Where do we get your personal data from?
Where we have direct interactions with you, we collect personal data directly from you. In other cases, we may obtain personal data from your employer (if you work for one of our clients or suppliers), from our clients (if you are involved in a client matter) or from other third parties. These third parties may include insurers, previous legal representative, opposing parties in litigation, regulators, public registers, publicly available court or legal records and screening providers (for example in relation to anti-money laundering, financial sanctions checks and credit screening).
What happens if you fail to provide personal data to us?
Where we need to collect personal data by law (for instance, in relation to anti-money laundering or other “know your customer” checks) or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide the personal data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with services). In this case, we may have to decline to provide or receive the relevant services, but we will notify you if this is the case at the time the personal data is collected.
How do we share your personal data?
We share personal data with other Linklaters offices to provide services to our clients and to operate our business as efficiently as possible.
We also share personal data with third parties as follows:
- Where we are required and as permitted by applicable law to provide information to courts, regulators, law enforcement agencies, tax authorities or similar agencies. Please note that the data is shared only where such disclosure is lawful and necessary, and only following a proportionality assessment.
- With our professional advisers and consultants, including lawyers, bankers, auditors, accountants and insurers, including our professional indemnity insurers
- With our suppliers and services providers where necessary
- With third parties involved in a matter, for example, barristers, experts and other external counsel, or specialist
- If we sell or transfer part of our business or assets
- With third parties who we partner with to run events
- To obtain feedback and references for legal directories
International transfers of personal data
We transfer personal data between our offices around the world to enable us to provide services to our clients and operate our business. Within Linklaters’ offices, these transfers are governed by EU and UK regulator-approved Binding Corporate Rules that we have in place and which are accessible here, together with the list of entities covered by the rules.
We transfer personal data to suppliers, service providers and our clients who are located in countries outside the UK and European Economic Area which are not recognised as having adequate data protection laws. Where we do so, we put in place standard contractual clauses to protect personal data, or we ensure that there is an alternative mechanism in place to protect personal data. If you would like more information about the transfers that we make and how we protect personal data, please contact us.
We may also transfer personal data to other countries to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, either on behalf of Linklaters or on behalf of our clients.
For how long do we keep your personal data?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for. This includes the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, accounting and reporting requirements, to carry out legal work and for the establishment or defence of legal claims.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider its amount, nature, sensitivity, potential risks, processing purposes, possible alternative methods, and legal requirements. If you would like to know more about the retention periods we apply to your personal data, please contact us using the details above.
When personal data is processed as part of legal claims, it will be retained as long as required to complete ongoing legal actions, comply with court orders and/ or fulfil obligations under applicable laws. A periodic review determines whether the data should be securely archived, anonymised or deleted once its relevance ceases.
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
Your rights
You have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. It is Linklaters’ policy to respect your rights, and Linklaters will act promptly and in accordance with any applicable law, rule or regulation relating to the processing of your personal data.
Details of your rights are set out below:
- right to be informed about how personal data is used – you have a right to be informed about how we will use and share your personal data;
- right to access personal data – you have a right to obtain confirmation of whether we are processing your personal data, access to your personal data and information regarding how your personal data is being used by us. Your right to access personal data may be restricted in certain circumstances. For example, this could apply if the requested data includes communications protected by legal professional privilege or litigation privilege, subject to any applicable local laws;
- right to have inaccurate personal data rectified – if you are aware that personal data that we hold about you is inaccurate, you can contact us and ask us to update it;
- right to have personal data erased in certain circumstances – this is not a blanket right to require all personal data to be deleted. We will consider each request carefully in accordance with the requirements of any laws relating to the processing of your personal data. For example, this right may not apply if the data needs to be processed to comply with a legal obligation or if it is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
- right to restrict processing of personal data in certain circumstances – this right arises if you are disputing the accuracy of personal data, if you have raised an objection to processing, if processing of personal data is unlawful and you oppose erasure and request restriction instead or if the personal data is no longer required by us but you require the personal data to be retained to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim;
- right to data portability – in certain circumstances you can request to receive a copy of your personal data in a commonly used electronic format. This right only applies to personal data that you have provided to us (for example by completing a form or providing information through a website). The right to data portability only applies if the processing is based on your consent or if the personal data must be processed for the performance of a contract and the processing is carried out by automated means (i.e. electronically);
- right to object to processing of personal data – you have a right to object to processing being carried out by us if (a) we are processing personal data based on legitimate interests or for the performance of a task in the public interest (including profiling), (b) if we are using personal data for direct marketing purposes, or (c) if information is being processed for scientific or historical research or statistical purposes; and
- right not to be subject to automated decisions where the decision produces a legal effect or a similarly significant effect – you have a right not to be subject to a decision which is based on automated decision making where the decision will produce a legal effect or a similarly significant effect on you. If we leverage automated data analysis, for instance, to detect risks or assist in the preparation of a litigation strategy, this does not produce legal effects. This processing is always subject to human oversight.
You may exercise any of your rights at any time using the contact details set out above. You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one calendar month (or earlier in accordance with applicable laws). Occasionally it may take us longer than one calendar month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
Complaints
If you would like to make a complaint about our processing of your personal data, please refer to our Global Data Protection Complaints Procedure, which is available on the privacy section of our Website. You may raise your concerns with your local data protection authority directly, without going through our Global Data Protection Complaints Procedure. However, we would encourage you to contact us in the first instance as we aim to promptly, efficiently and satisfactorily resolve any concerns or complaints you may have in relation to Linklaters’ processing of your personal data.
Country specific information
If you are located in one of the countries/regions listed below, the following additional provisions apply.