Lyons Davidson prides itself on being a responsible business and this includes our commitment to looking after the personal data you share with us. We respect your privacy and we want you to be confident that any personal data we hold is secure and processed in a lawful and professional way.
This privacy policy (the “Policy”) explains how we collect, store and process your personal data, whether it is provided by telephone, via our website, through correspondence, or where you may otherwise communicate with us in the course of the legal services we provide. It also explains the rights you have in relation to your personal data.
This Policy applies to anyone whose data we hold (including clients, witnesses, visitors to our website, etc.) but does not apply to:
We may change this Policy from time to time, so please check back regularly to keep informed of any updates. This version of the Policy was updated on 18 May 2018.
In this Policy we use the terms “we”, “us”, and “our” (and other similar terms) to refer to Lyons Davidson; we act as a data controller responsible for your personal data.
Lyons Davidson and Lyons Davidson Solicitors are the trading names of Lyons Davidson Limited, a company registered in England & Wales (company no. 7592441). Our registered office is at 43 Queen Square, Bristol, BS1 4QP.
Lyons Davidson Scotland is a trading name of Lyons Davidson Scotland LLP, an associated practice of Lyons Davidson. Lyons Davidson Scotland LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in Scotland (registration no. SO302969). The registered office is at Enterprise House, 34 Earl Grey Street, Edinburgh EH3 9BN.
Personal data means any information about you from which you can be identified. The personal data we collect depends on the nature of the services we are providing but can include:
In certain circumstances, we may collect certain “special category data”, which is data relating to ethnicity, race, religious beliefs, trade union membership, previous convictions and data concerning health (including disabilities).
We will collect personal data about you by various means, including:
If you provide us with personal information about another person, for example a member of your family or details of an employee, you must ensure that:
If you are a business you must ensure that the disclosure is made in accordance with all applicable data protection or privacy law.
In general we use your personal data for the following purposes:
We do not use your personal data for automated decision making.
We rely on the following legal reasons for processing your personal data:
Normally we will only process ‘special category data’ (e.g. data concerning health) when it is necessary in the context of the establishment, exercise or defence of a legal claim. In certain circumstances where we need to process ‘special category data’ in the context of our legal services but outside the scope of such a legal claim (e.g. in order for the quality of our service to be audited) we will obtain your express consent to do so. You may withdraw your consent at any time.
We will only use your personal data for the purpose, or purposes, for which we have obtained it. If we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason we will only do so if that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will inform you and explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
We may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent where this is required by law.
Please contact us if you would like further information on the lawful basis for any specific data processing activity.
We will share your personal data when:
Who exactly we share your data with will depend on the nature of the service we are providing but can include:
Where our professional duties of confidence as legal advisers require that we seek your consent before sharing your personal data with a third party, we will do so. Such consent has a different legal basis to consent for the purposes of EU/UK privacy law and seeking consent further to our professional duties will not therefore affect the basis of processing in privacy law. The processing under privacy EU/UK privacy law will be on the bases as set out above.
Lyons Davidson will not typically transfer any of your personal data outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”). On the occasions that data may be accessed outside of the EEA, for example when our systems are accessed remotely by employees abroad, they will do so in accordance with our policies and procedures.
Your information may be held at our offices or with our external service providers as outlined above. We are committed to the security of your data as shown by our ISO 27001 information security accreditation. All appropriate technological and organisational measures have been put in place to protect your data from unauthorised access. These measures are updated as necessary and audited externally on an annual basis.
How long we retain your personal data for will vary from matter to matter but will be determined in accordance will the following criteria:
In our experience limitation periods do not always determine the end of the useful life of data for our clients. Due to the nature of the work we do, clients usually expect us to maintain a copy of their file for archiving purposes beyond the end of any applicable limitation period. Unless contrary to a legal or contractual requirement, we typically retain personal data for 15 years.
Please contact us if you would like further information on the retention period for your personal data.
We do not typically market our services to children but where a matter involves children they must be represented by their parents, guardians, or other representative. We will explain to the parent or guardian why we need the child’s personal data, how it will be processed and their rights under privacy law.
You have the right to obtain confirmation from us as to whether we are processing your personal data and, if we are, to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. This is known as a ‘data subject request’. You also have the right to ask that we update any information we hold about you that may be incorrect. It is important that the information we hold about you is accurate and up to date. If any of your personal information changes please let us know.
In certain circumstances you have the right to request that we restrict the way in which we process your data, or that we erase all personal information that we hold about you.
You have the right to object to certain types of processing.
We will try our best to comply with any request to restrict, object or erase your personal data, however processing of some data may still be required for legitimate business purposes or to comply with legal obligations. Please note that if you want us to restrict or stop processing your data this may prevent us from acting for you.
You have the right to request that we send a copy of your personal data, that you have provided to us, to another organisation for your own purposes (e.g. if you wish to change service provider). This data must be provided in a structured and usable format. This right only applies to personal data processed by way of consent or in pursuant to our contract with you. If you wish us to transfer your personal data please let us know.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data or to exercise any of your other rights. However we may charge a reasonable fee should your request be clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. In order to prevent unauthorised access to information we may ask for proof of identity. We will do our best to respond to your request within one month, however if that is not possible due to the number or complexity of requests we will notify you and keep you updated.
If you wish to contact us in relation to any of your data subject right please contact our Data Protection Officer by post at Lyons Davidson, 43 Queen Square, Bristol, BS1 4QP, by email at dataprotection@lyonsdavidson.co.uk or by telephone on 01179 046 000.
If you wish to raise a concern about how we have handled your personal data please contact us and we will be happy to discuss your concerns.
You have the right to raise a concern at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”) who is the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues. For more information on submitting a concern, or the data protection regime in general, please visit the ICO’s website.