The Bar Council ("we/us/our") is committed to protecting and
respecting your privacy.
This policy (together with our terms and conditions of
use and any other documents referred to) sets out the
basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you
provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following
carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your
personal data and how we will treat it.
For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998 (the Act), the
data controller is The General Council of the Bar of 289-293 High
Holborn, London WC1V 7HZ.
This Privacy Policy sets out the data processing practices carried
out by us, including through the use of the internet, all websites
operated by us and the Bar Standards Board (BSB), and any other
electronic communications networks such as the Barrister Connect
(together "our Site"). If you have any requests concerning your
personal information or any queries with regard to our personal
data processing practices please contact our Data Protection
Officer at Privacy@BarCouncil.org.uk.
Meeting your needs
We can provide our literature in different formats. If you would
like this information in a different format, please contact us on
020 7242 0082 or email Privacy@BarCouncil.org.uk.
Information collected
We collect personal information from visitors to our Site through
the use of online forms, including, but not limited to, information
about you, which you provide to us through the input areas within
our Site such as the practising certificate renewal form on
Barrister Connect.
We also collect information about you every time you email us with
your details, and we collect additional information automatically
about your visits to our Site.
The information we collect may include: name, postal and email
address, telephone numbers (work, home and mobile), and diversity
monitoring information which we collect for the purposes of
discharging our statutory obligations.
We may collect information about your computer, including where
available your IP address, operating system and browser type, for
system administration and to report aggregate information to our
advertisers. This is statistical data about our users' browsing
actions and patterns, and does not identify any individual.
We may also use and disclose other information in aggregate for
research, marketing and strategic development purposes.
We may also ask you to complete surveys used for research
purposes, which you are not obliged to complete but which will be
completely confidential and analysed anonymously. Data from
research will also be destroyed once it has been analysed and
written up in a report.
If you contact us in any other way (for example by post,
telephone, fax) we may keep a record of that contact.
We may have cause to contact you by letter, telephone, email or
otherwise in relation to the purposes specified in this Privacy
Policy. It is, therefore, of fundamental importance that you ensure
that your records are kept up to date in accordance with the Code
of Conduct, by updating your details via Barrister Connect or by
informing the Records Office at Records@BarCouncil.org.uk
of any change in your circumstances.
By submitting your personal information you consent to us
processing your personal information in accordance with this
Privacy Policy.
Use of personal information
We will use personal information, as provided by you or
appropriately obtained from third parties (including persons duly
authorised by you to provide such information on your behalf), for
the purposes listed below:
- to inform you about developments within, or pertaining to, the
profession in discharging our Representational and Regulatory
functions
- to provide guidance and
advice in relation to both Representational and Regulatory
matters
- for the management and
support of Representational and Regulatory committees (including
enabling our committee members to access papers and post
comments)
- for the investigation of
complaints
- to create and keep updated
the Bar Directory/Legal Hub Online Directory and Barristers'
Register
- to complete authorisation to
practise forms and procedures (including payment of practising
certificate fee)
- to enable persons with
delegated responsibility for your chambers/employer to complete
authorisation to practise forms and procedures on your
behalf
- for applications, such as an
extension of time to complete CPD hours, or QASA (Quality Assurance
Scheme for Advocates) to determine the level to practise
advocacy
- for the administration and
provision of both education and training services and
events
- for the administration of
other events such as the Bar Conference and road shows
- for public relations and
marketing purposes directly relating to the profession
- for the administration of
membership records, including member services, membership card,
Xexec and Counsel magazine subscriptions
- to keep you up to date with
the range of member services, including products and
benefits
- to change mailing preferences
in relation to purposes other than our Representational or
Regulatory functions
- to raise funds for charities
promoting access to justice or pro bono legal
representation
- to update personal data,
including diversity monitoring data for the purposes of satisfying
our statutory duties and meeting our regulatory objectives,
and
- in any other respect that we
may reasonably require in order to carry out Representational and
Regulatory functions or to provide a specific service
requested.
Sensitive personal information
We are committed to ensuring that access to the Bar should be
equally open to all, irrespective of ethnicity, gender, disability,
age, marriage and civil partnership, sexual orientation, gender
reassignment, religion or belief and/or socio-economic background.
In order to achieve this, as well as to fulfil our statutory
equality obligations, we need to monitor the data trends of those
entering the Bar so that we can gain a better understanding of how
people from a range of backgrounds progress in their careers. We
therefore strongly encourage you to submit this information.
We may ask you to submit sensitive personal information, e.g. your
ethnic origin or disability information. This information is
requested to enable us to meet requirements under the Equality Act
2010. By submitting such sensitive personal information to us, you
explicitly consent to the collection and processing of your
sensitive personal information in accordance with this Privacy
Policy. By submitting such sensitive personal information to us,
you agree to us processing such information for the purposes
described.
Use of sensitive personal information
Your sensitive personal information will:
- only be used for the purposes of equal opportunities monitoring
and other legal requirements
- be kept confidential within
the Bar Council and Bar Standards Board and will not be passed to
anyone who deals with any aspect of your relationship with the Bar
Council (for example, in respect of applications for pupillage or
consideration of any complaints against you)
- be destroyed if you are not
Called to the Bar within five years, or if you are disbarred or if
you subsequently request it, and
- not be released in a form
that may result in identification of individuals. Anonymised
analyses may be published on the Bar Council and BSB
websites.
If we alter these stipulated purposes we will notify you and
will destroy your sensitive personal information if you request us
to do so in the light of that.
If you require further information as to why the Bar Council
gathers diversity data from you, please contact the Equality and
Diversity team at the Bar Council on 020 7611 1320 or email EqualOpps@BarCouncil.org.uk.
Storage and security of personal data
We will take all necessary reasonable steps to ensure that your
data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy
Policy. All our employees are personally responsible for
maintaining personal information confidentiality. We provide
education and training to all our staff to remind them about their
obligations. Our policies and procedures are audited and reviewed.
All information that you provide to us is stored on our secure
servers. Any payment transactions will be encrypted (using SSL
technology). 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 Site; 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.
Data Protection accountability
The Bar Council has appointed a Data Protection Officer
responsible for the processing of personal data:
Data Protection Officer
The Bar Council
289-293 High Holborn
London WC1V 7HZ
Privacy@BarCouncil.org.uk
The Bar Council has formally notified the Information
Commissioner's Office (ICO) of its personal data processing. These
details are publicly available via the ICO website (www.ico.gov.uk). Our registration
number is Z6471364.
Use of cookies
We may use cookies on our Site. A cookie is a small piece of
information sent by a web server to a web browser, which enables
the server to collect information from the browser. This small
piece of information will be revealed to us when you visit our
Site. Find out more about the use of cookies on: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/.
We use cookies to identify you when you visit our Site and monitor
your use of our Site, including in order to determine the time of
submission of your application. Other than as stated in this
Privacy Policy we do not use cookies to collect other additional
information about you.
The law about cookies changed in May 2011. Websites must get your
agreement before they set a cookie on your computer or handheld
device. We are working to find the best way to get your agreement
to set cookies without disrupting your experience of our
Site.
In the meantime, you should be aware that most browsers allow you
to turn off cookies or to receive a warning before a cookie is
stored on your hard drive. Please refer to your browser
instructions or help screen to learn more about how to do this.
However, please note that should you decide to disable any cookies
we place on your computer you may not be able to use certain
services or facilities on our Site.
Disclosures and sharing information
We will follow the appropriate legal requirements to ensure that
no third parties see your personal information except as set out in
this Privacy Policy.
Certain Acts of Parliament oblige us to disclose information about
our members to certain bodies with statutory powers. For example,
we may be required to provide information to the Legal Services
Ombudsman and the Office of the Immigration Services
Commissioner.
Your information may also be shared with Specialist Bar
Associations, Circuits and Inns in order to keep their records up
to date and administer your relationship with them.
Sometimes we also need to provide information to external agencies
so that they can provide a particular service for us, such as the
production of the Bar Directory, Bar membership card or Xexec. In
these circumstances we always ensure that the information is safe
and secure, and that the contracted parties abide by the provisions
of applicable data protection laws.
We may contact you by letter, telephone, email or otherwise to
acquaint you with a matter of potential benefit and interest to you
both personally and professionally as a barrister.
Your rights
Marketing
communications
You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for
marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (before collecting
your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes or if we
intend to disclose your information to any third party for such
purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing in
a number of ways including: choosing your initial preferences when
registering via Barrister Connect, changing your chosen preferences
via Barrister Connect, or by using the unsubscribe link at the
bottom of marketing communications you may receive. You can also
opt out of our use of your personal information specifically for
marketing purposes by informing the Records Office by writing to us
at 289-293 High Holborn, London WC1V 7HZ or by emailing Records@BarCouncil.org.uk.
Should you choose to opt out of marketing communications you will
be foregoing the opportunity to find out about a burgeoning range
of opportunities that have been negotiated on behalf of the
profession by the Member Services team.
Access to your
information
The Act affords you the right of access to the personal
information we hold about you and further permits us to charge you
a fee of £10 for providing this service. If you wish to exercise
this right you should submit a subject access request, together
with the fee, to the Bar Council's Data Protection Officer at the
address provided above. If it transpires that any information we
hold is inaccurate or incorrect you should inform us immediately so
that it can be amended.
Internet-based transfers
Given that the internet is a global environment, using the
internet to collect and process personal data necessarily involves
the transmission of data on an international basis. Therefore, by
browsing our Site and communicating electronically with us, you
acknowledge and consent to our processing of personal data in this
way. We will endeavour at all times to protect all personal
information collected through our Site in accordance with
applicable data protection laws.
Telephone calls
We may record telephone conversations to offer you additional
security, resolve complaints and improve our service standards.
Conversations may also be monitored for secretariat staff training
purposes.
Other websites
Our Site may contain links to other websites which are outside our
control and are not covered by this Privacy Policy. If you access
other websites using the links provided, the operators of these
websites may collect information from you which will be used by
them in accordance with their own privacy policies, which may
differ from ours. Therefore, if you use these links to leave our
Site and visit websites operated by third parties, we cannot be
responsible for the protection and privacy of any information that
you provide whilst visiting those websites. Please check these
policies before you submit any personal data to these
websites.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We aim to update our Site regularly, and may change the content at
any time. If the need arises, we may suspend access to our Site, or
close it indefinitely. Any of the material on our Site may be out
of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update
such material.
Review
This Privacy Policy will be kept under review and if amended
notification will be made on the Bar Council and BSB websites and
on Barrister Connect.
Dated: 13 February 2013