Privacy Notice

It is important that we let you know of the rights you have under data protection law. These rights are described below. If you have any specific concerns around the privacy of your personal data or require further information about how we manage your personal information, please get in touch with us: 

Ву post: John Venn & Sons, 95 Aldwych, London WC2B 4JF

Ву phone: 020 7395 4300

Ву email: notary@johnvenn.co.uk

We are open from 9am – 5:30pm Monday to Friday. You may leave a voice message outside these hours. For your security and to improve the quality of our service, we may record and monitor telephone calls.

Making а data protection complaint

If you have any concerns about the use of your personal data, or the way we handle your requests relating to your rights, you can make a complaint to us.

If you are not satisfied with the way we handle your complaint, you are entitled to make a complaint to the United Kingdom Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ico.org.uk

How we collect data

A primary function of a notary is to identify the client. We collect personal data about you in connection with our services.

We will therefore ask you to produce personal documentation that can include: a passport, a national identity card, a photocard driving licence, evidence of your address. We may also acquire data:

• from your enquiries to us about our services
• from your interactions with us whether over the phone, in person, in writing, or through our website or emails
• through analysis of your business with us
• from third parties, such as credit reference agencies, market research, comparison websites, surveys, social networks, fraud prevention agencies, agents working on your behalf, government and law enforcement agencies

Notaries are affected by UK legislation enacted to prevent terrorism and combat organised crime and money-laundering, which requires us to maintain certain records. They are also regulated by the Master of the Faculties. The codes of conduct applicable to the notarial profession can be found at www.facultyoffice.org.uk

How the law protects you

The law says that we are allowed to use personal information only if we have а proper reason to do so. The law says we must have one of the following reasons:

• to fulfil а contract we have with you
• when it is our legal duty
• when it is in our legitimate interest
• when you consent to it

А legitimate interest is when we have а business or commercial reason to use your information including but not limited to internal administrative purposes, product development and enhancement, preventing fraud, ensuring network and information security.

How we use your personal data

The main ways in which we may use your personal information are to:

• communicate with you, including the creation of an account and provision of information on specific services when you request it
• prevent, detect and investigate fraud and other crimes
• meet any other legal or regulatory obligations applicable to notaries.

Sharing your personal information

We may share your personal information with our service providers and third parties who provide services on our behalf, including but not limited to:

• agents and administrators who we use to help process our accounts
• fraud prevention and law enforcement agencies
• regulators, foreign governments, courts, dispute resolution bodies and auditors

We will do this to

• prevent fraud and other financial crimes
• respond to enquiries and complaints
• carry out analysis or perform automated decision making and profiling
• comply with legal obligations; court orders, laws or regulations

Data protection in other countries

The provision of professional services to you may require us to transfer your personal data to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA). Such countries may not provide the same level of data protection as within the EEA. Certain derogations exist in law to enable this to happen and one or more of the legal grounds for processing data may apply. We take all appropriate steps to ensure that any such transfer meets the requirements of law applicable in the United Kingdom. However, you should consider your responsibilities and any risks prior to instructing us in any matter.

Retaining your personal information

We will retain your personal information for as long аs is necessary for the purposes described above. Typically, we will retain your data for а minimum of twelve years to: fulfil our business purposes, to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, or for any legal claims.

We mау also keep your data for longer where this is necessary for statistical and historical research purposes.

Profiling and automated decision making

То help us make fair, efficient and accurate decisions, we mау use automated processes. We may also use profiling to enable us to personalise our communications to you. For example, automated processes or profiling may be used to carry out checks residency, nationality, financial details, director appointments.

Security

We take all reasonable precautions to keep your personal information secure, including safeguards against unauthorised access, use, or data loss. This includes ensuring our staff, partners and any third parties who perform work on our behalf comply with security standards as part of their contractual obligations.

Your data subject rights

You have certain rights relating to the personal information we hold about you which are outlined below. None of these rights are absolute and are subject to various exceptions and limitations.

We may need to validate your identity before we can respond to your request. If we are unable to confirm your identity or have strong reasons to believe that your request is unreasonably excessive or unfounded, we may deny it.

You have the right to:

(a) obtain access to, and copies of, the personal data we hold about you and information about how we process it;

(b) require us to correct any inaccuracies in the personal data we hold about you;

(c) require, in certain circumstances, erasure of your personal data;

(d) require us, in certain circumstances, to restrict our data processing activities;

(e) obtain from us the personal data you have provided to us in a reasonable format specified by you, including for the purpose of you transmitting that personal data to another data controller;

(f) object to our use of your personal data based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your specific situation;

(g) withdraw your consent, where our use of your personal data is based on that consent; and

(h) complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, which can investigate compliance with data protection law and has enforcement powers, if you are not satisfied with how we are processing your personal data.