Privacy Notice

Watson Associates takes the protection of your privacy very seriously.  We will only use your personal information to deliver the services you have requested from us, and to meet our legal responsibilities.

How do we collect information from you?

We obtain information about you when you engage us to deliver our services and/or when you use our website, for example, when you contact us about our services or sign up for an event. 

We collect Device Information using the following technologies:

• “Cookies” are data files that are placed on your device or computer and often include an anonymous unique identifier. For more information about cookies, and how to disable cookies, visit http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
• “Log files” track actions occurring on the Site, and collect data including your IP address, browser type, Internet service provider, referring/exit pages, and date/time stamps.
• “Web beacons,” “tags,” and “pixels” are electronic files used to record information about how you browse the Site.

 

What type of information do we collect from you? 

The personal information we collect from you will vary depending on which services you engage us to deliver.  The personal information we collect might include your name, address, telephone number, email address, your Unique Tax Reference (UTR) number, your National Insurance number, bank account details, your IP address, which pages you may have visited on our website and when you accessed them. 

We use tools such as Google Analytics to help us understand how our customers use the Site--you can read more about how Google uses your Personal Information here:  https://www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/.  You can also opt-out of Google Analytics here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

How is your information used? 

In general terms, and depending on which services you engage us to deliver, as part of providing our agreed services we may use your information to: 

• contact you by post, email or telephone
• verify your identity where this is required
• understand your needs and how they may be met
• maintain our records in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory obligations
• process financial transactions to you or your employees, if you use our payroll service
• prevent and detect crime, fraud or corruption
• we are required by legislation, other regulatory requirements and our insurers to retain your data where we have ceased to act for you.  The period of retention required varies with the applicable legislation but is typically six years.  To ensure compliance with all such requirements it is the policy of the firm to retain all data for a period of six years from the end of the period concerned. In some cases, data will be retained for significantly longer periods for instance, where there is an ongoing trust or there has been a financial transaction such as an investment or disposal that may later need to be referred back to. 

 

Behavioural advertising

We may use your Personal Information to provide you with targeted advertisements or marketing communications we believe may be of interest to you.  For more information about how targeted advertising works, you can visit the Network Advertising Initiative’s (“NAI”) educational page at http://www.networkadvertising.org/understanding-online-advertising/how-does-it-work.

You can opt out of targeted advertising by:

•     FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/settings/?tab=ads
•     GOOGLE - https://www.google.com/settings/ads/anonymous
•     BING - https://advertise.bingads.microsoft.com/en-us/resources/policies/personalized-ads

 

Additionally, you can opt out of some of these services by visiting the Digital Advertising Alliance’s opt-out portal at:  http://optout.aboutads.info/.

Who has access to your information?

• We will not sell or rent your information to third parties.
• We will not ordinarily share your information with third parties for marketing purposes or where we do so, which will be limited to events held jointly with trusted third parties, we will make it clear before sign-up where there is such an intention.
• With respect to sector specific events where networking is a key component, you will be given the choice as to whether your name and contact data is shared with the other attendees. You may choose not to share your contact data on sign up. This will not preclude you from attending.
• Any staff with access to your information have a duty of confidentiality under the ethical standards that this firm is required to follow. 

 
Third Party Service Providers working on our behalf 

We may pass your information to our third-party service providers, agents, subcontractors and other associated organisations for the purposes of completing tasks and providing services to you on our behalf, for example to process payroll or basic bookkeeping.  However, when we use third party service providers, we disclose only the personal information that is necessary to deliver the service and we have a contract in place that requires them to keep your information secure and not to use it for their own purposes. Third parties may be in the EU or elsewhere in the world but in each case, the duty of confidentiality incumbent upon them will be the same. 

Please be assured that we will not release your information to third parties unless you have requested that we do so, or we are required to do so by law, for example, by a court order or for the purposes of prevention and detection of crime, fraud or corruption. 

How you can access and update your information 

Keeping your information up to date and accurate is important to us.  We commit to regularly review and correct where necessary, the information that we hold about you.  If any of your information changes, please email or write to us, or call us. 

You have the right to ask for a copy of the information which Watson Associates holds about you. 

Security precautions in place to protect the loss, misuse or alteration of your information 

Whilst we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of any information you transmit to us, and you do so at your own risk. 

Once we receive your information, we make our best effort to ensure its security on our systems. Where we have given, or where you have chosen, a password which enables you to access information, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential.  We ask you not to share your password with anyone. 

Your data will usually be processed in our offices in the UK.  However, to allow us to operate efficient digital processes, we sometimes need to store information in servers located outside the UK, but within the European Economic Area (EEA).  We take the security of your data seriously and so all our systems have appropriate security in place that complies with all applicable legislative and regulatory requirements. 

Your choices 

Communicating service related information: We may occasionally contact you by post, email or telephone with details of any changes in legal and regulatory requirements or other developments that may be relevant to your affairs and, where applicable, how we may assist you further.  If you do not wish to receive such information from us, please let us know by contacting us. 

General and sector specific newsletters: We offer our regular WATson newsletter and other sector and service specific newsletters. At the outset we will seek your permission to subscribe you this service. You can subsequently unsubscribe at any time from within such newsletters or you can let us know by contacting us. 

Your rights 

Access to your information: You have the right to request a copy of the personal information about you that we hold. 

Correcting your information: We want to make sure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date and you may ask us to correct any personal information about you that you believe does not meet these standards. 

Deletion of your information: You have the right to ask us to delete personal information about you where: 

• you consider that we no longer require the information for the purposes for which it was obtained 
• you have validly objected to our use of your personal information – see ‘Objecting to how we may use your information’ below 
• our use of your personal information is contrary to law or our other legal obligations 
• we are using your information with your consent and you have withdrawn your consent – see ‘withdrawing consent to use your information’ below. 
   

Restricting how we may use your information: In some cases, you may ask us to restrict how we use your personal information.  This right might apply, for example, where we are checking the accuracy of personal information about you that we hold or assessing the validity of any objection you have made to our use of your information.  The right might also apply where there is no longer a basis for using your personal information but you do not want us to delete the data.  Where this right is validly exercised, we may only use the relevant personal information with your consent, for legal claims or where there are other public interest grounds to do so.

Objecting to how we may use your information: Where we use your personal information to perform tasks carried out in the public interest then, if you ask us to, we will stop using that personal information unless there are overriding legitimate grounds to continue.

Withdrawing consent to use your information: Where we use your personal information with your consent you may withdraw that consent at any time and we will stop using your personal information for the purpose(s) for which consent was given.

Please contact us if you wish to exercise any of these rights.

Changes to our privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and will place any updates on our website at www.watsons.co.uk.

Complaints

We seek to resolve directly all complaints about how we handle your personal information, but you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF

Telephone – 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745
Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns