Berkeley Catering Privacy Policy

Introduction

Berkeley Catering need to gather and use certain information about individuals. These can include clients, suppliers, business contacts, staff and other people the organisation has a relationship with. This policy describes how personal data must be collected, handled and stored to comply with the new GDPR directive.

Why This Policy Exists

This GDPR policy ensures:

We comply with the new GDPR regulations and follows good practice.
We protect the rights of staff, clients and directors.
Are open about how we store and process individual and company data.
Protect ourselves from the risks of a data breach.

Data Protection Act (DPA)

TThe DPA 1998 describes how organisations must collect, handle and store personal information. These rules apply regardless of whether data is stored electronically, on paper or on other materials. To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully.

The DPA is underpinned by eight important principles. These say that personal data must:

Be processed fairly and lawfully.
Be obtained only for specific, lawful purposes.
Be adequate, relevant and not excessive.
Be accurate and kept up to date.
Not held for any longer than necessary.
Be processed in accordance with the rights of data subjects.
Be protected in appropriate ways.
Not be transferred outside the European Economic Area (EEA) unless that country or territory also ensures an adequate level of protection.

People, Risks and Responsibilities

Policy Scope:

The office, branches, staff and volunteers of the company.
All contractors, suppliers, and other people working on behalf of the companies.

It applies to all data that the companies hold relating to identifiable individuals, even if that information technically falls outside of the Data Protection Act 1998.

This can include:

Names of individuals.
Postal addresses.
Email addresses.
Telephone numbers.
Any other information relating to individuals.

Data Protection Risks

This policy helps to protect the companies from some very real data security risks, including:

Breaches of confidentiality; for instance; information being given out inappropriately.
Failing to offer choice – for instance all individuals should be free to choose how the company uses data relating to them.
Reputational damage – for instance, the companies could suffer if hackers successfully gained access to sensitive data.

Responsibilities

Everyone who works for or with the companies have some responsibility for ensuring data is collected, stored and handled appropriately.

Each person that handles personal data must ensure that it is handled and processed in line with this policy and data protection principles. The directors are ultimately responsible for ensuring that the companies meet their legal obligations.

The Data Protection Officers (Amit Patel & Sheriff Animashaun), are responsible for:

Keeping updated about data protection responsibilities, risks and issues.
Reviewing all data protection procedures and related policies, in line with an agreed schedule.
Arranging data protection training and advice for the people covered by this policy.
Handling data protection questions from staff and anyone else covered by this policy.
Dealing with requests from individuals to see the data the companies hold (also called “subjects access requests”).
Checking and approving any contractors or agreements with third parties that may handle the company’s sensitive data.

The IT representative, (Matthew Bell) is responsible for:

Ensuring all systems, services and equipment used for storing data meet acceptable security standards.
Performing regular checks and scans to ensure security hardware and software is functioning properly.
Evaluating any third-party services, the companies are considering using to store or process data.

The client liaison and communications representative, (Chris Parkman) is responsible for:

Approving any data protection statements attached to communications such as emails and letters.
Addressing any data protection queries from journalists or media outlets like newspapers.
Where necessary, working with other staff to ensure marketing initiatives abide by data protection principles.

General Staff Guidelines

The only people able to access data covered by this policy should be those who need it for their work.
Data should not be shared informally. When access to confidential information is required, staff can request it from their line manager.
The company will provide training to all staff to help them understand their responsibilities when handling data.
Staff should keep all data secure, by taking sensible precautions and following the guidelines below.
In particular, strong passwords must be used and they should never be shared.
Personal data should not be disclosed to unauthorised people, either within the company or externally.
Data should be regularly reviewed and updated if it is found to be out of date. If no longer required, it should be deleted and disposed of.
Staff should request help from their line manager or the data protection officer if they are unsure about any aspect of data protection.

Data Storage

These rules describe how and where data should be safely stored. Questions about storing data safely can be directed to the IT representative.

When data is stored on paper, it should be kept in a secure place where unauthorised people cannot see it.

These guidelines also apply to data that is usually stored electronically but has been printed out for some reason:

When not required, the paper or files should be kept in a locked drawer or filing cabinet.
Staff should make sure paper and printouts are not left where unauthorised people can see them, like on a printer. Data printouts should be shredded and disposed of securely when no longer required.
When data is stored electronically, it must be protected from unauthorised access, accidental deletion and malicious hacking attempts.
Data should be protected by strong passwords that are changed regularly and never shared between employees.
If data is stored on removable media (like a CD or DVD), these should be kept locked away securely when not being used.
Data should only be stored on designated drives and servers and should only be uploaded to an approved cloud computing service.
Servers containing personal data should be sited in a secure location, away from general office space.
Data should be backed up frequently. Those backups should be tested regularly, in line with the companies standard backup procedures.
Data should never be saved directly to laptops or other mobile devices like tablets or smartphones.
All servers and computers containing data should be protected by approved security software and a firewall.

Data Use

Personal data is of no value unless the business can make use of it. However, it is when personal data is accessed and used that it can be at the greatest risk of loss, corruption or theft:

When working with personal data, staff should ensure the screens of their computers are always locked when left unattended.
Personal data should not be shared informally. In particular, it should never be sent by email, as this form of communication is not secure.
Data must be encrypted before being transferred electronically. The IT manager can explain how to send data to authorised external contacts.
Personal data should never be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.
Staff should not save copies of personal data to their own computers. Always access and update the central copy of any data.

Data Accuracy

The law requires the companies to take reasonable steps to ensure data is kept accurate and up to date.

The more important it is that the personal data is accurate, the greater the effort the companies should put into ensuring its accuracy.

It is the responsibility of staff who work with data to take reasonable steps to ensure it is kept as accurate and up to date as possible.

Data will be held in as few places as necessary. Staff should not create any unnecessary additional data sets.
Staff should take every opportunity to ensure data is updated. For instance, by confirming a customer’s details when they call.
The companies will make it easy for data subjects to update the information it holds about them. For instance, via the company website.
Data should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered. For instance, if a customer can no longer be reached on their stored telephone number, it should be removed from the database.
It is the communication representative’s responsibility to ensure marketing databases are checked against industry suppression files every six months.

Subject Access Requests

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by the companies are entitled to:

Ask what information the companies hold about them and why.
Ask how to gain access to it.
Be informed how to keep it up to date.
Be informed how the companies are meeting their data protection obligations.

If an individual contacts the company requesting this information, this is called a subject access request.

Subject access requests from individuals should be made by email, addressed to the data controller at amit@berkeleycatering.co.uk. The data controller can supply a standard request form, although individuals do not have to use this.

Individuals will be charged £10 per subject access request. The data controller will aim to provide the relevant data within 14 days. The data controller will always verify the identity of anyone making a subject access request before handing over any information.

Disclosing Data for Other Reasons

In certain circumstances, the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the data subject.

Under these circumstances, the company will disclose the requested data. However, the data controller will ensure the request is legitimate, seeking assistance from the board and from the companies’ legal advisers where necessary.

Providing Information The company aims to ensure that individuals are aware that their data is being processed, and that they understand:

How the data is being used.

How to exercise their rights.

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