Privacy Policy
How we use your information
When you contact us to work on your project, we ask you to give us some of your personal details so that we can prepare a contract for you.
We are committed to keeping all the information we hold about you secure, private and confidential.
This information explains why we need to collect your personal details and what we do with it. It also sets out the legal basis on which we collect and use your information and outlines the rights you have under current data protection legislation.
Which of my details do you collect?
We ask for your full name (title, forename(s) and surname), postal address, phonenumber and email address. We need this personal information so that we can provideyou with the service that you have asked for. If you don’t provide it, then we won’t be able to provide you with our services.
When do you collect these details?
We will collect them when you make your initial enquiry with us, by phone or in person. We also collect some of your details whenever you make a transfer to us, such as a note of the name a bank transfer for an invoice payment is received from.
This can be online by phone, by post, by email or secure message.
Using our website, email & social media?
We only use cookie or other tracking technologies to collect information related to performance and usage. Currently this is restricted to Cookies inserted by our careers platform, Homerun.
We may also use posts on social media to find out how people view our services.
Providing details on behalf of someone else
When you give us details about someone else, you must have their agreement to do so.
What do you do with my information?
The main reasons we use your information are to create our working agreements, process your payments, and keep you up to date with information about your contract with us.
We may also use your information to:
meet our legal obligation to check your identity and address.
prevent or detect fraud or other crime.
develop, test and improve our products, systems and services
invite you to take part in market research and surveys
carry out anonymous statistical analysis (we won't be able to identify individuals when we do this)
Who do you share my details with?
We use selected organisations to help us deliver the service we provide to you. We may share your personal information with:
Our service providers who provide sub-contracting services to us, for example helping to administer your contract, printing and sending warranties and statements to you, and sending you emails about your contract. We only share the information that's necessary for them to provide their services.
Credit reference agencies to check your identity, address and to prevent fraud. We may also share your information with government bodies, law enforcement agencies, courts or other third parties to comply with our legal obligations or lawful disclosure requests, for example.
How long do you keep my information for?
We keep your personal information where we have an ongoing legitimate or lawful need to do so.
For example, we keep some records for audit purposes for up to seven years after completing our contract with you. When we no longer have a legitimate or lawful need to keep your personal information, we will delete it.
Do you send my information outside Europe?
The UK are no longer part of Europe but an understanding has been met that to all intents and purposes the EU-GDPR and UK-GDPR will run parallel with each other for the medium term.
Keeping each other informed
We will give you information about your contract and provide regular invoice statements. If we need to get in touch, we will call you, write to you by email or letter or send you a text message. In the event of a data breach that could lead to a high risk to your rights and freedoms, for example the risk of financial loss, we will let you know as soon as we reasonably can.
To make sure you can receive information and communications from us, please make sure you tell us whenever you change your name, address, phone number or email address. Giving us your most up to date details will also help protect your contract by making sure any information we send you doesn't fall into the wrong hands. You can update your details by contacting us.
The legal background & your rights
Here we summarise the lawful basis on which we collect and use your information and outline the rights you have under current data protection legislation.
Contract
We need to collect and use your personal information to be able to provide you with the services that you have requested. We cannot provide the service if you don't give us the information we ask for.
Legal obligation
We may need to use your personal information to meet our legal obligations, for example if we need to check your identity and address to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations.
Legitimate interests
We have a legitimate interest in promoting our services. For this reason, we may use your personal details to, for example, send you marketing information about our contract or services that we think you may be interested in. You can ask us to stop sending you marketing at any time.
Consent
We only rely on consent as a lawful basis for using your personal information in a few limited circumstances, for example if you ask us to share your contract information with an authorised third party that wishes to provide services to your contract.
Public task
There are times when we need to share information with other government bodies to allow them to meet their legal obligations.
Your rights
You have a range of data protection rights in relation to the information we hold about you. You can exercise any of these rights by contacting us. Note that not all of the rights are absolute – some of them depend on which lawful basis we are using to process your information.
Right of access
You can ask us to provide you with a copy of the information we hold about you by making a 'Data Subject Access Request' contact us via our email.
Right to data portability
Where we process your personal information for contractual purposes, or with your consent, you can ask us to provide the information we hold about you in a structured, machine readable format (for example a CSV file).
Right to rectification
If the information we hold about you is incorrect, out of date or incomplete, please let us know and we will put it right.
Right to restrict processing
If you think the information we hold about you isn't accurate, you can ask us not to process it until we have corrected any errors or verified that the information is accurate.
Right to erasure
You can ask us to delete your personal information when:
we no longer need it
you have given us consent and you later withdraw it
you have objected to us processing your information and we have no lawful basis to do so
we are legally obliged to delete it
Right to object
Where we have a legitimate interest or a public interest in processing your personal information, you can object to this.
Right not to be subject to automated decision-making
Some of our processes are partly or wholly automated, but we don't make decisions that have a significant or legal effect without human involvement. For example, we may check your evidence of identity electronically, but if this is unsuccessful we will write to you to ask for documentary evidence instead.
Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
If you have a complaint about the way we have used your information, please contact us first and we will do our best to put things right for you. If you are not happy with our response, you can escalate your complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
Changes to how we use your information
From time to time we may update this privacy notice. You can see the latest version on our website or call or email us and we can send you a copy. If we make a significant change to how we use your information, we will let you know in advance.
Data protection questions or concerns?
Myles Palmer is the data controller of the information we hold about you. If you have any questions or concerns about how we process your information, you can contact us using hello@companion.studio page on the site or write to: 6a St Andrews Court, Wellington Street, Thame, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom, OX9 3WT
Want to find out more?
You can find out more about data protection and the rights you have by contacting the independent Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk
