Privacy Policy

PRIVACY NOTICE issued by Think Forensics

Introduction

The Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA 2018”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) impose certain legal obligations in connection with the processing of personal data.

Think Forensics is a data controller within the meaning of the GDPR and we process personal data. The firm’s contact details are as follows:

Contact Details

Full name of legal entity: Debbie Bouffler trading as Think Forensics 

Email address: debbie@thinkforensics.co

Postal address: 2 Highmoors, Chineham, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 8XR 

The information we hold about you must be accurate and up to date. Please let us know if at any time your information changes by emailing us at debbie@thinkforensics.co  

We may amend this privacy notice from time to time. If we do so, we will supply you with and/or otherwise make available to you a copy of the amended privacy notice.

Where we act as a data processor on behalf of a data controller (for example, when processing marketing metrics), we provide an additional schedule setting out required information as part of that agreement. That additional schedule should be read in conjunction with this privacy notice.

The purposes for which we intend to process personal data

We intend to process personal data for the following purposes:

· To enable us to supply professional services to you as our client.

· To fulfil our obligations under relevant laws in force from time to time (e.g. the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (“MLR 2017”)).

· To comply with professional obligations to which we are subject as a member of The Chartered Institute of Marketing and as a Certificated Practitioner of Watertight Marketing.

· To use in the investigation and/or defence of potential complaints, disciplinary proceedings, and legal proceedings.

· To enable us to invoice you for our services and investigate/address any attendant fee disputes that may have arisen.

· To contact you about other services we provide which may be of interest to you if you have consented to us doing so.

The legal bases for our intended processing of personal data

Our intended processing of personal data has the following legal bases:

· At the time you instructed us to act, you gave consent to our processing your personal data for the purposes listed above.

· The processing is necessary for the performance of our contract with you.

· The processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations to which we are subject (e.g. MLR 2017).

It is a requirement of our contract with you that you provide us with the personal data that we request. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide professional services to you. If this is the case, we will not be able to commence acting or will need to cease to act.

Persons/organisations to whom we may give personal data

We may share your personal data with:

· HMRC

· any third parties with whom you require or permit us to correspond

· subcontractors

· an alternate appointed by us in the event of incapacity or death

· tax insurance providers

· professional indemnity insurers

· our professional body, Chartered Institute of Marketing and Watertight Marketing, and/or the Office of Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervisors (OPBAS) in relation to practice assurance and/or the requirements of MLR 2017 (or any similar legislation)

If the law allows or requires us to do so, we may share your personal data with:

· the police and law enforcement agencies

· courts and tribunals

· the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”)

We may need to share your personal data with the third parties identified above to comply with our legal obligations, including our legal obligations to you. If you ask us not to share your personal data with such third parties, we may need to cease to act.

Transfers of personal data outside the EEA

Your personal data will be processed in the EEA only.

Retention of personal data

When acting as a data controller and in accordance with recognised good practice within the marketing sector we will retain all our records relating to you as follows:

  • where it is no longer necessary to provide the services from the date the business relationship ceased or until you ask us to delete your information, whichever comes first. 
  • We may retain information from deleted accounts to comply with the law, prevent fraud, resolve disputes, troubleshoot problems, assist with investigations, enforce the Terms of Use.

Our contractual terms provide for the destruction of documents after 6 years and therefore agreement to the contractual terms is taken as agreement to the retention of records for this period, and to their destruction thereafter.

You are responsible for retaining information that we send to you and this will be supplied in the form agreed between us. Documents and records relevant to you are required by law to be retained by you as follows:

Individuals, trustees, and partnerships

· with trading or rental income: five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year.

· otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year.

Companies, LLPs, and other corporate entities

· six years from the end of the accounting period.

Where we act as a data processor as defined in DPA 2018, we will delete or return all personal data to the data controller as agreed with the controller termination of the contract.

Requesting personal data, we hold about you (subject access requests)

You have a right to request access to your personal data that we hold. Such requests are known as ‘subject access requests’ (“SARs”).

Please provide all SARs in writing marked for the attention of Debbie Bouffler.

DPA 2018 requires that we comply with a SAR promptly and in any event within one month of receipt. There are, however, some circumstances in which the law allows us to refuse to provide access to personal data in response to a SAR (e.g. if you have previously made a similar request and there has been little or no change to the data since we complied with the original request).

We will not charge you for dealing with a SAR.

You can ask someone else to request information on your behalf – for example, a friend, relative or solicitor. We must have your authority to respond to a SAR made on your behalf. You can provide such authority by signing a letter which states that you authorise the person concerned to write to us for information about you, and/or receive our reply.

Putting things right (the right to rectification)

You have a right to obtain the rectification of any inaccurate personal data concerning you that we hold. You also have a right to have any incomplete personal data that we hold about you completed. Should you become aware that any personal data that we hold about you is inaccurate and/or incomplete, please inform us immediately so we can correct and/or complete it.

Deleting your records (the right to erasure)

In certain circumstances, you have a right to have the personal data that we hold about you erased. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk). If you would like your personal data to be erased, please inform us immediately and we will consider your request. In certain circumstances, we have the right to refuse to comply with a request for erasure. If applicable, we will supply you with the reasons for refusing your request. 

The right to restrict processing and the right to object

In certain circumstances, you have the right to ‘block’ or suppress the processing of personal data or to object to the processing of that information. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk). Please inform us immediately if you want us to cease to process your information or you object to processing so that we can consider what action, if any, is appropriate. 

Obtaining and reusing personal data (the right to data portability)

In certain circumstances, you have the right to be provided with the personal data that we hold about you in a machine-readable format, e.g. so that the data can easily be provided to a new professional adviser. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk).

Withdrawal of consent

Where you have consented to our processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Please inform us immediately if you wish to withdraw your consent.

Automated decision-making

We do not intend to use automated decision-making in relation to your personal data. Specific advice should be sought by any practitioner who intends to use automated decision-making.

Does Think Forensics privacy policy apply to linked websites?

Our Privacy Policy applies solely to information collected on our website or through other media channels. The site contains links to the website of third parties. Think Forensics is not responsible for the actions of these third parties, including their privacy policies and the content posted on their website. We encourage you to review their privacy policies to learn more about what, why and how they collect and use personal information. 

Think Forensics adheres to industry recognised standards to secure any personal information in our procession and to secure it from unauthorised access and tampering. 

Question, Comments or Complaints

If you have requested details of the information we hold about you and you are not happy with our response, or you think we have not complied with the GDPR or DPA 2018 in some other way, you can complain to us. Please send write to us at Debbie Bouffler, Think Forensics, 2 Highmoors, Chineham, Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG24 8XR or email: debbie@thinkforensics.co

If you are not happy with our response, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (www.ico.org.uk).

Effective date: 25 May 2018

Debbie Bouffler – Owner & Founder

Chartered Marketer, MCIM, DipM

Watertight Marketing Certified Practitioner