Privacy Notice

Our Privacy Policy tells you what will happen to any personal data that you provide to us as a result of using our website. The information is written for the benefit of general visitors to the website – if you are a client of ours (or become one) we process a wider range of personal data and will be provided with further information about how use your personal data.

Our Lawful Reasons for Processing Your Personal Data

This firm processes your data in accordance with the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and the relevant provisions relating to the General Data Protection Regulation contained within the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (UK GDPR).

This Data & Privacy Notice explains the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also explains how we will store and handle that data and keep it safe. Unless otherwise indicated, references in this Data and Privacy Notice to the GDPR refer to the UK GDPR.

The UK GDPR requires us to declare which of six ‘lawful reasons’ we are relying on when we are processing your personal data:

• We operate on the basis of consent when sending newsletters (you won’t get sent a newsletter unless you have explicitly opted in to receive one).
• We operate on the basis of legitimate interest when communicating with you in other ways (e.g. when responding to your enquiry).

Personal Data You Provide

Your privacy is important to us. By providing personal information such as your name and e-mail address via the forms on this website, you agree to us contacting you with regard to the information provided.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the data you provide via this website to:

• Communicate with you, for example: we use contact details such as email address or phone number when responding to enquiries made via online forms.
• Operate our business more effectively, for example: we encourage feedback and use this to help improve our service.
• Carry out recruitment and selection.

How Long We Keep Your Personal Data

Personal data may be stored by the website for a period of up to 90 days after which time it is removed. If you contact us with an enquiry regarding legal advice but do not become a client of ours we will keep your name and contact details and any other data you submit to us securely on our client database for 6 years, this is so that we have a record that you contacted us if you come back to us again. After 6 years your details will be deleted from our system.

Your data will not be disclosed to any third parties without your consent or as otherwise allowed by the relevant Data Protection legislation and will only be used for responding to your query (or purposes associated with that purpose).

You have the right to be informed about what data we hold about you along with other rights set out in the legislation. Further information about your rights under the data protection legislation can be found at www.ico.org.uk

THIRD PARTIES

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to help us monitor how the website is being used. This information is only processed in a way which does not identify anyone other than by IP Address. You can find out more about Google’s Privacy Policy here.

WordPress

We use WordPress.com, which is run by Automattic Inc. We use a standard WordPress service to update our website and collect anonymous information about users’ activity on the site, for example the number of users viewing pages on the site, to monitor and report on the effectiveness of the site and help us improve it. For more information about how WordPress processes data, please see Automattic’s privacy notice.

Oberoi

We use a third party provider, Oberoi, to take messages from callers 24 hours a day if our receptionists are unable to answer. The information you provide if your call is answered by Oberoi is only used to contact you and is not passed on. We will keep this information for 6 years .

Cookies

Our site uses cookies, which are small text files, to distinguish you from other users of our site. This helps to make our website work and helps us to provide you with a good and efficient experience when you browse our site. For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them see our Cookie policy.

Contacting us via social media

We use a third party provider, Hootsuite to manage our social media interactions. If you send us a private or direct message via social media the message will be stored on our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) for no more than three months.

Contacting us by email

If you contact us via any of the email addresses provided on our website, your email will not be shared with any third parties and will be kept for the purposes of contacting you only. If you are not or you do not become a client we will delete any emails you send us after 6 years.

We will also monitor any emails sent to us, including file attachments, for viruses or malicious software. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send is within the bounds of the law.

Contacting us by phone

If you contact us by phone, the information you give us will not be shared with any third parties and will be kept for the purposes of contacting you and dealing with your matter only. If you are not our client and you do not become a client we will delete this information after 6 years. Voicemails may be securely stored as digital files.

Your Personal Data and Recruitment

If you apply for a job with us information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, or to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary. We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes.

If you are unsuccessful in our selection process or you send us an application speculatively, your details to be kept in our talent pool for a period of twelve months so that we may  proactively contact you should any further suitable vacancies arise. If you would not like us to keep your information please contact us. If you interview with us and are unsuccessful we will keep your interview notes and application for a period of 6 years in case you return to us in future.

Equal Opportunities Information

When applying for a job you will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information – if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team in a way which can identify you. The staff who shortlist will not be provided with your equal opportunities information, if you provide it. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.

Access to Your Information, Questions or Complaints

You have a right to request a copy of the information we hold about you, free of charge in most cases.  You also have the right to request the correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete or that we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you have withdrawn consent, or object and we have no legitimate overriding interest, or once the purpose for which we hold the data has come to an end.

To obtain a copy of this information or make a request as outlined above, please write to our data privacy manager Brian Hegarty at dataprivacy@davidgray.co.uk or at the following address:

David Gray Solicitors LLP
Old County Court
56 Westgate Road
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 5XU

Telephone number: 0191 2329547

If we choose not to action your request, we will explain to you the reasons for our refusal.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/) We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO, so we request that you please contact us in the first instance.

Inform Us of Changes

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Changes to our privacy policy

We keep our privacy policy under regular review and we will place any updates on this webpage.