Privacy Policy

This privacy policy explains how, when and why we collect personal information about you, how it
is used, under what conditions we may disclose it to other parties and how we keep it secure.

WHO WE ARE

Joe Egan Solicitors are a limited company, company number 8918291 who are authorised and
regulated be the SRA, SRA no 627521. Our ICO Registration Number is Z6858523.

If you wish to contact us regarding any aspect of our privacy policy, data protection or your
personal data please email info@joeegansolicitors.co.uk

WHAT INFORMATION WE NEED

The information we may request from you will depend upon what you have asked us to do for you
or what we are contracted to do for you.

There are two main types of personal data

Personal data – general information about yourself such as name, address, date of birth, contact
details and financial information.

Special Categories of Data – Race or ethnicity, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union
membership, genetic data, health or sexual orientation.

In the majority of cases personal data will be restricted to basic information and information
needed to complete ID checks. However some of the work we do may require us to ask for more
sensitive information.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Information about yourself may be obtained from a number of sources including but not limited
to –

• Information volunteered by yourself by filling in an enquiry on our website, emailing us, calling
our offices or in person.
• Information may be provided by a third party in order that we can undertake legal work on
your behalf. Organisations such as banks and building societies, medical or financial institutions or
organisations that have referred work to us.
• We may receive personal information about you if you are the other side on a case we are
instructed upon either from your solicitor, barrister, a court or an insurance company.

Our website is hosted by osam.com for information on what information they may collect when you
visit our website please check their Privacy Policy

WHY WE NEED THAT INFORMATION

Primarily we ask for data to allow us to carry out your request to represent you or carry out legal
work on your behalf.
We may use your information for:

• Verifying your identity
• Verifying source of funds
• Conducting a legal matter you have instructed us to act for you in which will include
communicating with you, preparing or obtaining any necessary documentations such as insurance
policies, transcriptions, court orders etc.
• Seeking advice from a 3rd party legal or non-legal experts such as Barristers or expert
witnesses.
• To respond to any complaint we may receive.

SHARING YOUR INFORMATION

We do not use your data to market to you and we will never sell or rent your information to third
parties for any reason. We will not share your data with third parties for the purposes of
marketing.

Generally your data is only used within Joe Egan Solicitors in order to deal with your legal matter.
However there may be circumstances in which we need to disclose some information to third
parties such as Legal Aid Agency, HMLR, HMRC, Courts, Solicitors acting on the other side and
Barristers for advice or to represent you. This is not an exhaustive list and we would always
endeavour to inform clients which specific people or organisations their data may be shared with
in a specific case, if you would like to know exactly who we have shared your data with please ask
the Fee Earner dealing with your case or contact us at info@joeegansolicitors.co.uk or call our
offices 01204 386214.

In the event that any of your information is shared with a third party we will ensure that they
comply with our instructions and do not use your personal information for their own purposes
unless they obtain their own consent to do so.

HOW LONG WILL WE KEEP YOUR DATA FOR

Your personal information will be retained, usually in computer or paper files, only for as long as
necessary to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected; or as required by law; or
as long as is set out in any relevant contract you may hold with us. For example:

• For a minimum of 6 years from the conclusion or closure of your legal work as mandated by
the SRA; in case you, or we, need to re-open your case or for the purpose of defending complaints
or claims against us
• For the duration of a trust
• Probate matters where there is a surviving spouse or civil partner may be retained until the
survivor has died in order to deal with the transferable Inheritance Tax allowance
• Property purchase, re-mortgage matters, wills files and related documents may be kept
indefinitely as problems with these files may not come to light for a much longer period than the 6
years minimum.
• Deeds we are holding on behalf of clients are kept indefinitely or until the client requests
them
• Personal injury matters which involve lifetime awards or PI Trusts may be kept indefinitely

HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR DATA

We understand that your personal data is important and we take all reasonable measures to
protect any data we hold. We have high standards of technology and operational security in order
to protect personally identifiable data from loss, misuse, alteration or destruction.

We ensure that anyone who may have access to your data both internally and externally have
agreed to protect the confidentiality of all information; to ensure all personal data is handled and
processed in line with our stringent confidentiality and data protection policies.

We use computer safeguards such as firewalls and data encryption and we enforce, where
possible, physical access controls to our buildings and files to keep data safe.

ACCESSING THE DATA WE HOLD ON YOU

The current data protection legislation, GDPR, allows individuals a “right to access”. Which means
that you have a right to access what personal data on you we are holding.

A request for access to your personal data means you are entitled to a copy of the data we hold
on you – such as your name, address, contact details, date of birth, information regarding your
health etc. but it does not mean you are entitled to the documents that contain this data.
If you would like to make should a request please contact us at info@joeegansolicitors.co.uk or in
writing to Helen Egan, Joe Egan Solicitors, 18 Wood St, Bolton BL1 1DY

Under certain circumstances, in addition to the entitlement to ‘access your data’, you have the
following rights:

1. The right to be informed: which is fulfilled by way of this privacy notice and our transparent
explanation as to how we use your personal data.

2. The right to rectification: you are entitled to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or
incomplete.

3. The right to erasure / ‘right to be forgotten’: you have the right to request the deletion or
removal of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
This right only applies in the following specific circumstances:
• Where the personal data is no longer necessary in regards to the purpose for which it was
originally collected.
• Where consent is relied upon as the lawful basis for holding your data and you withdraw your
consent.
• Where you object to the processing and there is no overriding legitimate interest for
continuing the processing.
• The personal data was unlawfully processed.Where you object to the processing for direct
marketing purposes.

4. The right to object: you have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests; and
direct marketing. This right only applies in the following circumstances:
• An objection to stop processing personal data for direct marketing purposes is absolute –
there are no exemptions or grounds to refuse.
• You must have an objection on grounds relating to your particular situation.
• We must stop processing your personal data unless:
• We can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override your
interests, rights and freedoms; or
• The processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

5. The right to restrict processing: you have the right to request the restriction or suppression of
your data. When processing is restricted, we can store the data but not use it. This right only
applies in the following circumstances:
• Where you contest the accuracy of the personal data – we should restrict the processing until
we have verified the accuracy of that data
• Where you object to the processing (where it was necessary for the performance of a public
interest or purpose of legitimate interests), and we are considering whether our organisation’s
legitimate grounds override your right
• Where processing is unlawful and you request restriction
• If we no longer need the personal data but you require the data to establish, exercise or
defend a legal claim

COMPLAINTS ABOUT OUR USE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA

If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our
Data Protection Manager who will investigate further. Our Data Protection Manager is Helen Egan
and you can contact them at info@joeegansolicitors.co.uk
If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data in
accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).