Client & Contact Privacy Notice

Torque Law LLP (referred to as we, us or our in this privacy notice) are committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal data. This privacy notice details how we collect and use personal information about you as a client, potential client or other business contacts during and after our working relationship, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulations (“GDPR”).

We issue other privacy notices (for example a website privacy notice and a staff privacy notice) and you should read this and any other relevant privacy notices so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information.

DATA PROTECTION PRINCIPLES

We will comply with data protection law. This says that the personal information we hold about you must be:

• Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way;
• Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes;
• Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes;
• Accurate and kept up to date;
• Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about; and
• Kept securely.

In this privacy notice, we are setting out the types of data we hold about our clients, former clients and other business contacts, what we do with it and why we do it.

Controller

Torque Law LLP is the data controller and responsible for deciding how we hold and use your personal data.

We have appointed a data privacy manager 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 data privacy manager using the details set out below.

Contact details

Our full details are:

Full name of legal entity: Torque Law LLP

Name or title of data privacy manager: Tiggy Clifford, Partner & Compliance Officer for Legal Practice

Email address: tiggy.clifford@torquelaw.co.uk

Postal address: 2 Maple House, Northminster Business Centre, Upper Poppleton, York YO26 6QW

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.

THE TYPES OF DATA WE PROCESS

Personal data means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

Torque Law processes personal data about the following categories of people:

• Clients
• Potential clients
• Other people involved in client matters we are acting on
• Referrers of work
• Other third parties we (including our staff) have business relationships with

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together follows:

• Client Data includes information about client matters we are acting on, including business and company relationships and affiliations, personal circumstances, employment background and circumstances, services provided to clients (or services which could be provided to potential clients) and staff relationships.
• Contact Data includes home address, billing address, email address and telephone numbers.
• Financial Data includes your financial affairs, details about payments to and from you, bank account and payment card details and salary and benefit details.
• Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth, gender, identification documents (including passport and/or driving licence information).
• Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences
• Supplier Data includes details about the goods or services you or your company provide to us and the prices paid.

In some circumstances we may process special categories of personal data about you in relation to our work for you as a client or potential client. In such cases we will take particular care to only process such data in accordance with strict legal parameters. Special Category Data includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, information about criminal convictions and offences.

We may obtain personal data from you directly, from our clients or from other third parties involved in matters we act on for our clients. We may also obtain personal data from other third parties (including publicly available information).

When we ask you for information directly, it is your responsibility to ensure that all such information is complete and accurate. If the information provided by you changes during our work together, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can keep our systems updated.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH YOUR DATA?

We process your personal data for the purposes of providing legal services to our clients and prospective clients. We also process personal data for the purposes of our business including:

• Fraud prevention, identity verification, anti-money laundering, anti-bribery and for the prevention of other crimes.
• Ensuring the safety and security of our staff and premises.
• Disclosures to our auditors, regulators, our legal and professional advisers, our insurers and insurance brokers.
• Administering our internal accounts, including preparation of invoices and debt collection.
• Managing our business, developing new products and services, managing our hardware and software.
• Advertising, marketing and publicity, including sending you email or postal legal updates and invitations to events where we have a legitimate interest in doing so.

WHAT IS THE BASIS FOR PROCESSING YOUR DATA?

We will only use and process your personal information when the law allows us to, most commonly in the following circumstances:

• Where we need to perform our contract with you (including taking steps at your request before we enter into a contract with you);
• Where we need to comply with a legal obligation; and
• Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests

We may also use your personal information in the following situations, which are likely to be rare:

• Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests).
• Where it is needed in the public interest or for official purposes.

In addition, in some circumstances we may process personal data of our clients, potential clients and business contacts where we have their express consent to do so, for example, by signing up to receive copies of our email updates on our website contact form or on a feedback form, by agreeing to be a referee in support of our legal directory or award submissions or agreeing to provide testimonials about our products or services for publicity purposes. If you provide consent, you can withdraw it at any time, either by unsubscribing from one of our email updates or by contacting us using the details above.

When we process and use the personal data of our clients, potential clients and other business contacts, we may need to share that personal data with other parties, including:

• Third parties involved in your matter, including (but not limited to) courts, Tribunals, ACAS, other legal and professional advisers with whom we work, other parties to the matter (including counterparties), experts and private investigators.
• Suppliers and service providers used by us in providing our services to you, including case management and document storage systems, identity verification service providers, client relationship management service providers, IT service providers (including cloud based providers of software services) and data room providers.
• Financial organisations, debt collection services, identity checking agencies, credit reference and tracing agencies.
• Our auditors, our regulators, our professional body, our own legal and other professional advisers, our insurers and insurance brokers.
• Government agencies, other authorities, the Information Commissioner’s Office and Ombudsmen.
• Legal Directories (Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners).
• Media and social media outlets

HOW LONG DO WE KEEP YOUR DATA?

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary for the purposes we collected it for. When deciding the appropriate retention periods for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.