Privacy Notice

Our privacy notice

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we collect personal information.

Who are we?

In this notice, whenever you see the words ‘we’, ‘us’, ‘our’ or ‘LB & Co’ it refers to LB & Co Limited, a company registered in England and Wales under number 08147533.

Your acceptance of this notice

When using our website or providing us with your information we will collect and use the information in the ways set out in this policy. If you do not agree to this notice please do not use our website or our services.

What is personal data?

‘Personal data’ means any information that identifies a living person. This can include name, address, phone number or any email address that identifies you, whether at home or at work.

It also covers our use of any personal information you provide to us. This may be by phone, text message, email, letter, other correspondence, or in person. It can include IP addresses and other technical identifying information.

What is sensitive personal data?

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’), ‘sensitive personal data’ means any information on racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning health or data concerning a person's sex life or sexual orientation.

What is a data processing?

‘Data processing’ is any activity that involves use of personal data. It includes obtaining, recording or holding the data, organising, amending, retrieving, using, disclosing, erasing or destroying it. Processing also includes transferring personal data to third parties. LB & Co falls under the definition of a ‘data controller’ because we are an organisation that processes data on our own behalf, for our own purposes.  

Contents:

  1. People we collect information about
  2. Why we hold your data
  3. How we collect data
  4. Processing and protecting your data
  5. Communication preferences
  6. Providing your data to others
  7. Sensitive data
  8. Use of media and consent
  9. Your data on our website
  10. Website hosting
  11. Accessing your information
  12. Asking for your data to be deleted
  13. The remit of this notice
  14. Complaints
  15. Updating this notice
  16. How to contact us

1.        People we collect information about

We need to collect and use your personal data if you connect or correspond with us for any reason, including if you are a:

2.        Why we hold your data

We may hold your details to:

3.        How we collect data

We may collect and store information about you whenever you interact with us, for example, when you make an enquiry of any sort. Other examples include if you enter into a contract for our services, apply for a job, or otherwise provide us with personal information.

We may also receive information about you from third parties for a specific purpose. This  is usually to give us necessary information relating to the matter on which you have instructed us. We may also share information with third parties for a specific purpose relating to the matter on which you have instructed us. However, this will only happen if you give us permission to share your information.

4.        Processing and protecting your data

As required by law, LB & Co has informed the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) of why we collect and process data. You may wish to visit the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website and view our registry entry. Our registration number is ZA342049.

Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation principles require LB & Co to process personal data fairly and lawfully. To comply, we will be clear about how we will use your information and ensure that our reason for collecting information is lawful.

We only hold data about you that is enough for our purpose, nothing more.

We work to make sure the data we hold is accurate and up to date.

We only hold personal data as long as necessary.

With regards to client files, following conclusion of the work we are retained to do, we will either electronically scan or retain both our papers on the matter and any documents that have been provided by you or others in relation to the matter. We will hold these in safekeeping or electronically for six years for the purpose of continuity should you require further assistance on the matter, after which they may be securely destroyed or deleted.

LB & Co may retain other personal data for differing periods of time for various lawful purposes relating to legitimate business interests.

We have systems in place to safeguard your personal data. Access to written and electronic personal data is restricted and has a level of security depending on the sensitivity of the data. All information and correspondence relating to clients is kept in locked offices accessible by staff only, and is password protected where stored digitally.

5.        Communication preferences

Wherever possible it is our policy to communicate without the need to print paper. Following the initial client care letter which we send by post, we will usually write to you by email or telephone you. However, you can expressly request if you prefer that we contact you by mail, telephone, email or text message or if you require printed versions of any document or communication. You can do this by informing the Solicitor or staff member dealing with your instructions or by emailing the Data Protection Officer at rosie@lbandco.uk.

We do not engage in marketing communications such as circulation of newsletters by mail or email but we may contact you from time to time if we believe there is for example new law or policy which may be of interest to you. If you tell us you no longer wish to hear from us, we will not contact you again.

6.        Providing your data to others

We will hold your personal information in strict confidence and in full compliance with the data protection legislation and the requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

We will transfer your information internally between colleagues where necessary to follow up an enquiry or undertake performance of instructions. However, information or documents which are not already in the public domain will not be disclosed to third parties without your consent. Your personal data will not be disclosed to any other person, company or third party at any time without your permission.

If you are our existing client or wish to instruct us, in order to fulfil our service we will require clarification as to which parties we should share information with and the appropriate lines of communication, including any individuals who should be routinely copied into to correspondence.

We have stated in our Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) registration that we will not transfer data outside the European Economic Area. If you are a client and wish for us to do so on your behalf please discuss alternative options with us.

7.        Sensitive data  

We do not usually have cause to record any information that falls under the definition of ‘sensitive data’ and which is subject to additional protections in law. However, if it is necessary to record and process any sensitive information we will ask for your explicit consent.

8.        Use of media and consent

If you have given us consent to use media belonging to you or in which you feature, we may use it on the LB & Co website, on social media or in LB & Co information materials, such as leaflets and presentations.

Such material will only be used, printed or published for as long as consent has been given. Consent will normally be for twelve years, but can be withdrawn at any time in which case every effort will be made to withdraw from use and they will not be used in the future.

After expiry of consent photographs, videos or audio recordings etc will be deleted from storage, will not be reused in published materials, and will be withdrawn from use on our website. We are unable to guarantee that we can withdraw from use images, videos or quotes that have been published prior to consent being withdrawn, although reasonable steps will be taken to do so. We cannot guarantee that third parties will always request our consent to use content from our web sites, publications and materials.

9.        Your data on our website

If you use any email facilities or forms on our website to make an enquiry, we will capture your name, email address and any other information you choose to provide. This means we can respond to your enquiry or request for legal assistance.  Although we will temporarily retain any contact and other data that you provide in order to respond to you,  if you subsequently choose not to instruct us we will not use it to contact you again unless information comes to our attention which we reasonably believe is in your best interests for us to provide you with.

Information is automatically provided on your browsing behaviour through the use of cookies on our website. This information does not enable us to identify you personally. However, it does allow us to track usage of our site so that we can improve it.

We may use standard third-party web analytics services such as Google Analytics to collect anonymous information about your computer, including your anonymised IP address, operating system and browser type. This includes for example the number of users viewing pages on the site, but it does not identify you individually. This means we can monitor and report on the effectiveness of the site and help us improve it.

Internal employees and our contractors may be given access to the types of information collected from our website for the reasons identified above. However, we will never disclose or sell this information to third parties.

10.        Website hosting

We use third-party services to host our website. The site is hosted at Linode LLC cloud hosting service.

11.        Accessing your information

LB & Co will assist you if you want to see the information we hold about you. A request should be made in writing, either by letter or by email.  The request will be subject to the supply of reasonable evidence of your identity. In most cases, we will reply to a request within a month. We may need to extend this period for particularly complex requests. Incorrect data can be amended or destroyed.

If you have already requested and received information we hold about you, there will need to be a reasonable period of time before you can request the information again.

12.        Asking for your data to be deleted

You can request that we erase your personal data at any time if:

However, please note that we may not be able to comply with your request in all circumstances. For example, the right to erasure does not apply if processing is necessary to exercise the right of freedom of expression and information; to comply with a legal obligation; for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest; or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

A request should be made in writing, either by letter or by email. We will comply or respond without delay and within a month at the latest.

13.        The remit of this notice

This privacy notice does not cover information gathered by others outside of our control.

14.        Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way that we have collected or processed your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office by contacting their telephone helpline on 0303 123 1113 or reporting your concern using their online form via https://ico.org.uk/concerns/ 

15.        Updating this notice

This privacy notice may be reviewed and updated from time to time. When this happens we will post the new version on our website. You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email.

16.        How to contact us

Requests for further information about our privacy notice or for a copy of our full data protection policy can be made to the Data Protection Officer by email to rosie@lbandco.uk or by writing to:

Data Protection Officer, LB & Co Limited, Linton House, Avenue des Hirondelles, Pool in Wharfedale, Leeds LS21 1EY.