Data Protection Policy

Context and Overview

Introduction

EBL Group needs to gather information about individuals.

These can include customers, suppliers, business contacts, employees and other people the organisation has a relationship with or may need to contact.

This policy describes how this personal data must be collected, handled and stored to meet the company’s data protection standards and to comply with the law.

Why this policy exists

This data protection policy ensures EBL Group:

Complies with data protection law and follow good practice.
Protects the rights of staff, customers and partners.
Is open about how it stores and processes individual’s data.
Protects itself from the risks of a data breach.

Data protection law

The data protection act 1998 describes how organisations including EBL Group must collect, handle and store personal information.

These rules apply regardless of whether data is stored electronically, on paper or on other materials.

To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly – stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully.

The data protection act is underpinned by with important principles. These say that personal data must:

Be processed fairly and lawfully.
Be obtained only for specific, lawful purposes.
Be adequate, relevant and not excessive.
Be accurate and kept up to date.
Not to be held for any longer than necessary.
Processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects.
Be protected in appropriate ways.
Not to be transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA), unless that country or territory also ensures an adequate level of protection.

People, Risks and Responsibilities

Policy Scope

This policy applies to:

The head office of EBL Group
All branches of EBL Group
All staff and volunteers of EBL Group
All contractors, suppliers and other people working on behalf of EBL Group

It applies to all data that the company holds relating to identifiable individuals, even it that information technically falls outside the Data Protection Act 1998. This can include:

Names of individuals
Postal addresses
Email addresses
Telephone numbers
Plus any other information relating to individuals

Data Protection Risks

This policy helps to protect EBL Group from some very real data security risks including:

Breaches of confidentiality, for instance information being given out inappropriately.
Failing to offer choice, for instance all individuals should be free to choose how the company uses data relating to them.
Reputational damage, for instance the company could suffer if hackers successfully gained access to sensitive data.

Responsibilities

Everyone who works for or with EBL Group has some responsibility for ensuring data is collected, stored and handled appropriately.

Each team that handles personal data must ensure that it is handles and processed in line with this policy and data protection principles.

However, these people have key areas of responsibility:

The board of directors is ultimately responsible for ensuring that EBL Group meets it legal obligations.
The Data Protection Officer Shaun Grove is responsible for:

Keeping the board updated about data protection responsibilities, risks and issues.
Reviewing all data protection procedures and related policies in line with an agreed schedule.
Arranging data protection training and advice for people covered by this policy.
Handling data protection questions from staff and anyone else covered by this policy.
Dealing with requests from individuals to see the data EBL Group holds about them (also called “subject access requests”).
Checking and approving any contracts or agreements with third parties that my handle the companies sensitive data.

The IT Manager Michael Nicholson is responsible for:

Ensuring all systems, services and equipment used for storing data meet acceptable security standards.
Performing regular checks and scans to ensure security hardware and software is functioning properly.
Evaluating any third party services the company is considering using to store or process data, for instance cloud computing services.

General Staff Guidelines

The only people able to access data covered by this policy should be those who need it for their work.
Data should be shared formally. When access to confidential information is required, employees can request it from their line managers.
EBL Group will provide training to all employees to help them understand their responsibilities when handling data.
Employees should keep all data secure by taking sensible precautions and following the guidelines below.
In particular strong passwords must be used and they should never be shared.
Personal data should not be disclosed to unauthorised people, either within the company or externally.
Data should be regularly reviewed and updated if it is found to be out of date. If no longer required, it should be deleted and disposed of.
Employees should request help from their line manager or the data protection officer if they are unsure about any aspect of data protection.

Data Storage

These rules describe how and where data should be safely stored. Questions about storing data safely can be directed to the IT Manager or data controller.

When data is stored on paper it should be kept in a secure place where unauthorised people cannot see it.

These guidelines also apply to data that is usually stored electronically but has been printed out for some reason:

When not required, the paper or files should be kept in a locked drawer for filing cabinet.
Employees should make sure paper and printouts are not left where unauthorised people could see them like on a printer.
Data printouts should be shredded and disposed of securely when no longer required.

When data is stored electronically it must be protected from unauthorised access, accidental deletion and malicious hacking attempts:

Data should be protected by strong passwords that are changed regularly and never shared between employees.
If data is stored on removable media (like a CD or DVD) these should be kept locked away securely when not being used.
Data should only be stored on designated drives and servers and should only be uploaded to and approved cloud computing services.
Servers containing personal data should be sited in a secure location away from general office space.
Data should be backed up frequently. Those back-ups should be tested regularly in line with the company’s standard backup procedures.
Data should never be saved directly to laptops or other mobile devices like tablets or smart phones.
All servers and computers containing data should be protected by approved security software and a firewall.

Data Use

Personal data is of no value to EBL Group unless the business can make use of it. However, it is when personal data is accessed and used that it can be at the greatest risk of loss, corruption or theft:

When working with personal data, employees should ensure the screens of their computers are always locked when left unattended.
Personal data should not be shared informally. In particular, it should never be sent by email as this form of communication is not secure.
Data must be encrypted before being transferred electronically. The IT Manager can explain how to send data to authorised external contacts.
Personal data should never be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.
Employees should not save copies of personal data to their own computers. Always access and update the central copy of any data.

Data Accuracy

The law requires EBL Group to take reasonable steps to ensure data is kept accurate and up to date.

The more important it is that the personal data is accurate, the greater the effort EBL Group should put into ensuring its accuracy.

It is the responsibility of all employees who work with data to take reasonable steps to ensure it is kept as accurate and up to date as possible:

Data will be held in as few places as necessary. Staff should not create any unnecessary additional data sets.
Staff should take every opportunity to ensure data is updated. For instance by confirming a customer’s details when they call.
EBL Group will make it easy for data subjects to update the information EBL Group holds about them. For instance via the company website.
Data should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered. For instance is a customer can no longer be reached on their stored number it should be removed from the database.
It is the Marketing Manager’s responsibility to ensure marketing databases are checked against industry suppression files every six months.

Subject Access Requests

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by EBL Group are entitled to:

Ask what information the company holds about them and why.
Ask how to gain access to it.
Be informed how to keep it up to date.
Be informed how the company is meeting its data protection obligations.

If an individual contacts the company requesting this information, this is called a subject access request.

Subject access requests from individuals should be made by email, addressed to the data controller at sgrove@eblgroup.co.uk. The data controller can supply a standard request form, although individuals do not have to use this.

Individuals will be charged £10 per subject access request. The data controller will aim to provide the relevant data within 14 days.

The data controller will always verify the identity of anyone making a subject access request before handing over any information.

Disclosing Data for other reasons

In certain circumstances, the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the data subject.

Under these circumstances EBL Group will disclose requested data. However the data controller will ensure the request is legitimate, seeking assistance from the board and from the company’s legal advisers where necessary.

Providing Information

EBL Group aims to ensure that individuals are aware that their data is being processed and that they understand:

How the data is being used.
How to exercise their rights.

To these ends, the company has a privacy statement setting out how data relating to individuals is used by the company (this is available on request and a version of this statement is also available on the company’s website).

Updated May 2018

All customers and contacts are given the following information when they require our services:-

In order to comply with the upcoming General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) which come into force 25 May 2018, we are required to inform you as to what data we collect and how it is processed and handled once we receive it.

In order to provide our services, we need to collect:

Name, address postcode and telephone contact numbers email address
Company names and addresses
Individual employee names
Contact phone numbers
Email addresses
Credit checks
Third party client customer details

We gather this data from incoming enquiries, ongoing contracts, new clients, suppliers and subcontractors, search engines and credit reference check companies.

This data is processed onto our systems, and periodically backed up on to Company servers. Your information will only be used for the processing of quotations, works undertaking contracts and associated sales documents. We will not transmit your information to other parties unless it is required to fulfil your request for a quotation or to complete a sale or contract works. All data disclosures will only be relevant to the particular requirements of the quotation, sale or contract works. We will never sell your information third parties.

On completion of quotations/contracts/sales orders we will hold the digital and physical files on record as required by the relevant contracts, which may be up to 12 years. These are stored on secure servers and in secure on-site archive store.

Any information passed to third parties, will only be as necessary to complete the specific tender, quotation or sales order. This information will be handled in accordance with the guidelines of the GDPR and again will only be relevant to the requirements of providing our services.

Date 9th May 2019
Revision 9th May 2020
Version 2
Person responsible for Policy Michelle Buckley
Office Manager for EBL Group