Privacy notice
Introduction
This privacy notice concerns SIMON LESS ASSOCIATES' collection and processing of personal information. It explains how and why we collect personal information, in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
Our privacy notice should be read in conjunction with our cookies notice (below).
Contact
If you wish to contact us regarding this notice or, more generally, in connection with how we collect or process your personal information, please email enquiries@simonless.com.
Personal data that we collect and process
The type of personal information that we may collect and process are:
Identity and contact information. This includes names and contact details (e.g. postal addresses, emails and telephone numbers) of staff, job applicants, clients, potential clients, suppliers, potential suppliers, sub-contractors and potential sub-contractors.
Results of background checks and vetting. This includes information collected as part of background checks on staff and sub-contractors.
Financial and payment information. This includes information on bank account details of staff, sub-contractors and suppliers which we hold in order to process payments.
Information and technology data. This includes personal data which relates to visitors’ use of our website. Our website uses cookies. See our cookies notice for further information.
How we collect the personal information
We collect and process personal information in the course of our normal business activity.
This information may be provided to us directly by the individuals to whom the information relates. This includes, for example:
When individuals correspond with us by email, post, telephone or in person, in connection with the services we provide.
When candidates apply to us for employment, during the selection process and pre-employment checks.
When we undertake staff vetting in line with client requirements.
When suppliers offer to provide services to us.
Subject to user consent, we collect personal data relating website usage and website user preferences.
We may also hold personal data that we have collected ourselves from publicly available sources (e.g. contact details that are published on public websites, on published reports, articles or directories).
In some cases, the personal information may be provided to us by third parties. It is the responsibility of the party providing the personal information to us to ensure that it is provided lawfully and, where applicable, with the consent of the individuals concerned.
Why we have the personal information
We rely on the following lawful bases under the GDPR for processing personal information:
Legitimate interest in pursuing our business activities.
Consent given by the individuals concerned. Such consent may be withdrawn at any time by contacting us.
We use the personal information for the following business purposes:
To market consultancy services to existing and prospective clients.
To support the efficient provision of high-quality services to our clients.
To procure and receive products and services from suppliers.
To meet contractual obligations with clients and suppliers, including in relation to background checks on employees.
To recruit employees and subcontractors, and to process payments to them.
To enable the retention of knowledge and knowhow concerning our consultancy work.
To enable the retention of knowledge and knowhow concerning our administration of the business.
To enable us to defend potential future legal challenges (e.g. from clients, former staff, unsuccessful job applicants or government agencies).
To comply with applicable taxation, accounting and other statutory requirements.
To help understand the usage of our website.
Who we share the personal information with
We may share personal information with clients and certain service providers that we have engaged in the course of our business. Such providers may include our accountants, IT services providers, sub-contractors and providers of vetting services and background checks. We may also share personal information with HMRC and other government bodies where necessary.
As indicated in our cookies notice, subject to user consent we share certain information relating to website usage with our website analytics provider.
We will not share personal information with other parties, unless we have obtained specific consent for this from the person to whom that information relates.
How we store personal information
Personal information in electronic form is stored in our IT systems, and any paper copies are stored in locked and secure premises.
In line with our data protection policy, we have put in place appropriate security measures to mitigate the risk of unauthorised access to, or disclosure of, personal information.
Retention period and disposal
We are required to retain personal information for no longer than necessary for the purpose for which it was originally collected.
Please contact us using the details provided at the start of this notice if you would like to know more about our approach to data retention and for how long we keep different types of personal information.
Where we rely on consent as the lawful basis for keeping personal information, we will remove any personal information we hold when the consent is withdrawn or when the subject of the information requests erasure of the data.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have several rights regarding the personal information about you that we may hold:
You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
You have the right to have your personal information erased in certain circumstances.
You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
You have the the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights.
Please contact us at the contact details given at the start of this notice if you wish to make a request.
You can make a complaint
You may lodge a complaint regarding our processing of your personal data with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The ICO’s postal address is Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF, and their helpline number is 0303 123 1113.
Further information about the procedures to complain to the ICO is available from its website, https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/.
Cookies notice
Introduction
Our website uses cookies. These are small text files that may be stored on your computer or mobile device when you visit our website.
Some of the cookies that may be used by this website are essential. These allow our hosting platform to securely serve this website.
Our website may also use analytics and performance cookies to understand how visitors use our website and to remember their preferences. For instance, these cookies help enable us to distinguish between the same user visiting our website many times or many different users visiting the website a single time, and to understand how users move around different pages on our website.
Consent for analytics and performance cookies
We will only store analytics and performance cookies (or non-essential cookies) on your computer or mobile device if you give consent.
Our website uses a cookie banner to ask whether you give consent for these non-essential cookies.
If you click the confirmation message on your banner, you will not see the message again for 30 days, unless you clear the cookies from your browser.
You can withdraw consent by waiting for this 30-day period to end and then choosing not to consent to non-essential cookies when the banner reappears or by clearing the cookies in your browser that are stored for this website.
If you do not give consent for analytics and performance cookies, you can continue to use our website and these non-essential cookies will not be stored on your device.
Information on analytics and performance cookies
If you give consent, this website will collect personal data for the purposes of our site analytics, including:
Information about your browser, network, and device.
Web pages you visited prior to coming to this website.
Your IP address.
This information may also include details about your use of this website, including:
Clicks
Internal links
Pages visited
Scrolling
Searches
Timestamps
We share this information with our website analytics provider to learn about site traffic and activity.