Client Privacy Notice

This privacy notice sets out:

what data we collect from you
how we use it
why we need it
who we share it with
how long we keep it for

We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. All personal identifiable information about you that either you provide to us, or is given to us by a third party, will only be used in accordance with this privacy notice.

We may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

Who does this notice apply to?

This notice applies to individuals who instruct Battens Solicitors to carry out work for them. It also includes individuals who request quotes or generally enquire about our services, either in person, via our website, over the telephone or via other forms of electronic communication.

This notice also includes the directors, partners, owners and other personnel acting on behalf of businesses who are our clients or enquire about our services.

What data do we collect?

Information you provide to our staff when you enquire about our services – your name, address, contact details and specific details related to your enquiry
Case related information, letters, document, photographs and other information that you supply to our staff relating to the work we are doing for you or that you would potentially like us to do for you
In cases that involve the physical or mental health of someone we collect medical records and reports
We may take financial information, like bank details or credit and debit card details
Telephone calls to or from our offices are recorded and may be saved to your file
When visiting our offices your image your image may be recorded on security cameras in and around our buildings
All forms of communication you use to contact us, including letters, emails, faxes, SMS messages, and instant messaging
We may ask for, and keep copies of, identification documents you can provide

What do we do with the information and why do we need it?

Your contact details and the specifics of your enquiry will be passed on to relevant members of staff, so they can reply to your enquiry and provide our services to you
We may also use this data for analytical purposes, to improve the services we offer and better understand our clients’ needs
Information you give us relating to the work we are doing for you is used for the purposes of providing our service to you and fulfilling our legal obligations and our contract with you
Financial information is used solely to process any financial transactions necessary to complete the work we are doing for you
We may use your contact information for the purposes of offering further services to you under our legitimate business interest
We will use and store a copy of your identification documentation to verify your identity, protect ourselves and our clients from fraud, and to meet our legal obligations under anti-money laundering regulations and other laws
Your telephone calls may be saved to your electronic file to provide a record of the instructions provided by you in the course of your matter
We may refer to our security camera footage in the event that there is any cause for concern or disturbance involving our staff

Who has access to the data?

Details of new enquiries and exiting clients are available to staff and to various third parties necessary for us to provide our service to you
We may share your data with other organisation to fulfil our legal obligations to confirm your identity and abide by anti-money laundering regulations
In property transactions we may share your information with search providers, lenders, estate agents and other parties to fulfil our contract with you
In litigation matters, including personal injury and medical negligence claims and defences, we may share your information with expert witnesses, the other side’s solicitors, or other parties for the purposes of pursuing or defending your claim
If we create a Will for you we can add it to the National Will Registry. If you take this service we will share your name and address with that service provider and tell them that we hold your Will
To market our services to you we may share your name, emails address and, if applicable, your job title with an email marketing service provider. These companies send emails on our behalf and manage your subscription to our mailing lists. You will not receive emails from any other organisations
At the end of the work, we may store all of your relevant physical documents and data with an archive storage provider
All electronic communications to and from Battens may be sent to, and monitored by, third-party security providers to protect us and people we communicate with from viruses and malware

How long do we keep it for?

The details of any enquires that you make, even if we do not do the work for you for whatever reason, may be kept for 12 months, after which time it is anonymised for statistical purposes and kept indefinitely
During the course of the work we carry out for you, we will retain all documents and communications involved. This includes, but is not limited to, letters, emails, forms, images, videos, audio files, optical discs, and memory sticks. They will be held in either a hard copy file (paper file) or on our Case Management System (electronic file), or both, as appropriate. These two files are collectively known as your file and will be held for the duration of your matter.
Following the completion of your matter, both the paper file and electronic file will usually be retained for 6 years. This retention period may be longer or shorter in the following circumstances:
- Where our client is a child, the file is retained until the child reaches the age of 24
- For commercial leases, the file is retained until the expiry of the commercial lease
- Where your matter involves the formation of a trust the file is retained until the expiry of the trust
- For abortive work we will not retain the file
- Where we have a separate agreement with you concerning the retention or destruction of your files
- Where the destruction of the file may pose a risk to Battens Solicitors and the contents are needed to protect us from a legal claim. We may retain the file until that risk diminishes
Once a file reaches the end of its retention period:
- your paper file will be destroyed and shredded within 12 months
- We will make reasonable endeavour to destroy your electronic file within 12 months of the end of the retention period by deleting data concerning your matter from our Case Management System. Where this is not possible (e.g. the data cannot be deleted without affecting the integrity of the entire system or without affecting other data) your data will either be put out of use, so no one can or will attempt to access it again, or it will be pseudonymised (e.g. we remove your name, address and contact information but keep your matter number as reference)
Where saved to your file, recordings of telephone communications will remain on your file until the file as a whole is destroyed, as above
Call recordings that do not relate to the work we do for our clients are stored for 30 days
Where your image is captured on CCTV when visiting our offices, it is only retained for approximately 30 days following your visit
We will use your details for marketing purposes for up to 12 months under legitimate interest unless you object
If you consent to receive our newsletters and events we will use your details until you withdraw your consent or until the data is deemed inaccurate or not useful, at which point it will be deleted
Electronic communications are held by our third-party security provider for 3 months and then destroyed