Privacy Notice

Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP (referred to as ‘Bates Wells’) is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales with registered number OC325522.

Our registered office and principal place of business is 10 Queen Street Place London EC4R 1BE and our registration number for Value Added Tax in the UK is GB244270186. Bates Wells is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). Bates Wells is also registered with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) for data protection purposes. We use the word ‘partner’ throughout the site to refer to a member of Bates Wells, or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualifications and a full list of partners is available on this website (here) and at our office.

Client confidentiality and the protection of information is a fundamental feature of our relationship with our clients. As a professional services firm, regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, Bates Wells has specific statutory, common law and regulatory obligations regarding the maintenance of client confidentiality and the protection and processing of Personal Data.

This Privacy Notice (together with any other documents referred to in it) sets out how and why we process any Personal Data we collect from you, or that you provide to us.

Please read This Notice carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your Personal Data. It also explains your rights and how to contact us or our supervisory authority in the event you have any concerns we are unable to address.

When we use your Personal Data we are required to do so in accordance with the UK GDPR. We are responsible as ‘controller’ of your Personal Data for the purposes of the UK GDPR. We will use your Personal Data in accordance with your engagement with us and your instructions, the UK GDPR, other relevant legislation and our professional duty of confidentiality.

In the event that the EU GDPR applies to our activities, we will comply with the EU GDPR.

Frequently used terms

 

Term Meaning
Criminal Offence Data means Personal Data relating to criminal convictions and offences, allegations, proceedings, and related security measures;
Data Security Breach means any act or omission that may or may already have compromised the security of Personal Data, e.g. accidental loss, destruction, theft, corruption or unauthorised disclosure of Personal Data;
Data Controller is the entity which determines the purposes for which, and the manner in which, any Personal Data is processed. It has a responsibility to establish practices and policies in line with the Act. Bates Wells is the data controller of all Personal Data used in connection with its business;
Data Processor includes any person who processes Personal Data on behalf of a Data Controller. Employees of Data Controllers are excluded from this definition but it will include suppliers which handle Personal Data on Bates Wells’ behalf such as outsourced service providers;
Data Subject means the individual to whom the Personal Data relates;
EU GDPR means the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom);
ICO means the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK’s independent data protection and information regulator;
Our Professional Regulators Solicitors Regulation Authority (00465497)
Personal Data means information relating to identifiable individuals such as clients, contacts, suppliers, job applicants. This includes expressions of opinion about the individual and any indication of someone else’s intentions towards the individual. Personal Data includes Special Category Personal Data and Criminal Offence Data;
Processing Information means obtaining, recording, organising, storing, amending, retrieving, disclosing and/or destroying information, or using or doing anything with it. Processing also includes transferring Personal Data to third parties;
Special Category Personal Data Personal Data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, genetic and biometric data, and data concerning health, sex life or sexual orientation;
UK GDPR means the implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 into UK law;
This Notice this Privacy Notice; and
We, us, our Bates Wells & Braithwaite London LLP trading as Bates Wells Braithwaite and Bates Wells.

Personal Data we collect about you

This Notice sets out the information we collect about:

  • People who use or enquire about using our services
  • Visitors to our website or offices, including contractors
  • Job applicants and potential job applicants
  • Complainants
  • People whose services we use
  • Third parties whose Personal Data we are required to process in the course of providing professional services

People who use or enquire about using our services

We ask for your Personal Data as it enables us to provide our service to you. If you do not provide the Personal Data we request, it may delay or prevent us from providing services to you.
Please note that it is a requirement for us to obtain the personal data listed below from you in order for us to enter into an engagement with you for our legal services. Personal Data we collect in the course of advising and/or acting for you may include:

Personal Data we will collect:

  • Your name, address and telephone number
  • Information to enable us to check and verify your identity, e.g. your date of birth or passport details
  • Electronic contact details, e.g. your email address and mobile phone number
  • Information relating to the matter in which you are seeking our advice or representation
  • Your financial details so far as relevant to your instructions, e.g. the source of your funds if you are instructing on a purchase transaction
  • Your use of our IT, communication and other systems, and other monitoring information, e.g. if using our secure online client portal or if receiving our electronic newsletters.

Personal Data we may collect depending on why you have instructed us and how you interact with us:

  • Your National Insurance/National ID and tax details
  • Your bank and/or building society details
  • Details of your professional online presence, e.g. LinkedIn profile
  • Details of your marital status/civil partnership – spouse/partner and dependants or other family members including children (consent required from parent or guardian)
  • Your employment status and details including salary and benefits
  • Your nationality and immigration status and information from related documents, such as your passport or other identification, and immigration information
  • Details of your pension arrangements
  • Your employment records including, where relevant, records relating to sickness and attendance, performance, disciplinary, conduct and grievances (including relevant Special Category Personal Data)
  • Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs
  • Your trade union membership
  • Personal identifying information, such as your eye colour or your parents’ names
  • Your medical records
  • Marketing analytics information, such as information collected through email tracking pixels if you sign up for one of our newsletters
  • Information about symptoms, health or recent travel if you visit or intend to visit our premises (at times when Government guidelines, in the context of public health concerns, make such steps advisable
  • Audio Information such as your voice via voicemail messages or platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams
  • Visual Information such as your likeness in photographs, CCTV or video calling platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams

Processing of Special Category Personal Data

The UK GDPR recognises certain categories of personal information as sensitive and therefore requiring more protection, for example information about your health, ethnicity and political opinions (please see the definition of Special Category Personal Data above for more details).

In certain situations, we may collect and/or use these Special Category Personal Data (for example, if we are providing you with employment advice in relation to discrimination). We may also collect information about your health if you visit or intend to visit our premises at times when Government guidelines, in the context of public health, advise us to do so. We will be collecting such information in order to protect the health and safety of our employees (and other visitors to our premises) as well as for public health reasons. We will only process Special Category Personal Data if there is a valid reason for doing so and where the UK GDPR allows us to do so.

Visitors to our website

Our website uses cookies or other tracking technologies to record visits to the website (www.bateswells.co.uk) and engagement with our communications . This helps us to improve our website and communications and in turn provide you with a better experience when you are browsing.

When someone visits our website and consents to our cookies we use a third party service, Google Analytics, to collect standard internet log information and details of visitor behaviour patterns. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. We also track how effective our email marketing is through the use of tracking pixels. This information is not processed for the purpose of identifying anyone and is processed in aggregate. We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. If we do want to collect Personal Data through our website, we will be up front about this. We will make it clear when we collect Personal Data and will explain what we intend to do with it.

Please see our Cookie Policy for more information.

The Personal Data we collect from visitors to our website also applies to people who subscribe to our newsletters, seminars or other publications

Personal Data we may collect depending on how you use our website

  • Your name, email address, telephone number and home address
  • Name of your organisation and job title
  • Information relating to the matter in which you are contacting us about
  • Payment details
  • Dietary or access requirements

Job applicants and potential job applicants

Job applicants and potential job applicants

Within the definition of job applicants, we include individuals applying for vacation scheme placements or work experience. Personal Data we may collect includes:

Personal Data we will collect

  • Your name
  • Your qualifications
  • Work history

Personal Data we may collect depending on your relationship with us

  • Your address and phone number
  • Your date of birth/age
  • Professional membership details
  • Details of your professional and personal online presence, e.g. LinkedIn or Facebook profile
  • Details of your marital status/civil partnership
  • Your employment status and details including salary and benefits
  • Your nationality and immigration status
  • Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs to assist with our internal diversity monitoring procedures and to meet our regulatory requirements
  • Pregnancy and maternity status
  • Your trade union membership
  • Information about any disability you may have
  • Criminal Offence Data
  • Your National Insurance/National ID and tax details
  • Electronic contact details, e.g. your email address and mobile phone number
  • Any interview notes or assessments you may have completed
  • References and other information relating to past employment
  • Your photograph

Complainants

We are committed to providing a high-quality service to all our clients. When concerns are raised with us, we may collect Personal Data such as:

Personal Data we may collect depending on the nature of your complaint

  • Your name, address, telephone number, email address and mobile phone number
  • Information relating to the matter in which you sought our advice
  • Your bank and/or building society details
  • Details of your spouse/partner and dependants or other family members
  • Your nationality and immigration status and information from related documents, such as your passport or other identification, and immigration information
  • Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs (only where this is necessary in order to address your complaint).

People whose services we use

Where we engage individuals or organisations to carry out services for us we may be required to process Personal Data of the service provider or its personnel in order to facilitate the provision of the service. We may also collect and retain information to enable us to evaluate that service.

Any such processing will be governed by contractual terms between us and the service provider, but the general provisions as to data security retention periods etc. as set out in This Notice will apply.

Third parties whose Personal Data we process in the course of providing professional services

We are often required to process the Personal Data of third parties as part of the service we offer to our clients.

We will not usually inform you that we are processing your Personal Data in this way, because your Personal Data will be subject to legal professional privilege, and so be exempt from the transparency requirements of Article 14 UK GDPR. In accordance with the same provisions, we are not required to provide personal data in response to a subject access request to our firm where the Personal Data requested is covered by legal professional privilege and/or otherwise restricted by applicable laws or regulations.

However, we will observe all of the provisions of the UK GDPR where we are not exempted by reason of legal professional privilege. In particular, we will take appropriate technological and organisational measures to ensure that such Personal Data are kept secure and retained in line with our retention policy.

How your Personal Data is collected

We collect most of this information directly from you. However, we may also collect information from other sources:

Where we may collect data Examples
Publicly accessible sources Companies House,
Charity Commission
HM Land Registry
Intellectual Property Office
Directly from a third party (consent will be sought where required) Sanctions screening providers
Credit reference agencies
Client due diligence providers
Professional Regulators and other Professional bodies
From our clients where your personal information is relevant to the matter on which they have instructed us
Your bank or building society, another financial institution or advisor
Consultants and other professionals we may engage in relation to your matter
Your employer and/or trade union, professional body or pension administrators
Your doctors, medical and occupational health professionals
Recruitment agencies
Via our own or our landlord’s information technology systems Case management, document management and financial management systems
Door entry systems and reception logs
Automated monitoring of our websites and other technical systems, such as our computer networks and connections, CCTV and access control systems, communications systems, email and instant messaging systems
Via Social Media Platforms Depending on your privacy settings for social media services, we may also access information from those accounts or services
When you interact with us on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn

How and why we use your Personal Data

We can only use your Personal Data if we have a proper reason for doing so, e.g.

• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
• for or in the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract;
• for our legitimate interests or those of a third party; or
• where you have given consent.

We won’t share your information with any other organisations for marketing, market research or commercial purposes, and we don’t pass on your details to other websites.

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests.

The table below explains what we use (process) your Personal Data for and our reasons for doing so:

What we use your Personal Data for Our reasons and the legal basis for processing
To provide professional services to you (or in relation to you – not directly to you) including sharing data with the courts in the course of litigation. For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.
Conducting checks to identify our clients and verify their identity; Screening for financial and other sanctions or embargoes; Other processing necessary to comply with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business, e.g. under health and safety regulations or rules issued by our Professional Regulators. To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries or investigations by our Professional Regulators or other regulatory bodies and external assessors from our global certification providers. To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.   For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can continuously improve our service to you
Ensuring business policies are adhered to and operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control. For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can continuously improve our service to you.
Ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information. For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to protect our intellectual property and other commercially valuable information. To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, for instance regulations to combat insider trading and other market abuse.
Statistical analysis to help us manage our practice, e.g. in relation to our financial performance, client base, work type or other efficiency measures or in relation to diversity monitoring. For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can continuously improve our service to you.
Preventing unauthorised access and modifications to systems. For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for us and for you To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Updating client records. For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.  To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.  For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. making sure that we can keep in touch with our clients about existing and new services
Statutory returns and regulatory returns To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to protect the wellbeing and ensure the safety of you and our people
Marketing our services to: existing and former clients; and third parties who have expressed an interest in our services For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to promote our business to existing and former clients

How we use personal data relating to other individuals collected from you

In the course of providing you with our services, you may provide us with personal data of individuals who are not aware of our involvement or of our processing of their personal data (for instance, personal data of employees in the course of a corporate acquisition). In such situations, we are not likely to have any direct contact with individuals whose personal data we are processing, or it may for other reasons (for instance, to maintain confidentiality) not be appropriate for us to provide them with a privacy notice setting out how we process their personal data. Before you pass any such personal data to us, you must therefore ensure that the relevant individuals have received any requisite privacy notices in connection with the performance of our services. Additionally, please direct any individuals who interact with us on your behalf to this Privacy Notice, a link to which is also contained in the footer of our emails.

Promotional communications

We may use your Personal Data to send you updates (by email, telephone or post) about industry developments that might be of interest to you and/or information about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions or new services or products.

We have a legitimate interest in processing your Personal Data for these purposes (see above ‘How and why we use your Personal Data’). This means we do not usually need your consent to send you these communications. However, where consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly. You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time.

We will always treat your Personal Data with the utmost respect and never sell OR share it with other organisations outside this Firm for marketing purposes.

If you would prefer not to receive any promotional communications, you can request this at any time by:

  • emailing your request to [email protected]; or
    • using the ‘unsubscribe’ link in emails.

We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you instruct us to provide further services in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.

Who we share your Personal Data with

Who we may share your Personal Data with Examples
Professional advisers who we instruct on your behalf or refer you to Barristers, solicitors, accountants, tax advisors or other experts
Other third parties where necessary to carry out your instructions Mortgage or loan provider, HM Land Registry, Companies House, Charity Commission, Intellectual Property Office, Home Office and other experts
Insurers and brokers Professional Indemnity, Employers Liability and Public Liability Insurance
External auditors In relation to ISO accreditation and the audit of our accounts
Our banks Pooled client account
External service suppliers, representatives and agents that we use to make our business more efficient Word processing/typing, translation services, company secretarial work and discrete areas of law
Law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations with our Professional Regulators and other bodies such as the National Crime Agency

We only allow our service providers to handle your Personal Data if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your Personal Data. We also impose contractual obligations on service providers to ensure your confidentiality is maintained.

We may also need to share some Personal Data with other parties, such as potential buyers of some or all of our business or during a re-structuring. We ensure that any recipient of the information is bound by confidentiality obligations.

Where your Personal Data is held

All electronic information is held on servers within Bates Wells’ offices. Backup servers are held offsite within the UK.

Our network is protected by Palo Alto firewalls https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/ and the firm has obtained Cyber Essentials Plus accreditation (https://www.cyberessentials.ncsc.gov.uk/ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cyber-essentials-scheme-overview). This accreditation is a government backed scheme supported by the National Cyber Security Centre (https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/). The firm undertakes audits and testing of the robustness of its protections.

Information may also be held by other third parties as described above (see ‘Who we share your Personal Data with’).

To deliver services or manage our relationship with you, it is sometimes necessary for us to share your Personal Data outside the United Kingdom, e.g. –

  • when your or our service providers are located outside the United Kingdom;
    • if you are based outside the United Kingdom; or
    • where there is an international dimension to the matter in which we are advising you.

Many countries do not have the same data protection laws as the United Kingdom. We will, however, take reasonable steps to ensure any such supplier has in place appropriate measures to protect your information and any contract includes appropriate clauses about the use of data. For instance, we may put in place regulator approved standard contractual clauses with a third party outside the UK and European Economic Area.

How long your Personal Data will be kept

We will keep your Personal Data after our relationship has come to an end. We will do so for one of these reasons:

  • to respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
    • to show that we treated you fairly;
    • to keep records required by our Professional Regulators or any applicable law or regulation;
    • for business management purposes.

We will not keep your Personal Data for longer than necessary for the purposes you provide it to us and as set out in This Notice. Different retention periods apply for different types of data depending on the nature of the matter you have asked us to advise on and the purpose for which it was collected. Further details about retention periods are available on request.

Your rights explained

It is important that you understand what rights you have in respect of the Personal Data and Special Category Personal Data that we hold about you. To let us know that you wish us to exercise any of your rights outlined below, unless stated otherwise, please do this by either contacting the individual responsible for your matter or by emailing [email protected] or writing to the Compliance Officer for Legal Practice at this Firm’s address.

The right to be informed (knowing how we will use your data) You have the right to be told how we will use your Personal Data – which is set out in This Notice. We also provide you with additional notices when you provide us with your Personal Data.
The right of access (being provided with copies of your data) You have the right to ask us to provide you with a copy of your Personal Data.
We will supply any information you ask for as soon as possible but may take up to 1 month (possibly extended up to 3 months where the law permits) once we are satisfied as to your identity. We will not charge you for this. This is called a data subject access request.
The right to rectification (changing incorrect information we hold) If you believe our records are inaccurate you have the right to ask for those records concerning you to be updated. Contact details for any requests can be found above.
The right to be forgotten (erasure) (requesting deletion of your Personal Data) In some cases, you have the right to be forgotten (i.e. to have your Personal Data deleted from our database). Where you have requested that we do not send you marketing materials we will need to keep some limited information in order to ensure that you are not contacted by us with marketing in the future.
The right to restrict processing (limiting how we use your data) In certain situations you have the right to ask for processing of your Personal Data to be restricted because there is some disagreement about its accuracy or legitimate usage.
The right to data portability (moving your data in a useable format) You have the right to request the Personal Data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party—in certain situations
The right to object (when we must stop processing your data) You have the right to object to us processing data purely for our legitimate interests. If you make such a request, we must stop processing your Personal Data unless: we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing, which override your interests, rights and freedoms; orthe processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
Right not to be subject to automated decision making including profiling (making a decision solely by automated means without any human involvement) The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you. Bates Wells does not undertake automated decision making or profiling.
Right to withdraw consent If we obtain your consent to process your personal data for any purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us or see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the UK GDPR.

Keeping your Personal Data secure

We have appropriate security measures to prevent Personal Data from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your Personal Data to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected Data Security Breach. We will notify you and any of our Professional Regulators or other applicable regulator of a suspected Data Security Breach where we are legally required to do so. For further information, please contact our Risk & Compliance Department at [email protected].

If you want detailed information from Get Safe Online on how to protect your information and your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses and many other online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online is supported by HM Government and leading businesses.

How to raise a concern

We hope that we can resolve any concern you may raise about our use of your information.

In the event that we are unable to satisfy your concerns, the UK GDPR also gives you the right to raise your concerns with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/concerns or telephone: 0303 123 1113. The ICO address is: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Changes to the terms of This Notice

This Notice was last updated 19 March 2024.

We may change This Notice from time to time, when we make any significant changes we will inform you via a notice on our website and within our email footers. Where it is practicable, we will notify you directly if there are any material changes to This Notice. However, we encourage you to review This Notice periodically to be informed of how we use your Personal Data.

We will only notify individuals who are directly engaging with us about these changes. We will not notify any third parties whose Personal Data we process during the provision of our services.

How to contact us

Please contact our Risk & Compliance Department if you have any questions about This Notice or the information we hold about you. You can contact them by:
Post: Bates Wells Braithwaite, 10 Queen Street Place, London, EC4R 1BE
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 020 7551 7777

 

Last updated 19 March 2024