PRIVACY POLICY

This Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) describes how HSP Legal Limited collects, uses and shares the information you provide to us and the information we collect in the course of operating our business and our website. The policy is issued in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) which imposes legal duties on us in respect of your information.

In this Policy when we refer to HSP Legal Limited or “we”/“us”/“our” we mean HSP Legal Limited. Our registered office is at The Cottage, Birch Grove, Horsted Keynes, Haywards Heath, West Susses, RH17 7BT. We are authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (www.sra.org.uk).  “You” refers to the client or other individual whose personal information we may hold from time to time.

We may revise this Policy at any time by amending this document. You are expected to check this document from time to time to take notice of any changes we make, as they are binding on you.

This Policy describes:

  1. The information that we collect and where we get it from

  2. How we use the information we collect

  3. Grounds for using your personal information

  4. How we share information with third parties

  5. Marketing

  6. Keeping your information and information security

  7. Your choices and rights

  8. Cookies

  9. How to contact us and other important information

1.  The information that we collect and where we get it from

1.1  "Personal information" is any information that can be used to identify you or that we can link to you and which we have in our possession or control.

1.2   We may collect and process personal information about you. This may include:

(a)   Information that you provide to us

We will process personal information that you give to us including when you email us or contact us through various channels as follows:

(i) Information provided in connection with our provision of legal services

If you seek an estimate of costs for legal work or become our client, we will also need information to confirm your identity e.g. your date of birth, about your matter and circumstances as well as contact information for you, your personnel and other parties to the matter. The information that we need will be explained to you by our lawyers and/or set out in our letter of engagement depending on the nature of your matter but may include both personal data and special categories of data. You may also provide us with additional information that you consider relevant as part of your instruction. If you are not a client, we may collect or receive your personal information because you are involved in one of our client’s matters.

(ii) Recruitment application

If you apply for a position with us you may provide us with personal information which may include your name, date of birth, nationality, education and qualification details, your gender, home address, telephone number and other details set out in your application

(b)  Information we otherwise collect about you

We will also collect information about you when you use our services or when we otherwise interact or correspond with you. We use various technologies to collect and store information when you visit our website. We may, for example, collect information about the type of device you use to access the websites, your IP address and your geographic location, the operating system and version, your browser type, the content you view and features you access on our websites, the web pages and the search terms you enter on our website. For information about how we use Cookies and the choices you may have, please see our Cookies Policy below.

(c)   Information we obtain from other sources

If you apply for a position with us we may collect personal information relating to past employment, qualifications and education, opinions from third parties about you, past employment history and other details about you.

1.3 If we collect or receive your personal information in the context of our provision of legal services we might receive information from third parties such as your employer, other parties relevant to the services we are providing (e.g. counterparties in transactions) and others such as regulators and authorities. That information could include your name, contact details, employment details and other information relevant to the legal services that we are providing to you or to our client.

2.  How we use the information we collect

2.1  We may do the following with your personal information:

(a)  use it to provide legal services to you;

(b)  use it to engage in marketing and business development activity in relation to our legal services. This may include sending you newsletters, legal updates, marketing communications and other information that may be of interest to you. Further details of our marketing activities are set out below;

(c)  where you have applied for a position with us, to review and process your job application;

(d)  to comply with legal and regulatory obligations imposed upon us;

(e)  use it to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights or for the purpose of legal proceedings;

(f)   record and monitor your use of our website or our other online services for our business purposes which may include analysis of usage, measurement of site performance and generation of marketing reports;

(g)  use it for our legitimate business interests, such as undertaking business research and analysis, managing the operation of our websites and our business;

(h)  use it to deal with any complaints or queries you may have, and/or

(i)   use it to prevent and respond to actual or potential fraud or illegal activities.

2.2  We may collate, process and share any statistics based on an aggregation of information held by us provided that any individual is not identified from the resulting analysis and the collation, processing and dissemination of such information is permitted by law.

3.  Grounds for using your personal information

3.1  Under GDPR, we must have a lawful basis, or legal ground, for processing your information. The lawful basis will vary on the circumstances but typical examples include:

(a)  Consent - we may (but usually do not) need your consent to use your personal information. You can withdraw your consent by contacting us (see below);

(b)  Performance of a contract - we may need to collect and use your personal information to enter into a contract with you or to perform our obligations under a contract with you;

(c)  Legitimate interest - we may use your personal information for our legitimate interests, some examples of which are given above; and/or

(d)  Compliance with law or regulation - we may use your personal information as necessary to comply with applicable law/regulation.

4.  How we share information with third parties

4.1  In limited circumstances, we may share your personal information outside HSP Legal Limited. This may include:

(a)  Third party agents/suppliers or contractors, bound by obligations of confidentiality, in connection with the processing of your personal information for the purposes described in this Policy. This may include, but is not limited to, IT and communications service providers.

(b)  Third parties relevant to the legal services that we provide. This may include, but is not limited to, counterparties to transactions or litigation, other professional service providers, regulators, authorities, governmental institutions and stock exchanges.

(c)  To the extent required by law, regulation or court order, for example, if we are under a duty to disclose your personal information in order to comply with any legal obligation.

(d)  If we transfer your personal information outside the UK, we will require that the data is protected to the same standards as in the UK.

5.  Marketing

5.1  If you become our client, we may use your personal information to invite you to hospitality events or other selected events for clients and/or to send you information that we think may be of interest to you or your business. It is within our legitimate interests as a law firm to use your information in this way.

5.2  We may also use personal information about our professional contacts to invite them to hospitality events or other selected events and/or to send them information that we think may be of interest to them or their business. This is also within our legitimate interests.

5.3  You will be given an opportunity to tell us whether or not you wish to receive direct marketing materials and communications from us either at the time you submit or provide your details to us and/or within the communication itself.

5.4  If you do not wish to receive any direct marketing material or communications after you submit or provide your details, please contact us using the details below (stating UNSUBSCRIBE in the heading of any email message) indicating if you do not wish to be contacted for one or more of these marketing purposes and/or via particular forms of communication e.g. email or telephone.

5.5  If you change your mind about being contacted by us in the future, or change address, or if any information that we hold about you is inaccurate or out-of-date, please let us know by emailing hp@hsp-legal.co.uk.

6.  Keeping your information and information security

6.1  We will keep your information in accordance with our data retention and erasure policy, a copy of which is available on request.

6.2  We will ensure that the personal information that we hold is subject to appropriate security measures.

7.  Your choices and rights

7.1  You have a number of legal rights in relation to the personal information that we hold about you and you can exercise your rights by contacting us using the details set out below. Please note that these rights will not apply in all cases or to all information that we hold about you. For example, we may need to continue to hold and process information to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights.

7.2  These rights include:

(a)  Obtaining information regarding the processing of your personal information and access to the personal information which we hold about you.  Please note that there may be circumstances in which we are entitled to refuse requests for access to copies of personal information. In particular, information that is subject to legal professional privilege will not be disclosed other than to our client and/or as authorised by our client.

(b)  Requesting that we correct your personal information if it is inaccurate or incomplete.

(c)  Requesting that we erase your personal information in certain circumstances. Please note that there may be circumstances where you ask us to erase your personal information but we are legally entitled to retain it.

(d)  Objecting to, and requesting that we restrict, our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances. Again, there may be circumstances where you object to, or ask us to restrict, our processing of your personal information but we are legally entitled to refuse that request.

(e)  Lodging a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF (tel 0303 123 1113, www.ico.org.uk),  if you think that any of your rights have been infringed by us.

8.  Cookies

Click here for information on our Cookie Policy: https://www.hsp-legal.co.uk/cookie-policy

9.  How to contact us and other important information

If you would like further information on the collection, use, disclosure, transfer or processing of your personal information or the exercise of any of the rights listed above, please contact us. You can do this by writing to us at hp@hsp-legal.co.uk, or at The Cottage, Birchgrove, Horsted Keynes, West Sussex RH17 7BT.