GDPR POLICY

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

 

From the 25th May 2018, all companies processing the personal data of EU citizens will need to comply with the GDPR. These new data regulations bring with them several new obligations, as well as the potential of hefty fines for those who do not comply. What’s more concerning is that in a survey carried out by YouGov in 2017, a staggering 62% of UK businesses admitted they did now know what the GDPR was. With this in mind, we have created this short guide as an insight into the GDPR with some key information and considerations.

 

What does GDPR apply to?

 

Personal data

The GDPR applies to ‘personal data’ which is defined by the ICO as “any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier.”

This definition relates to personal data, including name, identification number, location data or online identifier, reflecting changes in technology and the way organizations collect information about people.

The ICO also writes that “The GDPR applies to both automated personal data and to manual filing systems where personal data are accessible according to specific criteria. This could include chronologically ordered sets of manual records containing personal data.

Personal data that has been pseudonymised – eg key-coded – can fall within the scope of the GDPR depending on how difficult it is to attribute the pseudonym to a particular individual.”

Sensitive personal data - The GDPR refers to sensitive personal data as “special categories of personal data”. To learn more about these categories, visit www.ico.org.uk and see articles 9 and 10.

Under GDPR compliance, our company’s policy is as follows

 

Our Commitment

 

websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. (‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’) is committed to ensuring the security and protection of the personal information that we process, and to providing a compliant and consistent approach to data protection. We have always had a robust and effective data protection program in place that complies with existing law and abides by the data protection principles. However, we recognize our obligations in updating and expanding this program to meet the demands of the GDPR and the [UK’s Data Protection https://ico.org.uk/media/1624219/preparing-for-the-gdpr-12-steps.pdf/ Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)].

websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. is dedicated to safeguarding the personal information under our remit and to developing a data protection regime that is effective, fit for purpose, and demonstrates an understanding of, and appreciation for the new regulation. Our preparation and objectives for GDPR compliance have been summarised in this statement and include the development and implementation of new data protection roles, policies, procedures, controls, and measures to ensure maximum and ongoing compliance.

 

How We Are Preparing for the GDPR

 

[GDPR is an update to the current Data Protection Act. Coming into force on 25th May 2018, it provides individuals with greater control and transparency over who uses their data, and how. Following the introduction of GDPR, all personal data collected by a business must be done so with explicit consent by the data subject via a straight forward, non-sense opt-in method (this means no pre-ticked opt-in boxes or other methods of default consent.)

To help with GDPR, the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has created an in-depth guide on how businesses should prepare for compliance following the regulation update. This guide explains the provisions of the GDPR to help organizations comply with its requirements. It is created for, and particularly important to those who have day-to-day responsibility for data protection]

websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. already has a consistent level of data protection and security across our organization. However, we aim to be fully compliant with the GDPR by [25th May 2018]. We are now compliance with -

 

• Information Audit - carrying out a company-wide information audit to identify and assess what personal information we hold, where it comes from, how and why it is processed, and if and to whom it is disclosed.
  
  
  • Policies & Procedures - ICO / GDPR new data protection policies and procedures to meet the requirements and standards of the GDPR and any relevant data protection laws, including: -
  • Data Protection – our main policy and procedure document for data protection have been overhauled to meet the standards and requirements of the GDPR. Accountability and governance measures are in place to ensure that we understand and adequately disseminate and evidence our obligations and responsibilities; with a dedicated focus on privacy by design and the rights of individuals.
  • Data Retention & Erasure – we have updated our retention policy and schedule to ensure that we meet the ‘data minimization’ and ‘storage limitation’ principles and that personal information is stored, archived, and destroyed compliantly and ethically. We have dedicated erasure procedures in place to meet the new ‘Right to Erasure’ obligation and are aware of when this and other data subject’s rights apply; along with any exemptions, response timeframes, and notification responsibilities.
  • Data Breaches – our breach procedures ensure that we have safeguards and measures in place to identify, assess, investigate, and report any personal data breach at the earliest possible time. Our procedures are robust and have been disseminated to all employees, making them aware of the reporting lines and steps to follow.
  • International Data Transfers & Third-Party Disclosures – where websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. stores or transfers personal information outside the EU, we have robust procedures and safeguarding measures in place to secure, encrypt, and maintain the integrity of the data. Our procedures include a continual review of the countries with sufficient adequacy decisions, as well as provisions for binding corporate rules; standard data protection clauses, or approved codes of conduct for those countries without. We carry out strict due diligence checks with all recipients of personal data to assess and verify that they have appropriate safeguards in place to protect the information, ensure enforceable data subject rights, and have effective legal remedies for data subjects where applicable.
  • Subject Access Request (SAR) – we have revised our SAR procedures to accommodate the revised 30-day timeframe for providing the requested information and for making this provision free of charge. Our new procedures detail how to verify the data subject, what steps to take for processing an access request, what exemptions apply, and a suite of response templates to ensure that communications with data subjects are compliant, consistent, and adequate.
• Legal Basis for Processing - we are reviewing all processing activities to identify the legal basis for processing and ensuring that each basis is appropriate for the activity it relates to. Where applicable, we also maintain records of our processing activities, ensuring that our obligations under Article 30 of the GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Bill are met.
• Privacy Notice/Policy – we have revised our privacy notice(s) to comply with the GDPR, ensuring that all individuals whose personal information we process have been informed of why we need it, how it is used, what their rights are, who the information is disclosed to and what safeguarding measures are in place to protect their information.
• Obtaining Consent - we have revised our consent mechanisms for obtaining personal data, ensuring that individuals understand what they are providing, why and how we use it, and giving clear, defined ways to consent to us processing their information. We have developed stringent processes for recording consent, making sure that we can evidence an affirmative opt-in, along with time and date records; and an easy-to-see and accessible way to withdraw consent at any time.
• Direct Marketing - we have revised the wording and processes for direct marketing, including clear opt-in mechanisms for marketing subscriptions; a clear notice and method for opting out and providing unsubscribe features on all subsequent marketing materials.
• Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) – where we process personal information that is considered high risk, involves large-scale processing, or includes special category/criminal conviction data; we have developed stringent procedures and assessment templates for carrying out impact assessments that comply fully with the GDPR’s Article 35 requirements. We have implemented documentation processes that record each assessment, allow us to rate the risk posed by the processing activity, and implement mitigating measures to reduce the risk posed to the data subject(s).
• Processor Agreements – where we use any third party to process personal information on our behalf (i.e. payroll, recruitment, hosting, etc.), we have drafted compliant processor agreements and due diligence procedures to ensure that they (as well as we), meet and understand their/our GDPR obligations. These measures include initial and ongoing reviews of the service provided, the necessity of the processing activity, the technical and organizational measures in place, and compliance with the GDPR.
• Special Categories Data - where we obtain and process any special category information, we do so in complete compliance with the Article 9 requirements and have high-level encryptions and protections on all such data. Special category data is only processed where necessary and is only processed where we have first identified the appropriate Article 9(2) basis or the Data Protection Bill Schedule 1 condition. Where we rely on consent for processing, this is explicit and is verified by a signature, with the right to modify or remove consent being clearly signposted.

 

Data Subject Rights

 

In addition to the policies and procedures mentioned above that ensure individuals can enforce their data protection rights, we provide easy-to-access information via [our website, in the office, during induction, etc.] of an individual’s right to access any personal information that websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. processes about them and to request information about: -

• What personal data do we hold about them?
• The purposes of the processing
• The categories of personal data concerned
• The recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
• How long do we intend to store your personal data?
• If we did not collect the data directly from them, information about the source
• The right to have incomplete or inaccurate data about them corrected or completed and the process for requesting this
• The right to request the erasure of personal data (where applicable) or to restrict processing in accordance with data protection laws, as well as to object to any direct marketing from us and to be informed about any automated decision-making that we use
• The right to lodge a complaint or seek judicial remedy and who to contact in such instances

 

Information Security & Technical and Organisational Measures

 

websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. takes the privacy and security of individuals and their personal information very seriously and takes every reasonable measure and precaution to protect and secure the personal data that we process. We have robust information security policies and procedures in place to protect personal information from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure or destruction and have several layers of security measures, including: -

[measures such as SSL, access controls, password pseudonymization, practices, restriction, IT, authentication, etc] policy, encryptions,

 

GDPR Roles and Employees

 

websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. has designated [Vijayant Vashistha] as our [Data Protection Officer (DPO)] and has appointed a data privacy team to develop and implement our roadmap for complying with the new data protection regulation. The team is responsible for promoting awareness of the GDPR across the organization, assessing our GDPR readiness, identifying any gap areas, and implementing the new policies, procedures, and measures.

websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd. understands that continuous employee awareness and understanding is vital to the continued compliance of the GDPR and has involved our employees in our preparation plans. We have implemented an employee training program specific to which will be provided to all employees prior to May 25th, 2018, and forms part of our induction and annual training program.

If you have any questions about our preparation for the GDPR, please contact [Data Protection Officer (DPO)/ Vijayant Vashistha].

For more details and additional questions about our GDPR Policy and concerns, contact our Data Protection Officer:

Vijayant Vashistha

websold.co.uk part of 99Home Ltd.

Sutton Business Park
Restmor Way
Wallington
SM6 7AH

0203 500 0999

cs@websold.co.uk

 

GDPR GLOSSARY

 

Biometric Data - any personal data relating to the physical, physiological, or behavioral characteristics of an individual which allows their unique identification

Consent -freely given, specific, informed and explicit consent by statement or action signifying agreement to the processing of their personal data

Data Concerning Health -any personal data related to the physical or mental health of an individual or the provision of health services to them

Data Controller -the entity that determines the purposes, conditions and means of the processing of personal data

Data Erasure -also known as the Right to be Forgotten, it entitles the data subject to have the data controller erase his/her personal data, cease further dissemination of the data, and potentially have third parties cease processing of the data

Data Portability -the requirement for controllers to provide the data subject with a copy of his or her data in a format that allows for easy use with another controller

Data Processor -the entity that processes data on behalf of the data controller

Data Protection Authority -national authorities tasked with the protection of data and privacy as well as monitoring and enforcement of the data protection regulations within the Union

Data Protection Officer -an expert on data privacy who works independently to ensure that an entity is adhering to the policies and procedures set forth in the GDPR (more info here)

Data Subject -a natural person whose personal data is processed by a controller or processor

Delegated Acts -non-legislative acts enacted in order to supplement existing legislation and provide criteria or clarity

Derogation -an exemption from a law

Encrypted Data -personal data that is protected through technological measures to ensure that the data is only accessible/readable by those with specified access

Enterprise -any entity engaged in economic activity, regardless of legal form, including persons, partnerships, associations, etc.

Filing System -any specific set of personal data that is accessible according to specific criteria, or able to be queried

Genetic Data -data concerning the characteristics of an individual which are inherited or acquired which give unique information about the health or physiology of the individual

Group of Undertakings -a controlling undertaking and its controlled undertakings

Legitimate Interest -is one of the six lawful bases for processing personal data. You must have a lawful basis in order to process personal data in line with the ‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’ principle.

Main Establishment -the place within the union that the main decisions surrounding data processing are made; with regard to the processor

Personal Data -any information related to a natural person or ‘Data Subject’, that can be used to directly or indirectly identify the person

Personal Data Breach -a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful access to, destruction, misuse, etc. of personal data

Privacy by Design -a principle that calls for the inclusion of data protection from the onset of the designing of systems, rather than an addition

Privacy Impact Assessment -a tool used to identify and reduce the privacy risks of entities by analyzing the personal data that are processed and the policies in place to protect the data

Processing -any operation performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means, including collection, use, recording, etc.

Profiling -any automated processing of personal data intended to evaluate, analyze, or predict data subject behavior

Pseudonymisation -the processing of personal data such that it can no longer be attributed to a single data subject without the use of additional data, so long as said additional data stays separate to ensure non-attribution

Recipient -entity to which the personal data are disclosed

Regulation -a binding legislative act that must be applied in its entirety across the union

Representative -any person in the union explicitly designated by the controller to be addressed by the supervisory authorities

Right to be Forgotten -also known as ‘Data Erasure’, it entitles the data subject to have the data controller erase his/her personal data, cease further dissemination of the data, and potentially have third parties cease processing of the data

Right to Access -

0203 500 0999also known as Subject Access Right, it entitles the data subject to have access to and information about the personal data that a controller has concerning them

Subject Access Right -also known as the Right to Access, it entitles the data subject to have access to and information about the personal data that a controller has concerning them

Supervisory Authority -a public authority which is established by a member state in accordance with article 46