What information may we hold about you?
You can access most of the pages on our website without giving us your personal information. However, you may choose to provide us with your personal information on some pages of our website, for instance by completing an enquiry form or calling our phone line.
The types of personal data that we hold might include:
- Contact details
- Information about your job, background, financial circumstances and personal and family life which you may provide to help us assist you with your enquiry
- Images captured by CCTV cameras at our offices should you arrange to meet with us
When you visit our website, our server will automatically record your IP address and the time and duration of your visit.
Where you provide personal data to us (including that of third parties e,g, your spouse or partner) as part of your enquiry allowing us to use that data and provide you with advice, you are responsible for ensuring that your disclosure of that data complies with the requirements of the data protection legislation. You have the sole responsibility for the accuracy, quality and legality of the personal data you provide to us.
The purposes and legal basis for processing your personal data
The primary legal basis for processing your personal data is to provide advice to you in relation to your enquiry with your consent. By contacting us via our enquiry form, sending us an email or speaking to one of our colleagues on the telephone, you consent to us processing your personal information as set out in this notice.
We will process your personal data to establish our ability to provide legal advice in accordance with regulatory and legal requirements as pre-steps to entering into a contract with you at your request.
In addition, processing of your personal data may be necessary for compliance with our legal and professional obligations to our clients and to third parties. This includes for example, our professional and contractual duties to our clients, the courts and our obligations to regulators.
Further, processing may be necessary in pursuit of our legitimate interests. We have legitimate interests in complying with our legal and professional obligations and in developing new systems or undertaking training and know-how sharing internally with relevant lawyers.
Special category personal data and details of criminal offences
Certain personal data is subject to additional safeguards under data protection legislation. Such information includes details of
- your racial or ethnic origin;
- your political opinions;
- your religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature;
- whether you are a member of a trade union;
- your physical or mental health or condition;
- your sexual life;
- the commission or alleged commission by you of any offence, or
- any proceedings for any offence committed or alleged to have been committed by you, the disposal of such proceedings or the sentence of any court in such proceedings.
It may be necessary for us to process some sensitive personal data in order to comply with legal or regulatory obligations (including making reasonable adjustments for clients with disabilities), or if we need to do so in order to seek confidential legal advice, or establish or defend legal claims.
Otherwise, we will only process your sensitive personal data with your explicit consent. If you voluntarily provide us with your sensitive personal data, we shall treat that as your explicit consent for us to hold that data, which otherwise shall only be processed in accordance with this notice. Where such data is processed by us on the basis of your explicit consent, you may withdraw your consent at any time: this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing based on your consent before you withdrew it.
The consequences if you decide not to provide your data
If you decide not to supply personal data that we have requested and as a result we are unable to comply with our professional, legal or regulatory obligations, then we may be unable to provide you with the requested advice or enter into a relevant contract with you.
Who will see or use your data and who might we share it with?
Your personal data may be seen or used by our partners and staff (whether lawyers or support staff) in the course of their duties or others lawfully working with us in the ordinary course of our business (for example, former staff or partners working with us on a consultancy basis).
We may need to share your data with relevant third parties for example other professional advisers, counter parties, witnesses, courts and tribunals in order to fulfil our legal and professional obligations, or to undertake searches about you (e.g. credit searches), or where you ask us to share your data.
We may also outsource some of our support services or engage consultants and others to support us (for example secretarial, marketing, courier, translation or IT services). In these cases relevant personal data would be provided to and processed by the provider of such services, in accordance with the terms of our contract with them and to the extent appropriate for the performance of that contract.
We might need to share or transfer your data confidentially with relevant parties and/or their professional advisers if there is a merger, acquisition, change of control, joint venture or other similar arrangement involving Mills & Reeve LLP.
Exceptionally we might need to share your personal information in order to obtain necessary confidential legal advice or to comply with our insurance, legal or regulatory obligations. For example, we may have to provide some or all of the information to our insurers, legal advisors, public authorities such as HMRC, or to a court/tribunal.
Transfer of your data to other countries
In the course of carrying out the activities referred to above we may transfer your data to other countries, which may not have the same legal protections for your data as the UK.
Where data is being transferred outside of the UK and/or European Economic Area, we will take steps to ensure that your data is adequately protected in accordance with UK legal requirements and the EU GDPR (as applicable).
Otherwise for example we may transfer your data if it is necessary for performance of our contractual duties to you, or because we have other legal obligations to transfer the data, or it is necessary for important reasons of public interest. If you require further detail about the protections in connection with any particular relevant transfer, matter or jurisdiction please ask us.
How long will we keep your data?
We expect to retain details of your enquiry for 1 year. We are required to keep limited personal data of those individuals to whom we have provided legal advice to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations and the retention of this is subject to our retention policies. This policy is reviewed periodically and the periods for storage specified in it may alter depending on the requirements of law and regulation, client expectations, best practice and insurance.
We may be obliged to suspend any planned destruction or deletion under our retention policy where legal or regulatory proceedings require it or where proceedings are underway such as require the data to be retained until those proceedings have finished.
Your rights over your data
You have the right to request copies of the personal data we hold about you. If you wish to obtain a copy of your personal data, you may contact us by post at Data Governance Manager, Mills & Reeve LLP, 78-84 Colmore Row, Birmingham B3 2AB, or by emailing [email protected].
You also have the right to ask for inaccuracies in your data to be corrected, and in certain circumstances for us to stop processing your data or for your data to be erased. Some of these rights are not automatic, and we reserve the right to discuss with you why we might not comply with a request from you to exercise them.
If you have any questions about this privacy notice, the practices of this web site or your dealings with this web site, please use the following contact point: [email protected].
If you believe that we have not complied with any of our obligations under data protection laws in the UK, please let us know. You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
