1. Introduction and Terms
Merricks Solicitors Limited (referred to in this Privacy Notice as ‘we’, ‘us’, or ‘our’) is a controller for the personal information that we collect and use about you and we are committed to protecting and respecting your personal information and privacy. Personal information is any information that tells you something about a living individual.
This could include information such as name, contact details, account number, date of birth and bank account details.
This Privacy Notice is to inform you how we will use your personal information, the legal basis which allows us to use your personal information, how we share your personal information and inform you of your rights in accordance with the laws in place that protect your personal information, including the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR).
We will keep this Privacy Notice up to date, so if there are any changes to the way in which your personal information is used this Privacy Notice will be updated and we will ensure a notice of such changes is displayed on our website homepage for a reasonable period of time.
2. Who we are
For the purpose of the DPA and the GDPR, the data controller is Merricks Solicitors Limited of Cross Street, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7DT.
If you want to request more information about our privacy policy or information regarding data protection you should contact
Foster Merrick as stated in section 17 below.
3. What information will Merricks collect about me?
We process both Personal and Sensitive (Special) categories of data. Personal data we process may include your name, address, telephone number, mobile number, email address, national insurance number and bank details.
Due to the nature of our business we also process Sensitive (Special) categories of data, such as health data, racial or ethnical origin and biometric data (passports for identification and verification purposes as required by law).
Our collection methods are:
face to face meetings by communications and correspondence
4. What is the legal basis of our data processing?
We are only permitted to use your personal information if we have a legal basis for doing so as set out in the data protection legislation. We rely on the following legal bases to use your personal information:
where you have provided consent for us to process your personal information;
where processing is necessary to enable us to perform our contract with you or take steps to enter into a contract with you at your request; and
where we need to comply with a legal obligation.
In some cases we will need your consent to obtain and use your personal information. When this is the case, we will ask for your consent and we will explain why we need the personal information at the time when we ask for your consent. If we are relying on consent, you can withdraw your consent to our processing of your personal information at any time by contacting Foster Merrick as stated in section 17 below.
5. Your rights
Under the GDPR your rights are:
the right to be informed – we must make available this privacy notice with the emphasis on transparency over how we process your data.
the right of access – you are entitled to find out what details we may hold about you and why.
the right to rectification – we are obliged to correct or update your details.
the right to erasure – this is also known as the request to be forgotten.
the right to restrict processing – you have the right to ‘block’ or suppress the processing by us of your personal data.
the right to data portability – you have the right to obtain and reuse your personal data that you have provided to us.
the right to object – you have the right to object to us processing your data in relation to direct marketing and or profiling, please note we do not currently use direct marketing.
rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling – we do not use automatic decision making or processing.
6. 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 information to our employees.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breaches and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
Please note that as no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you do so at your own risk.
7. Recording of telephone calls
Telephone calls into and out of Merricks may be recorded for training or monitoring purposes as well as to assist with client issues.
Telephone call records will be retained for seven years.
8. How will personal information be used?
We use information held about you in the following ways:
to provide you with information, products or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you, where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes; and
to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us.
9. When will you contact me and will this be marketing?
We do not currently contact clients for marketing purposes.
If this policy changes and we decide to carry out marketing we will contact you by post or electronic means with information about our legal services, but only if you have previously consented to this.
10. Will you share my information with anyone else?
We will keep your information within the Merricks except where disclosure is required or permitted by law or when we use third party service providers (data processors) to supply and support our services to you.
We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do so. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.
Our data processors are our IT Provider & IT Support, Email Provider, Secure document disposal service, Secure Waste disposal service, and Accountants (auditors)
11. How long will you keep my details?
Our data retention policy is dictated by the DPA/GDPR and the requirements of our legal profession regulator, the Solicitors
Regulatory Authority (SRA), a copy of which can be requested.
12. Can I have my details deleted?
Under GDPR you have the right to erasure under specific circumstances; this will be decided on a case by case basis. Please contact us for more information relating to you rights.
13. Can I correct or update my details?
We will correct or update your data without delay provided you make the request in writing specifying which of your data is incorrect or out of date. If you have any concerns regarding this issue please contact Foster Merrick as stated in section 17 below.
14. Can I find out what details you hold?
We strive to be as open as we can be in giving people access to their personal information. Individuals can find out if we hold any personal information by making a ‘subject access request’ under the DPA and the ‘Right of access’ under the GDPR. If we do hold information about you we will respond in writing within one calendar month of your confirmed request.
The information we supply will:
confirm that your data is being processed
verify the lawfulness and the purpose of the processing
confirm the categories of personal data being processed
confirm the type of recipient to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed, and
let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form
To make a request for any personal information please write to Foster Merrick as stated in section 16 below. Please note that you may need to provide identification in order to prove who you are to access your data.
If you agree, we will try to deal with your request informally, for example by providing you with the specific information you need over the telephone.
If we do not hold information about you we will also confirm this in writing at the earliest opportunity.
15. Changes
We keep our privacy notice under regular review and changes may be made to it from time to time. The current version of our privacy notice will be posted on our website so that you are aware of its contents.
16. Complaints
You have the right to complain about the processing of your personal information. Please contact us using the details provided below. If you are still dissatisfied you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office. www.ico.org.uk
17. How to contact us
We have appointed Foster Merrick, one of the directors of Merricks Solicitors as our Privacy Officer who will be the point of contact for your privacy inquiries. You can contact him using the following details:
post: addressed to Foster Merrick, Merricks Solicitors, Cross Street, Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7DT
email: foster.merrick@merricks-law.co.uk
telephone: 01208 812068 and ask to speak to Foster Merrick.