GDPR and Data Protection Policy

Dated: Aug 2023

Statement of Intent

Server Room Environments Ltd (the ‘Company’) is committed to protecting the rights and freedoms of data subjects and to safely and securely processing their data in accordance with all legal obligations in order to provide its clients with our product and services.

The Company holds personal data about our employees, clients, suppliers and other individuals for a variety of business purposes.

This policy sets out the Company’s commitment to ensuring that any personal data, including special category personal data, which the Company processes, is carried out in compliance with data protection law.

The Company ensures that good data protection practice is imbedded in the culture of our staff and our organisation. The Company’s other data protection policies and procedures include:

• record of processing activities
• privacy notices (website, clients, employees)
• personal data breach reporting process and a breach register
• data retention policy
• data subject rights procedure
• data protection impact assessment process
• IT security policies

‘Data Protection Law’ includes the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679; the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and all relevant EU and UK data protection legislation.

Responsibilities for this Policy

The Directors are responsible for the overall implementation of the policy within the Company and for monitoring and reviewing the policy. If you have any concerns or wish to exercise any of your rights under the GDPR please contact the datacontroller@serverroomenvironments.co.uk

Commitments

This policy applies to all personal data processed by Server Room Environments and is part of the Company’s approach to compliance with data protection law. All Company staff are expected to comply with this policy and failure to comply may lead to disciplinary action for misconduct, including dismissal.

Data Protection Principles

Server Room Environments complies with the data protection principles set out below. When processing personal data, the Company ensures that:

• it is processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject (‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’)
• it is collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes (‘purpose limitation’)
• it is all adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed (‘data minimisation’)
• it is all accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date and that reasonable steps will be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay (‘accuracy’)
• it is kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed (‘storage limitation’)
• it is processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures (‘integrity and confidentiality’)

The Company will facilitate any request from a data subject who wishes to exercise their rights under data protection law as appropriate, always communicating in a concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible form and without undue delay.

Process, Procedures and Guidance

Server Room Environments will:

• ensure that the legal basis for processing personal data is identified in advance and that all processing complies with the law
• not do anything with personnel data that an individual would not expect given the content of this policy and the fair processing or privacy notice
• ensure that appropriate privacy notices are in place advising staff and others how and why their data is being processed, and advising data subjects of their rights
• only collect and process the personal data that it needs for purposes it has identified in advance
• ensure that, as far as possible, the personal data it holds is accurate, or a system is in place for ensuring that it is kept up to date as far as possible
• only hold onto personal data for as long as it is needed, after which time it is to be securely erased or deleted
• ensure that appropriate security measures are in place to ensure that personal data can only be accessed by those who need to access it and that it is held and transferred securely

Data Retention

Server Room Environments must retain personal data for no longer than is necessary. What is necessary will depend on the circumstances of each case, considering the reasons that the personal data was obtained, but should be determined in a manner consistent with our data retention guidelines.

The Company will ensure that all staff who handle personal data on its behalf are aware of their responsibilities under this policy and other relevant data protection and information security policies, and that they are adequately trained and supervised.

Breaching this policy may result in disciplinary action for misconduct, including dismissal. Obtaining (including accessing) or disclosing personal data in breach of the Company’s data protection policies may also be a criminal offence.

Data Subject Rights

The Company has processes in place to ensure that it can facilitate any request made by an individual to exercise their rights under data protection law. All staff have received training and are aware of the rights of data subjects. Staff can identify such a request and know who to send it to.

All requests will be considered without undue delay and within one month of receipt as far as possible.

Definitions

Subject access: the right to request information about how personal data is being processed, including whether personal data is bein processed and the right to be allowed access to that data and to be provided with a copy of that data along with the right to obtain the following information:

• the purpose of the processing
• the categories of personal data
• the recipients to whom data has been disclosed or which will be disclosed
• the retention periods
• the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office
• the source of the information if not collected direct from the subject, and the existence of any automated decision making

Rectification: the right to allow a data subject to rectify inaccurate personal data concerning them.

Erasure: the right to have data erased and to have confirmation of erasure, but only where:

• the data is no longer necessary in relation to the purpose for which it was collected
• where consent is withdrawn
• where there is no legal basis for the processing
• there is a legal obligation to delete data

Restriction of Processing: the right to ask for certain processing to be restricted in the following circumstances:

• if the accuracy of the personal data is being contested, or
• if our processing is unlawful but the data subject does not want it erased, or
• if the data is no longer needed for the purpose of the processing but it is required by the data subject for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, or
• if the data subject has objected to the processing, pending verification of that objection

Data portability: the right to receive a copy of personal data which has been provided by the data subject and which is processed by automated means in a format which will allow the individual to transfer the data to another data controller. This would only apply if the Company was processing the data using consent or because of a contract.

Object to processing: the right to object to the processing of personal data relying on the legitimate interests processing condition unless the Company can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

Special Category Personal Data

This includes the following personal data revealing:

• racial or ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• trade union membership
• the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person
• an individual’s health
• a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation
• criminal convictions or offences

The Company processes special category data of clients and third parties as is necessary to provide legal services for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

The Company processes special category data of employees as is necessary to comply with employment and social security law.

This policy sets out the safeguards we believe are appropriate to ensure that the Company complies with the data protection principles set out within this policy.

This policy is reviewed annually by the directors and management team or sooner if appropriate.

For other policies please Integrated Management System page.

Ref: IMS-5.2-GDPR and Data Protection Policy