Privacy Policy

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect on 25^th May 2018 and seek to protect and enhance the rights of data subjects.  The GDPR aims to give people more control over how organisations use their data.  PD Lawyers Ltd is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy as a client of the practice.  We recognise the importance of the correct and lawful treatment of your personal information and we will only use your personal information as set out in this notice and for the purpose of acting on your behalf in the matter in which you have instructed us.

This notice sets out how we collect and use your information.  The expressions “we”, “us” and “our” refer to PD Lawyers Ltd.

Who we are?

PD Lawyers Limited is a registered company, based in England and registered under company number 6932878.  Our registered office is 6-8 Gage Street, Lancaster LA1 1UH.

Our Privacy officer is Ursula Deriaz, who is a Director of the Practice.  Ursula can be contacted by email ursula@pdlawyers.co.uk

What information will we hold about you?

During the course of your matter we will hold personal information about you in order to carry out our instruction on your behalf.  We will hold your data as a Data Controller (defined by GDPR as “the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data”).  “Personal information” is any information that relates to you and identifies you personally, either alone or in combination with other information available to us.

How do we collect your personal information?

Directly from you – most of the information we hold for you has been given directly by you.  This information is held on our case management system and also our paper files.  The information we hold could have been collected from you orally, in writing, by email, via our website or by any other means.

From Third parties – we may have collected some of your information from other parties involved in your matter.  This could be via other law firms involved directly, estate agents, mortgage lenders or any other third party involved in your matter.

What information will we hold about you?

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal information about you, as follows:-

• Full name and title
• Contact information (telephone, email, postal addresses, fax numbers)
• Details of potential conflicts of interest
• Date of birth, national insurance number
• Identification documents
• Gender
• Bank details
• Mortgage account details or other data in respect of conveyancing matters
• Proof of funds

We do not collect any special categories of personal date about you which included details about your race, ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership or information about your health).

How we use the information we hold about you?

We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to; in order to meet our contractual obligation under our instructions from you or where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

Disclosure of your personal information

During the course of your matter it may be necessary to share your information with certain third parties, amongst the following:-

• Estate Agents
• Other legal firms
• Lenders
• Case Management Providers
• Search providers
• Our regulatory body – The Council for Licensed Conveyancers
• Other Government Bodies, if necessary for the prevention of fraud, terrorist activity and money laundering amongst other illegal activities

What if you choose not to, or are unable to, provide us with personal information?

If you fail to provide certain personal information we may not be able to carry out the work you have instructed us to do or we may be prevented from complying with our legal requirements.  In these circumstances we will not be able to act, or continue to act, on your behalf.

Your rights relating to the use of your personal information?

Under the GDPR you have certain rights regarding the processing of your personal information which may vary dependent of the legal basis for collection and use of your personal information.

You also have further rights as follows:-

• A right of access to the information we hold about you
• A right of rectification if any of the information we hold is incorrect
• A right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the personal information we hold about you to be deleted. However this is subject to our retention period below
• Right to restrict processing – in certain circumstances you may have the right to restrict data processing however this may affect our ability to carry out our instructions on your behalf
• Right to data portability of transferring your information when required to another organisation
• Right to object to certain types of processing i.e marketing. However the practice is not in the practice of mass marketing our clients
• Right to withdraw consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information. If you would like to withdraw consent please email ursula@pdlawyers.co.uk.  Please note this will most likely mean we will no longer be able to perform our obligations to you under the terms of our instructions

Retention periods:

Under our obligations to our legal body we must keep files for the following periods of time:

Sale files – 6 years

Purchase & other conveyancing matter files – 15 years

Probate files – for 6 years after the end of the Executor’s year

Will files – for 6 years after the Testator’s death

Any original Deeds, Wills or other documents will be held indefinitely until you ask us to return these original documents to you, or your personal representatives.

Security

 We have put in places measures and agreements with the third parties who have access to your information to protect the security of your information from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed.  We will use our best endeavours to ensure your personal information is protected at all times.

Further information

For any further information or queries please contact our Privacy Officer Ursula Deriaz by email ursula@pdlawyers.co.uk

This Privacy Notice is not designed to form a legally binding agreement, it is a guide for your information.  Signing our client care letter constitutes acceptance by you of the Privacy Notice and is your express consent to our holding and processing your personal information in line with the GDPR to enable your matter to proceed to completion.

16^th May 2018.