Privacy Policy

Bate & Albon believes in the responsible use of personal information collected on its website and via its normal business activities. The extent and type of information we receive from you depends on the information you provide to use through our online general enquiry form and contact mailbox, or during the course of any legal work.

We will respect your privacy and will use your personal information in accordance with this policy. This policy applies to information about individuals who are living and identifiable only. If we intend to use your personal information to inform you about other services, we will give you the opportunity to accept or decline to receive this information. If you email us a CV to apply for a staff position, we will use the information provided to match your skills and experience with available options.

Information that we hold and process

From our website – any information that you have provided to us through our website, including your name, title, postal address, telephone number and/or email address.

From our legal work – when you enquire about legal work, or become a client of our firm, we will require information from you to confirm your identity. All information that we require will be specifically set out in our individual communications with you.

From any third party – we may receive information about you from third parties e.g. courts, regulatory bodies, estate agents, medical professionals, other advisors, and anyone else connected to your matter. If you are involved in any dispute or transaction with a client of ours, we may receive information about you.

Use of information

We use information for the specific purpose(s) for which it has been received. Some examples are:

To provide you or our clients with legal services or information about our legal services
To comply with our legal and statutory obligations
To respond to your enquiry
To verify your identity
To consider any application for employment you may have
To respond to any feedback, query, request or complaint.
To seek your views on our services
Administration of our business
Enforcement of our legal rights

Marketing purposes – to inform you of other services if you have agreed to receive such information.

Our processing grounds

We rely upon the following grounds for processing your information:

Consent
Performance of a contract
Compliance with a legal obligation
Vital interest of the data subject
Public interest
Our legitimate interests

Not every ground will automatically apply to your information, as the grounds for processing will be specific depending upon each individual circumstance.

Wherever we process any special category of information, we will have a further lawful basis for processing this information. Special category information includes racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying any individuals, data concerning health and data concerning any individual’s sex life or sexual orientation.

The lawful basis for processing the above special categories of information may include:

Where you have given consent
Where it is a necessary obligation connected to the field of employment
Where it is necessary to protect vital interests of you or another
Where the special category information is made public by you
Where it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims
Where it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest

Our marketing activities

If you are a client of ours, we may contact you to send you information about services that may be of interest to you. This is part of our business legitimate interests. We will give you the opportunity to either accept or decline to receive this information. If you change your mind at any time, please let us know.

Automated Processing / Profiling

We do not undertake any automated processing or data profiling.

Disclosure of information

We will hold information in a variety of formats including electronic and/or hard copy.

We will take reasonable precautions to keep information secure. We will comply with the Data Protection Act 1998 and all subsequent data protection legislation.

We may disclose information to other relevant parties where we are working on a matter for any client or to whom we refer any client for further advice.

We may disclose information where we are under any legal or regulatory obligation to do so.

Protection of information

We have various measures in place to minimise the risk of any information breach. This includes seeking equivalent protection of information measures from any third-party organisations that we share information with.

Retaining information

We will retain information to comply with legal and regulatory obligations. If you become a client, you will receive details of our archiving and information destruction procedures in our individual communications with you.

Your rights

You have certain rights in relation to your personal information. These include the rights to be informed, access, rectification, erasure, restrict processing, data portability, object and not to be subject to automated decision-making including profiling. These rights will not apply in every case or in relation to all the information that we may hold about you. If you seek to assert any rights with us, we will consider and inform you if the rights will apply or not.

If you make any request to us in relation to any rights, we will respond within the applicable statutory time limit. If we do not know your identity, we will ask you to provide information to enable us to establish your identity.

Future changes

As data protection law and practice changes and develops, we will update your policy to comply with sector-specific good practice and our legal and regulatory obligations.

How to contact us

If you have any questions or comments about our policy or how we use your information, please:

Telephone us on 01273 525766
Email us at info@batealbonsolicitors.co.uk
Write to: Carl Bate, Partner, Bate & Albon Solicitors, 23-24 Marlborough Place, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1UB

You can also contact the Information Commissioner’s Office via https://ico.org.uk/ for information, advice or to make a complaint.