Privacy Statement

1. Who are we?
McElhinney & Associates (“we”, “us”, “our”, “The Business”, “Business”) is a Solicitors office based in Drumboe Lodge, Main Street, Stranorlar, Co.Donegal, F93 Y8N0. You can contact our office and our Data Protection Manager using our contact details above.

We understand your privacy and the security of your information is very important to you. We’re committed to keeping your information private and respecting your data protection rights.

The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices relating to our Business Website. In order to fully understand your rights, we encourage you to read this Privacy Statement and to consult our Website Terms of Use. Each time you use this Website you will be bound by the then current Privacy Statement, Website Terms of Use and you should review these each time you use the Website to satisfy yourself that you are happy with it. Any external links to other websites are clearly identifiable as such and we are not responsible for the content or the privacy statements of these other websites.

2. Acceptance of this Privacy Statement
By using this Website, you signify acceptance of this Privacy Statement. If you do not agree with or you are not comfortable with any aspect of the Privacy Statement, your only remedy is to discontinue use of the Website. We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Statement at any time. Your continued use of any portion of the Website following notification or posting of such changes will constitute your acceptance of those changes.

3. Information we collect from you through use of our website and services
We may collect and process the following data about you:
a. Customer/User Communication (e.g. via email, phone or the Website’s Contact Us):

Information we capture:
Name
Company/Organisation Name
Contact Number
Email Address
But, we also anticipate some users of our service may volunteer additional information, which is likely to include reasons for contacting us.

Purpose of Capturing this Information:
We use this information for the purpose of contact and communication with you.

Legal Basis:
This information is processed on the basis of our Businesses Legitimate Interest.

Retention Period:
The information captured is maintained for the length of time needed to address the query and/or engagement.

Sharing Information:
Except in situations where we are required to do so by law, we do not share this information with any third parties, unless a user requests us to specifically engage with a third party on their behalf, at which point it will be made very obvious and clear from our communication that this is OK and has the users consent.
b. Our Business Website:
Information We Capture:

Cookies and other similar methods (e.g. digital certificates) are used to monitor website traffic and enhance your experience of our website. Cookies are pieces of data which your computer, mobile or tablet device downloads when you visit a website. Cookies are used to keep track of your preferences and to recognise return visitors. You can set your browser to reject cookies. However, if you choose to reject cookies, you may not be able to use or access certain of our online or mobile services. Alternatively, you can clear (delete) all cookies from your web browser once you finish using our website. Please refer to Cookies Policy for more information.

4. Where we store your personal data
The data that we collect from you is stored at a destination within the European Union (“EU”). We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Statement.

All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a username or password which enables you to access certain parts of our Website or services, you are responsible for keeping this password or username confidential. We ask you not to share this information with anyone.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal data, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our Website; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access. We have security in place such as firewalls, backups and other appropriate technical security measures.

5. Uses made of your information
We use information held about you:
to ensure that content from our Website is presented in the most effective manner for you and for your computer
to provide you with information, products or services that you request from us where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes
to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us
for verification, administration and statistical analysis purposes (e.g. Google Analytics)
to notify you about changes to our Website and/or services

6. Disclosure of your information
We consider your Data to be private and confidential. We may disclose your personal information to other partner companies and approved contractors or subcontractors working on our behalf.
We may disclose your personal information to third parties if:
• we need to work with advisors
• we sell or buy any business or assets; in which case we may disclose your personal data to the prospective seller or buyer of such business or assets
if The Business or substantially all of its assets are acquired by a third party, in which case personal data held by it about its users will be one of the transferred assets
• if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply our Website Terms of Use and other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of The Business and its subsidiaries and its group companies, our users, or others. This may include exchanging information with other companies, such as payment processing companies and organisations for the purposes of fraud protection and credit risk reduction

7. Links to other sites
Our website may contain links to and from other websites and web platforms. In addition, third party websites may also provide links to the Website. If you follow a link to any of those websites or web platforms, please note that those websites and web platforms have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for those policies. Please check those policies before you submit any personal data to those websites.

We do not accept, and we disclaim, any responsibility for the privacy policies and information protection practices of any third-party website (whether or not such website is linked on or to the Website). These links are provided to you for convenience purposes only, and you access them at your own risk. It is your responsibility to check the third-party website’s privacy statement before you submit any personal data to their websites.

8. Security
We take your online security very seriously and this website has security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. However, as no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed as 100% secure, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us and you transfer the data at your own risk. We endeavour to use appropriate security measures.

9. Your rights
The General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’) applies from 25 May 2018 and significantly changes data protection law in Europe, strengthening the rights of individuals and increasing the obligations on organisations. The GDPR is designed to give individuals more control over their personal data.

The key principles under the GDPR are lawfulness, fairness and transparency; purpose limitation; data minimisation; accuracy; storage limitation; integrity and confidentiality, and accountability (Article 5 of the GDPR).
You have increased rights under GDPR. Guidance on these rights is available here. You have the right to request a copy of the information held by us about you.
You also have the right to access your data, have changed any inaccuracies in the details we hold about you, the right to object to the use of your data and the right to block any specific uses of your data, by contacting us through Contact Us.
In particular, your rights are:

The right to withdraw your consent (Article 7 of the GDPR)
The right to be informed (Articles 12 – 14 of the GDPR)
The right to access information (Article 15 of the GDPR)
The right to rectification (Articles 16 & 19 of the GDPR)
The right to erasure (Articles 17 & 19 of the GDPR)
The right to data portability (Article 20 of the GDPR)
The right to object to processing of personal data (Article 21 of the GDPR)
The right of restriction (Article 18 of the GDPR)
Rights in relation to automated decision making, including profiling (Article 22 of the GDPR)
The right to lodge a complaint with the Supervisory Authority
Note: your right to withdraw consent applies to the processing of data for which you have given consent. Withdrawing consent does not affect any processing done up to the point when you withdrew your consent. The website does not make use of any automated decision making.
If you require further information in relation to your rights and this restriction, you can contact our Data Protection Manager (DPM) here.

10. Contact
Questions, comments and requests regarding this Privacy Statement are welcomed and should be addressed to our Data Protection Manager (DPM) at the above address.