Data Protection Lawyers

For your organisation, getting the right guidance on the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 is essential. Our data protection lawyers have a wealth of experience helping businesses comply with GDPR and communicate effectively with the UK’s data protection authority, the ICO.

It can be overwhelming to know exactly what you need to do to comply with GDPR. In close collaboration with you, our data protection lawyers will gain a thorough understanding of your organisation in order to offer advice that is specific to both your present business needs and long-term strategic objectives.

Over the course of years of work in this delicate and complicated area of law, our staff has acquired extensive understanding in data protection law. As a result, we are able to assist in-house attorneys or data protection officers as “sounding boards” or as specialised advisors.

The GDPR is EU law that is applicable to all EEA organisations as well as organisations outside the EEA. We can thus provide firms in the UK, the EU, and other countries with guidance on GDPR compliance and data protection.

If you are headquartered outside of the EU, we can help you determine whether GDPR applies to you and, if it does, what obligations you have for compliance. We can offer our knowledge and experience from working with a number of foreign companies—particularly those in the US—on GDPR challenges to your firm.

You can get legal assistance from our data protection lawyers with all facets of GDPR and data protection compliance. We can walk you through the first stages of compliance by conducting a GDPR Audit to determine where you stand right now. We can then offer guidance on a compliance strategy and the rules and practises you should implement to demonstrate your compliance.

We also offer corporate advice on practical matters including handling subject access requests (SAR/DSAR), data breaches, and GDPR-compliant contracts.

We’re also available to assist you if the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) receives complaints about you or launches an inquiry into you. In those circumstances, it’s essential that you have knowledgeable counsel by your side who know how to address the issues you’re dealing with. We possess the specialised expertise and experience you require to do so effectively.

What is GDPR?

The way that organisations gather, utilise, and store people’s personal information is governed by the GDPR and the Data Protection Act of 2018.

Businesses operating in the European Economic Area are subject to the GDPR (EEA). It also applies to companies outside the EEA that provide goods or services to citizens there or keep tabs on their behaviour. Therefore, it may apply to US businesses as well as businesses in other nations outside the EEA; we can help you determine whether it does.

The regulatory organisation responsible for enforcing GDPR compliance in the UK is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). If you don’t comply, they have the authority to audit compliance, send enforcement notifications, and levy heavy fines. The maximum fine is €20 million, or 4% of the global annual turnover for the previous fiscal year, whichever is larger.

Even though the GDPR is a piece of EU law, it continues to be applicable to UK firms after Brexit.

Businesses must adhere to the following seven GDPR principles:

Legitimacy, equity, and transparency – You must lawfully collect, treat, use, and retain personal data. You must also publish a privacy notice so that people are aware of how you handle their data. We can assist you in creating a privacy notice that complies with this demand for transparency while safeguarding your company’s interests.

Limitations on use – You may only use data for the purposes that are specified in your privacy notice or for additional purposes that are consistent with the original privacy notice. We can offer advice on the appropriate course of action if you’d like to change how you utilise your data.

Data minimization – You must only gather and keep the minimum amount of data required to fulfil the obligations outlined in your privacy notice.

Accuracy – You must make sure that data is accurate at the time of collection and is kept current while being stored. Any inaccurate or out-of-date data must be updated or deleted.

Storage restriction – Data should only be retained for as long as is necessary to fulfil the obligations set forth in the privacy notice, and then it should be safely destroyed. We can assist you in creating a retention policy that specifies how long your company must retain each stream of personal information it gathers.

Integrity and confidentiality – Data must be securely and secretively stored. Based on the possible harm from a breach, we’ll help you choose the right level of security for the different types of data you handle.

Accountability – You must use policies and procedures to record how you adhere to the other standards.

What GDPR Issues Can Our Data Protection Lawyers Help With?

It can be challenging to comprehend the GDPR’s complexity, and many firms mistakenly believe that it simply applies to the personal information of their employees. The personal information you store or manage for a third party, as well as that of your clients and suppliers, is likewise covered by data protection laws.

Our data protection lawyers offer professional guidance on:

Data Audit – We can evaluate your existing GDPR compliance and provide advice on where there are gaps and how to close them.

Data Asset Register: In accordance with GDPR, we can assist you in creating a register of how you utilise personal data.

Procedures and Policies for Data Protection: You must be able to prove to the ICO that you are adhering to GDPR in order to do business. Usually, this is accomplished by having policies and procedures. Our data protection lawyers can provide you with customised advice on the policies and processes you need to have in place, and how they should be shared.

Subject Access Requests (SAR/DSAR): Dealing with SAR requests can be costly and time-consuming, especially if you lack the expertise to recognise which requests you must abide by, how much information to disclose, and whether exemptions ar applicable. We are able to guide you through this challenging subject and can do so confidently because of our extensive experience and knowledge in this area.

Data Privacy Rights for Individuals – Although the GDPR expands people’s rights to control their personal data, there are still some restrictions. We can assist you in fully comprehending how these rights impact your company. You’ll discover which demands are legitimate and which aren’t, allowing you to keep all the information that is legally yours to keep.

Managing data breaches, including reporting them to the ICO – In some cases, you are required to notify the ICO of data breaches. We’ll explain which data breaches you should report and which you shouldn’t, how to do so, and offer guidance on a variety of associated topics.

Direct marketing can be a labyrinth when it comes to how to market legally. We are specialists in providing guidance on both the GDPR and the supplementary regulations that govern electronic marketing, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Our attorneys are authorities in this particularly difficult area of law, which carries the possibility of fines for directors as well as harsh penalties for noncompliance.

Managing complaints from both individuals and regulators – Our specialised staff has knowledge and experience in providing advice on how to handle ICO complaints and ICO investigations. We’ll provide you with advice on how to handle complaints tactfully and with the least amount of disruption to your business.

Moving data outside the EEA – This is becoming more and more important for companies that use marketing, HR, and IT services that are outsourced. We’ll work with you to make sure these operations adhere to the law.

Sharing information with other companies – We can create GDPR-compliant contracts with provisions to regulate contractors’ use of personal information and safeguard your company in the event of a data breach.

If your company violates GDPR, you might be fined up to €20 million, which is equal to 4% of your global yearly turnover (whichever is higher). If you misuse people’s personal information, they may file claims against you, and if successful, you may be required to pay damages.

Data breaches can potentially seriously harm your company’s brand. But if you handle data privacy correctly, you may win over your clientele’s confidence and turn it into a genuine selling point. Let our data protection lawyers show you how by contacting us today.