1. Introduction

Mensis – Our Commitment to Client Privacy

We have recently reviewed and updated our Privacy Notice because trust is important to us.  This is a brief explanation about how we collect, store and handle personal client data.

Why do we collect personal data?
We want to give our clients the best possible service experience with Mensis, it’s that simple.  For example, the data we collect about our clients helps us process services such as self assessment, and for their employees, services such as monthly payroll.

How we collect client data
We do this in a number of ways including our clients sharing information with us.  Such as when a client sends us identity documents or payroll information.  We treat all data with the utmost care and take appropriate steps to protect it.

When we share client data
We only share client data with third parties if we have a statutory duty to do so.  For example, providing information to HMRC for tax purposes.  We do not under any circumstances share your data with third parties for marketing, business development or any other purpose.  We simply don’t do it.

Client Rights
Clients have many rights regarding personal data.  These include knowing what data we hold about them and also having the opportunity to have data updated.  You may wish to find out more about our policy by taking a look at the detailed Privacy Notice on our website.

2. Mensis Privacy Policy

We are committed to protecting your personal data in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

We process personal data for several purposes and the means of collection, lawful basis of processing, use, disclosure, and retention periods for each purpose may differ.

Our policy is to collect only the personal data necessary for agreed purposes and we ask clients to only share personal data where it is strictly needed for those purposes.  We collect personal data from our clients or from third parties acting on the instructions of the relevant client.

We process personal data to provide professional services such as tax advice, general or specific business advice as part of the range of services we offer.  We also process personal data in the administration and management of our business.

Your business contact details are used to provide you with information about our services and other information which we think will be of interest to you, unless you tell us not to.

We are subject to legal, regulatory and professional obligations.  We need to keep certain records to demonstrate that our services are provided in compliance with those obligations and those records may contain personal data.

Personal data processed is kept by us for as long as is considered necessary for the purpose for which it was collected (including as required by applicable law or regulation).  In the absence of specific legal, regulatory or contractual requirements, our retention policy period for records and other documentary evidence created in the provision of services is 7 years.

We take the security of your data we hold seriously.  We have a policy including procedures and training in place covering data protection, confidentiality and security and regularly review the appropriateness of the measures we have in place to keep the data we hold secure.

We will only share personal data with others when we are legally permitted to do so.  When we share data with others, we put contractual arrangements and security mechanisms in place to protect your data. We use third parties located in other countries to help us run our business.  As a result, personal data may be transferred outside the countries where we and our clients are located.  This includes countries outside the European Union (“EU”).

3. Individual Rights

Under the DPA (2018) and GDPR, Individuals have certain rights over their personal data and data controllers are responsible for fulfilling these rights.

Access to data

You have a right to access your personal data held by us and you can exercise that right by contacting us below.  Our aim is to respond a request promptly and within the legally required limit of 30 days.

Update of personal data

If you wish to update personal data submitted to us, please contact us with details of the changes you wish to make.  Once we are informed that any personal data held by us is no longer accurate we will make changes based on your updated information.

Withdrawal of consent

Where we hold data based on consent, individuals have a right to withdraw consent at any time.  To withdraw consent to our processing of your personal data please contact us.

Other rights

This statement is intended to provide information about what personal data we collect about you and how it is used.  As well as rights of access and amendment referred to above, individuals may have other rights in relation to the personal data we hold, such as a right to erasure/deletion, to restrict or object to our processing of personal data and the right to data portability.  For further information on these rights please contact us.

Complaints

If you do want to complain about our use of your personal data, please contact us below with the details of your complaint.  You also have the right to register a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”).

For further information on your rights and how to complain to the ICO, please refer to their website:

https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

4. Contact Us

If you have any questions about our privacy policy and notice or how and why we process personal data, please contact our registered Data Protection Officer:

Name:  Keith Sheppard

Address:  Mensis Accountants, 8 The Plain, Thornbury, Bristol, BS35 2AG

Email:  info@mensis.co.uk

Telephone:  01454 417 300