1. Definitions:
1. Company Personnel: all employees, workers, directors, and others.
2. Consent: agreement which must be freely given, specific, informed and be an unambiguous indication of the Data Subject’s wishes by which they, by a statement or by a clear positive action, signifies agreement to the Processing of Personal Data relating to them.
3. Data Controller: the person or organisation that determines when, why and how to process Personal Data. It is responsible for establishing practices and policies in line with the UK GDPR. We are the Data Controller of all Personal Data relating to our Company Personnel and Personal Data used in our business for our own commercial purposes.
4. Data Subject: a living, identified or identifiable individual about whom we hold Personal Data. Data Subjects may be nationals or residents of any country and may have legal rights regarding their Personal Data.
5. Explicit Consent: consent which requires a very clear and specific statement (that is, not just action).
6. Personal Data: any information identifying a Data Subject or information relating to a Data Subject that we can identify (directly or indirectly) from that data alone or in combination with other identifiers we possess or can reasonably access. Personal Data includes Sensitive Personal Data but excludes anonymous data or data that has had the identity of an individual permanently removed. Personal data can be factual (for example, a name, email address, location or date of birth) or an opinion about that person’s actions or behaviour.
7. Personal Data Breach: any act or omission that compromises the security, confidentiality, integrity or availability of Personal Data or the physical, technical, administrative or organisational safeguards that we or our third-party service providers put in place to protect it. The loss, or unauthorised access, disclosure or acquisition, of Personal Data is a Personal Data Breach.
8. Privacy Notices (also referred to as Fair Processing Notices) or Privacy Policies: separate notices setting out information that may be provided to Data Subjects when the Company collects information about them. These notices may take the form of general privacy statements applicable to a specific group of individuals (for example, employee privacy notices or the website privacy policy) or they may be stand-alone, one time privacy statements covering processing related to a specific purpose.
9. Processing or Process: any activity that involves the use of Personal Data. It includes obtaining, recording or holding the data, or carrying out any operation or set of operations on the data including organising, amending, retrieving, using, disclosing, erasing or destroying it. Processing also includes transmitting or transferring Personal Data to third parties.
10. Special Category Data: information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or similar beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health conditions, sexual life, sexual orientation, biometric or genetic data, and Personal Data relating to criminal offences and convictions.
11. UK GDPR: the retained EU version of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Personal Data is subject to the legal safeguards specified in the UK GDPR.
2. Introduction
This Data Protection Policy sets out how Universal Forwarding (“we”, “our”, “us”, “the Company”) handles the Personal Data of our clients, suppliers, employees, workers and other third parties.
This Data Protection Policy applies to all Personal Data we process regardless of the media on which that data is stored or whether it relates to past or present employees, workers, clients or supplier contacts, shareholders, website users or any other Data Subject.
This Data Protection Policy applies to all Company Personnel (“you”, “your”). You must read, understand and comply with this Data Protection Policy when Processing Personal Data on our behalf and attend training on its requirements when required. This Data Protection Policy sets out what we expect from you in order for the Company to comply with applicable law. Your compliance with this Data Protection Policy is mandatory. You must also comply with all such related policies, where applicable to your role, including our guidelines for the retention and erasure of employment records and our procedure for responding to subject data access requests. Any breach of this Data Protection Policy may result in disciplinary action.
This policy does not form part of your contract of employment and we may amend it at any time.
3. Personal data protection principles
We adhere to the principles relating to Processing of Personal Data set out in the UK GDPR which require Personal Data to be:
(a) Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner (Lawfulness, Fairness and Transparency).
(b) Collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes (Purpose Limitation).
(c) Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is Processed (Data Minimisation).
(d) Accurate and where necessary kept up to date (Accuracy).
(e) Not kept in a form which permits identification of Data Subjects for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data is Processed (Storage Limitation).
(f) Processed in a manner that ensures its security using appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised or unlawful Processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage (Security, Integrity and Confidentiality).
(g) Not transferred to another country without appropriate safeguards being in place (Transfer Limitation).
(h) Made available to Data Subjects and Data Subjects allowed to exercise certain rights in relation to their Personal Data (Data Subject’s Rights and Requests).
We are responsible for and must be able to demonstrate compliance with the data protection principles listed above (Accountability). Trevor Harbottle is responsible for overseeing this Data Protection Policy and related policies, and any questions regarding these should be referred to him. You must also contact Trevor Harbottle immediately if you believe there has been a Personal Data Breach.
4. Lawfulness, fairness, transparency
4.1 Lawfulness and fairness
Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the Data Subject.
We may only collect, Process and share Personal Data fairly and lawfully and for specified purposes. The UK GDPR restricts our actions regarding Personal Data to specified lawful purposes. These restrictions are not intended to prevent processing but to ensure that we process Personal Data fairly and without adversely affecting the Data Subject.
The UK GDPR allows Processing for specific purposes, some of which are set out below:
(a) the Data Subject has given his or her Consent;
(b) the Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the Data Subject;
(c) to meet our legal compliance obligations; or
(d) to pursue our legitimate interests for purposes where they are not overridden because the processing prejudices the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of Data Subjects. The purposes for which we process Personal Data for legitimate interests need to be set out in applicable Privacy Notices.
We must identify and document the legal ground being relied on for each processing activity.
4.2 Consent
A Data Controller must only process Personal Data on the basis of one or more of the lawful bases set out in the UK GDPR, which include Consent.
A Data Subject consents to processing of their Personal Data if they indicate agreement clearly either by a statement or positive action to the Processing. Consent requires affirmative action so silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity are unlikely to be sufficient. If Consent is given in a document which deals with other matters, then the Consent must be kept separate from those other matters.
Data Subjects must be easily able to withdraw Consent to Processing at any time and withdrawal must be promptly honoured. Consent may need to be refreshed if we intend to Process Personal Data for a different and incompatible purpose which was not disclosed when the Data Subject first consented.
Unless we can rely on another legal basis of Processing, Explicit Consent is usually required for Processing Special Category Data. Usually we will be relying on another legal basis (and not require Explicit Consent) to process most types of Special Category Data. Where Explicit Consent is required, we must issue a Fair Processing Notice to the Data Subject to capture Explicit Consent.
We need to evidence Consent captured and keep records of all Consents so that the Company can demonstrate compliance with Consent requirements.
4. 3 Transparency (notifying data subjects)
The UK GDPR requires Data Controllers to provide detailed, specific information to Data Subjects depending on whether the information was collected directly from Data Subjects or from elsewhere. Such information must be provided through appropriate Privacy Notices or Fair Processing Notices which must be concise, transparent, intelligible, easily accessible, and in clear and plain language so that a Data Subject can easily understand them.
Whenever we collect Personal Data directly from Data Subjects, including for human resources or employment purposes, we must provide the Data Subject with all the information required by the UK GDPR including the identity of the Data Controller, how and why we will use, process, disclose, protect and retain that Personal Data through a Fair Processing Notice which must be presented when the Data Subject first provides the Personal Data.
5. Purpose limitation
Personal Data must be collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes. It must not be further processed in any manner incompatible with those purposes.
Personal Data cannot be used for new, different or incompatible purposes from that disclosed when it was first obtained unless the Data Subject has been informed of the new purposes and they have consented where necessary.
6. Data minimisation
Personal Data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is Processed.
You may only Process Personal Data when performing your job duties requires it. You cannot Process Personal Data for any reason unrelated to your job duties.
You may only collect Personal Data that you require for your job duties: do not collect excessive data. Ensure any Personal Data collected is adequate and relevant for the intended purposes.
You must ensure that when Personal Data is no longer needed for specified purposes, it is deleted or anonymised in accordance with the Company’s data retention guidelines.
7. Accuracy
Personal Data must be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. It must be corrected or deleted without delay when inaccurate.
We will ensure that the Personal Data we use and hold is accurate, complete, kept up to date and relevant to the purpose for which we collected it. We will check the accuracy of any Personal Data at the point of collection and at regular intervals afterwards. We will take all reasonable steps to destroy or amend inaccurate or out-of-date Personal Data.
8. Storage limitation
Personal Data must not be kept in an identifiable form for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data is processed.
We must not keep Personal Data in a form which permits the identification of the Data Subject for longer than needed for the legitimate business purpose or purposes for which we originally collected it including for the purpose of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
We will take all reasonable steps to destroy or erase from our systems all Personal Data that we no longer require in accordance with all the Company’s applicable records retention policies. This includes requiring third parties to delete such data where applicable.
We will ensure Data Subjects are informed of the period for which data is stored and how that period is determined in any applicable Privacy Notice or Fair Processing Notice.
9. Security integrity and confidentiality
9.1 Protecting Personal Data
Personal Data must be secured by appropriate technical and organisational measures against unauthorised or unlawful Processing, and against accidental loss, destruction or damage.
We will develop, implement and maintain safeguards appropriate to our size, scope and business, our available resources, the amount of Personal Data that we own or maintain on behalf of others and identified risks (including use of encryption). We will regularly evaluate and test the effectiveness of those safeguards to ensure security of our processing of Personal Data. We must exercise particular care in protecting Special Category Data from loss and unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
You must follow all procedures and technologies we put in place to maintain the security of all Personal Data from the point of collection to the point of destruction. You may only transfer Personal Data to third-party service providers who agree to comply with the required policies and procedures and who agree to put adequate measures in place, as requested.
You must maintain data security by protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the Personal Data, defined as follows:
(a) Confidentiality means that only people who have a need to know and are authorised to use the Personal Data can access it.
(b) Integrity means that Personal Data is accurate and suitable for the purpose for which it is processed.
(c) Availability means that authorised users are able to access the Personal Data when they need it for authorised purposes.
You must comply with and not attempt to circumvent the administrative, physical and technical safeguards we implement and maintain in accordance with the UK GDPR and relevant standards to protect Personal Data.
9.2 Reporting a Personal Data Breach
The UK GDPR requires Data Controllers to notify any Personal Data Breach to the applicable regulator and, in certain instances, the Data Subject.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected Personal Data Breach and will notify Data Subjects or any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.
If you know or suspect that a Personal Data Breach has occurred notify Trevor Harbottle immediately. You should preserve all evidence relating to the potential Personal Data Breach.
10. Transfer limitation
The UK GDPR restricts data transfers to countries outside the UK to ensure that the level of data protection afforded to individuals by the UK GDPR is not undermined. You transfer Personal Data originating in one country across borders when you transmit, send, view or access that data in or to a different country.
You may only transfer Personal Data outside the UK if one of the following conditions applies:
(a) the UK has issued regulations confirming that the country to which we transfer the Personal Data ensures an adequate level of protection for the Data Subject’s rights and freedoms;
(b) appropriate safeguards are in place such as standard contractual clauses approved for use in the UK, an approved code of conduct or a certification mechanism.
(c) the Data Subject has provided Explicit Consent to the proposed transfer after being informed of any potential risks; or
(d) the transfer is necessary for one of the other reasons set out in the UK GDPR including the performance of a contract between us and the Data Subject, reasons of public interest, to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or to protect the vital interests of the Data Subject where the Data Subject is physically or legally incapable of giving Consent and, in some limited cases, for our legitimate interest.
Data Subject’s rights and requests
Data Subjects have rights when it comes to how we handle their Personal Data. These include rights to:
(a) withdraw Consent to Processing at any time;
(b) receive certain information about the Data Controller’s Processing activities;
(c) request access to their Personal Data that we hold;
(d) prevent our use of their Personal Data for direct marketing purposes;
(e) ask us to erase Personal Data if it is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected or processed or to rectify inaccurate data or to complete incomplete data;
(f) restrict Processing in specific circumstances;
(g) challenge Processing which has been justified on the basis of our legitimate interests or in the public interest;
(h) prevent Processing that is likely to cause damage or distress to the Data Subject or anyone else;
(i) be notified of a Personal Data Breach which is likely to result in high risk to their rights and freedoms;
(j) make a complaint to the supervisory authority; and
(k) in limited circumstances, receive or ask for their Personal Data to be transferred to a third party in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format.
You must verify the identity of an individual requesting data under any of the rights listed above (do not allow third parties to persuade you into disclosing Personal Data without proper authorisation).
You must immediately forward any Data Subject request you receive to Trevor Harbottle.
12. Accountability
12.1 The Data Controller must implement appropriate technical and organisational measures in an effective manner, to ensure compliance with data protection principles. The Data Controller is responsible for, and must be able to demonstrate, compliance with the data protection principles.
The Company must have adequate resources and controls in place to ensure and to document UK GDPR compliance including:
integrating data protection into internal documents including this Data Protection Policy, Related Policies, Privacy Guidelines, Privacy Notices or Fair Processing Notices;
training Company Personnel on the UK GDPR, this Data Protection Policy, Related Policies and Privacy Guidelines and data protection matters as applicable to their role; and
regularly testing the privacy measures implemented and conducting periodic reviews and audits to assess compliance.
12.2 Record keeping
We will keep and maintain accurate records reflecting our processing including records of Data Subjects’ Consents and procedures for obtaining Consents.
12.3 Training and audit
We will ensure all Company Personnel have undergone adequate training to enable them to comply with data privacy laws, where applicable to their role. We will also regularly test our systems and processes to assess compliance.
12.4 Sharing Personal Data
Generally we are not allowed to share Personal Data with third parties unless certain safeguards and contractual arrangements have been put in place.
(a) You may only share the Personal Data we hold with third parties, such as our service providers if:
(b) they have a need to know the information for the purposes of providing the contracted services;
(c) sharing the Personal Data complies with the Privacy Notice provided to the Data Subject and, if required, the Data Subject’s Consent has been obtained;
(d) the third party has agreed to comply with the required data security standards, policies and procedures and put adequate security measures in place; and
a fully executed written contract that contains UK GDPR approved third party clauses has been obtained.
13. Changes to this Data Protection Policy
We reserve the right to change this Data Protection Policy at any time. We last revised this Data Protection Policy on 10 December 2021.
