This privacy notice is for Sentinel Solicitors. Sentinel Solicitors takes your privacy very seriously and is committed to respect and protect your privacy and personal data. In accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), this Data & Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use and share your personal information as well as your legal rights regarding your personal information held by us. Please read this policy carefully as it contains important information.

This Policy is our main policy but may be supplemented with additional policies or statements which may be specific to you (depending upon your interaction with us).

Who we are
Sentinel Solicitors is the Trading name of Sentinel Legal Services Limited, a Solicitors firm in London. Our registered office details is 204 Seven Sisters Road, Finsbury Park, London, N4 3NX. Sentinel Solicitors are the “data controller” in respect of the processing of your data. If you have any queries, complaints or concerns regarding your data you can email us at sajid@sentinelsolicitors.co.uk or telephone us on 020 7100 3100.

Personal Data we may collect and why we collect it

Via our Website
We do not collect personal information automatically. When you visit our website, we automatically log your IP address and information about your visit, such as the time, the pages viewed, and the browser used. All this information is collected anonymously and does not identify you as an individual. Statistics are compiled using this information, enabling us to monitor use of the site.

Cookies are not used on our site (cookies are automated tools which enable websites to identify and track individual visitors, sometimes without their knowledge). The Information Advertising Bureau website provides more information about cookies. The IAB site also tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. We collect your personal information only when you provide it to us.

If you choose to contact us
If you choose to contact us and provide us with information about you voluntarily, we will handle any personal data that you provide to us as follows:

We will use your data fairly and where we can lawfully to do so;
Your data will be used for the service you have requested in accordance with our terms of business;
If you are a private individual, we may send you further information but only if we have obtained your details in the course of, or in negotiations for, providing a service to you, and if the information is about a similar service. Otherwise, we will obtain your explicit consent first;
Your personal information will be held securely and will be safeguarded against unauthorised use, disclosure, alteration or destruction;
We will not disclose your details to third parties without your explicit consent.
“Personal data” is any information which identifies you personally whether directly (for example, your name) or indirectly (for example, information about your use of our services). We may collect the following data about you:
Contact details: your name, email address, and telephone number so that we can contact you in response to an enquiry you make via our website or in relation to the services that we have from time to time agreed to provide to you;
Biographical information such as job title, employer, photos, videos or audio recordings which include you;
Correspondence: we collect any additional personal data you may provide to us from time to time if you contact us by email, letter or telephone, through our website, by submitting a comment on our website, or by any other means;
Survey responses: information from surveys that we use for research purposes, if you choose to respond to them;
Billing and financial information such as your account number, bank details, sort code and payment information;
Special categories of data such as your race, your ethnicity, your political beliefs or your religious beliefs (only for the purposes of your instructions to act your behalf on the basis of such data). Otherwise, we do not collect any special categories data for any other purposes;
Information relating you your children, parents, siblings or relatives;
Information regarding your criminal records;
To maintain our records and improve data accuracy – like any business, we process personal data in the course of maintaining and administering our internal records. This includes processing your personal data to ensure that the information we hold about you is kept up to date and accurate;
To respond to enquiries, complaints and disputes – we use the personal data we hold about you to help us respond to any enquiries or complaints you have made, or deal with any dispute which may arise in the course of us providing our services to you, in the most effective manner;
To investigate, detect and prevent fraud and comply with our legal obligations. In certain circumstances, we use your personal data only to the extent required in order to enable us to comply with our legal obligations, including for fraud detection, investigation and prevention purposes. This may require us to provide your personal data to law enforcement agencies if they request it;
When you apply for a job with us, we will ask you for information relevant to your application including but not limited to your employment history and your educational background;
If you visit our office, we may collect information necessary to identify you;
We will try not ask you for information that is not needed to enable us to provide you with a service at the time when you provide us with the information. If you provide us with any information about another person, please make sure that you comply with your legal obligations at the time when providing us with the information. We are allowed to use your data if you have provided us with your consent or another legally permitted reason applies.
In order to provide you with a proper service, you consent to us sharing your information with our service providers.

Who we share your personal data with
We treat your data with respect and will generally not share your data. We may however provide your personal data to our suppliers and service providers, who provide certain business services for us and act as “processors” of your personal data on our behalf. This may include providing your data to other legal specialists including barristers, medical experts, other experts, social services and interpreters who are assisting in the provision of our services. In addition, we may disclose your personal data if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to protect the rights, property, or safety, of our business, our customers or others. This includes, in specific cases, exchanging information with other organisations for the purposes of fraud protection. We may also have to transfer your personal data to regulators, HMRC, HMCTS, Legal Aid Agency, law enforcement agencies etc in compliance with our legal obligations and in the course of the performance of our contract with you.
We may also transfer your data where you have consented to us doing so.
The personal data we collect from you will not be transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
Our files are also audited randomly from time to time by regulators, accountants, the Legal Aid Agency, and professional assessors who sample files at random. Your file may have to be disclosed for this purpose. However the disclosure would be for the sole purposes of such an assessment.

How long we keep your personal data for
We retain your personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it was provided. What this means in practice will vary between different types of data. When determining the relevant retention periods, we take into account factors including: legal obligations under applicable law to retain data for a certain period of time; statute of limitations under applicable law; potential or actual disputes; and guidelines issued by relevant data protection authorities. As a general guideline, personal data provided to us during the course of any legal matter on which we are instructed to act or for the provision of legal services provided by us will be retained and archived for a minimum period of 6 years beyond the formal conclusion of the matter. A detailed explanation of this will be provided to you at the time of opening and closing the matter file with us. If for any reason, the data pertaining to a matter will be held for longer than this statutory period, you will be advised of such at the time of opening and closing the matter. Personal data provided us to make enquiries using the contact form of our website, or via e-mail / telephone but that does not lead to formal instruction to provide legal services will be securely held up to a maximum period of 12 months. Beyond these minimum terms or unless expressly stated to you, we securely erase your personal data from our systems when it is no longer needed.

Your rights
You have the following rights regarding your personal data:
Right to be informed – You have the right to be provided with clear, transparent and easily understandable information about how we use your personal data and your rights. This is why we are providing you with the information in this Privacy Policy.
Right of access – You have the right to obtain access to your personal data (if we are processing it) and certain other information (similar to that provided in this Privacy Policy). This is so you are aware and can check that we are using your personal data in accordance with data protection law. There are certain exceptions to this right (for example where the information is legally privileged or if providing you with the information would reveal personal data about another person).
Right to rectification – You are entitled to have your personal data updated or corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete. If you contact us, we will take reasonable steps to correct the information. Please contact us if your information changes so that we can keep it accurate and up to date.
Right to erasure – This is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’ and, in simple terms, enable you to request the deletion or removal of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for us to keep using it. This is not a general right to erasure; there are exceptions.
Right to restrict processing – You have the right to ‘block’ or supress further use of your personal data in certain circumstances. When processing is restricted, we can still store your personal data, but may not use it further. Again, there are exceptions to this too.
Right of data portability – You have the right to obtain and reuse your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format in certain circumstances. In addition, where certain conditions apply, you have the right to have such information transferred directly to a third party.
Right to object to processing – You have the right to object to us processing your personal data for our legitimate business interests or for direct marketing purposes (including in each case any related profiling).
Right to withdraw consent to processing – If you have given your consent to us to process your personal data for a particular purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time (although if you do so, it does not mean that any processing of your personal data up to that point is unlawful).
Right to make a complaint to the data protection authorities – You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data or believe our processing of your personal data does not comply with data protection law.
The above Rights can be exercised by contacting us. We will require you to provide us with satisfactory proof of your identity so that we can ensure that your rights are protected and respected. This will ensure that your personal data is disclosed only to you.

Opting Out
You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by contacting us.
Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided as a result of a service purchase.
Data Security
Your personal information will be held securely and will be safeguarded against unauthorised use, disclosure, alteration or destruction;
All staff have separate logins and passwords to maintain limits to access to confidential information and all are subject to confidentiality obligations.
As part of our duty to take reasonable steps to hold information securely, our policy is not to disclose information relating to you to third parties unless specifically for the purposes of advancing your case. For example, we may not be able to provide copies of any material to a third party supporter (such as a relative) where we have or are able to provide the information to you and where you could choose whether to disclose it and specifically to which body or person.
We will not sell, rent, or lease mailing lists or other user data to others and we will not make your personal information available to any unaffiliated parties except as follows:
If we are unable to assist with your matter but know a firm that may be able to help you we may refer you and, with your consent, share your information that you have provided to us;
If required to do so by law, or as a matter of public safety or policy or in connection with the transfer of our business, or if necessary to protect our rights or property.

How to contact us
If you would like to exercise your data protection rights or if you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please feel free to contact us by email (sajid@sentinelsolicitors.co.uk) or by telephone (020 7100 3100). You can also contact us in writing using the following address:

Sentinel Solicitors
204 Seven Sisters Road
Finsbury Park
London
N4 3NXI

If you’re not satisfied with our response to any enquiries or complaint or believe our processing of your personal data does not comply with data protection law, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) by: writing to: Information Commissioner’s Officer, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF; calling: 0303 123 1113; or submitting a message through the ICO’s website at: ico.org.uk

Links to other websites
Our website may contain hyperlinks to websites owned and operated by third parties. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit, as they will govern the use of any personal data you provide when visiting those websites. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the privacy practices of such third party websites and your use of such websites is at your own risk.

Changes to this Privacy Policy
This policy may also change from time to time. It is therefore recommended that you check this page regularly to ensure that you are happy with any changes to this policy.