Privacy policy

Information we collect and use

We collect and use Information about you including:

• Information about who you are e.g. your name, and contact details.
• Information connected to your service with us e.g. your tax return and accounts information.
• Information about your contacts with us e.g. meetings, phone calls, emails & letters.
• Information you may provide us about other people you are in business with.

Where we collect your information

We may collect your personal information directly from you, from a variety of sources, including:

• Information provided to HMRC and Companies House
• Meetings or phone conversations with us
• Emails or letters you send to us
• Our online services such as our website, portal, social media and mobile application

We may collect your personal information directly from you, from a variety of sources, including:

What we collect and use your information for

We take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so. We will collect and use your information only where:

• We will require personal and financial information that is necessary for the service we are engaged to provide including your name, address, date of birth, income and investments, bank account details, passport and utility bills.
• It’s necessary for us to meet our legal or regulatory obligations e.g. for Money Laundering purposes.

If you do not wish us to collect and use your personal information in these ways, it will mean that we will be unable to provide you with our services.

Who we share your information with

We may share your information with third parties for the reasons outlined above. These third parties include:

• The Information Commissioner’s Office for the UK (the ICO).
• A Credit Reference Agency for the purpose of fulfilling our obligations for Money Laundering checks to establish your identity and residence.
• Law enforcement, credit and identity check agencies for the prevention and detection of crime. e.g. The Fraud Office of the police.
• HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for tax returns and money laundering checks.
• Companies House for accounts and company details

We will never sell your details to someone else, not pass it on to anyone else without your permission or unless legal obligations require us to do so. Whenever we share your personal information, we will do so in line with our obligations to keep your information safe and secure.

Where your information is processed

All of your information held on secure encrypted servers in the UK with limited access appropriate to the staff member dealing with that aspect
of your affairs.

How we protect your information

We take information and system security extremely seriously. Any personal information which is collected, recorded or used in any way, whether on paper, online or any other media, will have appropriate safeguards applied in line with our data protection obligations.

• Your information is protected by controls designed to minimise loss or damage through accident, negligence or deliberate actions. Our employees also protect sensitive or confidential information when storing or transmitting information electronically and must undertake annual training on this.
• Our security controls effectively manage risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your information.

How long we keep your information

We will keep your personal information only where it is necessary to provide you with our services while you are a client and for the required period after when HMRC or Companies House or any future advisors might require further information from you.

We may also keep your information after this period but only where required to meet our legal or regulatory obligations. The length of time we keep your information for these purposes will vary depending on the obligations we need to meet.

Your individual rights

You have several rights in relation to how HFM Tax & Accounts uses your information. They are:

• Right to be informed – You have a right to receive clear and easy to understand information on what personal information we have, why and who we share it with.
• Right of access – You have the right of access to your personal information. If you wish to receive a copy of the personal information we hold on you, you may make a data subject access request .
• Right to request that your personal information be rectified – If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that it is corrected.
• Right to request erasure – You can ask for your information to be deleted or removed if there is not a compelling reason for HFM Tax & Accounts to continue to hold it.
• Right to restrict processing – You can ask that we block or suppress the processing of your personal information for certain reasons. This means that we are still permitted to keep your information – but only to ensure we don’t use it in the future for those reasons you have restricted.
• Right to data portability – You can ask for a copy of your personal information for your own purposes to use across different services.
• Right to object – You can object to legitimate processing of your personal information for an official authority or for as marketing, historical research and statistics.

How to make a complaint

We will always strive to collect, use and safeguard your personal information in line with data protection laws. If you do not believe we have handled your information as set out in our Terms and Conditions, please call us or email to [email protected] and we will do our utmost to make things right. If you are still unhappy, you can complain to our the Information Commissioner’s Office. Their contact details can be found at ico.org.uk