Introduction

1.     This Privacy Standard sets out how we handle the personal data of our customers, suppliers, employees, workers and other third parties. 

2.     This Privacy Standard applies to all personal data we process regardless of the media on which that data is stored or whether it relates to past or present employees, workers, customers, clients or supplier contacts, shareholders, website users or any other data subject. 

3.     This Privacy Standard applies to all Company personnel. Any breach of this Privacy Standard may result in disciplinary action. 

Scope

4.     We recognise that the correct and lawful treatment of personal data will maintain confidence in the organisation and will provide for successful business operations. Protecting the confidentiality and integrity of personal data is a critical responsibility that we take seriously at all times. 

5.     The Company is responsible for overseeing this Privacy Standard. Staff must contact a Director with any questions about the operation of this Privacy Standard or the GDPR, or if they have any concerns that this Privacy Standard is not being or has not been followed. 

6.     In particular, staff must always contact a Director in the following circumstances: 

·       If they are unsure of the lawful basis which they are relying on to process personal data

·       If they need to rely on consent and/or need to capture explicit consent

·       If they are unsure about the retention period for the personal data being processed

·       If they are unsure about what security or other measures they need to implement to protect personal data

·       If there has been a personal data breach

·       If they need any assistance dealing with any rights invoked by a data subject

·       If they need help complying with applicable law when carrying out direct marketing activities

·       If they need help with any contracts or other areas in relation to sharing personal data with third parties.

Personal Data Protection Principle

7.     We adhere to the principles relating to Processing of Personal Data set out in the GDPR which require personal data to be:

·       Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner (lawfulness, fairness and transparency)

·       Collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes (purpose limitation)

·       Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is Processed (data minimisation)

·       Accurate and where necessary kept up to date (accuracy)

·       Not kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data is processed (storage limitation)

·       Processed in a manner that ensures its security using appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage (security, integrity and confidentiality)

·       Not transferred to another country without appropriate safeguards being in place (transfer limitation)

·       Made available to data subjects and data subjects allowed to exercise certain rights in relation to their personal data (data subject’s rights and requests)

8.     We are responsible for and must be able to demonstrate compliance with the data protection principles listed above (accountability).

Lawfulness, Fairness, Transparency 

9.     Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject.

10.  Staff may only collect, process and share personal data fairly and lawfully and for specified purposes. The GDPR restricts our actions regarding personal data to specified lawful purposes. These restrictions are not intended to prevent processing but ensure that we process personal data fairly and without adversely affecting the data subject. 

11.  The GDPR allows processing for specific purposes, some of which are set out below:

·       The data subject has given his or her consent

·       The processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject

·       To meet our legal compliance obligations

·       To protect the data subject’s vital interests

·       To pursue our legitimate interests for purposes where they are not overridden because the processing prejudices the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects

·       The purposes for which we process personal data for legitimate interests need to be set out in applicable Privacy Notice or Fair Processing Notices

12.  Staff must identify and document the legal ground being relied on for each processing activity.

Consent

13.  A data controller must only process personal data on the basis of one or more of the lawful bases set out in the GDPR, which include consent.

14.  A data subject consents to processing of their personal data if they indicate agreement clearly either by a statement or positive action to the processing. Consent requires affirmative action so silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity are unlikely to be sufficient. If consent is given in a document which deals with other matters, then the consent must be kept separate from those other matters. 

15.  Data subjects must be easily able to withdraw consent to processing at any time and withdrawal must be promptly honoured. Consent may need to be refreshed if staff intend to process personal data for a different and incompatible purpose which was not disclosed when the data subject first consented. 

16.  Unless we can rely on another legal basis of processing, explicit consent is usually required for processing sensitive personal data. Usually we will be relying on another legal basis (and not require explicit consent) to process most types of sensitive data. Where explicit consent is required, staff must issue a fair processing notice to the data subject to capture explicit consent.

17.  Staff will need to evidence consent captured and keep records of all consent so that the Company can demonstrate compliance with consent requirements.

Transparency (notifying data subjects)

18.  The GDPR requires data controllers to provide detailed, specific information to data subjects depending on whether the information was collected directly from data subjects or from elsewhere. Such information must be provided through appropriate Privacy Notices or Fair Processing Notices which must be concise, transparent, intelligible, easily accessible, and in clear and plain language so that a data subject can easily understand them.

19.  Whenever we collect personal data directly from data subjects, including for human resources or employment purposes, we must provide the data subject with all the information required by the GDPR including the identity of the data controller and DPO, how and why we will use, process, disclose, protect and retain that personal data through a Fair Processing Notice which must be presented when the data subject first provides the personal data. 

20.  When personal data is collected indirectly (for example, from a third party or publicly available source), staff must provide the data subject with all the information required by the GDPR as soon as possible after collecting/receiving the data. Staff must also check that the personal data was collected by the third party in accordance with the GDPR and on a basis which contemplates our proposed processing of that personal data. 

Purpose Limitation 

21.  Personal data must be collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes. It must not be further processed in any manner incompatible with those purposes. 

22.  Staff cannot use personal data for new, different or incompatible purposes from that disclosed when it was first obtained unless staff have informed the data subject of the new purposes and they have consented where necessary.

Data Minimisation 

23.  Personal Data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is processed.

24.  Staff may only process personal data when job duties requires it. Staff cannot process personal data for any reason unrelated to job duties. 

25.  Staff may only collect personal data required for job duties: we do not collect excessive data. We ensure any personal data collected is adequate and relevant for the intended purposes.

26.  Staff must ensure that when personal data is no longer needed for specified purposes, it is deleted or anonymised in accordance with the Company’s data retention guidelines. 

Accuracy 

27.  Personal data must be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. It must be corrected or deleted without delay when inaccurate.

28.  Staff will ensure that the personal data we use, and hold is accurate, complete, kept up to date and relevant to the purpose for which we collected it. Staff must check the accuracy of any personal data at the point of collection and at regular intervals afterwards. Staff must take all reasonable steps to destroy or amend inaccurate or out-of-date personal data.

Storage Limitation

29.  Personal data must not be kept in an identifiable form for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data is processed.

30.  Staff must not keep personal data in a form which permits the identification of the data subject for longer than needed for the legitimate business purpose or purposes for which we originally collected it, including for the purpose of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements. 

31.  The Company will maintain retention policies and procedures to ensure personal data is deleted after a reasonable time for the purposes for which it was being held, unless a law requires such data to be kept for a minimum time. 

32.  Staff will take all reasonable steps to destroy or erase from our systems all personal data that we no longer require in accordance with all the Company’s applicable records retention schedules and policies. This includes requiring third parties to delete such data where applicable. 

33.  Staff will ensure data subjects are informed of the period for which data is stored and how that period is determined in any applicable Privacy Notice or Fair Processing Notice. 

Security, Integrity and Confidentiality

Protecting Personal Data

34.  Personal data must be secured by appropriate technical and organisational measures against unauthorised or unlawful processing, and against accidental loss, destruction or damage.

35.  We will develop, implement and maintain safeguards appropriate to our size, scope and business, our available resources, the amount of personal data that we own or maintain on behalf of others and identified risks (including use of encryption and pseudonymisation where applicable). We will regularly evaluate and test the effectiveness of those safeguards to ensure security of our processing of personal data. Staff are responsible for protecting the personal data we hold. Staff must implement reasonable and appropriate security measures against unlawful or unauthorised processing of personal data and against the accidental loss of, or damage to, personal data. Staff must exercise particular care in protecting sensitive personal data from loss and unauthorised access, use or disclosure.

36.  Staff must follow all procedures and technologies we put in place to maintain the security of all personal data from the point of collection to the point of destruction. Staff may only transfer personal data to third-party service providers who agree to comply with the required policies and procedures and who agree to put adequate measures in place, as requested.

37.  Staff must maintain data security by protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the personal data, defined as follows:

·       Confidentiality means that only people who have a need to know and are authorised to use the personal data can access it

·       Integrity means that personal data is accurate and suitable for the purpose for which it is processed

·       Availability means that authorised users are able to access the personal data when they need it for authorised purposes

38.  Staff must comply with and not attempt to circumvent the administrative, physical and technical safeguards we implement and maintain in accordance with the GDPR and relevant standards to protect personal data. 

Reporting a Personal Data Breach

39.  The GDPR requires data controllers to notify any personal data breach to the applicable regulator and, in certain instances, the data subject. 

40.  We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify data subjects or any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.

41.  If staff know or suspect that a personal data breach has occurred, they should not attempt to investigate the matter themselves. Staff are instructed to immediately contact the person or team designated as the key point of contact for personal data breaches. Staff should preserve all evidence relating to the potential personal data breach. 

Transfer Limitation 

42.  The GDPR restricts data transfers to countries outside the EEA in order to ensure that the level of data protection afforded to individuals by the GDPR is not undermined. Staff transfer personal data originating in one country across borders when staff transmit, send, view or access that data in or to a different country. 

43.  Staff may only transfer Personal Data outside the EEA if one of the following conditions applies:

·       The European Commission has issued a decision confirming that the country to which we transfer the personal data ensures an adequate level of protection for the data subjects’ rights and freedoms 

·       Appropriate safeguards are in place such as binding corporate rules (BCR), standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission, an approved code of conduct or a certification mechanism, a copy of which can be obtained from the DPO

·       The data subject has provided explicit consent to the proposed transfer after being informed of any potential risks

·       The transfer is necessary for one of the other reasons set out in the GDPR including the performance of a contract between us and the data subject, reasons of public interest, to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or to protect the vital interests of the data subject where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent and, in some limited cases, for our legitimate interest

Data Subjects’ Rights and Requests

44.  Data subjects have rights when it comes to how we handle their personal data. These include rights to:

·       Withdraw consent to processing at any time

·       Receive certain information about the data controller’s processing activities

·       Request access to their personal data that we hold

·       Prevent our use of their personal data for direct marketing purposes 

·       Ask us to erase personal data if it is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected or processed or to rectify inaccurate data or to complete incomplete data

·       Restrict processing in specific circumstances

·       Challenge processing which has been justified on the basis of our legitimate interests or in the public interest

·       Prevent processing that is likely to cause damage or distress to the data subject or anyone else

·       Be notified of a personal data breach which is likely to result in high risk to their rights and freedoms

·       Make a complaint to the supervisory authority; and 

·       In limited circumstances, receive or ask for their personal data to be transferred to a third party in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format

45.  Staff must verify the identity of an individual requesting data under any of the rights listed above. 

46.  Staff must immediately forward any data subject request received to their line manager. 

Accountability 

47.  The data controller must implement appropriate technical and organisational measures in an effective manner, to ensure compliance with data protection principles. The data controller is responsible for, and must be able to demonstrate, compliance with the data protection principles. 

48.  The Company must have adequate resources and controls in place to ensure and to document GDPR compliance. 

Record Keeping

49.  The GDPR requires us to keep full and accurate records of all our data processing activities. 

50.  These records should include, at a minimum, the name and contact details of the data controller, clear descriptions of the personal data types, data subject types, processing activities, processing purposes, third-party recipients of the personal data, personal data storage locations, personal data transfers, the personal data’s retention period and a description of the security measures in place. In order to create such records, data maps should be created which should include the detail set out above together with appropriate data flows. 

Training and Audit

51.  We are required to ensure all Company personnel have undergone adequate training to enable them to comply with data privacy laws. We must also regularly test our systems and processes to assess compliance. Staff must regularly review all the systems and processes under their control to ensure they comply with this Privacy Standard and check that adequate governance controls and resources are in place to ensure proper use and protection of personal data. 

Direct Marketing 

52.  We are subject to certain rules and privacy laws when marketing to our customers. 

53.  For example, a data subject’s prior consent is required for electronic direct marketing (for example, by email, text or automated calls). The limited exception for existing customers known as “soft opt in” allows organisations to send marketing texts or emails if they have obtained contact details in the course of a sale to that person, they are marketing similar products or services, and they gave the person an opportunity to opt out of marketing when first collecting the details and in every subsequent message. 

54.  The right to object to direct marketing must be explicitly offered to the data subject in an intelligible manner so that it is clearly distinguishable from other information.

55.  A data subject’s objection to direct marketing must be promptly honoured. If a customer opts out at any time, their details should be suppressed as soon as possible. Suppression involves retaining just enough information to ensure that marketing preferences are respected in the future.

Sharing Personal Data

56.  Generally, we are not allowed to share personal data with third parties unless certain safeguards and contractual arrangements have been put in place. 

57.  Staff may only share the personal data we hold with another employee, agent or representative of our group (which includes our subsidiaries and our ultimate holding Company along with its subsidiaries) if the recipient has a job-related need to know the information and the transfer complies with any applicable cross-border transfer restrictions.

58.  Staff may only share the personal data we hold with third parties, such as our service providers if:

·       They have a need to know the information for the purposes of providing the contracted services

·       Sharing the personal data complies with the Privacy Notice provided to the data subject and, if required, the data subject’s consent has been obtained

·       The third party has agreed to comply with the required data security standards, policies and procedures and put adequate security measures in place

·       The transfer complies with any applicable cross border transfer restrictions; and 

·       A fully executed written contract that contains GDPR approved third party clauses has been obtained

Changes to this Privacy Standard

59.  We reserve the right to change this Privacy Standard at any time without notice. 

Glossary of Definitions:

·       Company personnel: all employees, workers contractors, agency workers, consultants, directors, members and others.

·       Consent: agreement which must be freely given, specific, informed and be an unambiguous indication of the Data Subject’s wishes by which they, by a statement or by a clear positive action, signifies agreement to the Processing of Personal Data relating to them.

·       Data controller: the person or organisation that determines when, why and how to process Personal Data. It is responsible for establishing practices and policies in line with the GDPR. We are the Data Controller of all Personal Data relating to our Company Personnel and Personal Data used in our business for our own commercial purposes.

·       Data subject: a living, identified or identifiable individual about whom we hold Personal Data. Data Subjects may be nationals or residents of any country and may have legal rights regarding their Personal Data.

·       Explicit consent: consent which requires a very clear and specific statement (that is, not just action).

·       General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): The General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679). Personal Data is subject to the legal safeguards specified in the GDPR.

·       Personal data: any information identifying a Data Subject or information relating to a Data Subject that we can identify (directly or indirectly) from that data alone or in combination with other identifiers we possess or can reasonably access. Personal Data includes Sensitive Personal Data and Pseudonymised Personal Data but excludes anonymous data or data that has had the identity of an individual permanently removed. Personal data can be factual (for example, a name, email address, location or date of birth) or an opinion about that person’s actions or behaviour. Personal Data specifically includes but is not limited to this list. 

·       Personal data breach: any act or omission that compromises the security, confidentiality, integrity or availability of Personal Data or the physical, technical, administrative or organisational safeguards that we or our third-party service providers put in place to protect it. The loss, or unauthorised access, disclosure or acquisition, of Personal Data is a Personal Data Breach.

·       Privacy Notices (also referred to as Fair Processing Notices) or Privacy Policies: separate notices setting out information that may be provided to Data Subjects when the Company collects information about them. These notices may take the form of general privacy statements applicable to a specific group of individuals (for example, employee privacy notices or the website privacy policy) or they may be stand-alone, one-time privacy statements covering Processing related to a specific purpose.

·       Processing or process: any activity that involves the use of Personal Data. It includes obtaining, recording or holding the data, or carrying out any operation or set of operations on the data including organising, amending, retrieving, using, disclosing, erasing or destroying it. Processing also includes transmitting or transferring Personal Data to third parties.

·       Pseudonymisation or pseudonymised: replacing information that directly or indirectly identifies an individual with one or more artificial identifiers or pseudonyms so that the person, to whom the data relates, cannot be identified without the use of additional information which is meant to be kept separately and secure.

·       Sensitive personal data: information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or similar beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health conditions, sexual life, sexual orientation, biometric or genetic data, and Personal Data relating to criminal offences and convictions.

Last updated January 2024.