Introduction

Acumension Ltd is registered in England and Wales with company number 3594984. Our registered office is at No1 Universal Square, Devonshire Street, Manchester, M12 6JH. We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for the purposes of data protection law in relation to any personal information we hold about you.

We are committed to maintaining high standards of confidentiality in relation to the information provided to us in the course of our business. We are certified under ISO 27001.

This privacy notice is designed to provide information about our practices concerning the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of providing legal, advisory and/or consultancy services.
Personal information is any data from which an individual can be identified.
Please read this notice carefully and contact us if you have any queries by emailing us at:
dataprotection@acumension.com

This privacy notice may change from time to time so we recommend that you review it periodically. This
version of the privacy notice was last updated on 25/05/18.

Who this privacy notice applies to

This privacy notice applies to all persons whose personal information we collect and process. This includes individuals in the categories below or who work for any of the following:

⦁ our clients
⦁ other lawyers and law firms, including barristers
⦁ people who are involved in court or other legal proceedings (including legal claims, criminal actions, inquests, tribunals, arbitrations, mediations, investigations and regulatory actions) or the provision of related or other legal, advisory and/or consultancy services, or people who are involved in insurance claims we are handling for clients. This may include claimants, defendants, witnesses, experts and service providers related to such court or other legal proceedings, services or claims, such as investigators, mediators and costs lawyers
⦁ people who are involved in contracts and transactions we are working on, such as other businesses or individuals our clients are contracting with
⦁ our regulators, insurers, auditors, professional advisers and certification/accreditation bodies

Information we may collect and process

In the course of our business, we will need to collect and process various types of personal information for various purposes. Given the nature of our business and the services we provide, it is impractical to list all the categories of personal information that may be collected and processed. We will however only process and collect personal information where necessary for the provision of our services and where we have a legal basis to do so. We most commonly collect and process:

⦁ contact information for individuals (such as full name, date of birth, address, email address and telephone number). We may collect additional information to enable the identity of individuals to be verified
⦁ information regarding an individual’s legal requirements and personal or professional situation;
⦁ information about individuals employed by or associated with our clients, advisers or the organisations involved in a matter on which we are instructed
⦁ Health information as necessary for the provision of our services where the services we provide involve or relate to medical matters

How we use and disclose personal information

Where we receive personal data in connection with the provision of legal, advisory and/or consultancy services, we process that data for the purposes of the provision of those services. This includes:

(a) Providing legal and related services, such as:
⦁ managing court or other legal proceedings (including legal claims, arbitrations, mediations, investigations and regulatory actions)
⦁ providing legal advice
⦁ providing consultancy services
⦁ providing claims handling services

When we hold and use personal information in the course of providing legal, advisory and/or consultancy services to a client, that client is also entitled to access that personal information. They may in turn use that information in accordance with their own privacy notice or equivalent.

(b) Complying with our legal obligations or making disclosures to government, regulatory or other public bodies where in our reasonable opinion the disclosure is appropriate and permitted by law. This includes:
⦁ disclosures required by law or court order
⦁ disclosures to our regulators, ombudsman or other government, public or regulatory authority, including any data protection supervisory authority or regulator of legal services, where in our reasonable opinion the disclosure is required or permitted by law.

(c) Providing access to our files for audit, review or other quality assurance checks, by our clients, regulators, auditors, professional advisers and certification/accreditation bodies.

(d) Processing required in connection with the day to day operation of our business such as billing and payments, complaints handling and internal record keeping. For this we may use third party service providers such as IT service providers.

Where we share personal information with third parties, we will only do so where in our reasonable opinion that information will be adequately protected. Any other service providers with whom we share information are approved by us and subject to contractual obligations designed to ensure that those providers comply with data protection legislation.

How we protect personal information

We are strongly committed to data security and we take reasonable appropriate steps to protect the personal information we hold from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption. We have put in place physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure that information.

The legal basis on which we process personal information

Data protection law requires us to have a legal basis for processing your information. In most cases we will only process your personal information:

⦁ so we can carry out our contract with you, or take any steps you ask us to before entering into a contract with you
⦁ as necessary to comply with any legal obligations we have

⦁ where necessary for our legitimate purposes in providing legal, advisory and/or consultancy services and/or for the legitimate purposes of our clients in receiving those services.

When processing personal data we comply with the data protection principles and our own data protection policy. By doing so, and given that we are bound by professional obligations of confidentiality when providing legal services, we consider that the interests and fundamental freedoms of people whose personal data we process do not override the pursuit of our legitimate interests and/or those of our clients.

In most cases we process personal data that falls into one of the special categories specified by the General Data Protection Regulation (1).

Rights of data subjects

If we process your personal data, you have a number of rights. You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (and request that that data be provided in a portable format) and you may object to our processing of it or ask us to rectify it, restrict the way in which we process it or erase it from our records. For further information about your rights, contact dataprotection@acumension.com

If you have a complaint about the way in which we process or have processed your personal data please contact dataprotection@acumension.com in the first instance. If you remain dissatisfied you may lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

(1) Personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data
concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

This privacy policy sets out how Acumension uses and protects any information that you give Acumension when you use this website.

Acumension is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Acumension may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from the start date in the Account Set up Form.

What we collect
We may collect the following information:

• Name and job title
• Contact information including email address
• Demographic information such as post code, preferences and interests
• Other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

What we do with the information we gather
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

• Internal record keeping;
• We may use the information to improve our products and services;
• We may periodically send promotional email about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided;
• From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail;
• We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests;

Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

• Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes.
• If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at info@acumension.com.
• We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
• You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to Acumension Ltd, 1 Universal Square, Manchester M12 6JH.
• If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

This privacy policy sets out how Acumension uses and protects any information that you give Acumension when you use this website.

Acumension is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Acumension may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes. This policy is effective from the start date in the Account Set up Form.

What we collect
We may collect the following information:

• Name and job title
• Contact information including email address
• Demographic information such as post code, preferences and interests
• Other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

What we do with the information we gather
We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

• Internal record keeping;
• We may use the information to improve our products and services;
• We may periodically send promotional email about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided;
• From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail;
• We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests;

Security
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to enable you to visit other websites of interest easily. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

• Whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes.
• If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at info@acumension.com.
• We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
• You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to Acumension Ltd, 1 Universal Square, Manchester M12 6JH.
• If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.