Privacy Notice

Our Privacy Notice

Nottingham Law Centre takes data protection and data security extremely seriously.  This Privacy Notice explains the types of personal data we may collect about you.  It also explains how we’ll store and handle that data and keep it safe.

We know that there’s a lot of information here, but we want you to be fully informed about your rights, and how Nottingham Law Centre uses your data.  We hope the following sections will answer any questions you have but if not, please do get in touch with us.

Conditions for Processing Data

We are only entitled to hold and process your data where the law allows us to.  The current law on data protection sets out a number of different reasons for which a Law Centre may collect and process your personal data.  These include:

Contractual obligations

The main purpose for our holding your data is to provide you with legal services under the agreement we have with you.  This agreement is a contract between us and the law allows us to process your data for the purposes of performing a contract (or for the steps necessary to enter in to a contract).  We may also need to process your data to meet our contractual obligations to the Legal Aid Agency where you receive legal aid to fund your case or advice.

Legitimate Interests

In specific situations, we require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running the Law Centre and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests.  This may include to satisfy our external quality auditors or our Regulators.

Legal compliance

If the law requires us to, we may need to collect and process your data.   For example, we can pass on details of people involved in fraud or other criminal activity.

Consent

In some situations, we can collect and process your data with your consent.

When collecting your personal data, we’ll always make clear to you which data is necessary in connection with a particular service.

When do we collect your data?

We normally collect your data when you provide it to us or when it is provided to us by others.  You may give us your data by email; through an online web form; over the telephone; face to face; or by post.

What sort of data do we collect?

We collect your name and contact details.  This may include asking for and keeping a copy of your passport/driving licence and proof of address.

We may gather details of your age; ethnicity; gender etc. in particular if required to do so by the Legal Aid Agency where you are in receipt of Legal Aid.  Where you have Legal Aid, we may also gather financial information from you.

We also collect and hold information about your case or legal problem.

How do we use your data?

We only use your data for the purposes of providing you with legal advice, assistance and where appropriate, representation and for reasons directly associated with those services (ie providing information to quality auditors; the Legal Aid Agency etc.).

How do we protect your data?

We take protecting your data very seriously.  The data you give us may be subject to Legal Professional Privilege and is often extremely sensitive and confidential.

With this in mind we will treat your data with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it.   We have clear data protection and information security policies and procedures in place (along with Regulatory and other legal obligations to keep your data safe) and these are regularly assessed as part of our Quality Standards and compliance processes.

We protect our IT system from Cyber Attack.  Access to your personal data is password-protected.

We regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks to identify ways to further strengthen security.

How long will we keep your data?

We only keep your data for as long as is necessary for the purpose(s) for which it was provided.   Normally this is for 6 years after your case or matter ends.

This is because we are required to keep client files for that period by our Regulator and/or by the LAA.  This also protects you should you be unhappy with our services and want to complain or even sue us after your case ends.

For some cases we may decide that it is proper and appropriate to keep data for longer than 6 years, but we will notify you if we believe that your case falls into this category.

Who do we share your personal data with?

We sometimes share your personal data with trusted third parties.  We only do this where it is necessary for providing your legal services or for the effective operation of our legal practice.

For example, we may share your data with barristers; experts; translators; costs draftsmen; secure file storage and destruction companies; auditors; the company that securely hosts our off-site cloud storage servers.

Here’s the policy we apply to those organisations to keep your data safe and protect your privacy:

• We provide only the information they need to perform their specific services.
• They may only use your data for the exact purposes we specify in our contract with them.
• We work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and protected at all times.
• If we stop using their services, any of your data held by them will either be deleted or rendered anonymous.

Where is your data processed?

Your data is stored and processed within the EEA.  If we ever have to share your personal data with third parties and suppliers outside the European Economic Area (EEA) we will seek your specific consent to do so.

The EEA includes all EU Member countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. 

What are your rights?

You have the right to request:

• Access to the personal data we hold about you, free of charge in most cases.
• The correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete.

For example, when you withdraw consent, or object and we have no legitimate overriding interest, or once the purpose for which we hold the data has come to an end.

• That we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you withdraw that consent.

You have the right to request a copy of any information about you that we hold at any time, and also to have that information corrected if it is inaccurate.

To ask for your information, please contact Sally Denton, Senior Solicitor.

If we choose not to action your request, we will explain to you the reasons for our refusal.

Your right to withdraw consent

Whenever you have given us your consent to use your personal data, you have the right to change your mind at any time and withdraw that consent.

Where we rely on our legitimate interest

In cases where we are processing your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop for reasons connected to your individual situation. We must then do so unless we believe we have a legitimate overriding reason to continue processing your personal data.

The Regulator

If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113.

Or go online to www.ico.org.uk/concerns (opens in a new window; please note we can’t be responsible for the content of external websites)

Accessibility

We are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of technology or ability.

We are actively working to increase the accessibility and usability of our website and in doing so adhere to many of the available standards and guidelines.

This website endeavours to conform to level Double-A of the World Wide Web Consortium W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0.

These guidelines explain how to make web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user friendly for all people.

This site has been built using code compliant with W3C standards for HTML and CSS. The site displays correctly in current browsers and using standards compliant HTML/CSS code means any future browsers will also display it correctly.

Whilst we strive to adhere to the accepted guidelines and standards for accessibility and usability, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website.

We are continually seeking out solutions that will bring all areas of the site up to the same level of overall web accessibility. In the meantime should you experience any difficulty in accessing the our website, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Where possible use an up-to-date browser

By using an up-to-date browser (the program you use to access the internet) you will have access to a much richer set of options to aid you as your navigate your way around this site. 

The standard browsers we would recommend are below with links to install each of them:

Once installed, each will bring its own selection of accessibilty options and may allow further options via the use of plug-ins. For more details see the Accessibility page for each one:

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Safari (Mac only)
• Internet Explorer

Options in our site

Alternative Style

Please choose a link below to change the way the site looks. Once set, the site will remain in this style for upto 30 days or until you select a different option.

• Black on white version
• White on black version
• Alternative style
• Reset to standard style

We endeavour to ensure the site looks correct is these different styles but because of the constantly changing nature of the site and its content, this may not always be possible. If you do spot anything which doesn't look quite right then please let us know

Keyboard Short Cuts / AccessKeys

Different browsers use different keystrokes to activate accesskey shortcuts, as shown below:

• Alt + [the accesskey]
  • Internet Explorer for Windows
  • Chrome for Windows (not that Shift is required in some circumstances
  • Safari for Windows
• Shift + Alt + [the accesskey]
  • Firefox for Windows
• Ctrl + Option + [the accesskey]
• Safari for Mac
• Chrome for Mac
• Firefox for Mac

AccessKey = 1, takes you back to the home page
AccessKey = 2, skips over the navigation menu on the site
AccessKey = 3, takes you this accessibility page
AccessKey = 0, takes you to the Contact Us page

Options in your browser

Most modern browsers all share the most common accessibility tools, here is a list of useful features:

Incremental Search
Incremental search allows you to progressively search a web page for a particular word or phrase on a page. To enable this on your browser, press and hold ALT and then tap F . This will open a box to type your search into. As you type, the matches will be highlighted on the page for you.

Spatial Navigation
Hitting tab will jump you to each of the items you can interact with on any page. Holding the SHIFT key and then pressing tab will take you to the previous item.  

Caret Navigation (Internet explorer and firefox only)
Instead of  using a mouse to select text and move around within a webpage, you can use standard navigation keys on your keyboard : Home, End, Page Up, Page Down & the arrow keys. This feature  is named after the caret, or cursor, that appears when you edit a document.

To turn this feature on, press the F7 key at the top of your keyboard and choose whether to enable the caret on the tab you are viewing or all your tabs.

Space bar
Pressing the space bar on a web page will move the page you are viewing down to the next visible part of the page.

Text fonts
Depending on your browser, you can override all fonts on the site to one that is easier for you to read.
Guides here:
Change Font in Firefox
Change Font in Chrome
Change Font in Explorer


Enlarge your view
You can activate the browser zoom via these keyboard shortcuts
Zoom in Firefox
Zoom in Chrome
Zoom in Safari
Zoom in Explorer

Options on your computer

To zoom your entire computer screen

Apple Mac and Windows operating system both contain options to enlarge your view of your screen
Windows
MAC


Make your computer read the site aloud

This website has been built with screen readers in mind. Menus, pictures and inputs will have the correct tags and mark up to compliment your chosen screen reader.

We have tested with following tools:


NVDA (NonVisual Desktop Access) is a free screen reader for computers running on the Windows operating system.
The latest version can be downloaded for FREE here (on this page you may be asked for a voluntary donation, if you do not wish to donate, click "skip donation this time")



WAVE is developed and made available as a free community service by WebAIM. Originally launched in 2001, WAVE has been used to evaluate the accessibility of millions of web pages. Read more here


Microsoft Windows Narrator is available in most versions of Mircosoft Windows operating systems and reads text on the screen aloud and describes events like error messages so you can use your PC without a display. To find out more and how to enable it on your version, please click here

Control your computer with your voice

Apple Mac and Windows operating systems both provide ways to control your computer with voice recognition. The BBC provide a guide to switching on voice recognition across the different versions but settings are different again if you are using Apple OS X Yosemite.

Third party voice recognition software is available too.

In summary

We are committed to providing you access to our most valuable resources. If you do spot anything which doesn't look quite right or have any suggestions for how we might improve our services then please let us know