ORCA Will Writers

Website Privacy Statement

The Purpose of this privacy statement is to explain how ORCA Will Writers processes all personal data to fulfil its data protection responsibilities. This statement will be supplemented by ‘specific to client’ privacy notices when needed. 

The scope of this statement covers all related personal data processing activities by the staff of ORCA Will Writers, referred to as OWW for the remainder of this privacy statement. 

The Role of OWW in data protection terms is that of a data controller where it determines the purpose and use of personal data collected. Once received it becomes the responsibility of the OWW privacy manager (PM) to ensure that it is processed in accordance with the latest UK and EU data protection legislation. 

The PM can be contacted by email using ocann@orcawillwriters.co.uk or by writing to the UK office at Hillcrest, Bwlch, Brecon, LD3 7HX.

The sort of personal data processed by OWW will be basic contact information for the purposes of networking, business development, preparing contracts and setting up invoices. Banking details will also be collected for the purpose of paying accounts and on-going fees. If the case requires, further information may be held to assist in future disputes. 

OWW duty of confidentiality means that OWW staff will treat your personal data with due respect and in confidence. It is only disclosed to staff that need to know it. OWW uses reasonable organisational and technical measures to ensure personal data is kept secure. 

OWW also expects the same duty of confidentiality of all third parties with whom it shares personal data, including contractors. Sharing is kept to a minimum and reviewed regularly.

OWW processes personal data against a lawful basis and such instances are described below:

• 
  To respond to your general enquiries, we will use our legitimate interests;
• To comply with any legal obligation;
• When it is necessary for the performance of a contract and its prior preparation; and
• When processing a pre-defined purpose for which your consent has been sought and recorded prior to that processing commencing. 

In all cases the processing of personal data by OWW shall be:

• 
  Processed lawfully, fairly and transparently;
• Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes;
• Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary (and no more);
• Accurate and, when necessary, updated;
• Kept for no longer than is necessary; and
• Processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security. 

OWW will share personal data, but only when absolutely necessary, with some or all of the following third parties:

• 
  Solicitors appointed by OWW;
• The Inland Revenue (HMRC);
• Contractors, but only on a strict need to know basis;
• Accountants appointed by OWW and only for accounting purposes;
• Unspecified recipients but only when compelled to do so for legal reasons.

OWW will process your data in different places but mostly within the European Economic Area (EEA). First line personal data processing takes place in the UK, but it is backed up using reputable cloud service providers in the USA. Email is processed using a reputable web-based provider and mobile phone contacts are stored on both office IT equipment and mobile phones. The latter are backed up to Microsoft OneDrive. It should be noted that no personal data is stored on any of OWW’s website servers.

OWW safeguards all business and personal data in encrypted form, in so far that it is possible. Other than mobile phone contact data, all data in automated form is backed up with a cloud service provider. OWW safeguards all physical data within secure storage facilities.

OWW follows a retention schedule to determine the length of time it holds different types of personal data. The retention schedule is shown below:

• Routine correspondence for casual and contract related business in hard copy or in emails will be stored for 5 years;
• Contact data is stored indefinitely unless a valid request to erasure is received from the interested data subject;
• Financial records and invoices, which may include personal data, will be retained for 6 years after the end of the current tax year of processing; and
• By exception, documentation that includes personal data may be retained by OWW beyond the schedule, but only for a specific purpose and only when OWW believes it has a legitimate interest or a legal obligation to do so. 
• Documentation relevant to the interested data subject may be stored for up to 3 years after the life of the subject.

At the end of the retention schedule OWW will either return, destroy or delete your personal data and any associated emails or relevant documentation. If it is technically impractical to delete electronic copies of personal data, it will put it beyond operational use. It should be noted that OWW allows up to 2 months after the retention schedule to complete the action.

OWW websites may link to appropriate websites for our interest. If these are used, the visitor should be aware that the OWW has no responsibility for the control, content or handling of personal data by these other websites.

The General Data Protection Regulation defines the rights that you have (although these do not apply in all situations), For convenience, these rights are shown below:

• Right to be informed as to how your personal data is being processed by OWW – this is done through this statement or separate OWW privacy notices;
• Right to access your personal data held by OWW which is done by making a ‘Data Subject Access Request’ (DSAR) to the OWW privacy manager;
• Right to rectification of your personal data if you believe OWW has collected it incorrectly or it needs to be updated; 
• Right to erasure of your personal data for which OWW no longer has a legitimate purpose to process; 
• Right to restrict processing under certain circumstances, during which time your personal data but will be out of operational use until the related matter is resolved;
• Right to data portability of your personal data in a machine-readable version, as you have provided but only applicable to data provided with your consent or under contract;
• Right to object to OWW processing your personal data for which it does not have a legal or contractual obligation;
• Rights related to automated decision making and profiling (however OWW does not use these techniques in its decision making); 

Further details on data subjects’ rights can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website: https://ico.org.uk.

Raising concerns, exercising rights or making queries about OWW’ processing of personal data can be done by Contacting the OWW privacy manager. Please be aware that OWW will need to determine your identity before responding fully, therefore, you may be asked for proof of ID or other material that, in context, will enable OWW to confirm your identity. Alternatively, you may wish to contact the ICO directly, using the details provided above.

v1.0

08/2020