Privacy Policy

Our privacy policy for clients explains how we obtain, process and store your personal data and your rights in relation to how we handle your personal data.

Privacy policy

We take your privacy very seriously. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal data. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.

When we use your personal data, we are regulated under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 and we are responsible as “controller” of that personal data for the purposes of the GDPR. Our use of your personal data is subject to your instructions, the GDPR, other relevant data protection or privacy legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.

All references to “we”, “us”, or “our” are to Gawor & Co Solicitors, New Crane Wharf, New Crane Place, Wapping, London, E1W 3TS.

The term “Personal data” refers to any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual.

The term “Special category personal data” refers to personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, genetic and biometric data, data concerning health, sex life or sexual orientation.

Personal data we collect about you

The personal data we will collect will depend on why you have instructed us, and may include, but is not limited to:

Your name, address and telephone number;
Information to enable us to check and verify your identity;
Your e-mail address and mobile phone number;
Information relating to the matter in which you are seeking our advice or representation;
Information to enable us to undertake a credit or other financial checks on you;
Your financial details so far as relevant to your instructions;
Your National Insurance and tax details;
Your bank and/or building society details;
Details of your spouse/partner and dependants or other family members;
Your employment status and details including salary and benefits;
Your nationality and immigration status and information from related documents;
Details of your pension arrangements;
Your employment records including, where relevant, records relating to sickness and attendance, performance, disciplinary, conduct and grievances (including relevant special category personal data);
Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs;
Your medical records.

This personal data is required to enable us to provide our service to you. If you do not provide personal data we ask for, it may delay or prevent us from providing services to you.

How your personal data are collected

How we collect personal data will depend on why you have instructed us.

We will collect most of this information from you. However, we may also collect information from publicly accessible sources, such as Companies House or HM Land Registry; or directly from a third party; or from a third party with your consent.

We may also collect personal data through our information technology (IT) systems including case management, document management and time recording systems, reception logs, our computer networks and connections, CCTV and access control systems, telephone, email and other communications systems.

How and why we use your personal data

Under data protection law, we can only use your personal data if we have a proper reason for doing so:

to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
for the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract;
for our legitimate interests or those of a third party; or
where you have given consent.

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests.

Promotional communications

We may use your personal data to send you updates (by email, text message, telephone or post) about legal developments that might be of interest to you and/or information about our services.

We have a legitimate interest in processing your personal data for promotional purposes. This means we do not usually need your consent to send you promotional communications. However, where consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.

We will always treat your personal data with the utmost respect and never sell or share it with other organisations for marketing purposes.

You have the right to opt out of receiving promotional communications at any time by contacting us.

We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you instruct us to provide further services in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.

Who we share your personal data with

We may share personal data with:

professional advisers who we instruct on your behalf or refer you to, for example, barristers, medical professionals, accountants, tax advisors or other experts;
other third parties where necessary to carry out your instructions, for example your mortgage provider or HM Land Registry in the case of a property transaction;
credit reference agencies;
our insurers and brokers;
external auditors;
our banks;
our service providers.

We only allow our service providers to handle your personal data if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your personal data. We also impose contractual obligations on service providers to ensure they can only use your personal data to provide services to us and to you.

We may disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.

Where your personal data are held

Information may be held at our offices and those of our service providers. We use a cloud-based case management system which includes storage for client files. The cloud infrastructure is provided and maintained by Amazon Web Services which demonstrates a commitment to information security at every level of the organisation and compliance with all internationally recognised standards, the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will keep your personal data after we have finished advising or acting for you. We will do so for one of these reasons:

to respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
to show that we treated you fairly;
to keep records required by law.

We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy.

Transferring your personal data out of the EEA

To deliver services to you, it may sometimes be necessary for us to share your personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA). These transfers are subject to special rules under European and UK data protection law. We will ensure the transfer complies with data protection law and all personal data will be secure.

Your rights

You have the following rights in relation to your personal data under data protection law:

The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data.
The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data.
The right to require us to delete your personal data in certain situations.
The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
The right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party in certain situations.
The right to object at any time to your personal data being processed for direct marketing (including profiling), or, in certain other situations, to our continued processing of your personal data.
Not to be subject to automated individual decision-making.

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us, or see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on its website at https://ico.org.uk/.

Keeping your personal data secure

We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

How to complain

If you have any questions or concerns about our handling of your personal data, please contact us (details below). We hope that we can resolve any query or concern you may raise about our use of your information. The GDPR also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, which in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/.

Changes to this privacy policy

We may change this privacy policy from time to time.

How to contact us

Please contact us by post, email or telephone if you have any questions about this privacy policy or the information we hold about you.

Write to us at: Gawor & Co Solicitors, New Crane Wharf, New Crane Place, Wapping, London, E1W 3TS.
e-mail us at: [email protected]
Telephone us on: 020 7481 8888