Please read this privacy notice carefully as it contains important information about who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal data. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us or the Information Commissioner in the event you have a complaint.
Who are we?
Legal Services Lincolnshire (Trading) Limited is a Company which provides legal services to the public sector and is wholly owned by Lincolnshire County Council and is known as the "Controller" of the information that we collect about you.
You can view our registration on the Information Commissioner’s Office website
Legal Services Lincolnshire (Trading) Limited, 45-49 Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YS.
Telephone: 01522 552573
Data Protection Manager's contact details:
Our Data Protection Manager is David Coleman
You can contact our Data Protection Manager by email or by post or telephone if you have any questions about this privacy notice or the information we hold about you.
Why we collect information about you
- to provide legal advice to clients on all aspects of their business
- to carry out litigation activities in civil, commercial and debt recovery contexts
- for processing claims for compensation in civil matters such as employment, accident and personal injury
- for land registration purposes, such as deeds, land charges, conveyancing, sales and searches
- to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
- for our legitimate interests or those of a third party
A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your personal data, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests. We will carry out an assessment when relying on legitimate interests, to balance our interests against your own.
What type of information we may collect
- personal information such as your name, date of birth, address and contact details
- specific information about your claim, application or legal matter
- financial information
- social and economic status
- employment information
- details of alleged and convicted criminal offences
- images and recordings
We may also process some special category (sensitive) data such as:
- physical or mental health details
- racial or ethnic origin
- political views and affiliations
- religious or philosophical beliefs
- sex life or sexual orientation, including gender identification
- trade union membership
Lawful bases for processing information about you
We must ensure that we have a lawful basis to collect and use your information. They are:
- necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are party or in order to take steps at your request
- necessary to comply with a legal obligation
- necessary to perform a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority
- necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interest of ourselves or a third party, including sending you updates (by email, text, telephone or post) about legal developments that might be of interest to you and/or information about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions or new services.
If the information is special category data, this requires a further Condition to those legal bases above. In relation to our processing activities these are:
- for reasons of substantial public interest
- necessary for the establishment, exercise and defence of legal claims
- processing personal data which are manifestly made public by you
How we may collect your information
We collect most of this personal data directly from you—in person, by telephone, text or email or via our website. However, we may also collect information:
- from publicly accessible sources, for example, Companies House or HM Land Registry;
- directly from a third party
Who we may share your information with
- third parties we use to help deliver our services to you, eg Lincolnshire County Council's Legal Services Lincolnshire
- other parties involved in legal proceedings such as solicitors and barristers
- other third parties we use to help us run our business
- credit reference agencies
- our insurers and brokers
- our bank
- courts and tribunals
- regulatory authorities
- our auditors
How long we hold your information for
We are required to retain your information for as long as is necessary, after which it will be securely destroyed.
Retention periods can differ and will depend on various criteria including the purpose of processing, regulatory and legal requirements, and internal organisational need.
We have retention schedules in place that set out in detail how long information will be held for which can be accessed here
Your information rights
You have a number of individual rights in relation to the information that we hold about you which you can exercise free of charge:
Access - You have the right to ask us for a copy of your personal information.
Rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
Erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
Restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your information in certain circumstances.
Object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
Data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
Automated decisions and profiling – You have the right to prevent your information being processed and decisions being made about you solely by automated means
To withdraw consent - If you have provided us with a consent to use your personal data you have a right to withdraw that consent easily at any time
Please contact our Data Protection Manager (details are provided above) if you wish to exercise any of these individual rights.
To view more information about your rights and when these might apply please visit the Information Commissioner's Office website
How we protect your information
We protect your information by having in place technical and organisational security measures designed to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed unlawfully.
We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your personal data will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We also have procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
All staff are required to undertake regular data protection training and must comply with a variety of policies designed to keep your information secure.
Where your information is held
All information in hard copy format is held within the UK.
Information in electronic format is held in the UK, and in some instances within the EEA where we use a cloud-based IT system for example.
We also use limited IT services which are based outside the EEA. In these circumstances we ensure adequate safeguards are in place to help protect your data and your data protection rights.
Information Commissioner's Office
You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are not satisfied with the way that we have handled your information.
The ICO is an independent body set up to uphold information rights in the United Kingdom. They can also provide advice and guidance and can be contacted through the Information Commissioner's website or via their helpline on 0303 123 1113 or in writing to:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Do you need extra help?
If you would like this notice in another format (for example audio, large print, braille) please contact us.