Privacy Notice

1. Background

This Privacy Notice tells you what happens to any personal information (sometimes called personal data) that you give to us or that we collect from or about you. We process personal information received from clients. We may also process personal information about individuals who are not our clients but whose information we process as required to provide our contractual service to our clients. This Notice sets out how we process personal information. We may change this Privacy Notice from time to time by updating it to take account of changes in the law and/or our privacy practices.

2. What kinds of personal information about you do we need?

Personal information such as title, full name, address, contact details, date of birth and gender, national insurance number; identification documentation such as passport, driving licence, bank statements or utility bills, bank details; information necessary to enable us to provide legal advice and representation to you or to enable us comply with statutory or regulatory obligations. This may include information about others involved in conveyancing transactions in which you instruct us, opponents and others relevant to potential or actual court proceedings, details of executors and beneficiaries in private client work. We may also require financial details such as your employment status, salary and other income, expenditure, and assets and liabilities. In certain cases we may require criminal records information and health information where relevant to the matter in which we are advising you.

3. Why do we need it?

To enable us to provide the best possible legal advice and representation to you under your contract with us or in order for us to take steps at your request prior to entering into that contract. To meet statutory or regulatory obligations with which we must comply for example in relation to anti-money laundering, proceeds of crime and verification of source of wealth and funds that you give to us.

Where we hold special category data relating to you, it will only be used in connection with the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim which we are handling for you or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity.

Where you are not our client and do not have a contract with us, but have provided personal information to us, for example as a witness in a case, or your personal data has been provided to us, for example as a beneficiary under a Will, we are entitled to process your personal data on the basis that it is in our legitimate interest or our client’s legitimate interest that we do so.

4. Who we share your personal information with

Personal information may be shared with third parties relevant to the specific legal services for which you have contracted. For example in a conveyancing transaction those third parties may include property centres such as the Edinburgh Solicitors Property Centre, surveyors, financial advisers, Registers of Scotland and Revenue Scotland. In court proceedings those third parties may include the courts, court appointed reporters, expert witnesses and advisers, the opponent’s solicitors and the Scottish Legal Aid Board. In executries and private client work those third parties may include HMRC, DWP, banks and insurers.

We may be obliged to share your personal information with third parties to meet our statutory or regulatory obligations.

If you wish further information about the third parties with whom we may share we may share your personal information in the particular circumstances of your case please ask the person acting for you.

5. How long do we keep your personal information?

The criteria which we use to determine how long we store your personal information are based the Law Society of Scotland’s regulatory requirements and guidance regarding retention of files and financial records, once the work we are doing for you is completed. In family law cases this is 5 years after final completion, e.g. after maintenance, residence and contact orders etc. have ceased to have effect or children have reached majority. In general civil court cases this is 10 years after completion. In conveyancing transactions on sale, this is 1 year after missives have ceased to have effect, and in purchases 10 years after completion. In executry files this is 10 years after completion.

These are general guidelines and files may be retained for different periods depending on circumstances.

6. What should you do if your personal information changes?

You should tell us so that we can update our records. Please telephone, email or write to the person dealing with your case and we shall then update your records.

7. Do you have to provide personal information to us?

If you do not provide the required personal information to us to enable us to perform our part of your contract with us or to comply with statutory or regulatory obligations we may have to withdraw from acting on your behalf.

8. Your Rights

• You have the right to make a “Subject Access Request” to request a copy of the personal information that we hold about you. To make such a request please email or write to us at the address below.
• You may ask us to correct or remove information you think is inaccurate.
• You have the right to object to processing of your personal information.
• You have the right to request that we restrict processing of your personal information for specific purposes.
• You have the right to have your personal information erased.
• You have the right to move, copy or transfer your personal information (“data portability”)
• You have a right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office if you consider that we are in breach of any of our legal obligations in relation to your personal data. Their contact details are:

The Information Commissioners Office – Scotland
45 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7HL

Tel: 0303 123 1115

Email: scotland@ico.org.uk

Website: www.ico.org.uk

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or if you wish to exercise your rights under data protection law please contact our data protection lead as undernoted.

Data Protection Lead Name: Lynn L Harrison

Address: 52 Leith Walk, Edinburgh, EH6 5HW

Email Address: l.harrison@beveridgekellas.com

Telephone Number: 0131 554 6321