Version 1.1, July 2026. This policy replaces version 1.0, published in August 2021.
We take your privacy very seriously. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal data. It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.
We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal data about you. When we do so we are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). We are also subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) in relation to services we offer to individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Key terms
It would be helpful to start by explaining some key terms used in this policy:
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We, us, our |
WE Solicitors LLP |
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Our data protection officer |
Janine McMahon |
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Personal data |
Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual |
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Special category personal data |
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Data subject |
The individual who the personal data relates to |
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You, Your |
Our clients and individuals associated with them, contacts, suppliers and any individuals whose personal data we receive in the course of providing our services |
Personal data we collect about you
The table below sets out the personal data we will or may collect in the course of providing legal services. This may include special category personal data.
| Personal data we will collect | Personal data we may collect depending on why you have instructed us |
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The main purpose for collecting and using this personal data is to provide legal services. If you do not provide personal data we ask for, it may delay or prevent us from providing those services.
How your personal data is collected
We collect most of this information from you, direct. However, we may also collect information:
- from publicly accessible sources, eg Companies House or HM Land Registry;
- directly from a third party, eg:
- sanctions screening providers;
- credit reference agencies;
- client due diligence providers;
- from a third party with your consent, eg:
- your bank or building society, another financial institution or advisor;
- consultants and other professionals we may engage in relation to your matter;
- your employer and/or trade union, professional body, or pension administrators;
- your doctors, medical and occupational health professionals;
- via our website. We use cookies on our website (for more information on cookies, please see our cookie policy);
- via our information technology (IT) systems, eg:
- via our case management, document management and time recording systems;
- from door entry systems and reception logs;
- through automated monitoring of our websites and other technical systems, such as our computer networks and connections, CCTV and access control systems, communications systems, email, and instant messaging systems;
How and why we use personal data
Under data protection law, we can only use personal data if we have a proper reason, eg:
- where you have given consent (which you can withdraw at any time);
- to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
- for the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract; or
- for our legitimate interests or those of a third party.
- for the purposes of a recognised legitimate interest under UK data protection law
A recognised legitimate interest is a pre-approved public-interest purpose for processing personal data, eg detecting, investigating or preventing crime
A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use personal data, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests. We will carry out an assessment when relying on legitimate interests, to balance our interests against your own.
You have the right to object to processing based on a recognised legitimate interest or a legitimate interest. We must then stop the processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds which override your interests, rights and freedoms or the processing is required to establish, exercise or defend legal claims
The table below explains what we use your personal data for and why:
| What we use personal data for | Our reasons |
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Providing legal services to our clients |
To perform our contract with you or to take steps at our client’s request before entering into a contract |
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Preventing and detecting fraud (or other crimes) against you or us |
Depending on the circumstances:
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To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
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Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries, or investigations by regulatory bodies |
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
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Ensuring business policies are adhered to, eg policies covering security and internet use |
For our legitimate interests ie to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can deliver the best service to you |
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Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training, and quality control |
For our legitimate interests ie to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service to you at the best price |
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Ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information |
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Statistical analysis to help us manage our practice, eg in relation to our financial performance, client base, work type or other efficiency measures |
For our legitimate interests ie to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service to you at the best price |
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Preventing unauthorised access and modifications to systems |
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Updating and enhancing client records |
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To check whether there is any conflict of interest between us and you and/or between you and another client. |
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
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To deal with complaints and/or claims |
Depending on the circumstances:
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Statutory returns |
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
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Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments |
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Marketing our services to:
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For our legitimate interests, ie to promote our business to existing and former clients |
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Credit reference checks via external credit reference agencies |
For our legitimate interests, ie for credit control and to ensure our clients are likely to be able to pay for our services |
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External audits and quality checks, eg for Lexcel, ISO or Investors in People accreditation and the audit of our accounts |
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Voluntarily sharing relevant personal data with public authorities, regulators or other bodies exercising official functions in response to written requests where we consider disclosure is necessary and appropriate |
For a recognised legitimate interest, namely, to respond to a request from another organisation that needs the personal data for the purposes of carrying out its task in the public interest or exercising its official authority |
Where we process special category personal data, we will also ensure we are permitted to do so under data protection laws, eg:
- we have your explicit consent (which you can withdraw at any time)
- the processing is necessary to protect your (or someone else’s) vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent; or
- the processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims. This includes using special category personal data, where necessary, for:
- actual or prospective court proceedings;
- obtaining legal advice; or
- establishing, exercising, or defending legal rights in any other way.
Marketing
We may use your personal data to send you updates (by email, text message, telephone, or post) about legal developments that might be of interest to you and/or information about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions, or new services
We have a legitimate interest in using your personal data for promotional purposes (see above ‘How and why we use your personal data’). This means we do not usually need your consent to send you marketing information. However, where consent is needed, we will ask for this consent separately and clearly.
You have the right to opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by:
- contacting us at info@wesolicitors.law;
- using the ‘unsubscribe’ link in emails or ‘STOP’ number in texts; or
- updating your marketing preferences on our website.
We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you ask us to provide further services in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.
We will always treat your personal data with the utmost respect and never sell or share it with other firms for marketing purposes.
Who we share your personal data with?
We routinely share personal data with:
- professional advisers who we instruct on your behalf or refer you to, eg barristers, medical professionals, accountants, tax advisors or other experts;
- other third parties where necessary to carry out your instructions, eg your mortgage provider or HM Land Registry in the case of a property transaction or Companies House;
- companies providing services for money laundering checks and other crime prevention purposes and companies providing similar services, including financial institutions and credit reference agencies;
- third parties approved by you, eg social media sites you choose to link your account to or third-party payment providers, credit reference agencies;
- our insurers and brokers;
- external auditors, eg in relation to ISO or Lexcel accreditation and the audit of our accounts; compliance consultants, insurers and regulators, where access to your personal data or file is reasonably necessary for quality assurance, regulatory compliance, risk management, accreditation, audit or professional standards purposes
- our banks;
- external service suppliers, representatives, and agents that we use to make our business more efficient, eg typing services, marketing agencies, document collation or analysis suppliers;
We only allow the above individuals or organisations to handle your personal data if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your personal data. Any such person or organisation will be subject to appropriate duties of confidentiality and data protection obligations. We also impose contractual obligations on service providers relating to ensure they can only use your personal data to provide services to us and to you.
We may also need to:
- share personal data with external auditors, eg in relation to ISO/Lexcel accreditation and the audit of our accounts;
- disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
- share some personal data with other parties, such as potential buyers of some or all of our business or during a restructuring. Usually, information will be anonymised, but this may not always be possible, however, the recipient of the information will be bound by confidentiality obligations.
If you would like more information about who we share our data with and why, please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ below).
Where your personal data is held
Personal data may be held at our offices and those of our third-party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents as described above (see ‘Who we share your personal data with’).
Some of these third parties may be based outside the European Economic Area. For more information, including on how we safeguard your personal data when this occurs, see below: ‘Transferring your personal data out of the UK and EEA’.
How long your personal data will be kept
We will keep your personal data while we are providing services to you. Thereafter, we will keep your personal data for as long as is necessary:
- to respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
- to show that we treated you fairly;
- to keep records required by law
We will not keep your data for longer than necessary. As a general rule, we will keep your personal data for at least 6 years from the conclusion of your matter, in case you, or we, need to bring or defend any complaints or claims.
Different retention periods apply for different types of data. Further details on this are available in our Records Management Policy which is available upon request.
When it is no longer necessary to keep your personal data, we will delete or anonymise it.
Transferring your personal data out of the UK and EEA
To deliver services to you, it is sometimes necessary for us to transfer your personal data to countries outside the UK. This may include countries which do not provide the same level of protection of personal data as the UK.
We will transfer your personal data outside the UK only where:
- the UK government has decided the recipient country ensures an adequate level of protection of personal data (known as an adequacy decision); or
- there are appropriate safeguards in place (eg standard contractual data protection clauses published or approved by the relevant data protection regulator), together with enforceable rights and effective legal remedies for you; or
- a specific exception applies under data protection law.
You can contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ below) if you would like a list of countries benefiting from a UK or European adequacy decision or for any other information about protection of personal data when it is transferred abroad.
Further information
If you would like further information about data transferred outside the UK/EEA, please contact our Data Protection Officer (see ‘How to contact us’ below).
Your rights
You have the following rights, which you can exercise free of charge:
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Access |
You have the right to ask for a copy of your personal data |
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Rectification |
You have the right to ask us to correct any mistakes in your personal data |
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Erasure (also known as the right to be forgotten) |
You have the right to ask us to delete your personal data in certain situations |
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Restriction of processing |
You have the right to ask us to restrict processing of your personal data in certain situations, eg if you contest the accuracy of the data |
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Data portability |
You have the right to ask us to transfer the personal data you gave us to another organisation or to you in certain situations |
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To object |
You have the right to object:
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Rights in respect of automated decision making |
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Right to withdraw consent |
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For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ below) or see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.
If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please:
- complete a data subject request form, available on request from info@wesolicitors.law; or
- email, call or write to us, see below: ‘How to contact us’; and
- provide enough information to identify yourself (eg your full name, address and client or matter reference number) and any additional identity information we may reasonably request from you;
- let us know what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates.
Keeping your personal data secure
We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We continually test our systems and are ISO 27001 certified, which means we follow top industry standards for information security.
We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
If you want detailed information from Get Safe Online on how to protect your information and your computers and devices against fraud, identity theft, viruses, and many other online problems, please visit www.getsafeonline.org. Get Safe Online is supported by HM Government and leading businesses.
How to complain
We acknowledge that we may not always get things right, so if something has gone wrong, we need you to tell us. You have the right to make a complaint to us and our complaints procedure can be found at wesolicitorslaw.com/complaints-procedure. We hope we will be able to resolve any issues you may have.
Please contact us if you have any query or concern about our use of your information (see below ‘How to contact us’). We hope we will be able to resolve any issues you may have.
You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner (the UK’s Data Protection Regulator) or any relevant European data protection supervisory authority. The Information Commissioner may be contacted at:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
Changes to this privacy policy
This privacy policy was published in August 2021 and last updated in July 2026
We may change this privacy policy from time to time when we do we will inform you in writing.
How to contact us
Individuals in the UK
You can contact us and/or our Data Protection Officer by post, email, or telephone if you have any questions about this privacy policy or the information we hold about you, to exercise a right under data protection law or to make a complaint.
Our contact details are shown below:
WE Solicitors LLPRam Mill Business Centre
Gordon Street
Oldham
Lancashire
OL9 9RH
Tel: 0333 200 4232
Email: info@wesolicitors.law
Individuals in the EEA
Individuals within the EEA can also contact us direct (see above)
Do you need extra help?
If you would like this policy in another format (for example audio, large print, braille) please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ above).
