Introduction
Welcome to BC Law Limited’s privacy policy. BC Law Ltd is a private limited company registered in England and Wales (company number 10881306), authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) (SRA number 8006948).
BC Law Ltd respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you as to how we look after your personal data, and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.
This privacy policy is provided in a layered format so you can click through to the specific areas set out below. Use the Glossary to understand the meaning of some of the terms used in this privacy policy.
1. Important Information and Who We Are
Purpose of This Privacy Policy
This privacy policy aims to give you information on how BC Law Ltd collects and processes personal data belonging to you or your personnel in the context of providing legal services to you or your business, through your use of this website and through any of the other ways we interact, as set out in more detail in paragraph 3 below.
This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.
It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy notice or policy (or fair processing notice or policy) we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy policy supplements other privacy notices and policies and is not intended to override them.
Controller
BC Law Ltd is the controller and responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as, we, us or our in this privacy policy).
We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy policy. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, contact the DPO using the details set out below.
Contact Details
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, contact our DPO in the following ways:
Full name of legal entity: BC Law Ltd
Email address: bulent.cicekli@bclawltd.co.uk
Postal address: 530 Elder House, Milton Keynes, MK9 1LR
Telephone number: 07427235143
You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator 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.
Changes to the Privacy Policy and Your Duty to Inform Us of Changes
We keep our privacy policy under regular review.
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
2. The Data We Collect About You
Personal data, or personal information, 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).
In the course of your legal transactions we collect and use different kinds of personal data about you including:
- Identity Data including name, title, gender, date of birth, marital status, signature(s), National Insurance number(s) and photographic identification data.
- Contact Data including billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.
- Employment Data including employment and job application details such as employment history, qualifications and equality monitoring information.
- Financial Data includes bank account and payment card details.
In certain circumstances, our collection of the different categories of data set out above may include the collection of Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health, and genetic and biometric data). We also may collect Criminal Convictions and Offences Data.
If You Fail to Provide Personal Data
Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of our engagement with you (as set out in our engagement letter and terms of business), and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the services set out in the engagement letter.
3. How We Collect Your Personal Data
We collect your personal information primarily to enable us to provide you with a legal service in accordance with your instructions including:
- In the process of carrying out work for you (or your business) where we will in almost all instances act as a controller. In very limited circumstances we may act as a processor in which case we will let you know and ensure that an appropriate contract is put in place.
- When we communicate with you by email or other electronic correspondence, by telephone or using video conferencing software.
We also collect data from and about you via our website:
- Through your actions for example, when submitting an enquiry form or a job application.
- Through third parties or publicly available sources. We will receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources.
- Contact, Financial and Transaction Data from providers of technical, payment and delivery services;
- Identity and Contact Data from publicly available sources such as Companies House.
4. How We Use Your Personal Data
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
- Where we need to perform the contract we are about to enter into or have entered into with you.
- Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests as a legal services provider (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
- Where we need to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject.
- Where processing of “special category data” is necessary in the context of legal claims or where another legal ground other than explicit consent is available to us under relevant data protection legislation.
- Where our legal services require us to process “special category data” and where we have obtained your explicit consent to do so. If we seek and obtain your consent, you may withdraw it at any time.
Click here Lawful Basis to find out more about the types of lawful basis that we will rely on to process your personal data.
Except as previously referred to in this paragraph 4, we do not generally rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data although we will get your consent before sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.
Purposes for Which We Will Use Your Personal Data We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.
We may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.
| Purpose or activity | Type of data | Lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest |
| To check whether we can act for you as a new or existing client or across from you as a counter party or other third party on a matter involving a new or existing client, and carry out all of our regulatory compliance requirements, including conflicts of interest, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism, sanctions, fraud and background screening |
Identity Contact Financial Professional |
Performance of a contract with you Necessary to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation Public interest Necessary for our legitimate interests (to detect and prevent the commission of fraud, money laundering and terrorism offences) |
| To deliver our services to you including engaging service providers, managing payments, fees and charges and collecting and recovering money owed to us |
Identity Contact Financial Transaction Marketing |
Performance of a contract with you Necessary for our legitimate interests (to recover debts due to us) |
| To manage our relationship with you which will include notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy |
Identity Contact Profile Marketing |
Performance of a contract with you Necessary to comply with a legal obligation Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how customers and clients use our products and services) |
| To enable you to complete a survey |
Identity Contact Profile Usage Marketing |
Performance of a contract with you Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers and clients use our products and services, to develop them and grow our business) |
| To administer and protect our business and our website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data) |
Identity Contact Technical |
Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation |
| To deliver relevant website content to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of the marketing we provide to you |
Identity Contact Profile Usage Marketing Technical |
Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products and services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
| To use data analytics to improve our website, products and services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences |
Technical Usage |
Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of clients and customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy) |
Change of Purpose
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, contact us.
If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
We may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
5. Disclosures of Your Personal Data
We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table Purposes for which we will use your personal data above.
- Internal Third Parties as set out in the Glossary paragraph 10.
- External Third Parties as set out in the Glossary paragraph 10.
- Specific third parties listed in the table Purposes for which we will use your personal data
- Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
6. International Transfers
We do not transfer your personal data outside the UK.
7. Data Security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
8. Data Retention
How Long Will You Use My Personal Data For?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.
To determine the appropriate retention period 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, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.
In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your data: see paragraph 9 below for further information.
9. Your Legal Rights
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data to:
- Request access to your personal data.
- Request correction of your personal data.
- Request erasure of your personal data.
- Object to processing of your personal data.
- Request restriction of processing your personal data.
- Request transfer of your personal data.
- Withdraw consent.
For more information on each of these rights, see “Your legal rights” under paragraph 10. If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, contact us.
No Fee Usually Required
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
What We May Need From You
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
Time Limit to Respond
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
10. Glossary
Lawful Basis Legitimate Interest: the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service or product, and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us. Performance of Contract: processing your data where it is necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract.
Comply with a legal obligation: processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to.
External Third Parties:
- service providers acting as processors who provide IT and system administration services;
- professional advisers including lawyers, barrister, experts, bankers, lenders, estate agents, auditors and insurers;
- HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and professional bodies (including the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and the Law Society in England and Wales) and other authorities;
Your Legal Rights
You have the right to:
Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:
- If you want us to establish the data’s accuracy.
- Where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it.
- Where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
- You have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. This right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.