Company Data Protection Policy
Our Company Data Protection Policy refers to our commitment to treat information of employees, customers, stakeholders and other interested parties with the utmost care and confidentiality.
With this policy, we ensure that we gather, store and handle data fairly, transparently and with respect towards individual rights.
Scope
This policy refers to all parties (employees, job candidates, customers, suppliers etc.) who provide any amount of information to us.
Who is covered under our policy?
Employees of our company and its subsidiaries must follow this policy. Contractors, consultants, partners and any other external entity are also covered. Generally, our policy refers to anyone we collaborate with or acts on our behalf and may need occasional access to data.
Policy elements
As part of our operations, we need to obtain and process information. This information includes any offline or online data that makes a person identifiable such as names, addresses, usernames and passwords, photographs, etc.
Our company collects this information in a transparent way and only with the full cooperation and knowledge of interested parties. Once this information is available to us, the following rules apply.
Our data will be:
- Accurate and kept up-to-date
- Collected fairly and for lawful purposes only
- Processed by the company within its legal and moral boundaries
- Protected against any unauthorised or illegal access by internal or external parties
Our data will not be:
- Communicated informally
- Stored for more than 24 months
- Transferred to organisations that do not have adequate data protection policies
- Distributed to any party other than the ones agreed upon by the data’s owner (exempting legitimate requests from law enforcement authorities)
In addition to ways of handling the data the company has direct obligations towards people to whom the data belongs. Specifically we must:
- Let people know which of their data is collected
- Inform people about how we’ll process their data
- Inform people about who has access to their information
- Have provisions in cases of lost, corrupted or compromised data
- Allow people to request that we modify, erase, reduce or correct data contained in our databases
Actions
To exercise data protection we’re committed to:
- Restrict and monitor access to sensitive data
- Develop transparent data collection procedures
- Train employees in online privacy and security measures
- Build secure networks to protect online data from cyberattacks
- Establish clear procedures for reporting privacy breaches or data misuse
- Include contract clauses or communicate statements on how we handle data
- Establish data protection practices (document shredding, secure locks, data encryption, frequent backups, access authorisation etc.)
Your Rights
You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you; provision of such information will be subject to:
- Your request not being found to be unfounded or excessive, in which case a charge may apply; and
- The supply of appropriate evidence of your identity (for this purpose, we will usually accept a photocopy of your passport certified by a solicitor or bank plus an original copy of a utility bill showing your current address).
We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.
You may instruct us at any time not to process your personal information for marketing purposes.
In practice, you will usually either expressly agree in advance to our use of your personal information for marketing purposes, or we will provide you with an opportunity to opt out of the use of your personal information for marketing purposes.
- The rights you have under data protection law are:
- the right to access;
- the right to rectification;
- the right to erasure;
- the right to restrict processing;
- the right to object to processing;
- the right to data portability;
- the right to complain to a supervisory authority; and
- the right to withdraw consent.
Your right to access your data
You have the right to ask us to confirm whether or not we process your personal data and, to have access to the personal data, and any additional information. That additional information includes the purposes for which we process your data, the categories of personal data we hold and the recipients of that personal data. You may request a copy of your personal data. The first copy will be provided free of charge, but we may charge a reasonable fee for additional copies.
Your right to rectification
If we hold any inaccurate personal data about you, you have the right to have these inaccuracies rectified. Where necessary for the purposes of the processing, you also have the right to have any incomplete personal data about you completed.
Your right to erasure
In certain circumstances you have the right to have personal data that we hold about you erased. This will be done without undue delay. These circumstances include the following: it is no longer necessary for us to hold those personal data in relation to the purposes for which they were originally collected or otherwise processed; you withdraw your consent to any processing which requires consent; the processing is for direct marketing purposes; and the personal data have been unlawfully processed. However, there are certain general exclusions of the right to erasure, including where processing is necessary: for exercising the right of freedom of expression and information; for compliance with a legal obligation; or for establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.
Your right to restrict processing
In certain circumstances you have the right for the processing of your personal data to be restricted. This is the case where: you do not think that the personal data we hold about you is accurate; your data is being processed unlawfully, but you do not want your data to be erased; it is no longer necessary for us to hold your personal data for the purposes of our processing, but you still require that personal data in relation to a legal claim; and you have objected to processing, and are waiting for that objection to be verified. Where processing has been restricted for one of these reasons, we may continue to store your personal data. However, we will only process it for other reasons: with your consent; in relation to a legal claim; for the protection of the rights of another natural or legal person; or for reasons of important public interest.
Your right to object to processing
You can object to us processing your personal data on grounds relating to your particular situation, but only as far as our legal basis for the processing is that it is necessary for: the performance of a task carried out in the public interest, or in the exercise of any official authority vested in us; or the purposes of our legitimate interests or those of a third party. If you make an objection, we will stop processing your personal information unless we are able to: demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing, and that these legitimate grounds override your interests, rights and freedoms; or the processing is in relation to a legal claim.
Your right to object to direct marketing
You can object to us processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. If you make an objection, we will stop processing your personal data for this purpose.
Automated data processing
To the extent that the legal basis we are relying on for processing your personal data is consent, and where the processing is automated, you are entitled to receive your personal data from us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. However, you may not have this right if it would adversely affect the rights and freedoms of others.
Complaining to a supervisory authority
If you think that our processing of your personal data infringes data protection laws, you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority responsible for data protection. You may do this in the EU member state of your habitual residence, your place of work or the place of the alleged infringement.
Right to withdraw consent
To the extent that the legal basis we are relying on for processing your personal data is consent, you are entitled to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal will not affect the lawfulness of processing before the withdrawal.
Exercising your rights
You may exercise any of your rights in relation to your personal data by written notice to us in addition to the other methods specified above.
Disciplinary Consequences
All principles described in this policy must be strictly followed. A breach of data protection guidelines will invoke disciplinary and possibly legal action.
Data Protection Officer
Our data protection officer’s contact details are: Alex Price, who can be contacted via email: alex@multistaff.co.uk, or telephone: 0330 9000 600.