Privacy & Cookies Policy
Overview
This privacy notice explains when and why we collect personal information about you; how we use it, the conditions under which we may disclose it to others and how we keep it secure.
Clarity Solicitors is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
Clarity Solicitors may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from 01/09/2024.
It is important that you read this privacy notice together with any other privacy notice or fair processing notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data.
This privacy notice supplements any other notices and is not intended to override them.
Data Controller
Clarity Solicitors is a Private Limited Company registered in England and Wales, Company Number 7312880. Authorised and Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority as Clarity Solicitors Limited, SRA Number 543692
Clarity Solicitors Ltd is the data controller and responsible for your personal data. We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO), who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact the DPO using the details set out below.
Data Protection Officer: Mrs Noreen Iqbal
Email address: noreen@claritysolicitors.co.uk
Telephone number: 0161 480 4488
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
What we need
The exact information we will request from you will depend on what you have asked us to do or what we are contracted to do for you.
There are two types of personal data (personal information) that you may provide to us:
• Personal data: is the general information that you supply about yourself – such as your name, address, gender, date of birth, contact details, financial information etc.
• Sensitive personal data: is, by its nature, more sensitive information and may include your racial or ethnic origin, religion, sexual orientation, political opinions, health data, trade union membership, philosophical views, biometric and genetic data.
In most cases personal data will be restricted to basic information and information needed to complete ID checks. However, some of the work we do may require us to ask for more sensitive information.
Sources of information
Information about you may be obtained from a number of sources, including:
• You may volunteer the information about yourself
• You may provide information relating to someone else – if you have the authority to do so
• Information may be passed to us by third parties in order that we can undertake your legal work on your behalf. Typically, these organisations can be:
• Banks or building societies
• Panel providers who allocate legal work to law firms
• Organisations that have referred work to us
• Medical or financial institutions – who provide your personal records / information
Why we need it
The primary reason for asking you to provide us with your personal data, is to allow us to carry out your requests – which will ordinarily be to represent you and carry out your legal work.
The following are some examples, although not exhaustive, of what we may use your information for:
• Verifying your identity
• Verifying source of funds
• Communicating with you
• To establish funding of your matter or transaction
• Obtaining insurance policies on your behalf
• Processing your legal transaction including:
• Providing you with advice; carrying out litigation on your behalf; attending hearings on your behalf; preparing documents or to complete transactions
• Keeping financial records of your transactions and the transactions we make on your behalf
• Seeking advice from third parties; such as legal and non-legal experts
• Responding to any complaint or allegation of negligence against us
What we collect
We will only collect personal information about you, given by you, when you complete a contact form requesting us to contact you. The personal information collected includes: your name, telephone number, home address and email address. Please note that for your protection, telephone calls may be recorded and monitored.
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
Who has access to it
We have a data protection regime in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal data. We will not sell or rent your information to third parties. We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
Generally, we will only use your information within Clarity Solicitors Ltd. However, there may be circumstances, in carrying out your legal work, where we may need to disclose some information to third parties; for example:
• Court or Tribunal
• Solicitors acting on the other side
• Asking an independent Barrister or Counsel for advice; or to represent you
• Non legal experts to obtain advice or assistance
• Translation Agencies
• Contracted Suppliers
• External auditors or our Regulator, e.g. Lexcel, SRA, ICO etc.
• Bank or Building Society; or other financial institutions
• Insurance Companies
• Providers of identity verification
• Any disclosure required by law or regulation, such as the prevention of financial crime and terrorism
• If there is an emergency and we think you or others are at risk
• The Legal 500 team – we may share case summaries and referee details
• Client feedback review platforms e.g. Trustpilot and Review Solicitors.
In the event any of your information is shared with the any of the above mentioned third parties, we ensure that they comply, strictly and confidentially, with our instructions and they do not use your personal information for their own purposes unless you have explicitly consented to them doing so.
There may be some uses of personal data that may require your specific consent. If this is the case, we will contact you separately to ask for your consent which you are free to withdraw at any time.
Security
How do we protect your personal data.
We recognise that your information is valuable, and we take all reasonable measures to protect it whilst it is in our care.
We have exceptional standards of technology and operational security to protect personally identifiable data from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction. Similarly, we adopt a high threshold when it comes to confidentiality obligations and both internal and external parties have agreed to protect confidentiality of all information; to ensure all personal data is handled and processed in line with our stringent confidentiality and data protection policies.
We use computer safeguards such as firewalls and data encryption; and we enforce, where possible, physical access controls to our buildings and files to keep data safe.
How we use cookies
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added, and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We may use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:
• whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes;
• if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at info@claritysolicitors.co.uk.
We will not sell, distribute or release your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
Under the GDPR 2018, you are entitled to request a copy of your personal data (otherwise known as a Subject Access Request).
If you wish to make a request, please do so in writing addressed to our Compliance Officer, Mrs Noreen Iqbal; or contact the person dealing with your matter.
A request for access to your personal data means you are entitled to a copy of the personal data we hold on you – such as your name, address, contact details, date of birth, information regarding your health etc. This means that a Subject Access Request will not normally result in you getting a copy of your file because you are only entitled to your personal data – not the documents that contain that data.
If you believe that any information, we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
Complaints about the use of personal data
If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate further. Our Data Protection Officer is Noreen Iqbal and you can contact them at noreen@claritysolicitors.co.uk
If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Any questions regarding this notice and our privacy practices should be sent by email to noreen@claritysolicitors.co.uk
