Friels Solicitors

UDDINGSTON: 01698 815114 COATBRIDGE: 01236 421136
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Privacy Policy

THE COMPANY OF FRIELS SOLICITORS LIMITED

This Privacy Policy applies to all Employees and Directors of Friels Solicitors Limited.

This Policy describes:-

(a) the information that Friels Solicitors Limited collect about data subjects
(b) how such data may be processed, used and shared; and
(c) the rights of data subjects regarding such data.

Training
All staff were trained that client details i.e addresses, phone numbers etc are not to be given out.

All staff are trained regarding client confidentiality and nothing can be disclosed to anybody outwith the firm.

Data Collection
Data held by Friels Solicitors Limited is provided to the company in the course of their instructions to act for or advice given to a client or clients.

Security
The firm operates a cloud based Case Management System. This holds the financial records and the client records including files. The system is maintained and serviced by Denovo Business Intelligence Limited. This is approved by the Law Society of Scotland. The company also operates a secured system called “Instant Office”. This holds all Anti-Money Laundering details for clients. It will hold:-

  • name, address and contact details of clients
  • national insurance number
  • identification documentation and numbers
  • bank details for clients, information about source of funds (including bank statements and other financial documentation),
  • information about source of funds from third parties including bank statements and other financial documentation
  • information on Standard Securities.


Both systems are password protected with strong passwords. The Anti-Money Laundering system is maintained and serviced by Kirklands.

All paper files are secured within both offices. Both offices have security which is approved by More Than. Both offices have intruder alarms fitted which are directed towards the Police and the Directors should there be a breach.

Use of Information
Friels Solicitors Limited may use a data subject’s information to:-

  • Provide legal advice and representation
  • Investigate and address any concerns expressed by data subjects, whether clients or other
  • Keep accounting records and carry out general administration
  • Check for potential conflicts of interest in relation to future potential cases
  • Carry out anti-money laundering and terrorist financing checks
  • Respond to requests for references
  • Make sure disclosure as required or permitted by law
  • Carrying out conveyancing of property.
  • Carrying out entering into Leases
  • Carrying out Executry’s
  • Carrying out Power of Attorney’s
  • Writing Wills


Friel Solicitors collect and process both personal data and special categories of personal data as detailed in the GDPR. This includes:-

  • Personal details
  • Family detail
  • Lifestyle and social circumstances
  • Good and services
  • Financial details
  • Education, training and employment details
  • Physical or mental health details
  • Other personal data relevant to instructions to provide legal services, including data specific to the instructions in question.


This information will be usually obtained from the client. The same categories of information may also be obtained from third parties, such as other legal professionals or experts, members of the public, family and friends of the data subject, witness, courts and other tribunals, investigators, government departments, regulators, public records and registers.

Data provided to or generated by Friels Solicitors Limited will normally be protected by legal professional privilege, unless and until the information becomes public in the course of proceedings or otherwise. Friels Solicitors Limited have an obligation to keep client information confidential, except where it otherwise becomes public or is disclosed as part of the case or proceedings.


Third Parties We Share Data With

We only share data with the normal third parties such as Courts, Banks, Mortgage Providers, Registers of Scotland, Millar & Bryce, Surveyors when they are instructed and persons employed to put up for sale signs and show round houses.


Sharing Personal Data
Members may share personal data with:

  • Court or Tribunals or other fora in which legal representation is required such as enquiries, adjudications and mediations or the staff thereof;
  • Scottish Legal Complaints Commission in the event of a complaint thereto;
  • Law enforcement officials, government authorises, or other third parties to meet any legal obligations,
  • Witnesses or potential witnesses, whether expert or otherwise;
  • Any other party where the data subject consents to the sharing.
  • Scottish Legal Aid Board, HMRC, DPW (see attached example of our record of data processing).


Data Protection Principles And Data Protection Policy
We comply with this.


Lawful Processing
We do not carry out special category data save for what may be contained in court pleadings. Friels Solicitors Limited where they process personal data require to have a lawful basis for doing so. The lawful basis are:

  • Consent of the data subject
  • Performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract
  • Compliance with a legal obligation
  • Performance of task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller
  • Legitimate interest of Friels Solicitors Limited, or a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interest, rights or freedoms of the data subjects.

The Lawful Basis upon which Friels Solicitors Limited process personal data are as follows:-

If the data subject has consented to the processing of the data subject’s personal information, then Friels Solicitors Limited may process that information for the Purposes set out above to the extent to which the data subject has consented to the member doing so, but Friels Solicitors Limited may also process the information under another of the lawful bases listed below, irrespective of whether specific consent therefor has been given;

If the data subject is a client, processing is necessary for the performance of a contract for legal services or in order to take steps at the request of a data subject prior to entering into a contract;

Processing is necessary for compliance with the obligations imposed upon Friels Solicitors Limited, including carrying out anti-money laundering or terrorist financing checks;

Processing is necessary in the legitimate interests of Friels Solicitors Limited and their clients, including, but not limited to, the provision of legal services and the giving of legal advice to clients;

Processing is necessary in the public interest or in the exercising of official authority vested in a Friels Solicitors Limited.

Marketing
We do not involve ourselves in marketing.

Data Retention
Conveyancing files are kept for 7 years and then destroyed. Court files are kept for 7 years and then destroyed. Executry files are kept for 7 years and then destroyed.

Conveyancing sale files are kept for 5 years. Court debt files are destroyed almost after the case is finished.

Data Protection Officer
Data Protection Officer is Mark Carlin a director of the company.

Data Controller
The relevant Data Controller is Mark Carlin a director of the company.

Reporting Personal Data Breaches
The Data Protection Officer will report any breaches to ICO and the client.

Data Subjects’ Rights
Data subjects may have the right to:-

  • Ask for access to their personal information and other supplementary information;
  • Ask for correction of mistakes in their data or to complete missing information held on them;
  • Ask for personal information to be erased, in certain circumstances;
  • Receive a copy of the personal information provided to Friels Solicitors Limited , or have this information sent to a third party. This will be provided to the data subject or the third party in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, e.g. a Word file;
  • Object at any time to processing of personal information for direct marketing;
  • Object in certain other situations to the continued processing of personal information;
  • Restrict processing of personal information in certain circumstances; It should be noted that such rights may not be available to data subjects: in particular, such rights may not be available where confidentiality, legal professional privilege, any lawful agreement or any legal provision prevents disclosure of data. A data subject wishing to exercise any of these rights should:
  • Use the contact details for the Friels Solicitors Limited available on www.frielssolicitors.co.uk;
  • Provide proof of identity and address;
  • State the right or rights that it is wished to exercise. Friels Solicitors will respond to such requests within one month of receipt. More information can be found at the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office (“the ICO”): http://ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information Data subjects may complain to the ICO if they are unhappy with how a Member of Faculty deals with their data


Subject Data Requests
The Data Protection Officer will deal with these

File Destruction
The files are securely destroyed by First Scottish Secure Destruction.

Basis for Processing Personal Data
It is necessary to process a personal data if clients provide a legal service.

Processing is necessary to meet a legal obligation such as Anti-Money Laundering Regulations requirements

Privacy Notice
A privacy notice is contained in letters of instruction for the clients.

Consent
Insofar as clients are concerned, Friels Solicitors Limited rely in part on explicit consent to process information being provided when the client agrees (in person or via his solicitor as agent) to the instruction of Friels Solicitors Limited. Clients have the right to withdraw this consent at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing activity Friels Solicitors Limited have carried out prior to withdrawal of such consent. Moreover, where Friels Solicitors Limited also rely on other bases for processing information, data subjects may not be able to prevent processing of data.

Cloud Server
The infrastructure we supply is on a hosted virtual cloud server platform, this is located in a UK Data Centre.

Our disaster recovery procedures include daily backups away from the main Data Centre to an Amazon Web Services bucket located in a different UK location.