Welcome to Albin and Co Solicitors, specialising in
Please read the following information carefully. This Privacy Notice contains information about what data we collect and store about you and why. It also tells you who we share this information with, the security mechanisms we have put in place to protect your data and how to contact us if you have any questions or a complaint.
Who are we?
Data is collected, processed and stored by Albin & Co Ltd; we are what is known as the Data Controller of the personal information you provide to us.
Albin & Co Ltd is a limited company registered under number 8355111. Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) under number 591646.
Albin & Co Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) registration reference 9968200.
We are not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer. However, our Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) Catherine Brymer and can be contacted by email at catherinebrymer@albinandco.co.uk.
The information we collect about you
In order to carry out legal services on your behalf, we collect your personal information, which can either be provided by yourself, for example your name, DOB, national insurance number, address, and contact details.
We may also receive personal information from sources such as the Court or Tribunal, the solicitors acting for the other side, as well as from the Prosecuting or Local Authority.
Some data that we may process is classified as Special Data which would include information as to your ethnic origin, race, health, medical records and details of any criminal history. This information may be necessary for the submission of an application to the Legal Aid Agency for legal aid or in some circumstances, for example obtaining medical reports.
In order for us to retain the personal information, we must have a lawful purpose for doing so. The lawful purpose is that it is necessary to fulfil the contract that we have with you in providing the legal service. We will only process Special Data if it is necessary in the fulfilment of the legal services which we are engaged to carry out.
Who has access to your information?
We will only use your information within Albin & Co Ltd. However, there may be circumstances in carrying out your legal work, where we may need to disclose some information to third parties, e.g. where we instruct a barrister, an expert, in court or at a tribunal, or to the opposing side.
In addition, we are regulated by external auditors, such as Lexcel, SRA and ICO. These audits would give exposure of some of your data.
In the event that any of your information is shared with these third parties, we ensure that they treat your data confidentially and, comply strictly with our instructions, and they do not use your personal information for their own purposes. We conduct due diligence on any third parties and seek to obtain a formal contract with them.
We will share personal information with law enforcement agencies but only if required to do so by law.
We will not share your personal information with any other third parties without your consent.
We do not foresee any transfer of your information outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Cloud based servers, which hold your information are within the EEA. We will contact you should this change in any way, and give advice as to your rights.
Our Security
We have a Data Protection policy which covers the effective and secure processing of your personal data, which can be made available upon request.
We use computer safeguards, such as firewalls, data encryption and penetration testing; and we enforce where possible, physical access controls to our building and files to keep data safe.
How long will we store your personal data?
Your personal data will be retained, usually on computer or hard copy files, only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which the information was collected. We have a legal obligation to keep data for a minimum of six years from the conclusion of your case. Your paper file will then be destroyed.
You may wish us to keep the electronic data. Should you wish to obtain help in the future, your previous data may be of assistance in relation to a new matter.
Access to information
Under the General Data Protection Regulations, you have a number of important rights that you can exercise free of charge.
- Transparency over how we use your personal data and fair processing of your information;
- Access to your personal information and other supplementary information;
- Require us to correct any mistakes or complete missing information we hold on you;
- Require us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances;
- Receive a copy of the personal information you have provided to us or have this information sent to a third party, this will be provided to you or the third party in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format;
- Object at any time to processing of your personal information for direct marketing;
- Object in certain other situations to the continued processing of your personal information;
- Restrict our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances;
- Request not to be subject to automated decision making which produce legal effects that concern you or affect you in a significantly similar way;
If you want more information about your rights under the GDPR please see the Guidance from the Information Commissioners Office on Individual’s rights under the GDPR.
If you want to exercise any of these rights, please:
- Email, call our write to us FAO Catherine Brymer
- Provide other information so that we can identify you e.g. a driving license or passport. We may need to contact you to request further information to verify your identity;
- Let us have proof of your identity and address;
- State the right or rights that you wish to exercise;
We will respond to you within one month from when we receive your request.
Third party links
You might find links to third party websites on our website. These websites should have their own privacy policies, which you should check. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for their policies whatsoever as we have no control over them.
Cookies and other information gathering technologies
Our website uses cookies. Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard internet log information and visitor behaviour information.
We use cookies to help us to improve our website and the service that we provide to you. All computers have the ability to decline cookies. This can be done by activating the setting on your browser which enables you to decline the cookies.
We also use Google Analytics analytical and statistical tools that monitor details of your visits to our website and the resources that you access, including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data (but this data will not identify you personally).
Getting in touch
If you have any questions about this privacy notice or the information we hold about you, please contact Catherine Brymer, the COLP.
How to make a complaint
We hope you are happy with our service and that we can resolve any issues of complaint that arise. If however you wish to make a complaint, initially contact the COLP, Catherine Brymer, who will investigate further.
If you are not satisfied with our response, or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:-https://ico.org.uk/concerns
Changes to this policy
We may update these policies to reflect changes to the website and customer feedback. Please regularly review these policies to be informed of how we are protecting your personal data.
We welcome any queries, comments or requests you may have regarding this Privacy Policy. Please do not hesitate to contact us at catherinebrymer@albinandco.co.uk.
Last updated 8/2/24