters

As part of the registration process for our e-newsletters, we collect personal data. We use that data to email you based upon your newsletter preferences ie. the information you’ve asked us to tell you about. From time to time we may contact you to update your newsletter preferences. You may change your preferences or unsubscribe at any time by visiting www.hawsons.co.uk/preferences. In addition, each newsletter has an option to unsubscribe.

We use a third party provider, MailChimp, to deliver our newsletter. We gather statistics around email opening and clicks using industry standard technologies to help us monitor and improve our e-newsletters. For more information, please see https://mailchimp.com/legal/privacy/ for MailChimp’s privacy policy.

We don’t rent or trade email lists with other organisations or businesses.

Your rights

Access to your information: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information about you that we hold.

Correcting your information: We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards.

Deletion of your information: You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where:
• you consider that we no longer require the information for the purposes for which it was obtained
• you have validly objected to our use of your personal information – see ‘Objecting to how we may use your information’ below
• our use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations
• we are using your information with your consent and you have withdrawn your consent – see ‘withdrawing consent to use your information’ below.

Deletion of your information is of course subject to the requirements of legislation, other regulations and our insurers as outlined in the section ‘How long we keep your data for’

Restricting how we may use your information: In some cases, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information. This right might apply, for example, where we are checking the accuracy of personal information about you that we hold or assessing the validity of any objection you have made to our use of your information. The right might also apply where there is no longer a basis for using your personal information but you do not want us to delete the data. Where this right is validly exercised, we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.

Objecting to how we may use your information: Where we use your personal information to perform tasks carried out in the public interest then, if you ask us to, we will stop using that personal

information unless there are overriding legitimate grounds to continue. You have the right at any time to require us to stop using your personal information for direct marketing purposes.

Withdrawing consent to use your information: Where we use your personal information with your consent you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purpose(s) for which consent was given.

Please contact us in any of the ways set out in ‘Contact information’ below if you wish to exercise any of these rights.

Website cookies

Hawsons website incorporates Google Analytics which uses cookies to collect information about visitor behaviour patterns to improve our website. The information collected may include your IP address and browser type but not any information which identifies individuals. Google Analytics stores information such as which pages are visited, how long is spent on the site and how web site visitors arrived on the site.

Changes to our privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and will place any updates on www.hawsons.co.uk/privacy. Paper copies of the privacy notice may also be obtained using the contact details below.

This privacy notice was last updated on 1 May 2018.

Contact information

Please get in touch with one of your usual Hawsons contacts or alternatively contact Scott Sanderson on 0114 266 7141. Scott can be contacted via email at ss@hawsons.co.uk or by post at Hawsons, Pegasus House, 463a Glossop Road, Sheffield S10 2QD.

Complaints

We seek to resolve directly all complaints about how we handle your personal information. In addition you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone – 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745

Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns