How long your personal data will be kept
We will keep your personal data while you have an account with us or 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; and
- to keep records required by law.
We will not keep your personal data for longer than necessary. Different retention periods apply for different types of personal data.
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 share your personal data outside the UK/EEA such as:
- with our offices or other companies within our group located outside the UK/EEA;
- with your and our service providers and/or our affiliated companies located outside the UK/EEA;
- if you are based outside the UK/EEA;
- where there is a European and/or international dimension to the services we are providing to you.
Under data protection law, we can only transfer your personal data to a country or international organisation outside the UK/EEA where:
- the UK government or, where the EU GDPR applies, the European Commission has decided the particular country or international organisation ensures an adequate level of protection of personal data (known as an ‘adequacy decision’);
- there are appropriate safeguards in place, together with enforceable rights and effective legal remedies for data subjects; or
- a specific exception applies under data protection law.
These are explained below.
Adequacy decision
We may transfer your personal data to certain countries, based on an adequacy decision. These include:
- all European Union countries, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (collectively known as the ‘EEA’);
- Gibraltar; and
- Andorra, Argentina, Canada, Faroe Islands, Guernsey, Israel, Isle of Man, Japan, Jersey, New Zealand, Switzerland and Uruguay.
The list of countries that benefit from adequacy decisions will change from time to time. We will always seek to rely on an adequacy decision, where one exists.
Other countries or international organisations we are likely to transfer personal data to do not have the benefit of an adequacy decision. This does not necessarily mean they provide poor protection for personal data, but we must look at alternative grounds for transferring the personal data, such as ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place or relying on an exception, as explained below.
Transfers with appropriate safeguards
Where there is no adequacy decision, we may transfer your personal data to another country or international organisation if we are satisfied the transfer complies with data protection law, appropriate safeguards are in place, and enforceable rights and effective legal remedies are available for data subjects.
The safeguards will usually include using legally-approved standard data protection contract clauses. In relation to transfers to our overseas offices or other companies within our group, the safeguards may instead include legally binding rules and policies that apply to our group (known as binding corporate rules), which have been approved by the UK data protection regulator.
To obtain a copy of the standard data protection contract clauses and further information about relevant safeguards, please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ below).
Transfers under an exception
In the absence of an adequacy decision or appropriate safeguards, we may transfer personal data to a third country or international organisation where an exception applies under relevant data protection law such as:
- you have explicitly consented to the proposed transfer after having been informed of the possible risks;
- the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between us or to take pre-contract measures at your request;
- the transfer is necessary for a contract in your interests, between us and another person; or
- the transfer is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
We may also transfer information for the purpose of our compelling legitimate interests, so long as those interests are not overridden by your interests, rights and freedoms. Specific conditions apply to such transfers, and we will provide relevant information if we seek to transfer your personal data on this ground.
Further information
If you would like further information about data transferred outside the UK/EEA, please contact us (see ‘How to contact us’ below).
Your rights
You have the following rights, which you can exercise free of charge:
