Privacy
Our Privacy Basics- a summary
Riseam Sharples is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. This privacy summary is made in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and it explains how we use the information we collect about you, how you can instruct us if you prefer to limit the use of that information, and the procedures that we have in place to safeguard your privacy. Our Privacy Notice (below) goes into further detail on what you can expect from us under the GDPR.
1. The information we collect about you
You are not required to provide any personal information on the public areas of this website. However, should you choose to contact us with a query or register for bulletins from our website, you may be asked to provide personal contact information and other details such as the legal services in which you are interested. The information we hold about you may come from your submission via our website or from a conversation with you over the telephone, in person or in any other communication with us or our representatives.
2. How we use your information
We gather this information in order to allow us to provide our services in the most effective manner, including:-
- the administration and maintenance of our records
- responding to queries raised by you
- research and statistical analysis in order to help us develop the website and our services. These statistics will not include information that can be used to identify any individual.
- to pass your details to accountants, consultants and other professionals, for the purpose of obtaining professional advice and complying with Riseam Sharples contractual obligations. Disclosures will only be made in compliance with the GDPR and the Solicitors Code of Conduct.
- You may ask us to remove you from our mailing list at any time by writing to Clive Sharples at this office (2 Tower Street, London WC2H 9NP) or by emailing Tom Sharples who can be reached at tom@rs-law.co.uk and/or Rakhee Davda-Vithlani who can be reached at rakhee@rs-law.co.uk .
We may be legally obliged to disclose your information to government, regulatory or law enforcement agencies in connection with the investigation of unlawful activities or under our rules of professional conduct or more specifically in accordance with the Money Laundering Regulations.
If this business is sold or integrated with another business your details may be disclosed to our advisers and any prospective purchasers and their advisers, and your details will be passed on to the new owners of the business.
3. How we protect your information
The internet is not a secure medium. All publicly accessible websites are susceptible to unlawful interception by third parties and we accept no liability if security is breached. However, we have put in place various security procedures at a level appropriate to the nature of the data held and the risk of security being breached.
We also keep your information confidential. Our internal procedures cover the storage, access and disclosure of your information.
4. Updating your details
If any of the information that you have provided to Riseam Sharples changes, for example if you change your name or contact details, please let us know the correct details by sending an e-mail to tom@rs-law.co.uk and/or rakhee@rs-law.co.uk and/or by sending a letter to Clive Sharples at this office. This will help us to ensure that the information we hold about you remains accurate and up to date.
5. Your consent
By submitting your information you consent to the use of that information as set out in this policy. If we change our privacy policy we will post the changes on this page, and we may place notices on other pages of the website where appropriate. Continued use of the service will signify that you agree to any such changes.
6. How to contact us about the data we hold
We welcome your views about our website and our privacy policy. If you would like to contact us with any questions or comments, including your right to ask what information we hold about you and your right to have this information updated and/or removed please send an e-mail to tom@rs-law.co.uk and/or rakhee@rs-law.co.uk and we will be more than happy to assist you with this request.
Riseam Sharples Privacy Notice
Riseam Sharples takes your privacy very seriously. The law requires us to tell you what we will do with the information that you give to us and for us to get your agreement to use it.
Under the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) we are required to process your data fairly, legitimately and lawfully and to ensure that it is collected specifically (and is limited to) for the purposes it was obtained. It is our responsibility to work with you in ensuring that any data that we hold about you is accurate and that it is not kept longer than necessary. We also have an obligation to erase any data we hold on you upon your request. If you would like us to deal with your data in any of the ways that we describe please email Tom Sharples (our Data Protection Officer) at tom@rs-law.co.uk or Rakhee Davda-Vithlani (our Compliance Officer) at rakhee@rs-law.co.uk.
We will keep any information that you may give us for your transaction secured on our hard copy files. We will also retain soft copy files on our computer server based in UK and over a cloud based file sharing mechanism based in the European Union which is compliant with requirements of the GDPR.
Information that you give us will be kept confidential unless you authorise us to disclose it but in order that we can work on your file, it may be that we need to communicate and pass on information that you give us to third parties who may include the other side solicitors (they may require your anti-money laundering documentation to include your ID), search companies, barristers, the court, mortgage companies, property agents, lenders and their legal representatives, the Land Registry and/or HMRC. This is per the disclaimers and check boxes we have in our Client Care paperwork given to you at the inception of you matter.
It is important that you read this Privacy Notice together with our Client Care paperwork (containing our terms and conditions of business) as this Notice acts a supplement and is not intended to override our other documents issued to you. Any personal data that we receive from you for the specific purpose of preventing money laundering or criminal financing will only be used for that purpose. By engaging our firm, you expressly consent to us keeping (for more than five years) your personal data relating to anti money laundering verification checks and searches. Your personal data will be destroyed when the file relating to your matter is destroyed (in accordance with our data retention periods).
The GDPR makes reference to your Special Category Data as being information about your race, ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade union membership, genetics, biometrics (where used for ID purposes), health, sex life or sexual orientation. You may give us this and/or we may need to obtain this information as part of your matter and by law we must have your express consent to process this information.
We will not disseminate or sell your personal information to third parties not connected to your case other than to comply with our professional and legal obligations under (to include but not limited to) the UK Anti Money Laundering Regulations and requirements of the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Legal Ombudsman, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
We have appointed Tom Sharples to oversee compliance with this Privacy Notice together with Rakhee Davda-Vithlani. If you have any questions about our Privacy Notice or how we handle your personal information please contact them.
We may change this Privacy Notice so you should check our website and your Client Care Paperwork to ensure that you are aware of any changes. We ask you to note that this Privacy Notice is not designed to form a legally binding contract
In order that we can proceed with your transaction, we ask that you complete our Privacy Notice disclaimers which will be handed to you during our retainer.