Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy provides important information about how we will collect, use and protect your personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. As part of our commitment to transparency and compliance with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) standards and regulations, we want to ensure you are fully informed about how we handle your data. 

1. Who we are

We are HS Legal, a Law Firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under registration number 8009171.

For the purposes of data protection laws, we are the Data Controller responsible for the personal data you provide to us.

2. What Data we collect

In the course of providing legal services to you, we may collect the following types of personal data:-

· Personal details; your name, address, contact information, and date of birth.

· Identification documents: such as your passport, driving license or utility bills for compliance with anti money laundering regulations.

· Financial information: bank account details, payment records and other financial data.

· Case-specific data: relevant information such as medical records, employment details or property ownership documents.

· Special category data; sensitive information such as health data, racial/ethic origin or criminal history where required to provide our legal services. 

3. How we collect your data

We collect your data through:

· Forms you complete or provide to us

· Communications with us (e.g. emails, phone calls or letters).

· Documents or evidence you supply as part of your matter.

· Publicly available sources (e.g. Companies House, Land Registry).

· Third parties such as other solicitors, barristers or experts working on your case.

4. Legal Basis for processing your data:-

We process your personal data under the following lawful bases: 

· Contractual necessity: to perform the legal services you have instructed us to provide

· Legal obligation: to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, such as anti money laundering checks.

· Legitimate interests: to manage and progress your case efficiently and effectively. 

· Consent: for processing special category data where required, such as health records.

5. How we use your data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:-

· To provide legal advice and services

· To comply with legal and regulatory obligations (e.g. anti-money laundering checks).

· To communicate with you about your matter.

· To manage payments, invoicing and accounting.

· To improve our services (e.g internal audits or training)

We do not use your personal data for marketing purposes without your explicit consent. 

6. Sharing your data

We may share your data with the following third parties where necessary:

· Courts, tribunals or regulatory bodies

· Barristers, experts or other professional advisors

· Opposing parties or their representatives

· Government authorities (e.g HMRC or the Land Registry). 

· Service Providers (e.g. IT system providers or document storage providers). 

We ensure that all third parties we work with adhere to strict confidentiality and data protection standards. 

7. Data Retention

We ill retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfil our legal and contractual obligations. This will usually be:-

· Client files: retained for 6 years after your matter concludes, in line with SRA guidelines

· Financial records: retained for 6 years for tax and accounting purposes 

After the retention period, your data will be securely destroyed or deleted. 

8. International data transfers

We do not transfer your data outside the UK or European Economic Area (EEA) without your consent or unless it is necessary to fulfil your instructions. Where such transfers occur, we will ensure adequate safeguards are in place.

9. Your Data Protection Rights

Under the UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:- 

· Right to access: request a copy of your personal data

· Right to rectification: request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data

· Right to Erasure: request deletion of your data (in certain circumstances).

· Right to restrict processing: request that we stop processing your data (in certain circumstances). 

· Right to Data portability: Receive your data ina structured commonly used format.

· Right to Object: Object to the processing of your data based on legitimate interests. 

To exercise these rights, please contact us at harpreet@hslegalsolicitor.co.uk.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Officers (ICO).

10. Data Security 

We take appropriate technical and organisation measures to protect your data from unauthorised access, loss or misuse. These include:-

· Encryption of electronic data.

· Secure physical storage for hard copies

· Regular staff training on data protection

11. Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from tie to time to reflect changes in the law or our practices. The latest version will always be available on our website or upon request.

Contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us using the details provided above.