Privacy Policy

Our privacy policy is below, please take the time to read it carefully.

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Alpha 1 Legal Services Privacy Policy

Northern Enforcement Services Limited t/a Alpha 1 Legal Services (referred to as Alpha 1 Legal Services throughout) is an Investigations and Enquiry Agent and Enforcement firm and registered in England under number 05977440 and regulated by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) under number Z9650885. Its registered office is South West Durham Business Centre, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 2QN.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand why data is being collected and what we do with that data once in our possession.
We may change the privacy policy or the terms of business from time to time by amending this page. Further information about data privacy may be found in our engagement letter with you.
What type of information will we collect from you?
The personal information we collect will depend on the nature of the services we are providing and what we are contracted to do for you. Typically this might include the following:

Where necessary to act in your best interests, and for the establishment, exercise, or defence of your legal matter, we may need to process information, which is very sensitive in nature such as diversity and health related details. In some circumstances we may need to share this information with third parties, for example a court or tribunal. If you volunteer sensitive personal data, you will be allowing us to process it as part of engaging our services.
On what basis can we process your information?
The legal grounds for processing your personal data are as follows:

Information collected from you about other people
In commercial matters, in the course of providing our legal, financial and other professional services to you we will hold and use personal information about you, your officers and/or your employees.  When you provide personal information to us relating to your officers or employees, you confirm that you are allowed to do so. You should ensure that those individuals understand how we will use their data.
Children
Our services are not aimed at children and we will hold no data involving children.
What we are going to do with your information?
We will hold and use personal information about you in the following ways:
 

Information we collect about you from others
Third parties in the course of providing our services may pass information to us. The processing of this information will be necessary for the progression of your matter and to enable us to act in your best interests as your representative.
As a service provider firm we have an obligation to make you aware of anything that is relevant to your matter. When we obtain information about you from a third party rather than from you directly, we will notify you of any relevant information within a reasonable period, and provide you with details including the type of data and source it came from. Typically these sources may include:
 

How long we keep your data for
We will only retain your information for as long as is necessary to:
 

Typically we will store the information for 6 months from the date of your final invoice.
Who your information will be shared with
Based upon the services you need we may pass your details to selected people or organisations (data processors and sub processors) to carry out certain activities on our behalf. For example, personal information you provide may be disclosed to our agents, who may keep a record of that information.
We may pass your information to any third parties where required to do so in the course of providing services, or where law obliges us.  This will include, but is not limited to:
 

At the outset of your matter we may not be aware of all the other parties involved, as this will depend on the specific nature of the work.
We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
Security of your data
Your data will be held on secure servers within the European Economic Area (“EEA”) with all reasonable technological and operation measures put in place to safeguard it from unauthorised access.  Where possible any identifiable information will be encrypted or minimised.
If we have given you a username and password, which enables you to access certain parts of your matter on our systems, you are responsible for keeping it confidential. Please do not share it with anyone.
Measures when transferring your data to others
There may be occasions where we need to send your data outside the EEA. This would cover situations where we need to deal with international aspects of your matter and instruct overseas organisations to assist.
Some organisations may be located in countries outside of Europe where data protection laws are not as strict as they are in the UK. Where your personal data is being transferred outside the EU, we will undertake an assessment of the level of protection in light of the circumstances surrounding the transfer. We will make sure that any transfers are not repetitive and only limited to the minimum amount of information possible. In certain circumstances we may need to seek your consent unless there is an overriding legal need to transfer the information.
How you can access and update your information
You have a right to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you, known as a data subject access request. You also have the right to request that information we hold about you, which may be incorrect, or which has been changed since you first told us, is updated or removed.
These requests are free of charge and can be sent to Managing Director, Alpha 1 Legal Services, South West Durham Business Centre, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 2QN.
How you can object to us using your data
You can ask us to limit the way in which we are using your information or object to certain types of processing. We will do our best to comply with your request unless we have to use the information for legitimate business or legal purposes.
Please note that if you want us to restrict or stop processing your data this may impact on our ability to provide our services. Depending on the extent of your request we may be unable to continue acting for you and be forced to immediately cease acting.
In these situations you would remain liable for the fees and disbursements incurred to date.
Any queries or concerns about the way in which your data is being used can be sent to
Moving your information to another organisation
You have the right to request that we send a copy of the personal data we hold about you to another organisation for your own purposes, for example when you are dealing with a different service provider. If you would like us to move, copy, or transfer your information to another organisation please let us know. We will respond to you within one month after assessing whether or not this is possible, taking into account the technical compatibility with the other organisation in question.
Automated decision making
We do not use your information for automated decision-making.
Complaints about the use of your personal data
If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact us to have the matter investigated by writing to, Managing Director, Alpha 1 Legal Services, South West Durham Business Centre, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 2QN.
If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data not in accordance with the law you can complain to the UK data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office.  Further details can be found at www.ico.org.uk or 0303 123 1113.
If you are not our client
If you are not our client your personal data may be processed to enable us to provide advice to our client and may also be used in legal proceedings on behalf of our client. We are allowed to use your information because it is in the legitimate interests of our client (for example under the terms and conditions of a loan agreement) to do so. We may also have to use your personal data to comply with our own legal and regulatory obligations.
If you have any questions about how your personal data is being used, please contact Managing Director, Alpha 1 Legal Services, South West Durham Business Centre, Shildon, County Durham, DL4 2QN.