James Fraser & Co. is the trading name of James Fraser & Co. Ltd (company number SC194749, with its registered office at 11 Panbride Road, Carnoustie, Angus, DD7 6HS) and James Fraser & Co. (Edinburgh) Ltd (company number SC436074, with its registered office at 3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA).
James Fraser & Co. Ltd and James Fraser & Co. (Edinburgh) Ltd (collectively referred to throughout this notice as James Fraser & Co. or “we”, “us” or “our”) have created this privacy notice to demonstrate how we use, disclose and store your date.
Introduction
The Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA 2018”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), together the “Applicable Laws”, impose certain legal obligations in connection with the processing of personal data. James Fraser & Co. is a data controller within the meaning of the GDPR and we process personal data. The firm’s contact details are as follows: David Fraser, James Fraser & Co., 3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA.
We may amend this privacy notice from time to time. If we do so, we will supply you with and/or otherwise make available to you a copy of the amended privacy notice.
Where we act as a data processor on behalf of a data controller (for example, when processing payroll), we provide an additional schedule setting out required information as part of that agreement. That additional schedule should be read in conjunction with this privacy notice.
The purposes for which we intend to process personal data
We intend to process personal data for the following purposes:
- To enable us to supply professional services to you as our client.
- To fulfil our obligations under relevant laws in force from time to time (e.g. the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (“MLR 2017”)).
- To comply with professional obligations to which we are subject as a member of ICAS.
- To use in the investigation and/or defence of potential complaints, disciplinary proceedings and legal proceedings.
- To enable us to invoice you for our services and investigate/address any attendant fee disputes that may have arisen.
- To keep you informed of changes in tax and other legislation that may be of relevance to you as our client.
- To contact you about other services we provide which may be of interest to you.
The legal bases for our intended processing of personal data
Our intended processing of personal data has the following legal bases:
- The processing is necessary for the performance of our contract with you.
- The processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligations to which we are subject (e.g. MLR 2017).
- The processing is necessary for the purposes of the following legitimate interests which we pursue:
- To provide clients with the best possible service
- To provide clients with up to date information on the services we offer
It is a requirement of our contract with you that you provide us with the personal data that we request. If you do not provide the information that we request, we may not be able to provide professional services to you. If this is the case, we will not be able to commence acting or will need to cease to act.
What types of data we collect
Under the Applicable Laws, “personal data” is defined as personal information that is connected to or can be identified as being connected to you as an individual (i.e. it can be used to identify you as a data subject). This may include a variety of personal information such as:
- your name
- date of birth
- contact details including email address, postal address, telephone number, mobile phone number
- financial details such as your bank account
- your tax details or similar details for the Company for which you work or that you are connected with.
We may also collect personal data personal data through our website including:
- technical data, such as your IP (Internet Protocol) address, login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions
- profile data, such as your username and password, preferences, feedback and survey responses
- usage data in relation to how you use our website
We may collect and store data about you when you:
- Engage James Fraser & Co. to provide accounting and tax services to you as a client and through our performance of the duties to provide those services. Normally clients will be asked to sign an Engagement Letter that outlines our agreed services provided to you and as part of becoming a client the information provided to us can consist of information such as the details above, plus proof of ID, such as a passport and proof of address from a recent utility bill, in order that we adhere to money laundering legislation.
- Create an account on our website or otherwise contact us to be added to our mailing list. This can consist of information such as your email address, telephone number or postal address.
- Enter a survey or give us feedback
- Interact with our website. We may automatically collect technical data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies (see below), server logs and other similar technologies.
As well as you providing information to us directly, we may collect personal data from:
- A spouse/partner
- HMRC
- your employer/partnership/limited liability partnership (LLP)/company
- electronic ID verification providers
- other third parties (e.g. banks, financial advisers or investment managers)
How we will use your data and contact you
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose.
As a client of James Fraser & Co. you will normally be issued with an Engagement Letter that outlines when and why we may contact you. We will use your personal data to contact you in order that we properly perform our contract with you. Personal data retained by us for the performance of our contract with you can consist of information such your name, date of birth, contact details including email address, postal address, telephone number, mobile phone number or financial details such as your bank account, your tax details or similar details for the Company for which you work or that you are connected with, plus proof of ID, such as a passport and proof of address from a recent utility bill, in order that we adhere to money laundering legislation.
We may also contact you:
- In relation to any correspondence we receive from you, or any comment, or a complaint you make about us. We may use your personal data as you have requested and consented to our use in order to respond to your comment or complaint.
- To invite you to participate in surveys about our services (participation is always voluntary). We may use your personal data in this respect as part of our legitimate interest to provide the best service to you.
- To update you on changes to legislation and regulation that we think would be helpful for you to know about. We may use your personal data in this respect in order to comply with our statutory obligations.
- For marketing purposes. We may personalise the information we send to you based on any information you have provided us. We may use your personal data in this respect as part of our legitimate interest to provide you with up to date information on the services we offer.
Persons and/or organisations to whom we may give personal data
We may share your personal data with:
- HMRC
- any third parties with whom you require or permit us to correspond
- tax insurance providers
- software providers we use to enable us to properly perform our contract with you
- professional indemnity insurers
- our professional body, ICAS
- the Office of Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervisors (OPBAS) in relation to practice assurance and/or the requirements of MLR 2017 (or any similar legislation)
- subcontractors
- an alternate appointed by us in the event of incapacity or death
If the law allows or requires us to do so, we may share your personal data with:
- the police and law enforcement agencies
- courts and tribunals
- the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”)
We may need to share your personal data with the third parties identified above in order to comply with our legal obligations, including our legal obligations to you. If you ask us not to share your personal data with such third parties we may need to cease to act.
Website cookies
Our website uses cookies. A cookie is a small text file stored in your computer containing text data. We use cookies for certain functions to improve the usability of our website. These cookies do not contain any personal information about you. However, enabling cookies in your web browser is necessary if you wish your selections to be remembered for future visits on the same computer. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. For more information about cookies and instructions on how to adjust your browser settings to restrict or disable cookies, see the IAB website at www.allaboutcookies.org. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.
Data security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
Retention of personal data
When acting as a data controller and in accordance with recognised good practice within the tax and accountancy sector we will retain records relating to you.
Where we have an ongoing client relationship, data is retained throughout the period of the relationship, but will be deleted seven years after the end of the business relationship unless you as our client ask us to retain it for a longer period.
If you decide to move to a new accountancy firm, subject to your consent your records will be shared with this new supplier in order that they can provide a service to you.
You are responsible for retaining information that we send to you and this will be supplied in the form agreed between us. Documents and records relevant to your tax affairs are required by law to be retained by you as follows:
Individuals, trustees and partnerships
- with trading or rental income: five years and 10 months after the end of the tax year;
- otherwise: 22 months after the end of the tax year.
Companies, LLPs and other corporate entities
- six years from the end of the accounting period.
Where we act as a data processor as defined in DPA 2018, where requested, we will delete or return all personal data to the data controller as agreed with the controller at the termination of the contract.
Requesting personal data we hold about you (subject access requests)
You have a right to request access to your personal data that we hold. Such requests are known as ‘subject access requests’ (“SARs”).
Please provide all SARs in writing marked for the attention of David Fraser.
To help us provide the information you want and deal with your request more quickly, you should include enough details to enable us to verify your identity and locate the relevant information. For example, you should tell us:
- your date of birth
- previous or other name(s) you have used
- your previous addresses in the past five years
- personal reference number(s) that we may have given you (e.g. your national insurance number, your tax reference number or your VAT registration number)
- what type of information you want to know
If you do not have a national insurance number, you should send a copy of:
- the photo of your passport or a copy of your driving licence; and
- a recent utility bill.
DPA 2018 requires that we comply with a SAR promptly and in any event within one month of receipt. There are, however, some circumstances in which the law allows us to refuse to provide access to personal data in response to a SAR (e.g. if you have previously made a similar request and there has been little or no change to the data since we complied with the original request).
We will not charge you for dealing with a SAR.
You can ask someone else to request information on your behalf – for example, a friend, relative or solicitor. We must have your authority to respond to a SAR made on your behalf. You can provide such authority by signing a letter which states that you authorise the person concerned to write to us for information about you, and/or receive our reply.
Where you are a data controller and we act for you as a data processor (e.g. by processing payroll), we will assist you with SARs on the same basis as is set out above.
Putting things right (the right to rectification)
You have a right to obtain the rectification of any inaccurate personal data concerning you that we hold. You also have a right to have any incomplete personal data that we hold about you completed. Should you become aware that any personal data that we hold about you is inaccurate and/or incomplete, please inform us immediately so we can correct and/or complete it.
Deleting your records (the right to erasure)
In certain circumstances you have a right to have the personal data that we hold about you erased. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk). If you would like your personal data to be erased, please inform us immediately and we will consider your request. In certain circumstances we have the right to refuse to comply with a request for erasure. If applicable, we will supply you with the reasons for refusing your request.
The right to restrict processing and the right to object
In certain circumstances you have the right to ‘block’ or suppress the processing of personal data or to object to the processing of that information. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk). Please inform us immediately if you want us to cease to process your information or you object to processing so that we can consider what action, if any, is appropriate.
Obtaining and reusing personal data (the right to data portability)
In certain circumstances you have the right to be provided with the personal data that we hold about you in a machine-readable format, e.g. so that the data can easily be provided to a new professional adviser. Further information is available on the ICO website (www.ico.org.uk).
The right to data portability only applies:
- to personal data an individual has provided to a controller;
- where the processing is based on the individual’s consent or for the performance of a contract; and
- when processing is carried out by automated means
We will respond to any data portability requests made to us without undue delay and within one month. We may extend the period by a further two months where the request is complex or a number of requests are received but we will inform you within one month of the receipt of the request and explain why the extension is necessary.
Withdrawal of consent
Where you have consented to our processing of your personal data, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Please inform us immediately if you wish to withdraw your consent.
Please note:
- the withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of earlier processing
- if you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to continue to provide services to you
- even if you withdraw your consent, it may remain lawful for us to process your data on another legal basis (e.g. because we have a legal obligation to continue to process your data)
Automated decision-making
We do not intend to use automated decision-making in relation to your personal data.
Complaints
If you have requested details of the information we hold about you and you are not happy with our response, or you think we have not complied with the GDPR or DPA 2018 in some other way, you can complain to us. Please send any complaints to David Fraser, James Fraser & Co., 3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA.
If you are not happy with our response, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (www.ico.org.uk).
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