GDPR Policy
Introduction:
Background to the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’)
The General Data Protection Regulation 2016 replaces the EU Data Protection Directive of 1995 and supersedes the laws of individual Member States that were developed in compliance with the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. Its purpose is to protect the “rights and freedoms” of natural persons i.e. living individuals and to ensure that personal data is not processed without their knowledge, and, wherever possible, that it is processed with their consent.
Definitions used by the organisation (drawn from the GDPR):
Material scope (Article 2) – the GDPR applies to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means (i.e. by computer) and to the processing other than by automated means of personal data (i.e. paper records) that form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system.
Territorial scope (Article 3) – the GDPR will apply to all controllers that are established in the EU (European Union) who process the personal data of data subjects, in the context of that establishment. It will also apply to controllers outside of the EU that process personal data in order to offer goods and services or monitor the behaviour of data subjects who are resident in the EU.
Establishment (Article 4) – the main establishment of the controller in the EU will be the place in which the controller makes the main decisions as to the purpose and means of its data processing activities. The main establishment of a processor in the EU will be its administrative centre. If a controller is based outside the EU, it will have to appoint a representative in the jurisdiction in which the controller operates, to act on behalf of the controller and deal with supervisory authorities.
Personal data – any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ('data subject'); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
Special categories of personal data – personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade-union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation.
Data controller – the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.
Data subject – any living individual who is the subject of personal data held by an organisation.
Processing – any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.
Profiling – is any form of automated processing of personal data intended to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, or to analyse, or predict that person’s performance at work, economic situation, location, health, personal preferences, reliability, or behaviour. This definition is linked to the right of the data subject to object to profiling and a right to be informed about the existence of profiling, of measures based on profiling and the envisaged effects of profiling on the individual.
Personal data breach – a breach of security leading to the accidental, or unlawful, destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed. There is an obligation on the controller to report personal data breaches to the supervisory authority and where the breach is likely to adversely affect the personal data or privacy of the data subject.
Data subject consent - means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data.
Child – the GDPR defines a child as anyone under the age of 16 years old, although this may be lowered to 13 by Member State law. The processing of personal data of a child under 13 years of age is only lawful if parental or custodian consent has been obtained. The controller shall make reasonable efforts to verify in such cases that consent is given or authorised by the holder of parental responsibility over the child.
Third party – a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or body other than the data subject, controller, processor and persons who, under the direct authority of the controller or processor, are authorised to process personal data.
Filing system – any structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis.
The Board of Directors and management of Stanners Equipment Ltd and the Partners and management of Stanners Specialised Services LLP (here after referred to as The Stanners Group) , located at Coopies Lane, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 6JN are committed to compliance with all relevant EU and Member State laws in respect of personal data, and the protection of the “rights and freedoms” of individuals whose information The Stanners Group collects and processes in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The GDPR and this policy apply to all of the Stanners Group personal data processing functions, including those performed on customers’, clients’, employees’, suppliers’ and partners’ personal data, and any other personal data the organisation processes from any source.
The GDPR Compliance Dept. is responsible for reviewing the register of processing annually in the light of any changes to the Stanners Group activities (as determined by changes to the data inventory register and the management review) and to any additional requirements identified by means of data protection impact assessments. This register needs to be available on the supervisory authority’s request.
This policy applies to all Employees/Staff [and interested parties] of the Stanners Group such as outsourced suppliers. Any breach of the GDPR or this PIMS will be dealt with under The Stanners Group disciplinary policy and may also be a criminal offence, in which case the matter will be reported as soon as possible to the appropriate authorities.
Partners and any third parties working with or for the Stanners Group and who have or may have access to personal data, will be expected to have read, understood and to comply with this policy. No third party may access personal data held by the Stanners Group of Companies without having first entered into a data confidentiality agreement which imposes on the third-party obligations no less onerous than those to which the Stanners Group is committed, and which gives the Stanners Group the right to audit compliance with the agreement.
The Stanners Group are a data controller and/or data processor under the GDPR.
Top Management and all those in managerial or supervisory roles throughout the Stanners Group are responsible for developing and encouraging good information handling practices within the Stanners Group; responsibilities are set out in individual job descriptions.
The Data Protection Officer/GDPR Owner, a role specified in the GDPR, should be a member of the senior management team, is accountable to Board of Directors/ Partners of the Stanners Group for the management of personal information/data within the Stanners Group and for ensuring that compliance with data protection legislation and good practice can be demonstrated.
The Data Protection Officer/GDPR Owner, whom Board of Directors/Partners considers to be suitably qualified and experienced, has been appointed to take responsibility for the Stanners Group’s compliance with this policy on a day-to-day basis and, in particular, has direct responsibility for ensuring that the Stanners Group complies with the GDPR, as do Manager/Executive’s in respect of data processing that takes place within their area of responsibility.
The Data Protection Officer/GDPR Owner have specific responsibilities in respect of procedures such as the Subject Access Request Procedure (GDPR 2.2) and are the first point of call for Employees/Staff seeking clarification on any aspect of data protection compliance.
Compliance with data protection legislation is the responsibility of all members/ Employees/Staff of the Stanners Group who process personal information/data.
The Stanners Group Training Policy (GDPR 1.1) sets out specific training and awareness requirements in relation to specific roles and to members/Employees/Staff of the Stanners Group generally.
Members/Employees/Staff of the Stanners Group are responsible for ensuring that any personal data about them and supplied by them, and that is about them, to the Stanners Group is accurate and up-to-date.
All processing of personal data must be conducted in accordance with the following data protection principles as set out in Article 5 of the Regulation, and GDPR. The Stanners Group’s policies and procedures are designed to ensure compliance with the principles.
Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently.
The Stanners Group Privacy Procedure is set out in GDPR 2.1.
Lawful – identify a lawful basis before you can process personal data. These are often referred to as the “conditions for processing”, for example consent.
Fairly – in order for processing to be fair, the data controller has to make certain information available to the data subjects as practicable. This applies whether the personal data was obtained directly from the data subjects or from other sources.
The GDPR introduces increased requirements about what information should be available to data subjects, which is covered in the ‘Transparency’ requirement for transparency whereby the controller has transparent.
Transparency – the GDPR includes rules on giving privacy information to data subjects in Articles 12, 13 and 14. These are detailed and easily specific, placing an emphasis on making privacy notices understandable and accessible policies relating to the processing of personal data and the exercise of individuals’ “rights and freedoms”. Information must be communicated to the data subject in an intelligible form using clear and plain language.
The Stanners Group’s Privacy Notice Procedure is set out in GDPR 2.1 and the Privacy Notice is recorded in GDPR 4.1.
The specific information that must be provided to the data subject must, as a minimum, include:
• the identity and the contact details of the controller and, if any, of the controller's representative;
• the contact details of the Data Protection Officer, where applicable;
• the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for the processing;
• the period for which the personal data will be stored;
• the existence of the rights to request access, rectification, erasure or to object to the processing, and the conditions (or lack of) relating to exercising these rights, such as whether the lawfulness of previous processing will be affected;
• the categories of personal data concerned;
• the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, where applicable;
• where applicable, that the controller intends to transfer personal data to a recipient in a third country and the level of protection afforded to the data;
• any further information necessary to guarantee fair processing.
Personal data can only be collected for specific, explicit and legitimate purposes.
Data obtained for specified purposes must not be used for a purpose that differs from those formally notified to the Information Commissioners Supervisory authority as part of the Stanners Group’s GDPR registration. Privacy Procedure GDPR 2.1 sets out the relevant procedures.
Personal data must be adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for processing.
The Data Protection Officer/GDPR Owner is responsible for ensuring that the Stanners Group does not collect information, which is not strictly necessary for the purpose for which it is obtained.(refer to DPIA GDPR 4.4 for the data flow/mapping).
All data collection forms (electronic or paper-based), including data collection requirements in new information systems, must include a privacy statement or link to privacy statement and approved by the Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner.
The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner will ensure that, on an annual basis all data collection methods are reviewed by internal audit/external experts to ensure that collected data continues to be adequate, relevant and not excessive. (Data Protection Impact Assessment Procedure GDPR 2.4 and DPIA to GDPR 4.4)
Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date with every effort to erase or rectify without delay
• Data that is kept for a long time by the data controller must be reviewed and updated as necessary. No data should be kept unless it is reasonable to assume that it is accurate.
• The Head of HR/Data Protection Officer is responsible for ensuring that all staff are trained in the importance of collecting accurate data and maintaining it.
• It is also the responsibility of individuals (the data subject) to ensure that data held by Stanners Equipment Ltd is accurate and up- to- date. Completion of an appropriate registration or application form by a data subject will include a statement that the data contained therein is accurate at the date of submission.
• Employees/Staff/customers/others should be required to notify Stanners Equipment Ltd of any changes in circumstance to enable personal records to be updated accordingly. It is the responsibility of the Stanners Group to ensure that any notification regarding change of circumstances is recorded and acted upon.
• The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner is responsible for ensuring that appropriate additional procedures and policies are in place to keep personal data accurate and up to date, taking into account the volume of data collected, the speed with which it might change and any other relevant factors.
• On at least an annual basis, the Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner will review the retention dates of all the personal data processed by the Stanners Group by reference to the data inventory, and will identify any data that is no longer required in the context of the registered purpose. This data will be securely deleted/destroyed.
• The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner is responsible for responding to requests for rectification from data subjects within one month (Subject Access Request Procedure GDPR 2.2). This can be extended to a further two months for complex requests. If the Stanners Group decides not to comply with the request, the Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner must respond to the data subject to explain its reasoning and inform them of their right to complain to the supervisory authority and seek judicial remedy.
• The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner is responsible for making appropriate arrangements that, where third-party organisations may have been passed inaccurate or out-of-date personal data, to inform them that the information is inaccurate and/or out of date and is not to be used to inform decisions about the individuals concerned; and for passing any correction to the personal data to the third party where this is required.
Personal data must be kept in a form such that the data subject can be identified only as long as is necessary for processing.
• Where personal data is retained beyond the processing date, it will be [minimised/encrypted/pseudonymised] in order to protect the identity of the data subject in the event of a data breach.
• Personal data will be retained in line with the Retention of Records Procedure (GDPR 2.3) and, once its retention date is passed, it must be securely destroyed as set out in this procedure.
• The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner must specifically approve any data retention that exceeds the retention periods defined in Retention of Records Procedure (GDPR 2.3), and must ensure that the justification is clearly identified and in line with the requirements of the data protection legislation. This approval must be written.
Personal data must be processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security
The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner will carry out a risk assessment taking into account all the circumstances of The Stanners Group’s controlling or processing operations.
In determining appropriateness, the Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner should also consider the extent of possible damage or loss that might be caused to individuals (e.g. staff or customers) if a security breach occurs, the effect of any security breach on The Stanners Group itself, and any likely reputational damage including the possible loss of customer trust.
When assessing appropriate technical and measures, the Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner will consider the following:
• Password protection;
• Automatic locking of idle terminals;
• Removal of access rights for USB and other memory media;
• Virus checking software and firewalls;
• Role-based access rights including those assigned to temporary staff;
• Encryption of devices that leave the organisations premises such as laptops;
• Security of local and wide area networks;
• Privacy enhancing technologies such as pseudonymisation and anonymisation;
• Identifying appropriate international security standards relevant to Stanners Equipment Ltd
When assessing appropriate organisational measures, the Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner will consider the following:
• The appropriate training levels throughout Stanners Equipment Ltd;
• Measures that consider the reliability of employees (such as references etc.);
• The inclusion of data protection in employment contracts;
• Identification of disciplinary action measures for data breaches;
• Monitoring of staff for compliance with relevant security standards;
• Physical access controls to electronic and paper-based records;
• Adoption of a clear desk policy;
• Storing of paper-based data in lockable fire-proof cabinets;
• Restricting the use of portable electronic devices outside of the workplace;
• Restricting the use of employee’s own personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, devices being used in the workplace;
• Adopting clear rules about passwords;
• Making regular backups of personal data, and storing the media off-site;
• The imposition of contractual obligations on the importing organisations to take appropriate security measures when transferring data outside the EEA.
These controls have been selected on the basis of identified risks to personal data, and the potential for damage or distress to individuals whose data is being processed.
Data subjects’ rights
• Data subjects have the following rights regarding data processing, and the data that is recorded about them:
• To make subject access requests regarding the nature of information held and to whom it has been disclosed.
• To prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress.
• To prevent processing for purposes of direct marketing.
• To be informed about the mechanics of automated decision-taking process that will significantly affect them.
• To not have significant decisions that will affect them taken solely by automated process.
• To sue for compensation if they suffer damage by any contravention of the GDPR.
• To take action to rectify, block, erased, including the right to be forgotten, or destroy inaccurate data.
• To request the ICO supervisory authority to assess whether any provision of the GDPR has been contravened.
• To have personal data to be provided to them in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and the right to have that data transmitted to another controller.
• To object to any automated profiling that is occurring without consent.
The Stanners Group ensures that data subjects may exercise these rights:
• Data subjects may make data access requests as described in Subject Access Request Procedure (GDPR 2.2;); this procedure also describes how The Stanners Group will ensure that its response to the data access request complies with the requirements of the GDPR.
Data Subjects have the right to complain to the Stanners Group relating to the processing of their personal data.
Consent
The Stanners Group understands ‘consent’ to mean that it has been explicitly and freely given, and a specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes, by statement, or by a clear
affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her. The data subject can withdraw their consent at any time.
The Stanners Group understands ‘consent’ to mean that the data subject has been fully informed of the intended processing and has signified their agreement, while in a fit state of mind to do so and without
pressure being exerted upon them. Consent obtained under duress or on the basis of misleading information will not be a valid basis for processing.
There must be some active communication between the parties to demonstrate active consent. Consent cannot be inferred from non-response to a communication. The Controller must be able to demonstrate that consent was obtained for the processing operation.
For sensitive data, explicit written consent (Consent Procedure GDPR 2.7) of data subjects must be obtained unless an alternative legitimate basis for processing exists.
In most instances, consent to process personal and sensitive data is obtained routinely by the Stanners Group using standard consent documents e.g. when a new client signs a contract or during induction for participants on programmes.
Where the Stanners Group provides online services to children, parental, or custodial authorisation must be obtained. This requirement applies to children under the age of 13 in UK.
Security of data
All Employees/Staff are responsible for ensuring that any personal data which the Stanners Group holds and for which they are responsible, is kept securely and is not under any conditions disclosed to any third party unless that third party has been specifically authorised by the Stanners Group to receive that information and has entered into a confidentiality agreement.
All personal data should be accessible only to those who need to use it, and access may only be granted in line with authorised Access Control. All personal data should be treated with the highest security and must be kept:
• in a lockable room with controlled access; and/or
• in a locked drawer or filing cabinet; and/or
• if computerised, password protected in line with corporate requirements.
Care must be taken to ensure that PC screens and terminals are not visible except to authorised
Employees/Staff of the Stanners Group. All Employees/Staff are required to enter into an
Acceptable Use Agreement (as in company Handbook) before they are given access to organisational information of any sort, which details rules on screen time-outs.
Manual records may not be left where they can be accessed by unauthorised personnel and may not be
removed from business premises without explicit [written] authorisation. As soon as manual records are
no longer required for day-to-day client support, they must be removed for secure archiving.
Personal data may only be deleted or disposed of in line with the Data Retention of Records Procedure
(GDPR 2.3). Manual records that have reached their retention date are to be shredded and disposed of as ‘confidential ’waste’. Hard drives of redundant PCs are to be removed and immediately destroyed securely.
Processing of personal data ‘off-site’ presents a potentially greater risk of loss, theft or damage to
personal data. Staff must be specifically authorised to process data off-site.
Disclosure of data
The Stanners Group must ensure that personal data is not disclosed to unauthorised third parties which includes family members, friends, government bodies, and in certain circumstances, the Police. All Employees/Staff should exercise caution when asked to disclose personal data held on another individual to a third party. It is important to bear in mind whether or not disclosure of the information is relevant to, and necessary for, the conduct of the business of the Stanners Group.
All requests to provide data must be supported by appropriate paperwork and all such disclosures must be specifically authorised by the Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner.
Retention and disposal of data
Personal
The Stanners Group shall not keep personal data in a form that permits identification of data subjects for longer than necessary, in relation to the purpose(s) for which the data was originally collected.
The Stanners Group may store data for longer periods if the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, subject to the implementation of appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the rights and freedoms of the data subject.
The retention period for each category of personal data will be set out in the Retention of Records Procedure (GDPR 2.3) along with the criteria used to determine this period including any statutory obligations Stanners Equipment Ltd has to retain the data.
The Stanners Groups’ data retention and data disposal procedures will apply in all cases.
Personal data must be disposed of securely in accordance with the sixth principle of the GDPR – processed in an appropriate manner to maintain security, thereby protecting the “rights and freedoms” of data subjects. Any disposal of data will be done securely.
Data Transfers
All exports of data from within the European Economic Area (EEA) to non-European Economic Area countries (referred to in the GDPR as ‘third countries’) are unlawful unless there is an appropriate “level of protection for the fundamental rights of the data subjects”.
An adequacy decision:
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The European Commission can and does assess third countries, a territory and/or specific sectors within third countries to assess whether there is an appropriate level of protection for the rights and freedoms of natural persons. In these instances, no authorisation is required.
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Countries that are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) but not of the EU are accepted as having met the conditions for an adequacy decision.
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A list of countries that currently satisfy the adequacy requirements of the Commission are published in the Official Journal of the European Union. http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/international-transfers/adequacy/index_en.htm
Binding corporate rules;
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The Stanners Group may adopt approved binding corporate rules for the transfer of data outside the EU. This requires submission to the relevant supervisory authority for approval of the rules that The Stanners Group is seeking to rely upon.
Model contract clauses
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The Stanners Group may adopt approved model contract clauses for the transfer of data outside of the EEA. If the Stanners Group adopts the [model contract clauses approved by the relevant supervisory authority] there is an automatic recognition of adequacy.
Information asset register/data inventory
The Stanners Group has established a data inventory and data flow process as part of its approach to address risks and opportunities throughout its GDPR compliance project. The Stanners Group’s data inventory and data flow determines (GDPR 2.4, and GDPR 4.4):
• business processes that use personal data;
• source of personal data;
• volume of data subjects
• description of each item of personal data;
• processing activity;
• maintains the inventory of data categories of personal data processed;
• documents the purpose(s) for which each category of personal data is used;
• recipients, and potential recipients, of the personal data;
• the role of the Stanners Group throughout the data flow;
• key systems and repositories;
• any data transfers; and
• all retention and disposal requirements.
The Stanners Group is aware of any risks associated with the processing of particular types of personal data.
The Stanners Group assesses the level of risk to individuals associated with the processing of their personal data. Data protection impact assessments (DPIAs) (DPIA Procedure GDP 2.4 and GDPR 4.4) are carried out in relation to the processing of personal data by the Stanners Group, and in relation to processing undertaken by other organisations on behalf of the Stanners Group
The Stanners Group shall manage any risks identified by the risk assessment in order to reduce the likelihood of a non-conformance with this policy.
Where a type of processing, in particular using new technologies and taking into account the nature, scope, context and purposes of the processing is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons, the Stanners Group shall, prior to the processing, carry out a DPIA of the impact of the envisaged processing operations on the protection of personal data. A single DPIA may address a set of similar processing operations that present similar high risks.
Where, as a result of a DPIA it is clear that the Stanners Group about to commence processing of personal data that could cause damage and/or distress to the data subjects, the decision as to whether or not the Stanners Group may proceed must be escalated for review to the Data Protection Officer/GDPR Owner.
The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner shall, if there are significant concerns, either as to the potential damage or distress, or the quantity of data concerned, escalate the matter to the supervisory authority.
The Data Protection Officer / GDPR Owner is the owner of this document and is responsible for ensuring that this policy document is reviewed in line with the review requirements stated above.
The Stanners Group - GDPR Policy - Version 01 - GDPR 1.0 - Effective Date:25/5/18