GLAS Privacy
The Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2017 (the "Data Protection Law") requires us to provide certain information to you about the personal information we hold to carry out our work and what we do with it.
The Guernsey Legal Aid Service ("We, "Us", "Our")is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This statement applies to all personal data collected by the Guernsey Legal Aid Service except that relating to recruitment.
We use Your information strictly in accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of personal information and You can be assured that any information provided will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. In it We explain:
· Who We are and what We do;
· What information We may collect about you and when;
· How We might use your information;
· How We protect your information; and
· Your choices regarding the information you provide.
WHO ARE WE WHAT DO WE DO?
We are the Guernsey Legal Aid Service, Edward T Wheadon House, Le Truchot, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 3WH.
We administer the Legal Aid Schemes to provide legal assistance throughout the Bailiwick of Guernsey to those persons who might otherwise be unable to obtain that assistance on account of their means.
WHAT INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND WHY?
The purpose of the Guernsey Legal Aid Service collecting and processing the personal data which You have provided is to facilitate the provision of legal aid under the various Legal Aid Schemes.
In terms of the lawful basis used in processing your personal data, the processing is necessary for the controller to exercise any right or power, or perform or comply with any duty, conferred or imposed on the controller by an enactment such as The Legal Aid (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law, 2003 and The Legal Aid (Guernsey and Alderney) (Schemes and Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance, 2018.
Specifically, We will use this personal data in the following ways:
· In processing Your application for Legal Aid, deciding whether You are eligible for legal aid and whether You are required to make a contribution towards the cost of Your legal representation.
· In collating and producing statistics and information on Our processes to enable Us to improve Our processes and to assist Us in carrying out Our functions and to fulfil any reporting obligations (statutory or otherwise) arising from the administration of the Legal Aid Schemes.
Were the Guernsey Legal Aid Service unable to collect this personal information, We would not be able to conduct the above activities, which would prevent Us from being able to facilitate the provision of legal aid.
Personal data is any information about You. It can be your name, address or telephone number. It can also include information such as that relating to Your financial situation and information relating to any current of previous legal proceedings which You are involved in.
Other Special Category data such as the nature of the criminal proceedings may be processed.
WHO DO WE GIVE THE INFORMATION TO?
We will keep all personal information which is not publicly available confidential unless:
· You have authorised the disclosure of that information;
· We are required to disclose it for the purposes of any legal or regulatory requirement binding on Us (including fraud prevention); and/or
· We consider that such disclosure is necessary in order to defend against any claim threatened or brought against Us by any person.
We sometimes need to share the personal information we process with other organisations. When this is necessary, We will comply with all aspects of the relevant data protection laws. The organisations We may share your personal information with include:
· The Committee for Employment and Social Security, Benefit Agencies in other jurisdictions, the Sark Procureur of the Poor and Sark Treasurer, Guernsey Prison, the Juvenile, Magistrates and Royal Courts of Guernsey, the Alderney Court, the Court of the Seneschal of Sark, the Office of the Children's Convenor, the Family Proceedings Advisory Service, the Law Officers of the Crown, the Legal Aid Commissioner, the Costs Judge and Costs Draftsman.
We may also share your information with our trusted service providers (i.e. our IT supplier) who are authorised to act of our behalf but We will only do so when it is necessary to allow us to provide Our services to you.
HOW DO WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION AND LONG DO WE HOLD IT?
We take appropriate measures to ensure that any personal data are kept secure and are kept for the duration of Your use of our service. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although We do our best to protect Your personal data, We cannot guarantee the security of Your data when transmitted to Our site; any transmission is at Your own risk. Once We have received Your information, We will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.
To safeguard against unauthorised access to personal information, all electronic personal information held by Us is maintained on systems protected by secure network architectures that contain firewalls and intrusion-detection devices. The servers holding personal information are "backed up" on a regular basis in an effort to avoid any inadvertent erasure or destruction of such personal information and are stored in facilities with appropriate security and fire-detection and response systems.
Your information is only accessible by those who need access to it and they are required to keep the information secure and confidential.
WHAT CAN YOU DO IF YOU ARE UNHAPPY WITH THE WAY WE PROCESS YOUR INFORMATION?
One of the key objectives of the Data Protection Law is to protect and strengthen the rights of individuals in how their personal information is used. The Data Protection Law gives individuals these rights:
1. The right to be informed
2. The right of access
3. The right to rectification
4. The right to erasure
5. The right to restrict processing
6. The right to data portability
7. The right to object
8. The right to not be evaluated on the basis of automated processing
If You wish to exercise any of those rights please contact our Data Protection Controller who can be contacted at:
The Legal Aid Administrator, Edward T Wheadon House, Le Truchot, St Peter Port, Guernsey, GY1 3WH.
Tel: 01481 227530
Email: Legalaid@gov.gg
Or;
The Data Protection Officer for the Office of the Committee forEmployment and Social Security
Tel: 0148122012
Email: data.protection@gov.gg
If you remain unhappy with the way We process your information you can complain to:
The Data Protection Authority at the contact details below:
Office of the Data Protection Authority, St Martin's House, Le Bordage, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 1BR.
Telephone 01481 742074
Email: enquiries@odpa.gg
CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY STATEMENT
We reserve the right to modify this Privacy Statement at any time. Any changes We may make to Our Statement in the future will be notified and made available to You using the Website or by contacting your directly. By continuing to use Our Website and services You will be deemed to have accepted any changes.