This privacy notice explains how we use any personal information we collect from you.
Information we collect from you:
We collect information about you when you engage us for accounting services so that we can provide the most appropriate strategy and needs for your circumstances. This information will relate to your personal and financial circumstances.
Why we need to collect and use your personal data:
The primary legal basis that we intend to use for the processing of your data is for the performance of our contract with you. The information we collect about you is essential for us to be able to carry out services for you in an effective manner. Without collecting your personal data, we would not be able to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations. Where special category information is required we will obtain your explicit consent to collect and process this information.
How we use the information about you:
We only collect the information about you to provide you with the services for which you engage us.
Who might we share your information with:
We will NOT share your information outside Opus for marketing purposes, neither will we market to you.
To be efficient and effective we may send your details to third parties, such as those that we engage for professional compliance or legal services as well as product and platform providers that we use to arrange financial products for you.
Where third parties are involved in processing your data we will have a contract in place with them to ensure that the nature and purpose of the processing is clear, that they are subject to a duty of confidence in processing your data and that they will only act in accordance with our written instructions.
Where it is necessary for personal data to be forwarded to a third party we will use appropriate security measures to protect your personal data in transit. For awareness, to enhance the security of the data during transfer all devices are data encrypted and all devices are secured as per industry guidelines.
To fulfil our obligations in respect of prevention of money laundering and other financial crime we send details to third party agencies for identity verification purposes.
How long we keep hold of your information:
We will retain personal data which is necessary to provide services to you and we will take all reasonable steps to keep your personal data up to date through regular reviews and ongoing discussions.
We are also subject to regulatory requirements to retain your data for specified minimum periods, which is generally seven years unless you specifically request for information to be kept longer.
Company statutory records will be retained for the life time of the company.
These are minimum periods, during which we have a legal obligation to retain your records.
We reserve the right to retain data for longer where we believe it is in our legitimate interest to do so. In any case, we will not retain your personal data for longer than seven years after our relationship with you has ended.
You have the right to request deletion of your personal data. We will comply with this request, subject to the restrictions of our regulatory obligations and legitimate interests as noted above.
How you can access the information we hold about you:
You have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you. If you would like a copy of some or all of your personal information, please email or write to us. When your personal data is processed by automated means you have the right to ask us to move your personal data to another organisation for their use.
We have an obligation to ensure that your personal information is accurate and up to date. Please ask us to correct or remove any information that you think is incorrect.
If you are unhappy with how your personal data is processed, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority for data protection. The UK address for this is:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate)
Renewing your consent
In some circumstances you may need to give us your specific consent to process your data, this is so we can continue to fulfil our role for you and only share relevant information with your appointed professional advisors and companies that we recommend for you. If we need sensitive information we will always obtain your consent before proceeding. Although you may have previously given consent when you signed a client agreement for our services, we will obtain consent if required when we next meet.