SCOPE
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC (‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’), gather and process your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy and in compliance with the EU law retained version of the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679), together with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and relevant laws (the “Data Protection Laws”). This policy provides you with the necessary information regarding your rights and our obligations, and explains how, why, and when we process your personal data.
This Policy explains how we use any personal information we may receive about you when you use our website, request information or when you attend our training courses or use our services and contains the following information:
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC’s registered office is C/O Tax Assist, 40 Cowane Street, Stirling, FK8 1JR and we are a company registered in Scotland under company number SC653658. We are registered on the Information Commissioner's Office Register registration number ICO:00014180258 and act as the Data Controller and Data Processor in relation to data supplied to us. Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted at hello@equi-scotia.com.
DEFINITIONS OF DATA
PERSONAL DATA
“Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’).”
“An identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location number, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.”
SPECIAL CATEGORY DATA
“Data consisting of racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.”
WHEN WE COLLECT INFORMATION
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC may collect personal information about you when you:
We will never collect any unnecessary personal data from you and do not process your information in any way, other than as specified in this policy.
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC takes your privacy very seriously and will never disclose, share or sell your data without your consent, unless required to do so by law. We only retain your data for as long as is necessary and for the purpose(s) specified in this policy.
WHAT TYPE OF DATA WE COLLECT
The type and extent of data collected will be limited to the purpose of the collection and may include:
Please note that any special category data is collected on an anonymous basis.
WHY WE COLLECT THIS INFORMATION
The purposes and reasons for processing your personal information include:
HOW WE COLLECT THIS INFORMATION
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC collects personal information:
SHARING AND DISCLOSING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We do not share or disclose any of your personal information without your consent, other than for the purposes specified in this policy or where there is a legal requirement.
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC uses selected third parties to provide our services and business functions; however, all processors acting on our behalf only process your data in accordance with instructions from us.
Your personal information may be provided to:
At no time will any personal data held by EQUI-SCOTIA CIC be passed to organisations for marketing or sales purposes.
USE OF COOKIES
Cookies are small files which many web sites transfer to your hard disk. They can inform the web site what pages you visit, and your preferences, which enable web sites to provide you with a more personalised service. You can set your browser to refuse cookies, or to warn you before accepting them.
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC’s website does not use cookies.
HOW WE STORE YOUR PERSONAL DATA AND SECURITY MEASURES
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC takes your privacy seriously and takes every reasonable measure and precaution to protect and secure your personal data. We work hard to protect you and your information from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction. Where EQUI-SCOTIA CIC uses a third-party data processor we will regularly download the relevant privacy policy to retain on file. We will still be responsible for protection of your personal data.
We store all of your personal data on our servers in the United Kingdom. Data security is of great importance to us, and to protect your data we have put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure data that we have collected.TIMESCALES FOR HOLDING PERSONAL DATA
Personal data that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary for that purpose or those purposes
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC retains personal information for only as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was provided, and we have retention policies in place to meet these obligations.
For example, SQA documents are required to be retained for a minimum of 3 years.
LEGAL GROUNDS FOR PROCESSING DATA
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC uses the following grounds for processing personal data:
CONSENT
The individual (you, the data subject) has given clear consent for EQUI-SCOTIA CIC to process your data for a specific purpose. E.g., sending out course literature following a request.
CONTRACT
The processing is necessary for a contract with you or there are specific steps required before entering into a contract. E.g. processing registration data for SQA.
LEGAL OBLIGATION
The processing is necessary for EQUI-SCOTIA CIC to comply with the law. E.g., processing tax information to HMRC.
YOUR RIGHTS
You have the right to access any personal information that EQUI-SCOTIA CIC processes about you and to request information about:
If you believe that we hold any incomplete or inaccurate data about you, you have the right to ask us to correct and/or complete the information and we will strive to correct it as quickly as possible; unless there is a valid reason for not doing so, at which point you will be notified.
You also have the right to request erasure of your personal data or to restrict processing (where applicable) in accordance with the Data Protection Laws, to exercise your data portability rights, and to be informed about any automated decision-making we may use.
If we receive a request from you to exercise any of the above rights, we may ask you to verify your identity before acting on the request; this is to ensure that your data is protected and kept secure.
EXTERNAL LINKS
Our site may, from time to time, contain links to and from the websites of our partner networks and affiliates. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies. Please check these policies before you submit any personal data to these websites. This policy relates only to our site and our services.
EQUI-SCOTIA CIC is not responsible for the content of any of these sites, and the content of these sites does not represent the views of EQUI-SCOTIA CIC nor does this imply our endorsement of the linked websites or any association with their operators.
CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY
We can update this policy from time to time as laws change or as our site changes. Any changes to our privacy policy will be posted on our website and updated within this policy. If we make any material changes that need your consent, we will contact you by email to do so.
CONTACTING EQUI-SCOTIA CIC
EQUI-SCOTIA only processes your personal information in compliance with this privacy policy and in accordance with the relevant Data Protection Laws. If you wish to exercise your rights as specified in this policy, raise a complaint regarding the processing of your personal data or are unsatisfied with how we have handled your information, please contact us at: Data Protection Officer, EQUI-SCOTIA CIC, Email: julie-anne@equi-scotia.com
COMPLAINING TO THE ICO
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF Telephone: 0203 123 1113
