Privacy Policy and Cookies

PRIVACY POLICY for M P CHARTERED ARCHITECTS  Clients
Data Protection Controller: Martyn Pattie
Address: M P Chartered Architects, Great Bansons, Bansons Lane, Ongar, Essex CM5 9AR
Telephone: 01277 364979 Email:info@mparchitects.co.uk

 

Data protection Officer: Claudia Gregory
Address: M P Chartered Architects, Great Bansons, Bansons Lane, Ongar, Essex CM5 9AR
Telephone: 01277 364979 Email:info@mparchitects.co.uk

 

Information Commissioners Office (ICO): The UK’s independent authority set up to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy for individuals.

Contact ICO on 0303 123 1113 or at www.ico.org.uk

Introduction

M P Chartered Architects has appointed a Data Controller to oversee compliance with this privacy policy. If you have any questions about this privacy policy or about how the practice handles your personal information, please contact them directly using the details above. M P Chartered Architects collects and processes personal information, or personal data, relating to clients to manage the working relationship. This personal information is held by M P Chartred Architects on paper or in electronic format.

M P Chartered Architects is committed to being transparent about how it handles clients’ personal information; to protecting the privacy and security of clients’ personal information and to meeting its data protection obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018. The purpose of this privacy policy is to make clients aware of how and why M P Architects will collect and use clients’ personal information both during and after taking steps at your request to carry out work for you. M P Chartered Architects are required under the GDPR to notify clients of the information contained in this privacy policy.

This privacy policy applies to all M P Chartered Architects clients. It is non-contractual and does not form part of any M P Chartered Architects contract, agreement, or any other contract for services.

Data protection principles
Under the GDPR, there are six data protection principles with which M P Architects must comply. These provide that the personal information held about clients must be:

  • Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner.
  • Collected only for legitimate purposes that have been clearly explained to you and not further processed in a way that is incompatible with those purposes.
  • Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to those purposes.
  • Accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
  • Kept in a form which permits your identification for no longer than is necessary for those purposes.
  • Processed in a way that ensures appropriate security of the data.

M P Architects is responsible for, and must be able to demonstrate compliance with, these principles. This is called accountability.

What types of personal information does M P Chartered Architects collect about clients?
Personal information is any information about an individual from which that person can be directly or indirectly identified. It does not include anonymised data, i.e. where all identifying particulars have been removed.

M P Chartered Architects collects, uses and processes a range of personal information. This may include (as applicable):

  • clients contact details, including your name, address, telephone number and personal e-mail address
  • the terms and conditions of your business need and information regarding the steps needed to carry out work for you
  • photographs of property

Why and how does M P Chartered Architects collect and use clients’ personal information?
M P Chartered Architects may collect personal information about clients in a variety of ways. When you submit an enquiry via our website, by email or over the telephone we ask you for your name, telephone number, address and email address. You may also give additional information such as a brief description of your enquiry.

We use this information to respond to your enquiry and hopefully to provide you with the information you need, including providing you with any requested information about our products and services. We may also contact you several times after your enquiry to follow up on your interest and ensure that we have responded to your satisfaction. We do this to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract. We will do this based on our legitimate interest in providing accurate information prior to your business need and taking steps at your request to carry out work for you.

Whilst some of the personal information you provide to us is mandatory and/or is a statutory or contractual requirement, you may be asked to provide some of it to us on a voluntary basis. We will inform you whether you are required to provide certain personal information to us or if you have a choice in this.

Clients’ personal information may be stored in different places, including in your property file, in M P Chartered Architects management system and in other IT systems, such as the e-mail system.

M P Chartered Architects will only use clients’ personal information when the law allows them to. These are known as the legal bases for processing. M P Chartered Architects will use your personal information in one or more of the following circumstances:

  • where M P Chartered Architects needs to request payments, approve building works or works to a property, dealing with covenants or legal issues, issue planning or building consent, advise on meetings or other issues relating to your business need
  • where M P Chartered Architects needs to comply with a legal obligation
  • where it is necessary for M P Chartered Architects legitimate interests (or those of a third party), and the client’s interests or your fundamental rights and freedoms do not override M P Chartered Architects interests

M P Chartered Architects may also occasionally use clients’ personal information where the practice needs to protect your vital interests (or someone else’s vital interests).

M P Chartered Architects needs clients’ personal information primarily to enable us to perform our service taking steps at your request to carry out work for you and to enable us to comply with legal obligations. In some cases, M P Chartered Architects may also use clients’ personal information where it is necessary to pursue legitimate interests (or those of a third party), provided that the clients’ interests or clients’ fundamental rights and freedoms do not override M P Chartered Architects interests. Our legitimate interests include: performing or exercising our obligations or rights under the direct relationship that exists between the practice and the client’s; pursuing our business need to manage the project; performing effective internal administration and ensuring the smooth running of the project; ensuring the security and effective operation of our systems and network; protecting confidential information; and conducting any necessary due diligence. M P Chartered Architects believe our clients have a reasonable expectation that the practice will process clients’ personal information.

The purposes for which M P Chartered Architects are processing, or will process, client’s personal information are to:

  • enable us to maintain accurate and up-to-date records and contact details
  • comply with statutory and/or regulatory requirements and obligations
  • maintain an accurate record of your property and any specific engagement terms
  • ensure compliance with your statutory and contractual rights
  • ensure payments are paid correctly
  • prevent fraud
  • monitor use of our IT systems to ensure compliance with our IT-related policies
  • ensure network and information security and prevent unauthorised access and modifications to systems
  • ensure effective HR, personnel management and business administration, including accounting and auditing
  • ensure adherence to company rules, policies and procedures
  • enable us to establish, exercise or defend possible legal claims

Please note that we may process clients’ personal information without consent, in compliance with these rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

What if clients fail to provide personal information?
If clients fail to provide certain personal information when requested or required, we may not be able to perform the service we have entered into, or we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations. Clients may also be unable to exercise their statutory or contractual rights.

Change of purpose
M P Chartered Architects will only use clients’ personal information for the purposes for which it was collected. If M P Chartered Architects needs to use clients’ personal information for a purpose other than that for which it was collected, M P Chartered Architects will provide clients, prior to that further processing, with information about the new purpose, M P Chartered Architects will explain the legal basis which allows the practice to process clients’ personal information for the new purpose and M P Chartered Architects will provide clients with any relevant further information. M P Chartered Architects may also issue a new privacy policy to clients if necessary.

Who has access to clients’ personal information?
Clients’ personal information may be shared internally within the practice (M P Chartered Architects), including the Partner, architectural staff, members of the administration department, and IT staff if access to clients’ personal information is necessary for the performance of their roles.

M P Chartered Architects may also share clients’ personal information with third-party service providers (and their designated agents), including:

  • Marketing Consultant
  • HR and employment law providers
  • M P Chartered Architects accountants
  • M P Chartered Architects insurers
  • external IT services
  • external auditors
  • professional advisers, such as lawyers

M P Chartered Architects may also share clients’ personal information with other third parties in the context of a potential sale or restructuring of some or all, of the practice. In those circumstances, clients’ personal information will be subject to confidentiality undertakings.

M P Chartered Architects may also need to share clients’ personal information with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.

M P Chartered Architects may share clients’ personal information with third parties where it is necessary to administer the contract we have entered into with you, where we need to comply with a legal obligation, or where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party).

How does M P Chartered Architects protect clients’ personal information?
M P Chartered Architects has put in place measures to protect the security of clients’ personal information. The practice has internal policies, procedures and controls in place to prevent clients’ personal information from being accidentally lost or destroyed, altered, disclosed, accessed or misappropriated in any unauthorised way. In addition, M P Chartered Architects limits access to clients’ personal information to those employees and other third parties who have a legitimate business ‘need to know’ in order to perform their duties and responsibilities. You can obtain further information about these measures from the Data Controller.

Where clients’ personal information is shared with third-party service providers, M P Chartered Architects requires all third parties to take appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect clients’ personal information and to treat it subject to a duty of confidentiality and in accordance with data protection law. M P Chartered Architects only allows to process clients’ personal information for specified purposes and in accordance with our written instructions and we do not allow anyone to use clients’ personal information for their own purposes.

M P Chartered Architects also has in place procedures to deal with a suspected data security breach and the practice will notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (or any other applicable supervisory authority or regulator) and the client of a suspected breach where the Company are legally required to do so.

For how long does M P Chartered Architects keep clients’ personal information?
M P Chartered Architects  will only retain client’s personal information for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and processed, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, tax, health and safety, reporting or accounting requirements.

We take appropriate technical and organisational security measures to protect your personal information. It is not sent outside of the European Economic Area (EEA).

M P Chartered Architects will generally hold your personal information for the duration of our business need to carry out work for you. We usually keep your details, both paper and electronic for 6 years after the last contact with you and a further 6 years after completing your project, after which they are archived before being deleted, unless there has been a legitimate reason to retain the information for a longer period.

M P Chartered Architects will generally hold a client’s personal information for the time period above, but this is subject to: (a) any minimum statutory or other legal, tax, health and safety, reporting or accounting requirements for particular data or records, and (b) the retention of some types of personal information for up to six years to protect against legal risk, e.g. if they could be believed relevant to a possible legal claim in a tribunal, County Court or High Court. This means that, generally, M P Chartered Architects will “thin” the file of personal information held on a client’s file after the work has been carried out for the client based on the time period above, so that M P Chartered Architects only continues to retain data that is considered strictly necessary for a longer period.

Personal information which is no longer to be retained will be securely and effectively destroyed or permanently erased from the IT systems and paper records. Third parties will also be required to destroy or erase such personal information where applicable.

In some circumstances, M P Chartered Architects may anonymise client’s personal information so that it no longer permits client’s identification. In this case, M P Chartered Architects may retain such information for a longer period.

Your rights in connection with your personal information

It is important that the personal information we hold about clients is accurate and up to date. Please keep M P Chartered Architects informed if your personal information changes so that records can be updated, e.g. you change your contact telephone number during the period we are carrying work out for you. M P Chartered Architects cannot be held responsible for any errors in client’s personal information in this regard unless relevant notifications of the change has been made.

As a data subject, clients have a number of statutory rights. Subject to certain conditions, and in certain circumstances, you have the right to:

  • request access to your personal information – this is usually known as making a data subject access request and it enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it
  • request rectification of your personal information – this enables you to have any inaccurate or incomplete personal information we hold about you corrected
  • request the erasure of your personal information – this enables you to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where there’s no compelling reason for its continued processing, e.g. it’s no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was originally collected
  • restrict the processing of your personal information – this enables you to ask M P Architects to suspend the processing of your personal information, e.g. if you contest its accuracy and want us to verify its accuracy
  • object to the processing of your personal information – this enables you to ask us to stop processing your personal information where we are relying on the legitimate interests of the business as our legal basis for processing and there is something relating to your particular situation which makes you decide to object to processing on this ground
  • data portability – this gives you the right to request the transfer of your personal information to another party so that you can reuse it across different services for your own purposes.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact the Data Controller who will ask you to complete a form requesting to exercise this rightWe may need to request specific information from you to verify your identity and check your right to access the personal information or to exercise any of your other rights. This is a security measure to ensure that your personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.

In the limited circumstances where you have provided your consent to the processing of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. This will not, however, affect the lawfulness of processing based on your consent before its withdrawal. If you wish to withdraw your consent, please contact the Data Controller. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your personal information for the purpose you originally agreed to, unless we have another legal basis for processing.

If you believe that M P Chartered Architects has not complied with your data protection rights, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at any time. The ICO is the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues.

Automated decision making
Automated decision making occurs when an electronic system uses clients’ personal information to make a decision without human intervention.

M P Chartered Architects does not use automated decision making, including profiling. However, we will notify you in writing if this position changes.

Changes to this privacy notice
M P Chartered Architects reserves the right to update or amend this privacy notice at any time, including where M P Chartered Architects intends to further process client’s personal information for a purpose other than that for which the personal information was collected or where we intend to process new types of personal information. M P Chartered Architects will issue clients with a new privacy policy when the practice makes significant updates or amendments. We may also notify clients about the processing of your personal information in other ways.

Contact
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle client’s personal information, please contact the Data Controller, details which can be found at the top of this policy.

WEBSITE PRIVACY AND COOKIES POLICY
This privacy policy tells you about the information we collect from you when you use our website. In collecting this information, we are acting as a data controller and, by law, we are required to provide you with information about us, about why and how we use your data, and about the rights you have over your data.

Who are we?
We are M P Chartered  Architects . Our address is Great Bansons, Bansons Lane, Ongar Essex CM5 9AR. You can contact us by post at the above address, by email at info@mparchitectsllp.co.uk or by telephone on 01277 364979.

The contact details of our Data Protection Officer is Claudia Gregory at the above address.

Our privacy promise
We take your privacy very seriously and we respect your privacy and data protection rights. This privacy notice aims to give you information on how we collect and process your personal data through your use of our website and our services, including any data you may provide through our websites.


How we use your information

When you use our website
When you use our website to browse our products and services and view the information we make available, a number of cookies are used by us and by third parties to allow the website to function, to collect useful information about visitors and to help to make your user experience better.

Some of the cookies we use are strictly necessary for our website to function, and we don’t ask for your consent to place these on your computer. If you do not agree with our use of cookies you are welcome to leave the website.

Cookies
This website uses cookies. A cookie is a small text file stored in your computer containing text data. We use cookies for certain functions to improve the usability of the website. These cookies do not contain any personal information about you. However, enabling cookies in your web browser is necessary if you wish your selections to be remembered for future visits on the same computer. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. For more information about cookies and instructions on how to adjust your browser settings to restrict or disable cookies, see the IAB website at www.allaboutcookies.org. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

What personal data do we collect when you submit an enquiry via our website

When you submit an enquiry via our website, we ask you for your name and email address. You may also give additional information such as your telephone number and your address along with a brief description of your enquiry.

We use this information to respond to your enquiry, including providing you with any requested information about our products and services. We may also email you several times after your enquiry in order to follow up on your interest and ensure that we have answered to your satisfaction. We will do this based on our legitimate interest in providing accurate information prior to your business need and taking steps at your request to carry out work for you.

Why do we collect this information?
We will use your information to respond to your enquiry and hopefully to provide you with the information you need. We do this in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract.

What do we do with your information?
Your enquiry is stored and processed on a project folder both in a paper file and electronically. This information can be accessed within our office (address above) by our architectural and admin staff.

Last updated May 2024

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