Privacy and cookies policy

This Website is owned and operated by Hughes Fowler Carruthers Limited, a private limited company registered in England and Wales under number 07160275, registered office is Academy Court, 94 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1DTY. A list of members is available for inspection at this address. We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The security of your personal information is important to us. Our Privacy and Cookies Policy is designed to help you feel more confident about the privacy and security of your information when using our Website.

In relation to your personal data, Hughes Fowler Carruthers Limited is a “data controller” which means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal data about you. We are required under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (and legislation implementing that Regulation in England and Wales) to inform you about how we hold and use that data – and that information is set out in this policy.

In our Privacy and Cookies Policy we/our/us means Hughes Fowler Carruthers Limited, you/your means you as a user of our Website.

The following information describes our practices regarding any personal information that you provide to us through www.hfclaw.com (our Website) or in accordance with paragraph 1.1 below. Please take a moment to review our Privacy and Cookies Policy. If you have any questions regarding our Privacy and Cookies Policy, please contact us at: [email protected].

By using our Website you agree to the collection and use of your personal information by us in accordance with our Privacy and Cookies Policy. If you do not agree to the terms of our Privacy and Cookies Policy, please do not provide us with any information and do not use the Website.

Our Privacy and Cookies Policy (together with our Terms of Use) sets out the basis on which we process any personal information we collect from you, or that you provide to us through the Website.

1. INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT FROM YOU

1.1 We may collect and process the following information about you:

1.1.1  information such as your name, address, e-mail address, job title and organisation for which you work which you provide when you ask to be added or consent to being added to our mailing list or when you give us your details at a meeting or on a phone call;

1.1.2 other biographical information which you have provided to us via e-mail, in person or on a phone call;

1.1.3 statistical data about which of our e-mails you have viewed and whether you have accessed other links in our e-mails;

1.1.4 information that you provide when registering on our Website or submit via our Website;

1.1.5  information that you publish on our Website. Please note that information that you voluntarily publish on our Website or which you disclose by posting comments will be publicly available and viewable by others. We do not hold any liability for any information that you voluntarily choose to be public through such and/or other explicit actions;

1.1.6 correspondence, or a record of it, if you should contact us; and

1.1.7  statistical data about your browsing actions and patterns, which does not identify you. This means information about your computer and your use of our Website, including (where available)  your IP address, unique mobile device identifier (UDID), International Mobile Equipment ID (IMEI), Android ID, device MAC address, browser information, operating system, timestamps, the pages that you request, applications downloaded, and the resources that you access.

2. KEY PRIVACY PRINCIPLES

We will comply with our obligations under relevant data protection legislation which provides that the personal information we hold must be:

• Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way
• Collected only for valid purposes that we have explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes
• Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes
• Accurate and kept up to date
• Kept only as long as is necessary for the purposes we have told you about
• Kept securely

3. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

3.1 We use the information you provide if you have consented to that use; if we consider the use not to be detrimental to you, within your reasonable expectations, having a minimal impact on your privacy and necessary to fulfil our legitimate interests; or if we are otherwise required or authorised by law to do so.

3.2 We use information held about you in the following ways:

3.2.1  to provide and improve our services to you;

3.2.2  to ensure that the Website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer;

3.2.3  to send you relevant marketing materials, including legal updates and invitations to seminars and other events;

3.2.4  to identify you when you use the Website;

3.2.5  to answer your questions and improve the Website;

3.2.6  to notify you about changes to our Website;

3.2.7  to provide you with updates on our Website; and for marketing purposes where you agree to this; and

3.2.8  to provide you with any services that you request from us (e.g. online updates).

4. HOW WE SHARE YOUR INFORMATION

4.1 We may share your personal information with third parties in the following circumstances:

4.1.1  for marketing purposes where you consent to this;

4.1.2  to our service providers for the purpose of: managing or administering certain aspects of our Website and mailing list; for analytics purposes; and to help us develop new services;

4.1.3  to protect the rights, property or safety of us or other Website users;

4.1.4  where we are obliged, or permitted, to do so by applicable law, regulation or legal process; or

4.1.5  if we (or substantially all of our assets) are acquired by a third party, in which case personal information held by us about our users will be one of the transferred assets.

5. WHERE WE STORE YOUR INFORMATION

5.1 We take appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect your personal information that we hold. We limit access to your personal information to those who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information in order to carry out their jobs.

5.2 The data that we collect from you may be transferred to, and stored at, a destination outside the European Economic Area (EEA). It may also be processed by persons operating outside the EEA who work for us or a third party engaged by us. By submitting your personal information to us, you agree to such transfer, storing or processing. We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your personal information is treated securely at all times and in accordance with our Privacy and Cookies Policy.

5.3 Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your information transmitted to our Website and any transmission is at your own risk.

5.4 We will retain your information for as long as is necessary to fulfil any of the services we provide or to comply with applicable legislation, regulatory requests and relevant orders from competent courts.

6. HOW LONG WE STORE YOUR INFORMATION

The Firm will only retain personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which we collected it. To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of personal data, the purposes for which we process data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

7. YOUR RIGHTS

Individuals have the right of access under data protection law to the personal data that we hold about them. They may also in certain circumstances have the right to review, verify, correct or request erasure of personal information, object to the processing of personal data, request the restriction of processing of data or request that we transfer a copy of their personal information to another party. If you have any queries about these rights, please contact us at [email protected].

We seek to keep all personal data correct and up to date. You should let us know if you believe the information we hold needs to be corrected or updated.

8. COOKIES

8.1 Our Website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our Website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our Website and also allows us to improve our site. By continuing to browse our Website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

8.2 A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive.

8.3 We use the following cookies:

• Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies that are required for the operation of our Website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into areas of our Website.
• Analytical/performance cookies. They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our Website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our Website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.

8.4 You can control which cookies you get and which you keep on your device through your browser settings. Unless you have adjusted your browser settings so that it will refuse our cookies, our system will issue cookies when you visit our Website. However, if you do not accept cookies you may not be able to take advantage of certain features of our Website.

8.5 You can block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of all or some cookies. However, if you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of our Website.

8.6 You can find out more about internet advertising by visiting the following websites: www.allaboutcookies.org, www.yourchoicesonline.eu, and www.networkadvertising.org. Some of these sites enable you to opt out of online behavioural advertising and other tracking cookies (in addition to the control settings on your browser).

9. MARKETING

With your permission, we may send you information and marketing materials that may be of interest to you. You have the right to ask us not to process your personal information for marketing purposes. You can exercise your right to opt out of such processing by contacting us by post or email at [email protected].

10. ACCESS TO INFORMATION

You have the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with UK data protection laws. Any access request may be subject to a small administrative fee to meet our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold about you. Contact us at [email protected] for details.

11. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY AND COOKIES POLICY

We occasionally modify our Privacy and Cookies Policy and any changes we may make to it in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail or other message