1. Who we are
We are Acuatus a firm of solicitors and Acuatus Limited (593863) a firm of registered trade mark agents, of 42 Dominick Street Lower, Dublin 1, Ireland (together ‘Acuatus’). For privacy queries you may contact Alistair Payne at this address by post, or by email at alistairpayne@acuatus.com.The way in which we process your personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Acts 1988 to 2018 (as amended) (‘the Acts’). The Data Controller is Acuatus. Acuatus processes your personal data for the purpose of providing trade mark agency services, legal services and for marketing these services.
2. Why we process your personal data, the lawful basis for processing your data, who we share it with
A. For our clients and potential clients, we process personal data:
- to respond to your query when you contact us by phone or when sent by email.
- in order to market the services of our firm;
- to provide you with legal updates and newsletters to which you have subscribed;
- to provide services to you in matters upon which you have retained us, or may wish to retain us in the future.
The legal basis for the processing of this personal data is processing necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests of our firm in promoting our services and in providing our services to you for the performance of a contract on the basis on which you have retained us, or have indicated that you may wish to do so in the future or a legal obligation to use your personal information to comply with any legal obligations imposed upon us. We always include an unsubscribe button in our marketing communications, so you can opt out of receiving any marketing communications at any time.
We share information, such as your name and email address, with our newsletter services provider who sends out our newsletters and for retained clients we share information with our practice management service provider. We may also send you emails through our email service provider. These providers are not permitted to use this data other than on our behalf.
We will retain this personal data for (a) potential clients until you notify us that you wish to unsubscribe from receiving marketing communications from us or for no longer than five years and (b) for clients who have retained us, we will retain relevant personal information for at least six years from the date of our last interaction with that client and in compliance with our obligations under the Acts, or for longer as we are required to do so according to our regulatory obligations or professional indemnity obligations. We may then destroy such files without further notice or liability.
B. For solicitors and barristers that we liaise with on client matters, we process personal data:
- In order to liaise with you about our client matters.
The legal basis for the processing of this data is processing necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by our firm in representing our clients.
We share the information you provide with our practice management system provider in order to store your contact information with our client file. We may also send you emails through our email service provider.
We will retain this personal data until we are not legally required or otherwise permitted to continue storing such data (for example we will retain the personal data relating to client matters where it is required by Acuatus in order to assert or defend legal claims until the end of the relevant retention period or until the claims have been settled).
C. For job applicants to the firm, we process data:
- to recruit new employees;
- to ascertain your suitability for a specific role.
The legal basis for this processing is processing necessary for the purpose of the legitimate interests of our firm in recruiting new staff.
We may also send you emails about your application through our email service provider.
We will retain this personal data until you request that we delete the data or for no longer than two years.
3. Who do we share your personal data with
We may also share personal information with the following categories of third parties as necessary:
- Postal or courier services providers who assist us delivering documents related to a matter;
- Third parties to whom we outsource certain services such as, without limitation, consultant solicitors, document processing and translation services, confidential waste disposal, IT systems or software providers, IT Support service providers, document and information storage providers;
- Third parties engaged in the course of the services we provide to clients such as counsel, clerks, witnesses, court, opposing party and their representation;
- Our professional advisers such as lawyers and accountants;
- Government or regulatory authorities;
- Professional indemnity or other relevant insurers.
4. Information received from third parties and the source of that data
If you provide personal data to us about third parties then you must ensure that you are entitled to disclose that personal data to us and that without taking any further steps, we may collect, us and disclose that personal data as described in this Privacy Policy. In particular, you must ensure that the individual concerned is aware of the matters set out in this Privacy Policy as they relate to that individual and the individual’s rights under our Privacy Policy.
5. Your rights relating to personal data
Under the Acts, you have various rights in connection with any personal data about you that is processed by Acuatus as data controller:
- You can ask Acuatus to give you access to personal data about you that is held by Us;
- You can ask Acuatus to erase personal data about you that is held by Us;
- You can ask Acuatus to restrict their processing of personal data about you, so that the data will only be used for limited purposes (set out in the GDPR);
- You can object to the processing of your personal data;
- You can ask for personal data about you that you have provided to us to be provided to you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and you can transmit that data to another data controller.
All of these rights are set out in detail in the GDPR and the Data Protection Acts, which explain the conditions for the exercise of these rights, and any limitations. Various exemptions may apply, including in relation to data that is protected by legal professional privilege.
If we are processing personal data on your behalf based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing which took place prior to its withdrawal.
If you are unhappy with how we process personal data, we ask you to contact us so that we can rectify the situation.
You may lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The Irish supervisory authority is the Data Protection Commission.
6. Requirement to process personal data
You may browse our website without providing us with any personal data and this will not affect your ability to view our website.
If you do not provide us with your information for the purposes described above, we cannot send you our newsletter or respond to your queries or liaise with you on client matters or assess your suitability for a role within our firm.
7. Automated decision-making and profiling
We do not use any personal data for the purpose of automated decision-making or profiling.
8. Transfers outside the European Economic Area (EEA)
Limited personal data such as your company contact details, or your signature may be transferred outside the EEA when we apply for international trade marks on your behalf. This transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between you and Acuatus.
When we act as your solicitors, we will occasionally be required to transfer your personal data outside the EEA when we are liaising with other firms. This type of transfer is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
9. Contact us
For privacy concerns please contact us:
Phone: + 353 1 9618928
Address: 42 Dominick Street Lower, Dublin 1
Email: alistairpayne@acuatus.com
10. Updates to this Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy was last updated in November 2019. We reserve the right to update and change this Privacy Policy from time to time in order to reflect changes in the way in which we process your personal data or changing legal requirements.