Privacy Notice

7.1 Who are we?

Titan Solicitors is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information (collectively referred to as “Titan”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

This Privacy Notice (“Notice”) describes how we collect and use personal information about you during and after your relationship with us, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This includes whether you become a client of Titan or contact us through one of our different electronic platforms and gives details of what to expect when you interact with Titan’s online and how and what happens if we collect personal information through these interactions.

It is important that you read this Notice, together with any other privacy notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal information about you, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information. Please note this Notice does not form part of any contract to provide services you may have with us from time to time.

We reserve the right to amend this Notice at any time without notice to you so, if required; please check to ensure that you are referring to the latest copy of this Notice. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal data.

7.2 Data Controller

Titan Solicitors Ltd of Address: 122a Plumstead Common Road London SE18 2UL is a “data controller” for the purposes of the GDPR. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you.

If you have any questions about this Notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the “Data Protection Contact” at the above address, or alternatively, by email at contact@titansolicitors.com

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the ICO (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

How we will use information about you:

We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

  1. Where we need to perform the contract, we have entered into with you.

  2. Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

  3. Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

We may also use your personal information in the following situations, which are likely to be rare:

  1. Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests).

  2. Where it is needed for official purposes.

Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data and we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law. If it becomes necessary to obtain your consent, we will provide you with full details of the information that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent. You should be aware that it is not a condition of any contract with us that you agree to any request for consent from us and you will be able to withdraw your consent at any time.

7.3 Visitors to our websites/apps

Any data that you submit using a form on our websites or apps (ie; your name, email address) will only be held by us for the purpose for which it is needed and for the shortest amount of time required.

For example, if you make an inquiry that we are unable to assist you with, your contact form will be deleted. If your enquiry results in you becoming a client of the firm, then your data will be stored as part of your client record and kept in accordance with the requirements relating to client records (in respect of which you will be advised separately on entering a retainer).

We do not currently have a mailing list for you to subscribe to. In any event, your data will not be disclosed to any third parties without your consent or as otherwise allowed by the relevant data protection legislation and will only be used for responding to your query (or purposes associated with that purpose).

7.4 People who make a complaint to us

When we receive a complaint from a person we create a file which will contain the details of the person complaining and other relevant details (including details of other people) that are relevant to the complaint. We only use this information for the purposes of investigating and responding to the complaint. We do compile and review statistics showing information about the number of complaints we receive but aside from reports that are provided to our regulators, the Legal Aid Agency or other auditors engaged in quality control of our business, none of these reports are published externally and, if they were, would not include information that would enable any individual to be identified.

We will keep personal information contained in complaint files in line with our retention policy for client files. This means that information relating to a complaint will be retained at least six years from closure within our case management system.

7.5 Job Applicants, Current and Former Employees

All job vacancies will be advertised on our company website www.titansolicitors.com

If you apply for a job with Titan, information you provide will only be used for the purpose of processing your application. We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.

7.6 Application stage

We will ask you for your personal details including name and contact details. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and may also ask you for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all of this information.

You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. This is not mandatory information and if you don’t provide it, it will not affect your application. This information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics.

7.7 Offer of employment

If we make an offer of employment, we may ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks before you will be able to commence work with us. We ask for this information as we are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.

You will therefore be required to provide:

  • Proof of your identity, you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.

  • Proof of your qualifications you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.

  • We may contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references.

  • We may also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health. This is to establish your fitness to work.

  • In some instances, we may be required to check disciplinary records.

Assuming that you can commence employment with us, we will also ask you for the following:

  • Bank details and other information to process salary payments and enrol you for your pension entitlements.

  • Emergency contact details” so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work.

7.8 Your HR files

If you are employed by Titan Solicitors or you are a Consultant providing services through Titan Solicitors, your personnel records will be held on our case management system. Only senior management and HR staff have access to the HR files and they are additionally all password protected.

How long is the information retained for?

If you are successful, the information you provide during the application process will be retained by us as part of your employee file for the duration of your employment plus 6 years following the end of your employment.

If you are unsuccessful at any stage of the process, the information you have provided will be deleted from our systems within 12 months.

7.9 Internships

We also offer opportunities for people to come and work with us on a secondment basis. We accept applications from individuals or from other organisations who think they could benefit from their staff working with us. We might ask you to provide more information about your skills and experience or invite you to an interview.

If we do not have any suitable work at the time, we will let you know but we might ask you if you would like us to retain your application so that we can proactively contact you about possible opportunities in the future. If you say yes, we will keep your application for 12 months.

If you are invited to work with us, you will be expected to adhere to a confidentiality agreement and code of conduct, which will be explained to you on induction.

After your internship has ended, we might ask you if you would like us to retain your information so that we can proactively contact you about possible opportunities in the future, either at Titan’s or at other firms that we know may be recruiting for positions that you might be interested in. If you say yes, we will keep your information for a further 12 months.

7.10 Disclosure of personal information

We will only disclose personal data to third parties where permitted to do so by law and in the normal course of our business. For example, when acting for you in defending a criminal allegation against you, we might share your personal information with the Crown Prosecution Service or the Home Office if it is in the best interests for you in order to advance your defence or application, or if you are an employee, we might share your personal information with HMRC in the context of ensuring that your payroll records are correct.

There are times where it will not be realistic to get your express permission in connection with each and every disclosure of this nature. If you have any concerns that any of your data has been incorrectly shared, then this should be raised with us through our standard procedures (ie; the Complaints Procedure in respect of clients and the Grievance Procedure in respect of employees etc).

7.11 International Transfers of Personal Data

We may from time to time transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom, including where we use service providers or systems which process or store personal data overseas.

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that the transfer complies with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 and that appropriate safeguards are in place.

This may include transferring personal data to a country which has been recognised by the UK Government as providing an adequate level of protection, or using appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA), the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or another lawful transfer mechanism.

Where required, we will carry out appropriate risk assessments before making restricted international transfers.

If you have any questions about international transfers of your personal data, please contact our Data Protection Contact.

7.12 Your rights

You have a right to access the personal data we hold about you. You may ask us to rectify or erase the personal data we hold about you or to restrict the processing we carry out. You can also object to the way we are processing your personal data or request that we transfer it to a third party.

For further information about your data protection rights, or to make a complaint about how your personal information has been handled, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk . You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.

If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact us in writing at Data Protection Officer, Address: 122a Plumstead Common Road London SE18 2UL or alternatively, by email at contact@titansolicitors.com

7.13 Termination of Employment procedures

The Termination of Employment Checklist should be completed in respect of every employee when they resign, whether or not they are leaving of their own volition.

This Termination of Employment Checklist includes:

  • Personal details;

  • Last day worked;

  • Date of termination;

  • Confirmation that Company property has been returned; and

  • Confirmation of final payments.

7.14 Our Website

Third-party links

Our website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to ensure that the website functions correctly and to help us understand how visitors use our website. Some cookies are strictly necessary for the operation of the website and do not require consent. Where we use non-essential cookies, including analytics cookies, these will only be used where the visitor has provided consent through our website cookie settings.

Visitors can accept or reject non-essential cookies through the cookie consent options provided on our website. Consent preferences can also be changed or withdrawn at any time through the website's cookie settings.

Where analytics services are used, information may be collected about how visitors interact with our website. Further information about the cookies we use, their purposes and how long they remain on a user's device will be provided through our website cookie information or cookie settings.

We will keep our use of cookies and similar technologies under review to ensure that our w