Data protection policy

Introduction

GILDACROFT LTD Needs to gather and use certain information about individuals.

These can include customers, suppliers, business contacts, employees and other people the organisation has a relationship with or may need to contact.

This policy describes how this personal data must be collected, handled and stored to meet the company’s data protection standards — and to comply with the law.

Why this policy exists

This data protection policy ensures GILDACROFT LTD:

Complies with data protection law and follow good practice
Protects the rights of staff, customers and partners
Is open about how it stores and processes individuals’ data
Protects itself from the risks of a data breach

Data protection law

The Data Protection Act 1998 describes how organisations — including GILDACROFT LTD must collect, handle and store personal information.

These rules apply regardless of whether data is stored electronically, on paper or on other materials.

To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully.

The Data Protection Act is underpinned by eight important principles. These say that personal data must:

Be processed fairly and lawfully
Be obtained only for specific, lawful purposes
Be adequate, relevant and not excessive
Be accurate and kept up to date
Not be held for any longer than necessary
Processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects
Be protected in appropriate ways
Not be transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA), unless that country or territory also ensures an adequate level of protection

Policy Scope

This policy applies to:

The head office of GILDACROFT LTD
All branches of GILDACROFT LTD
All staff and volunteers of GILDACROFT LTD
All contractors, suppliers and other people working on behalf of GILDACROFT LTD

It applies to all data that the company holds relating to identifiable individuals, even if that information technically falls outside of the Data Protection Act 1998. This can include:

Names of individuals
Postal addresses
Email addresses
Telephone numbers
…plus any other information relating to individuals

Data protection risks

This policy helps to protect GILDACROFT LTD from some very real data security risks, including:

Breaches of confidentiality. For instance, information being given out inappropriately.
Failing to offer choice. For instance, all individuals should be free to choose how the company uses data relating to them.
Reputational damage. For instance, the company could suffer if hackers successfully gained access to sensitive data.

Responsibilities

Everyone who works for or with GILDACROFT LTD has some responsibility for ensuring data is collected, stored and handled appropriately.

Each team that handles personal data must ensure that it is handled and processed in line with this policy and data protection principles.

However, these people have key areas of responsibility:

The Director is ultimately responsible for ensuring that GILDACROFT LTD meets its legal obligations.
Staff should speak to Ravi Kara who has been appointed the DPO (Data Protection Officer) for GILDACROFT LTD, should they need to know anything regarding the data protection policy or anything related to the processing of personal data. The DPO is responsible for:
- Keeping the board updated about data protection responsibilities, risks and issues.
- Reviewing all data protection procedures and related policies, in line with an agreed schedule.
- Arranging data protection training and advice for the people covered by this policy.

Handling data protection questions from staff and anyone else covered by this policy.

Dealing with requests from individuals to see the data GILDACROFT LTD holds about them (also called ‘subject access requests’). o Checking and approving any contracts or agreements with third parties that may handle the company’s sensitive data.

The [Director], [Ravi Kara], is responsible for:
- Ensuring all systems, services and equipment used for storing data meet acceptable security standards. o Performing regular checks and scans to ensure security hardware and software is functioning properly.
- Evaluating any third-party services, the company is considering using to store or process data. For instance, cloud computing services.

General Staff guidelines

The only people able to access data covered by this policy should be those who need it for their work.
Data should not be shared informally. When access to confidential information is required, employees can request it from their line managers.
GILDACROFT LTD will make sure all staff are educated and trained at least once a year on any new legislations or updates surrounding Data Protection. Staff may ask questions whenever they want and we often have open discussions about security and data protection surrounding client and internal data.

Employees should keep all data secure, by taking sensible precautions and following the guidelines below.
In particular, strong passwords must be used and they should never be shared.
Personal data should not be disclosed to unauthorised people, either within the company or externally.
Data should be regularly reviewed and updated if it is found to be out of date. If no longer required, it should be deleted and disposed of.
Employees should request help from their line manager or the data protection officer if they are unsure about any aspect of data protection.

Data Storage

These rules describe how and where data should be safely stored. Questions about storing data safely can be directed to the IT manager or data controller.

When data is stored on paper, it should be kept in a secure place where unauthorised people cannot see it.

These guidelines also apply to data that is usually stored electronically but has been printed out for some reason:

When not required, the paper or files should be kept in a locked drawer or filing cabinet.
Employees should make sure paper and printouts are not left where unauthorised people could see them, like on a printer.
Data printouts should be shredded and disposed of securely when no longer required.

When data is stored electronically, it must be protected from unauthorised access, accidental deletion and malicious hacking attempts:

Data should be protected by strong passwords that are changed regularly and never shared between employees.
If data is stored on removable media (like a CD or DVD), these should be kept locked away securely when not being used.
Data should only be stored on designated drives and servers, and should only be uploaded to an approved cloud computing services.
Servers containing personal data should be sited in a secure location, away from general office space.
Data should be backed up frequently. Those backups should be tested regularly, in line with the company’s standard backup procedures.
Data should never be saved directly to laptops or other mobile devices like tablets or smart phones.
All servers and computers containing data should be protected by approved security software and a firewall.

Data Use

Personal data is of no value to GILDACROFT LTD unless the business can make use of it. The data collected/sourced by GILDACROFT LTD is only used for internal servicing reasons. We collect data on our clients which are necessary for us to provide effective support. We do not pass on the information collected or share with any 3^rd parties. The data is simply used to allow us to administer our client networks. However, it is when personal data is accessed and used that it can be at the greatest risk of loss, corruption or theft:

When working with personal data, employees should ensure the screens of their computers are always locked when left unattended.

Personal data should not be shared informally. In particular, it should never be sent by email, as this form of communication is not secure.
Data must be encrypted before being transferred electronically. The IT manager can explain how to send data to authorised external contacts.
Personal data should never be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.
Employees should not save copies of personal data to their own computers. Always access and update the central copy of any data.

Procedure for processing data

When we sign a new client. It is the Directors role to introduce the Marketing Manager. The Marketing Manager will then contact the end user asking for consent to collect/obtain the relevant information from the client (ie. Names and email addresses) and ask for consent for adding them to our mailing list. It is the Directors responsibility to obtain the technical information that will be used to help administer the clients network. Prior to working with new clients, the Director would have issued a services agreement to the end user asking them to sign. Within that agreement is a section about GDPR and GILDACROFT LTD having the rights to collect customer information to be used for administering/supporting the network.

Policy on processing sensitive personal data

Staff should be aware that any information that can be used to identify a person such as an IP address, name, email, gender, ethnicity, passport etc is considered sensitive information. This data should be safeguarded and not shared or left exposed. Staff should report to Ravi Kara if they have any questions or are unsure about what is sensitive or personal data.

This information should only be saved/stored if 100% necessary and can only be used for internal use only and used to better assist the supporting of the client network.

Data accuracy

The law requires GILDACROFT LTD to take reasonable steps to ensure data is kept accurate and up to date.

The more important it is that the personal data is accurate, the greater the effort GILDACROFT LTD should put into ensuring its accuracy.

It is the responsibility of all employees who work with data to take reasonable steps to ensure it is kept as accurate and up to date as possible.

Data will be held in as few places as necessary. Staff should not create any unnecessary additional data sets.

Staff should take every opportunity to ensure data is updated. For instance, by confirming a customer’s details when they call.

GILDACROFT LTD will make it easy for data subjects to update the information GILDACROFT LTD holds about them. For instance, via the company website.
Data should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered. For instance, if a customer can no longer be reached on their stored telephone number, it should be removed from the database.
It is the marketing manager’s responsibility to ensure marketing databases are checked against industry suppression files every six months.

Data protection periods

GILDACROFT LTD will hold client data as long as the client is under contract as per our terms and conditions and services agreement. We will hold that data until subjects request it to be removed or the customer is no longer a client of ours. We shall not hold data any longer than needs be.

Process for reporting breaches in data protection

All staff members have an obligation to report data protection breaches or contact the DPO if they have concerns of such a breach. This will allow the appropriate personnel to investigate further and take the appropriate steps to fix the issue in a timely manner.

Privacy Notice

How do you collect data and what do you do with it once it is collected? A privacy notice should be published on your company’s website. It advises consumers and staff what the collected data is being used for, how long it is kept for and who it will be shared with.

Data Processor vs Controller

GILDACROFT LTD at times act as both the Data Controller and Data Processor. We act as the controller by holding this information on clients. However, act as the

Subject access requests

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by GILDACROFT LTD are entitled to:

Ask what information the company holds about them and why.
Ask how to gain access to it.

Be informed how to keep it up to date.

Be informed how the company is meeting its data protection obligations.

If an individual contacts the company requesting this information, this is called a subject access request.

Customers have the right to request their information. Staff should inform Ravi Kara about this, and will aim to provide the relevant data within 14 days. Customers also have the right to be forgotten which means GILDACROFT LTD would need to remove all information held about that customer.

If a customer requests this information, they should pass the request to Ravi Kara who would then handle the request directly with the customer. Subject access requests from individuals should be made by email, addressed to the data controller at r.kara@gildacroft.com The data controller can supply a standard request form, although individuals do not have to use this.

The data controller will always verify the identity of anyone making a subject access request before handing over any information.

Providing Information

GILDACROFT LTD aims to ensure that individuals are aware that their data is being processed, and that they understand:

How the data is being used
How to exercise their rights

To these ends, the company has a privacy statement, setting out how data relating to individuals is used by the company.