Privacy Notice & Data Protection Policy

Introduction

The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) sets out the data protection framework in the UK and incorporates the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation, ‘GDPR’) into the national law. Its purpose is to protect the “rights and freedoms” of Data Subjects (living individuals), and to ensure that personal data is not processed without the data subject’s knowledge, or consent. It also ensures that personal data is not retained for longer than reasonable and is disposed of in an appropriate way.

Fenn Wright LLP’s Privacy Policy covers the way in which we use and disclose personal information from Data Subjects (customers, applicants, employees, job applicants). Personal information includes any information that identifies the Data Subject, such as name, address, email address, internet protocol address or telephone number.

Under the DPA 2018 and GDPR, Fenn Wright LLP is defined as the Data Controller and therefore has a legal duty to protect any information we collect. We use appropriate technologies to safeguard data subjects’ details and keep to strict security standards to prevent unauthorised access to it.

Fenn Wright LLP is a leading independent property agency and provides services such as, residential and commercial property sales and lettings, property management, and professional services such as surveying, valuation and development.

We recognise that your privacy is very important, so we want you to be confident with the way Fenn Wright LLP and any of its businesses, or applicable Third Parties, handle your personal information. We have outlined below, how Fenn Wright LLP collects, uses, discloses, and protects this information.

Cookies and website tracking

We use cookies on our website and similar technologies to enhance user experience and analyse website usage.  We use strictly necessary cookies which are essential for operation, analytics cookies (ie Google Analytics/GA4) and preference cookies.  Where required, we obtain your consent before placing non-essential cookies via a cookie banner.

Emails

Any email sent to us, including any attachments, may be monitored, and used by us for reasons of security and for monitoring compliance with our office policy. Email monitoring or blocking software may also be used. Please be aware that you have a responsibility to ensure that any email you send to us is within the bounds of the law. We cannot take responsibility for ensuring the safe passage of emails sent to us.

Marketing Communications

We may send marketing communications where you have given consent, or we have a legitimate interest (ie property alerts).  You can opt out of these any time by clicking unsubscribe on emails or contacting us directly.

Our clients’ views

We want your feedback on the service you received as this helps us to address any areas of improvement and motivate our teams. We collect feedback from our customers on Google, Yell and our own website and may use these to support our marketing activities.

Further disclosure

We may, on occasion, pass your personal information to third parties exclusively to process work on our behalf; for example, maintenance contractor, professional photographer or reference agency. We always require these parties to agree to process this information based on our instructions and requirements consistent with this Privacy Notice and GDPR.

Retention Policy

To ensure we can meet our legal, regulatory and customer obligations, we will retain client information for the following periods:

  • Any enquirer with whom we only have limited interaction with, 90 days.
  • Any applicant registering to find a residential or commercial property for sale or rent, 9 months. This includes details of any job applicants.
  • Sellers, Buyers, Landlords and Tenants who complete on a property transaction, we will hold records for 7 years after the end of the contract
  • Any survey information gathered from enquirers or clients, 18 months.
  • Contractors and third-party suppliers, 7 years.

Data location

We use services and/or suppliers who operate within the UK and while their parent company may be based overseas, we require all to fully comply with Data Protection Regulations to ensure a continuously high level of data protection.

Your rights as a data subject

At any point whilst Fenn Wright LLP is in possession of or processing your personal data, all data subjects have the following rights:

  • Right of access – you have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you
  • Right of rectification – you have a right to correct data that we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete
  • Right to be forgotten – in certain circumstances you can ask for the data we hold about you to be erased from our records
  • Right to restriction of processing – where certain conditions apply you have a right to restrict the processing
  • Right of portability – you have the right to have the data we hold about you transferred to another organisation
  • Right to object – you have the right to object to certain types of processing such as direct marketing
  • Right to object to automated processing, including profiling – you also have the right not to be subject to the legal effects of automated processing or profiling

In the event we refuse your request under rights of access, we will provide you with a reason as to why, which you have the right to legally challenge. At your request we will confirm what information we hold about you and how it is processed.

Subject Access Request (SAR)

You have the right to access your personal information (subject to certain exemptions). If you wish to find out what information we hold that relates to you, you must make your request in writing to:

Data Protection Officer, Fenn Wright LLP, 1 Tollgate East, Stanway, Colchester, Essex, CO3 8RQ.

How to contact us

This privacy notice does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of the collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. If you have any questions or complaints, please write to the Data Protection Officer at the Head Office address.

What if I am still not satisfied?

If you are not satisfied with how Fenn Wright LLP has responded to your enquiry, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), who is the regulator for data protection in the United Kingdom.

We welcome your views about our website and our Privacy Notice. If you would like to contact us with any queries or comments please send an e-mail to [email protected] or write to us at Web Administration, Fenn Wright, 1 Tollgate East, Stanway, Colchester, Essex CO3 8RQ.  Our complaints handling procedure is available from your local branch.