Data Protection Policy

Introduction

BTF Law Ltd is a law firm providing legal advice and assistance to its clients. It is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

The personal data that BTF Law Ltd processes to provide these services relates to its clients and other individuals as necessary, including staff, suppliers' staff, other law firms, advocates, solicitor advocates, potential witnesses, and expert witnesses instructed to provide services.

This policy sets out BTF Law Ltd's commitment to ensuring that any personal data, including special category personal data, which it processes is handled in compliance with data protection law. BTF Law Ltd ensures that good data protection practice is embedded in the culture of our staff and our organisation. Our other data protection policies and procedures include our privacy notices (website, clients and employees).

In this policy, "data protection law" includes the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679, the UK Data Protection Act 2018, and all relevant EU and UK data protection legislation.

Scope

This policy applies to all personal data processed by BTF Law Ltd and is part of our approach to compliance with data protection law. All staff are expected to comply with this policy, and failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action.

Data protection principles

BTF Law Ltd complies with the data protection principles set out below. When processing personal data, it ensures that:

• it is processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner (lawfulness, fairness and transparency)
• it is collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner incompatible with those purposes (purpose limitation)
• it is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed (data minimisation)
• it is accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date, with reasonable steps taken to erase or rectify inaccurate data without delay (accuracy)
• it is kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary (storage limitation)
• it is processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures (integrity and confidentiality).

We will facilitate any request from a data subject who wishes to exercise their rights under data protection law, always communicating in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form and without undue delay.

Process, procedures and guidance

BTF Law Ltd will:

• ensure that the legal basis for processing personal data is identified in advance and that all processing complies with the law
• not do anything with your data that you would not expect, given the content of this policy and our privacy notices
• ensure that appropriate privacy notices are in place advising individuals how and why their data is being processed, and of their rights
• only collect and process the personal data it needs for purposes it has identified in advance
• keep the personal data it holds accurate and up to date as far as possible
• only hold personal data for as long as it is needed, after which it will be securely erased or deleted in line with our data retention policy
• ensure that appropriate security measures are in place so that personal data can only be accessed by those who need it and is held and transferred securely.

We will ensure that all staff and agents who handle personal data on our behalf are aware of their responsibilities and are adequately trained and supervised.

Data subject rights

We have processes in place to facilitate any request made by an individual to exercise their rights under data protection law. All requests will be considered without undue delay and within one month of receipt as far as possible. Those rights include the following.

Subject access. The right to request information about how personal data is being processed, to be allowed access to that data, and to be provided with a copy, along with information about the purpose of the processing, the categories of personal data, the recipients, the retention period, the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the source of the information, and the existence of any automated decision making.

Rectification. The right to have inaccurate personal data corrected.

Erasure. The right to have data erased, and to have confirmation of erasure, but only where the data is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected, or consent is withdrawn, or there is no legal basis for the processing, or there is a legal obligation to delete it.

Restriction of processing. The right to ask for processing to be restricted where the accuracy of the data is contested, or the processing is unlawful but the data subject does not want it erased, or the data is no longer needed but is required by the data subject for a legal claim, or the data subject has objected pending verification.

Data portability. The right to receive a copy of personal data provided by the data subject and processed by automated means, in a format allowing transfer to another controller. This applies only where we process the data using consent or on the basis of a contract.

Object to processing. The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests, unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds which override the interests of the data subject, or the processing is for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Special category personal data

Special category data includes personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic or biometric data used to identify a person, health, and a person's sex life or sexual orientation, together with data about criminal convictions or offences.

BTF Law Ltd processes special category data of clients and third parties as necessary to provide legal services and for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims. It processes special category data of employees as necessary to comply with employment and social security law. This policy sets out the safeguards we believe are appropriate to ensure we comply with the data protection principles above.

Responsibility for the processing of personal data

The directors of BTF Law Ltd take ultimate responsibility for data protection. If you have any concerns, or wish to exercise any of your rights, you can contact our Data Protection Officer:

Name: Antony Freitas
Address: Cromwell House, Crusader Road, Lincoln, LN6 7YT
Email: enquiries@btflaw.co.uk

Monitoring and review

This policy was last updated in March 2026 and shall be regularly monitored and reviewed, at least every two years.