RM Solicitors takes your privacy and confidentiality seriously. You provide us with personal information and the purpose of this summary is to set out why we collect your data, what we do with it, who we share it with, why we share your data and understand your legal obligations.
This document is being provided to you in compliance with our obligations under the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). GDPR amends existing data protection law and places enhanced accountability and transparency obligations on organisations when using your information. GDPR also introduced changes which gives you greater control over your personal information, including a right to object to processing of your personal information where that processing is carried out for our business purposes.
Please take time to read this summary carefully. If you have any questions about how we use your information, please contact us. Likewise, if you would like any clarification on any points in this summary, please contact us.
Who we are
RM Solicitors is a firm of solicitors that provides legal advice in a variety of areas suited to your needs. Further details of our services are provided in our letter of engagement which we issue to all clients prior to providing a service or product.
The information we collect about you
We will hold:
• Data to identify you, including your contact information, i.e. your name, address, telephone number(s) and email address, gender, date of birth, occupation, PPS number, photographic identification, nationality;
• Your personal details as may be necessitated by the type of service we offer you i.e. your details about your employment, financial status, details of your assets or liabilities;
• Your marital or civil status;
• Other sensitive information, for example medical information which you provide to us which are connected to the service which we provide to you;
• Other personal information if applicable, for example, criminal conviction data, driving penalty point data;
• Information provided when exercising your rights.
Sometimes we may use your information even though you are not our client. For example, you may be a beneficiary under a trust or a will, a director of a client company, an employee of a client.
When we collect your information
We collate information at the initial point of contact with you and aim to update this whenever you provide us with instructions or when you require a further service from us.
How and why we use your information
We collate, use and share information only where there is a legal basis for doing so. This includes where you have given us information in order to provide you with a service, or arrange a transaction on your behalf.
Typically, the legal basis for using your data is to provide a service or arrange a transaction which you have requested. The legal basis will also include complying with our legal and regulatory obligations, for example, interaction with the data protection commission or when conducting anti-money laundering checks.
While you have agreed or explicitly consented to the using of your data in a specific way, you may withdraw your consent at any time. We may use your data if necessary, to protect your “vital interest” in exceptional circumstances, for example where we suspect a fraud may be in the course of perpetration.
Data may be also used for our legitimate interests (which you may object to) such as training, quality assurance and strategic planning).
Processing “analytics”
We may analyse your information using automated means:
• To help us understand your needs and develop our relationship with you;
• The types and sources of information we process by automated means about you are listed above.
• We also use automated processing to assist in compliance with our legal obligations in connection with the prevention of money laundering, fraud and terrorist financing;
When providing our services to you, we may share your information with:
• Your other authorised representatives;
• Third parties with whom we need to share your information to facilitate services you have requested from us and/or you have agreed that we may share your information;
• Barristers, expert witnesses, other agents that may provide services through us to you;
• Service providers who provide us with support services, for example our auditors;
• Statutory and regulatory bodies, only where we are legally obliged to do so.
How long we hold your data / Security and data retention:
We employ security measures to protect your information from access by unauthorised persons and against unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage. We will retain your personal data for as long as is necessary for the required service to be provided to you. How long we hold your data for is subject to legislation and various regulatory rules we must follow set by authorities such as the Law Society of Ireland, the Court Services and the like. Timescales may also depend on the type of service we have provided to you. Our aim is to hold your data for no longer as is necessary and subject to the time scales imposed by our legal obligations. All retained personal data is subject to the controls of our data protection policy and will be securely disposed of when it is considered to be of no further use.
Implications in not providing your data
If you do not provide information, we may not be able to:
• Provide the requested services to you;
• Continue to provide services to you;
• Where relevant give you a recommendation for a service which you may require;
Transfer of information outside of the European Economic Area (“EEA”)
It is our aim to retain any information which we hold within the EEA. However, if we are required to provide a legal service which entails dealing with third parties in non-EEA countries then that may necessitate the transfer of data outside the EEA.
Data Subject Rights – how to exercise your rights
Under GDPR you have additional rights in relation to how your data is used, including the rights to:
• Find out if we use your information;
• Access your information;
• Receive copies of information;
• Have inaccurate or incomplete information corrected and updated (If you wish to do this, please contact us by email at info@rmlaw.ie);
• Object to particular use of your personal data for our legitimate business purposes;
• To have your information deleted or use of your data restricted in certain circumstances (so long as this does not conflict with our legal or regulatory obligations to hold your data for a certain length of time).
• To have your information deleted or our use of your data restricted in certain circumstances;
• Exercise the right of data portability (i.e. obtain a transferrable copy of certain information we hold or transfer the data to another legal service provider);
• Withdraw consent at any time for processing of your data based on the content of your data.
If you wish to exercise any of your rights, you can contact us at the address shown.
If we are unable to deal with your request for data access fully within a calendar month, we may extend this period by a further two calendar months and explain the reason why. If you make your request electronically, we will try to provide you with the relevant information electronically.
Complaints
If you are dissatisfied with our services or in relation to how we use your data, you have the right to complain to the Data Protection Commission, contact details as follows:
Address: Office of the Data Commission
Canal House
Station Road
Portarlington
R32 AP23 Co. Laois
Telephone: 076 110 4800 or LOCALL 1890 252 231
Email: info@dataprotection.ie
Updates
We will update our data protection notice – client summary and website privacy notice from time to time. You may request copies of our current Notices at any time or refer to our website.
Our Contact Details
Address: RM Solicitors
Unit 10 Old Bawn Shopping Centre
Old Bawn
Tallaght
Dublin 24
Telephone: 01 635 4601
Email: info@rmlaw.ie
