General Data Protection Policy

Context and overview

Key details

Policy prepared by: (Junaid Syed, TAY Consultants, 16 Wentworth Place, London Road, Bracknell, RG42 4FA)
Approved by management on: 21/05/2018
Policy became operational on: 25/05/2018
Next review date: 25/07/2018

Introduction

David Simon 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 David Simon Ltd data protection standards — and to comply with the law.

Why this policy exists

This data protection policy ensures David Simon 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

New General Data Protection regulation (GDPR) (replacing the data protection act 1998), being enforced by ICO describes how organisations including David Simon 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 GDPR regulation 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.

People, risks and responsibilities

Policy scope

This policy applies to:

The head office of David Simon Ltd
All staff of David Simon Ltd
All contractors, suppliers and other people working on behalf of David Simon Ltd

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

Names of individuals
Postal addresses
Email addresses
Telephone numbers
Any other information relating to individuals.

Data protection risks

This policy helps to protect David Simon 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. PS: AS a matter of principal, David Simon Ltd only uses the data for contractual obligations for example, preparation of payroll and Tax Returns.
Reputational damage. For instance, the company could suffer if hackers successfully gained access to sensitive data.

Responsibilities

Everyone who works for or with David Simon 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 board of directors is ultimately responsible for ensuring that David Simon Ltd meets its legal obligations.
The Data Protection officer (Junaid Syed at TAY Consultants - external contractor mail@davidsimon.co.uk) 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 David Simon Ltd holds about them (also called ‘subject access requestsrsquo;).
Checking and approving any contracts or agreements with third parties that may handle the company’s sensitive data.

Technica Solutions (IT Contractor Company) is responsible for:

Ensuring all systems, services and equipment used for storing data meet acceptable security standards.
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 for data storage.

As a matter of principal, David Simon Ltd do not carry out any marketing activities nor has any plans in the future. If they do, it will be covered under the normal GDPR principal.

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.
David Simon Ltd will provide training to all employees to help them understand their responsibilities when handling 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 company’s 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 protection officer. 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.
Printouts data is kept in record, as long as necessary, i.e. when required by applicable law or by legitimate business reason, for example when there is a contract with David Simon Ltd and for as long as it is required by law, after the contract is expired, for example, keeping payroll data for 6 years plus current year remaining, as required by HMRC. We will review the data and ask for client’s consent whether to keep, hold, transfer or remove the data, where necessary, for example, other than the Legal requirements mentioned above. Where we must archive the data, we will implement reasonable measures to prevent the Personal Data and will only use if required for legitimate business purpose.

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 or Memory Sticks), 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.
Electronic data is kept in record, as long as necessary, i.e. when required by applicable law or by legitimate business reason, for example when there is a contract with David Simon Ltd and for as long as it is required by law, after the contract is expired, for example, keeping payroll data for 6 years plus current year remaining, as required by HMRC. We will review the data and ask for client’s consent whether to keep, hold, transfer or remove the data, where necessary, for example, other than the Legal requirements mentioned above. Where we must archive the data, we will implement reasonable measures to prevent the Personal Data and will only use if required for legitimate business purpose.

Data use

Personal data is of no value to David Simon Ltd unless the business can make use of it. 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.
David Simon Ltd ensures that Data e.g. payslips is gone to the right recipient, whether sent electronically or by other means.
Employees should not save copies of personal data to their own computers. Always access and update the central copy of any data on the company secured server/computers.

Data accuracy

The law requires David Simon 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 David Simon 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.
David Simon Ltd will make it easy for data subjects to update the information David Simon Ltd
Data should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered.

Subject access requests

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by DDavid Simon 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 contact the company requesting this information, this is called a subject access request.

Subject access requests from individuals should be made by email, addressed to the data controller i.e. clients of David Simon Ltd. 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.

Disclosing data for other reasons

In certain circumstances, the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the data subject.

Under these circumstances, David Simon Ltd will disclose requested data. However, the data controller will ensure the request is legitimate, seeking assistance from the board and from the company’s legal advisers where necessary.

Providing information

David Simon Ltd aims to ensure, through its Privacy statement, that individuals are aware of their data is being processed, they understand, how the data is being used, and how to exercise their rights.

Accessibility links