Who we are

At Yates Legal we respect your privacy. This policy tells you what to expect and how we collect, store and process your personal information.

Our website address is: https://yateslegal.co.uk.

Our contact details

Name: Yates Legal               

Address: 26 Regent Road, Altrincham WA14 1RP

Phone Number: 07983 589 741

E-mail: karen@yateslegal.co.uk

Last updated November 2023

Yates Legal is the “data controller” responsible for your personal data (referred to as “we”, “us” and “our” in this policy). A data controller determines the purposes for, and the manner in which, any personal data is processed.

Scope

The type of personal information we collect

This privacy notice applies to all persons whose personal data we collect. We collect personal information on the following categories of individuals (or individuals who work for or otherwise represent any of them):

  • Our clients and potential clients
  • Visitors to our website
  • Visitors to our premises
  • Referrers, introducers and intermediaries
  • Experts
  • Counsel
  • Third Party Solicitors
  • Insurers and/or their insured
  • Individuals involved in matters we have been instructed to work on
  • Our business contacts
  • People who attend seminars, training or attend events organised by us, or at which we are involved
  • Our service providers and suppliers (for example recruitment agencies, general office services, IT service providers)
  • Our regulators and certification bodies
  • Our auditors and other professional advisors
  • Our insurers
  • Governmental bodies

Your personal information contains information about you as an individual which identifies who you are, such as your name, address, telephone number date or birth etcetera. Sometimes the information we collect is sensitive in nature such as health information or your religious beliefs. Such sensitive information is given added protection.

As an essential part of our business, we collect and manage client information. In doing so, we observe applicable data protection laws and are committed to protecting and respecting clients’ privacy, rights and personal information. We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you, depending on the nature of our relationship with you:

  • Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, marital status, title, date of birth and gender and this may be in the form of copy identity documentation such as passports.
  • Contact Data includes billing address, delivery address, email address and telephone numbers.
  • Financial Data includes bank account and payment card details.
  • Matter Data includes information collected by us as part of our provision of services. Matter Data will depend on the nature of the services we are providing and may include details about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data which are Special Categories of Personal Data and are subject to increased security and protection.
  • Transaction Data includes details about payments to and from you and other details of matters you have instructed us on or services purchased.
  • Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access our websites.
  • Profile Data includes your username and password for any online services.
  • Usage Data includes information about how you use our website and services.
  • Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

We collect this information in a number of different ways. For example, you may provide this personal information to us directly, online, over the telephone or when corresponding with us by email or letter.

We use this personal information to set you up as a client, open a file, provide our advice and services administer and manage our relationship with you. This includes the following uses:

  • Carrying out regulatory and compliance checks in order to set you up as a client including checks to verify your identity, fraud and credit checks
  • Enable business development including sending legal updates, publications and details to events
  • Administer and manage usage of our website
  • Making and receiving payments to and from you in accordance with your instructions
  • Communicating with you via email, telephone and in writing about the work we are doing for you
  • Recording telephone conversations or meetings for regulatory, monitoring and quality purposes and to administer and improve our services to you
  • Carrying out client satisfaction surveys
  • Carrying out our compliance obligations (other than those referred to above)
  • Processing and responding to any complaints
  • Bringing or defending legal proceedings.

If you fill in a form on our website, or contact us via other means such as email, telephone or by post, we will collect the information you provide when you contact us, such as your name and contact details. We will use this personal information to:

  • Send you the information you have requested, for example about our products and services
  • Respond to your enquiry.

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature, or the number of clients instructing us on certain matter types. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy notice.

Our website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

When you visit our website we will also collect your personal information via cookies. We use both essential and non-essential cookies on our website which collect information such as your browsing patterns and information about the device you are using. We may use this information to inform our marketing and future business strategies.

Cookies are small text files stored on your computer when you visit certain web pages. We use cookies when only strictly necessary, to help us find out what parts of the site you visit, what you like and what’s most relevant to you.

Cookies are nothing to be afraid of – we don’t store personal, confidential or sensitive information in the cookies we create. We use cookies to help us improve your experience of our website. To ensure you can fully use all the features of our site, your computer or mobile device will need to accept cookies. If you disable cookies, you will still be able to navigate the site, but certain features might not function correctly.

Our cookies never store personal or sensitive information; they simply hold a unique random reference to you so that once you visit the site we can recognise who you are and provide certain content to you. The information saved supports the functionality of our website. During some processes, data is temporarily stored as you move around our website. This improves your experience, and data is only stored for as long as is necessary for you to complete the process. All other cookies will expire when you close the internet browser.

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are: 

  • Your consent. You are able to remove your consent at any time. You can do this by contacting Karen Yates at karen@yateslegal.co.uk
  • We have a contractual obligation.
  • We have a legal or regulatory obligation or as otherwise required or authorised by law; and/or
  • It is necessary to fulfil a legitimate interest of our clients, third parties and/or Yates Legal and we have considered that on balance such use is not detrimental to you, is within your reasonable expectations and will have a minimal impact on your privacy rights and freedoms.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you would like an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.

If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

You will not be subject to decisions based solely on automated data processing without your prior consent.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

 

How we store your personal information

Your data may be processed by us in respect of the provision of legal services which may include:

Provision of legal services

  • Giving personal legal advice to our clients including mental capacity issues, wills and estate planning advice, and related legal services
  • Providing legal training through workshops, seminars and other events and
  • Managing and maintaining our internal database of experts, referrers, introducers, intermediaries and other service providers which relate to the provision of legal services

Internal Administration

We may process your personal data as part of our own internal business administration which may include:

  • Compliance with regulators and governing bodies
  • Quality control and training purposes
  • Dealing with certification bodies and
  • Optimising and improving our service to our clients

Marketing

We would like to keep you informed about our services and provide relevant  updates on legal issues that we feel may be of interest to you and will do this where we are lawfully able to do so. This may include:

  • Sending newsletters and legal updates and
  • Inviting you to attend seminars, training or other events that we consider relevant to you

You will receive marketing communications from us if you are a client, if you have requested information from us, or have given us express consent to send such marketing material to you, and in each case, you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.

You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by:

  • Emailing us at karen@yateslegal.co.uk or
  • Following the ‘unsubscribe’ link in the footer of a marketing email

 

Your data protection rights

 

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

Your right of access – You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.

Your right to rectification – You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.

Your right to erasure – You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to restriction of processing – You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to object to processing – You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.

Your right to data portability – You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.

You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

Please contact us at karen@yateslegal.co.uk if you wish to make a request.

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, you can make a complaint to us at 26 Regent Road, Altrincham WA14 1RP.

 

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address:           

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk