MAS Design Consultants Ltd

Privacy Policy and Retention Schedule

Last Revision - October 2018 

We are committed to protecting your privacy and maintaining the security of any personal information you provide us with. This statement outlines how we ensure this and how we comply with legislation on data protection.

This Privacy Policy will explain any areas of our website which may affect your privacy and personal details, how they are processed, collected, managed, and stored, and how your rights under the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) are protected.

Under GDPR Personal Data (PD) is defined as anything which can identify you personally as an individual. Special Personal Data (SPD) is defined as anything which refers to your racial, religious, health, political, or sexual status.

1: INFORMATION WE COLLECT

MAS Design Consultants Ltd. retain data where we have a specific purpose for doing so, as follows:

Brief Description of Processing Activity: Client Details - Contracted Project

Personal Data used for Processing Activity (e.g. name, address, medical data, financial data): Name, address, email & phone contact details, property ownership, design development drawings, planning and construction drawings, building contracts (where applicable), project costs, fee invoices, project certification.

Type of Data. i.e.: Personal Data (PD) or Special Personal Data (SPD): PD

Period of Retention: 17-20 years

Lawful Basis for Retention: Contracted Legal Obligation

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Brief Description of Processing Activity: Client Details - Project Enquiry only

Personal Data used for Processing Activity (e.g. name, address, medical data, financial data): Name, address, email & phone contact details.

Type of Data. i.e.: Personal Data (PD) or Special Personal Data (SPD): PD

Period of Retention: Reviewed & updated on an ongoing annual basis.

Lawful Basis for Retention: Legitimate interest

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Brief Description of Processing Activity: Job Applicants Details

Personal Data used for Processing Activity (e.g. name, address, medical data, financial data): Name, home address, email & phone contact details, Curriculum Vitae and covering letter as submitted.

Type of Data. i.e: Personal Data (PD) or Special Personal Data (SPD): PD

Period of Retention: Six months after position is filled. Longer only with written consent.

Lawful Basis for Retention: Legitimate Interest

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THIRD PARTIES

MAS Design Consultants Ltd. only retain client’s personal data when we have a specific purpose for doing so, and only pass it on to Third Parties in direct connection with the proper execution of our commission. These Third Parties may include:

  • Other professional consultants (e.g. Engineers/ Party Wall Surveyors) as may be appropriate to your project and our commission

  • Specialist Sub-Contractors and suppliers to the building industry (for example damp-proof specialists/ window and door suppliers/ kitchen and bathroom designers and suppliers) as may be appropriate to your project and our commission.

  • Building Contractors - when obtaining ‘Competitive Tenders’ for you building works Contractors will be provided with your contact details, who will where appropriate and necessary pass these to their sub-contractors in order to obtain quotations for work on your behalf.

  • Local Authorities – as part of the process of making a Planning Application, we are required to notify the local authority of the applicants’ name and address – please note that this information is subsequently made public by the Local Authority.

Please note that all third parties will also be subject to GDPR and will set their own privacy policies and retention criteria.

We are required by our Professional Indemnity Insurers to retain all documents, drawings and correspondence in relation to your project for 7 years beyond its' completion, depending on the nature of the project.

 2: KEEPING YOUR INFORMATION SECURE

Our servers are protected using HTTPS and SSL technology. Any data provided by you to us will be as secure as it can be. We are fully aware of our responsibilities regarding data under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation 2018.

3: COOKIES

This website may use cookies to better the overall experience of our users. In accordance with legislation and where necessary, this website ensures the user has the ability to accept and disable the use of cookies.

3.1: WHAT ARE COOKIES

Cookies are pieces of information which are sent from a website to your hard drive while you a viewing a site. These may be used by companies to provide a more personalised experience, for statistical purposes, or for advertisements. The use of cookies is standard practice across the internet and is undertaken by several websites.

Cookies could be either ‘persistent’ or ‘session’ cookies. A persistent cookie will be stored by a browser and remain valid until its set expiration date and can be deleted by the user prior to expiry. A session cookie expires at the end of the user session on a website once the browser has been closed.

As there are links to external sites, users are advised to be aware of the possible use of cookies. Where applicable and in accordance with legislation, these sites should use a cookie control system which allows the user to give explicit permission or deny the use of cookies.

3.2: WHAT WE USE COOKIES FOR

We may use cookies for a number of reasons including:

  1.  To provide a more interactive and personal user experience

  2. For statistical purposes

  3. To show adverts that you may be interested in and control the number of times you see them

It is important to note that disabling cookies may have a negative impact on how a site runs.

3.3: COOKIES USED BY SERVICE PROVIDERS

Third-party companies that are providing a service for us or our website may use cookies and these may be stored on your computer when you visit our website.

Google Analytics is used to analyse the use of our website. Information is gathered about website use via cookies and any information gathered is used to create reports about the use of our website. For more on Google’s privacy policy, see here.

3.4: COOKIE DISABLING

If you would like to disable the use of cookies when you visit a website you can do this from your internet browser. 

4: SOCIAL MEDIA PROFILES

We may use official profiles on social media channels. We advise our users to verify the legitimacy of any profile pertaining to be our company before interacting with them. Our social media profiles will never ask for user passwords or personal details.

If we provide a social media service for you then you are advised to read the Privacy Policy of that services. The social media businesses that we interact with include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

5: EXTERNAL WEB LINKS

This website contains links to external websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content on these sites. Our users are encouraged to be aware that when they leave this website they should read the privacy policy and spam policies of each website that collects personal data. This Privacy Policy applies only to the information collected by us.

6: SPAM POLICY

We are strongly against spam. We only contact our customers when they have requested to receive communication or there is a need to update you on information about services you have requested from us.

7: OTHER PRIVACY NOTICES

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us.

We may revise our Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes that occur will be posted on the Privacy Policy page of our website.

This latest revision comes as a result of our ongoing efforts to be transparent and to comply fully with new data protection regulations.

All changes will be effective immediately.

 By continuing as a client with us you are bound to the revised Privacy Policy.