Privacy Policy
If you wish to make a complaint regarding how we have handled your personal data you can contact our Data Protection Officer Patrick Dorrian who can be contacted on patrickdorrian@sperrin.net
Sperrin Law Ltd is registered ICO with the under registration reference ZA222647
Your personal data is collected from you, processed and stored by Sperrin Law Ltd in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the Legal Aid Agency (LAA)/ Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) rules. Only the absolute minimum amount of data is collected and is restricted to basic information required to complete ID checks and financial checks, for example if we are applying for Legal Aid on your behalf. Such information is name, date of birth, national insurance number, gender, address, marital status, spouse/partner (if applicable), ethnicity, disabilities, welfare benefits and income details. Other personal data may be processed dependent on the nature of the retainer.
The reason for requesting this information is exclusively for the purpose of Sperrin Law Ltd to perform a service on your behalf. This is the lawful basis for collecting your personal data.
Sperrin Law Ltd have robust systems in place in order to ensure your personal data is retained and processed securely and as such take all reasonable measures to protect your data such as firewalls for electronically held data and secure off site storage facilities for the retention of paper based data. By the nature of the retainer the firm will be required to share your personal data with counsel/experts/non legal experts to obtain advice and assistance, translation agencies, and contracted suppliers who are under contract with us or have their own satisfactory privacy policies. These privacy policies will impose responsibilities on our contracted suppliers to process personal data only for the purpose it was provided to ensure its safe keeping, not to share with any 3rd party without written instruction and for that data to be returned upon request. Written agreements to this affect are in place with the firm’s IT provider, storage provider and our preferred outsourced interpreter supplier. In addition, the firm may be required to share client’s personal data with external auditors or our regulator i.e. The LAA, Lexcel, SRA, Information Commissioners Office etc and any disclosure required by law or regulation such as the prevention of financial crime and terrorism funding and other members of the Criminal Justice System.
We are required to keep your personal data for a minimum period of 6 years from the conclusion of your matter in the event that you or we need to reopen your case for the purpose of defending complaints or claims against us.
Under GDPR 2018 you are entitled to request a copy of your personal data that we hold. This is known as a Subject Access Request. If you wish to make a request please contact the person that is dealing with your matter. We will provide you with a copy of your file containing only your personal data and will not include associated documents that contain your personal data.
Personal data requested will be provided to you free of charge within one calendar month of the request providing the request is not unfounded, excessive or repetitive. Under these circumstances Sperrin Law Ltd reserve the right to refuse a request with the reason(s) being explained to you.