This Privacy Notice will help you understand how we collect, use and protect your personal information. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it. If you have any queries about this Privacy Notice or how we process your personal information. 

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Who we are

Vine Court Chambers is a registered ‘data controller’ and processes your data in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (also known as GDPR). Our registration number with the Information Commissioner’s Office is ZA156204.

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What information we collect about you

The personal data you have provided, we have collected from you, or we have received from third parties includes:

• title, name, address, contact details: including:

  • telephone numbers

  • email address

  • employer and address history (if applicable)

• photographic ID, such as a driving licence or passport for the purposes of carrying out anti-fraud and anti-money laundering checks, verifying your identity and processing your application

• details of services we have been instructed to carry out for you and/or on your client’s behalf including, assisting with applications to government bodies, written legal opinions, other written work and correspondence, previous and forthcoming conference arrangements and hearing bookings.

• information received within papers relating to existing and previous legal proceedings.

• financial information such as bank statements, invoices, payments, receipts and tax documents.
   

How we collect information about you

Most of the personal information we hold about you is that which we collect directly from you, for example:

• each time you contact us about a potential piece of work;

• each time you formally instruct us on a piece of work/instruction;

• when you make enquiries or raise concerns with our members, clerking team and other staff;
   

Registration with us 

For your peace of mind, we are happy to confirm that we do not rent, trade or sell email lists to other organisations or businesses.

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In order to understand more about you and to fulfil our obligations to the relevant regulator, tax authority or revenue service (as is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations and/or in pursuance of our legitimate interests), some of the data that we collect from you, as well as other categories of data obtained from other sources, such as those listed below, may be processed by us:

• Solicitors Regulatory Authority ID, confirmation of regulation, a notice of withdrawal of authorisation or revocation of recognition, suspension or termination of practising certificate or registration.
   

What we use your information for and the legal base for processing

We may store and use your personal information for the purposes of:

• administering your case: to contact you, to obtain or provide additional information; to check our records are correct and up-to-date

• as is necessary to perform a contract between you and us and/or as is necessary

• carrying out anti-fraud and anti-money laundering checks and verifying your identity as is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations and/or as is necessary

• using your payment details to process payments relating to your instruction, including fees and refunds as is necessary to perform a contract between you and us and/or as is necessary

• carrying out client conflict checks in relation to a potential new instruction(s) on our databases as is necessary for the performance of a contract between you and us and/or as is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations 

• communicating with you about your instruction(s), including responding to your enquiries 

• administering debt recovery processes, where you owe us money under a contract or otherwise and

• fulfilling our obligations owed to a relevant regulator, tax authority or revenue service 

 

Consequences of processing

If we, or a fraud prevention agency, determine that you pose a risk of fraud or money laundering, we may refuse to provide the services you have requested. We may also stop providing existing services to you. A record of any fraud or money laundering risk will be retained by us and the fraud prevention agencies. It may also result in others refusing to provide services or employment to you. 
 

Whom we share your data with

Where relevant, given the nature of the services provided to you, we may also share your information with the following categories of third parties:

• Government Bodies, such as the UKVI, Home Office, the Court and Tribunals
   

Processing outside of the European Economic Area (EEA)

The personal information that we collect from you may be transferred to and processed in a destination outside of the EEA. It may also be processed by staff operating outside the EEA who work for one of the UK government suppliers. 
 

How long information is kept

We will retain your personal information for a number of purposes, as is necessary to allow us to carry out our business in accordance with our legitimate interests and / or as is necessary for compliance with our legal obligations.
 

Your information will be kept for up to 6 years on our main systems, after which time it will be archived, deleted or anonymised depending on the content of the material and whether there is any continuing need for it to be retained. For example, some of the archived information may be retained for a further period of time in order to allow us to process your existing or future instructions
 

Any retention of personal data will be carried out in compliance with legal and regulatory obligations and industry standards. These data retention periods are subject to change without further notice as a result of changes to associated laws or regulations.
 

Your rights & responsibilities

As the data subject of the data that we hold about you, you have the following rights and we have the following responsibilities:

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Rights

• to obtain access to, and copies of, the personal information that we hold about you;

• to require that we cease processing your personal information if the processing is causing you damage or distress;

• to require us not to send you marketing communications;

• to require us to erase your personal information;

• to require us to restrict or object to our data processing activities;

• to receive from us the personal information we hold about you which you have provided to us, in a reasonable format specified by you, including for the purpose of you transmitting that personal information to another data controller; and

• to require us to correct the personal information we hold about you if it is incorrect.
   

Responsibilities

Vine Court Chambers acknowledges its obligations as a data controller and data processor.

Please note that these rights may be limited by data protection legislation, and we may be entitled to refuse requests where exceptions apply.

If you are not satisfied with how we are processing your personal information, please contact our Data Protection Officer via email: info@vinecourtchambers.co.uk or by post on the following address: Vine Court Chambers, 4/5 Redan House, 27 Redan Place, Bayswater, London W2 4SA, who will look into your complaint. If you remain dissatisfied, you are entitled to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Officer.

You can find out more about your rights under data protection legislation from the Information Commissioner’s Office website. http://ico.org.uk