Privacy Policy

1. Who I am

This website is operated by Amy Austin, a freelance property solicitor providing commercial property legal services across England and Wales.

For the purposes of applicable data protection law, I am the data controller in relation to personal information collected through this website, through enquiries and in connection with legal services where I determine how and why that information is processed.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how your personal information is used, please contact:

Email:enquiries@aapropertysolicitor.co.uk

2. When this privacy policy applies

This policy applies to personal information collected when you:

visit or interact with this website; complete an enquiry or contact form; contact me by email, telephone or another communication method; request information or a quotation; become a client; are involved in a legal matter on which I am acting; or otherwise provide personal information in connection with my legal services.

In some matters I may work with, through or alongside other solicitors, law firms or professional service providers. Those organisations may act as separate data controllers and may provide their own privacy information explaining how they use your personal data.

3. Information I may collect

The information collected will depend on your relationship with me and the nature of the legal matter.

Information you provide directly

This may include your name, postal address, email address, telephone number, job title, company or organisation details, instructions, correspondence and information you provide about a property or legal matter.

Where you become a client, additional information may be required to provide legal services and meet professional or regulatory requirements. This may include identification documents, date of birth, proof of address, information about ownership or beneficial ownership, financial or transaction information, source of funds information and records relating to identity, conflict or compliance checks.

Legal matters may also involve information about other individuals, organisations, counterparties, employees, directors, shareholders, tenants, landlords, lenders, advisers or other parties connected with a transaction.

Information collected automatically

When you use this website, limited technical information may be collected automatically. This can include your IP address, browser and device type, operating system, approximate location, referring website, pages visited, time spent on pages and information about how you interact with the website.

Some of this information may be collected through cookies or similar technologies.

Information received from other sources

Not all personal information is necessarily obtained directly from you.

Depending on the matter, information may be received from clients, counterparties, other solicitors, estate agents, managing agents, lenders, accountants, surveyors, professional advisers, companies or organisations connected with a transaction.

Information may also be obtained from publicly available or official sources such as HM Land Registry, Companies House and other registers, databases or public records, as well as identity verification or compliance service providers where appropriate.

4. Sensitive personal information

In some circumstances, information connected with a legal matter may include information that receives additional protection under data protection law, sometimes referred to as special category data.

A matter may also occasionally involve information relating to criminal allegations, convictions or offences.

This type of information will only be processed where it is necessary and where there is an appropriate legal basis and additional condition permitting the processing under applicable data protection law.

5. How I use your information

Personal information may be used to respond to enquiries and determine whether I can assist; carry out conflict and other preliminary checks; provide quotations or information about legal services; establish and manage the solicitor-client relationship; obtain instructions and provide legal advice; prepare, review and negotiate legal documents; progress property transactions and other legal matters; communicate with clients and other parties involved in a matter; verify identity and undertake compliance checks; comply with professional, regulatory, tax and legal obligations; manage records, administration and billing; handle complaints, disputes and potential legal claims; maintain professional insurance and risk-management records; prevent or detect fraud and other unlawful activity; protect the security of the website, systems and communications; and monitor and improve the website and services.

Personal information will not be used for purposes that are incompatible with the reason it was originally collected unless this is permitted or required by law.

6. My lawful bases for using personal information

Data protection law requires a lawful basis for processing personal information. The basis relied upon will depend on why the information is being used.

Contract and steps before entering into a contract

Information may be processed where this is necessary to respond to a request before you become a client or to provide legal services under an agreement with you.

For example, this may include responding to an enquiry, considering whether I can accept instructions, communicating about a proposed matter and providing agreed legal services.

Legal and regulatory obligations

Information may be processed where necessary to comply with obligations imposed by law, regulation or the professional requirements applicable to solicitors.

This can include regulatory compliance, identity and verification requirements, fraud prevention, record keeping, responding to regulatory authorities and complying with court orders or other lawful requests.

Legitimate interests

Information may be processed where necessary for legitimate business or professional interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests.

These interests may include administering and operating the legal practice, responding to enquiries, maintaining appropriate business records, securing systems and communications, preventing fraud or misuse, managing professional risks, establishing or defending legal claims and improving services.

Consent

Where consent is the appropriate lawful basis, you will be asked to provide it.

Where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

7. Professional confidentiality

As a solicitor, I am subject to professional duties relating to the confidentiality of client information.

Information relating to clients and their legal matters will be treated as confidential and will not ordinarily be disclosed unless disclosure is authorised by the client, necessary for the provision of legal services, required or permitted by law, or otherwise permitted under applicable professional rules.

Where information is subject to legal professional privilege, it will be handled in accordance with the legal protections applying to privileged information.

8. Who I may share your information with

Personal information is not sold to third parties.

Where necessary in connection with an enquiry, legal matter, professional obligation or the operation of the business, information may be shared with other solicitors and law firms; counterparties and their professional advisers; estate agents and managing agents; lenders and financial institutions; surveyors, accountants and other professional advisers; HM Land Registry, Companies House, HM Revenue & Customs or other public authorities; identity, anti-fraud or compliance verification providers; insurers and insurance advisers; IT, website, cloud storage, document management, email and communications providers; electronic signature or document-processing services; accountants and other business advisers; courts, tribunals, law enforcement agencies, regulators and professional bodies where required; and other parties where you have authorised disclosure or where disclosure is necessary for the legal matter.

Only information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose will be shared.

Some recipients will process personal information on my behalf as data processors, while others may be independent data controllers responsible for determining how they use the information they receive.

9. Website hosting and online services

This website is built and hosted using Webflow. Webflow and its infrastructure providers may process technical information necessary to provide, maintain and secure the website.

Information submitted through website forms may also be processed through Webflow or other service providers involved in delivering form submissions and communications.

Analytics or website measurement services may be used to understand how visitors use the website and to identify ways in which its performance, usability and content can be improved.

Where non-essential analytics technologies require consent, they will only be used in accordance with applicable cookie and privacy requirements.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

This website may use cookies and similar technologies.

Some cookies are necessary for the website to operate correctly and securely. Other technologies, such as analytics cookies, may be used to understand how the website is used.

Where consent is legally required before a cookie or similar technology can be placed on your device, that technology will not be used until the appropriate consent has been obtained.

You can also control or delete cookies using your browser settings. Blocking certain cookies may affect how some parts of the website function.

11. International transfers

Some technology and professional service providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom.

Where personal information is transferred internationally, reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that the transfer is permitted under applicable data protection law.

This may include transferring information to a country recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection or using approved contractual safeguards or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

12. How long I keep your information

Personal information will only be retained for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

The appropriate retention period depends on the nature of the information and the reason it is held.

For legal matters, information may need to be retained after a matter has completed in order to comply with professional, regulatory, tax, insurance and legal requirements, respond to future queries, manage conflicts, or establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Different categories of information may therefore be retained for different periods.

Information relating to enquiries that do not result in an instruction will not normally be retained indefinitely unless there is a legitimate or legal reason to do so.

At the end of the applicable retention period, information will be securely deleted, destroyed or anonymised where appropriate.

13. Keeping your information secure

Appropriate technical and organisational measures are used to protect personal information against accidental or unlawful loss, alteration, destruction, unauthorised access or disclosure.

Access to personal information is restricted to those who need it for legitimate professional or business purposes.

Third-party service providers are selected with consideration for the security and confidentiality of the information they process.

However, no method of transmitting or storing information electronically can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

14. Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis being relied upon, you may have a number of rights in relation to your personal information.

These can include the right to ask for access to the personal information held about you; ask for inaccurate information to be corrected; ask for incomplete information to be completed; request deletion of personal information in certain circumstances; request that processing is restricted; object to certain processing based on legitimate interests; receive certain information in a portable format; and withdraw consent where consent is being relied upon.

These rights are not absolute. In some circumstances, information may need to continue to be retained or processed because of legal, professional or regulatory obligations or because it is required for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Requests relating to your personal information can be sent to:

enquiries@aapropertysolicitor.co.uk

You will not ordinarily be charged for exercising your data protection rights.

15. Automated decision-making

I do not use personal information to make decisions about individuals based solely on automated processing where those decisions produce legal or similarly significant effects.

If this changes, appropriate information about that processing will be provided as required by law.

16. Marketing communications

Your contact information will not be used to send marketing communications unless there is an appropriate lawful basis for doing so.

Where marketing communications are sent, you can ask to stop receiving them at any time by using any unsubscribe method provided or by contacting me directly.

Choosing not to receive marketing communications will not affect communications that are necessary in connection with an enquiry, legal matter or client relationship.

17. Third-party websites

This website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations.

I am not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices of third-party websites. If you follow a link to another website, you should review that organisation's privacy information to understand how it processes personal information.

18. Complaints

If you have concerns about how your personal information has been handled, please contact me in the first instance at:

enquiries@aapropertysolicitor.co.uk

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent regulator for data protection.

Further information about your rights and how to make a complaint is available on the ICO website.

19. Changes to this privacy policy

This privacy policy may be updated from time to time to reflect changes to my services, working practices, technology, service providers or legal and regulatory requirements.

The latest version will always be published on this website, together with the date on which it was last updated.

20. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, would like more information about how your personal information is used or would like to exercise a data protection right, please contact:

Amy Austin
Freelance Property Solicitor
Email:enquiries@aapropertysolicitor.co.uk