GDPR: Data privacy notice

Introduction

Stone Balance Accounting Ltd. (“We”) are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This policy sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read this policy carefully to understand how we will collect, maintain and use your personal information.

The rules on processing of personal data are set out in the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”).

Definitions

• Data controller – A controller determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.

• Data processor – A processor is responsible for processing personal data on behalf of a controller.

• Data subject – Natural person

Categories of data: Personal data and special categories of personal data

• Personal data – The GDPR applies to ‘personal data’ meaning any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier (as explained in Article 6 of GDPR). For example, name, passport number, home address or private email address. Online identifiers include IP addresses and cookies.

• Special categories personal data – The GDPR refers to sensitive personal data as ‘special categories of personal data’ (as explained in Article 9 of GDPR). The special categories specifically include genetic data and biometric data where processed to uniquely identify an individual. Other examples include racial and ethnic origin, sexual orientation, health data, trade union membership, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs.

• Processing – means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.

• Third-party – means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or body other than the data subject, controller, processor and persons who, under the direct authority of the controller or processor, are authorised to process personal data.

Who are we?

Simon Murray FCCA, Managing Director and owner at Stone Balance Accounting Ltd is the data controller. This means we decide how your personal data is processed and for what purposes. Our contact details are:

• Address: 10 Croft Avenue, Dorking, Surrey, United Kingdom, RH4 1LN

• Telephone: 01306 257 321

• Email: privacy@stonebalance.co.uk

For all data matters contact our data protection officer Simon Murray by telephone on 01306 257 321.

The purpose(s) of processing your personal data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

• To produce and maintain accounting records and prepare accounts and management information for businesses and private individuals for submission to HMRC and Companies House.

• You may give us information about you by filling in forms on our site www.stonebalance.co.uk or by corresponding with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise. This includes information you provide when you register to use our site, participate in discussion boards or other social media functions on our site.

The categories of personal data concerned

With reference to the categories of personal data described in the definitions section, we process the following categories of your data:

• Personal data you provided to us can include, but is not limited to, your name, address, e-mail address, phone number, financial and credit card information, passport details, driving licence details or household bills.

What is our legal basis for processing your personal data?

Personal data (article 6 of GDPR)

Our lawful basis for processing your general personal data:

• Letter / Email of Engagement - Processing necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject or to take steps to enter into a contract.

• HMRC and Companies House - Processing necessary for compliance with a legal obligation.

• As per consent form - Consent of the data subject.

Sharing your personal data

Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential and will be shared only with person(s) required to prepare accounts and management information on your behalf for submission to HMRC or to retain for your business or personal use.

Stone Balance Accounting Ltd. will not share your information with any other organisations for marketing, market research or commercial purposes unless specifically requested by you.

Providing us with your personal data

You are under no statutory or contractual requirement or obligation to provide us with your personal data. However, failure to do so will mean that we will be unable to complete your accounts and submit them to HMRC and Companies House.

Your rights and your personal data

Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

• The right to request a copy of the personal data which we hold about you;

• The right to request that we correct any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date;

• The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time, where consent was your lawful basis for processing the data;

• The right to request your personal data is erased where it is no longer necessary to retain such data;

• The right to request that we provide you with your personal data and where possible, to transmit that data directly to another data controller, (known as the right to data portability), (where applicable i.e. where the processing is based on consent or is necessary for the performance of a contract with the data subject and where the data controller processes the data by automated means);

• The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction is placed on further processing;

• The right to object to the processing of personal data, (where applicable i.e. where processing is based on legitimate interests (or the performance of a task in the public interest/exercise of official authority); direct marketing and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics).

Protecting your data

Any personal information supplied to Stone Balance Accounting Ltd. by clients, employees or consultants is stored on a secure cloud content management and file sharing service for the duration of the task. Information may be supplied via email and be stored in a cloud-based email system.

The computing resources managed by the cloud provider may be located outside the UK/EEA. A cloud provider may have a number of data centres, each of which could be located in a different country. This design can improve the reliability of the cloud service but also means that it can be difficult to know where data is being processed. To mitigate against risk Stone Balance Accounting Ltd. only engage with US cloud providers who participate in the Privacy Shield Scheme or have made arrangements to provide storage facilities in the UK/EEA.

All information stored for invoicing purposes is held in cloud-based accounting software.

All Stone Balance Accounting Ltd. computer equipment is password protected and uses anti-virus software.

Automated decision making

We do not use any form of automated decision making in our practice.

About Cookies

Cookies are small files that contain an identifier that is sent by a web server to a web browser and stored by the browser. This cookie is sent back to the server each time the browser requests the page from the server. Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user. We use cookies to help navigation around the website and to review and improve the performance and user experience of our website. You can manage website cookies in your browser settings, and you have the choice to change these settings by accepting, rejecting, or deleting cookies.

Cookies this website uses

Name: 1P_JAR

• Description: This cookie carries out information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Targeting/Advertising

Name: ANID

• Description: This cookie from Google Analytics links your activities on other devices you have previously logged into using your Google account. Based on this, the ads you see on your devices are coordinated and conversion events are measured.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Targeting/Advertising

Name: CONSENT

• Description: This cookie carries out information about how the end user uses the website and any advertising that the end user may have seen before visiting the said website.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Targeting/Advertising

Name: NID

• Description: This cookie is set by DoubleClick (which is owned by Google) to help build a profile of your interests and show you relevant ads on other sites.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Targeting/Advertising

Name: OGPC

• Description: This cookie enables the functionality of Google Maps.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Functionality

Name: OTZ

• Description: These cookies allow the website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and provide enhanced, more personal features. For instance, a website may be able to provide you with local weather reports or traffic news by storing in a cookie the region in which you are currently located. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you have made to text size, fonts and other parts of web pages that you can customise. They may also be used to provide services you have asked for such as watching a video or commenting on a blog. The information these cookies collect may be anonymised and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Performance

Name: _ga

• Description: This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics – which is a significant update to Google’s more commonly used analytics service. This cookie is used to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier. It is included in each page request in a site and used to calculate visitor, session and campaign data for the sites analytics reports. By default it is set to expire after 2 years, although this is customisable by website owners.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Performance

Name: _gid

• Description: This cookie name is associated with Google Universal Analytics. This appears to be a new cookie and as of Spring 2017 no information is available from Google. It appears to store and update a unique value for each page visited.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Performance

Name: wordpress_test_cookie

• Description: Used on sites built with WordPress. Tests whether or not the browser has cookies enabled.

• Purpose: The main purpose of this cookie is: Strictly Necessary

Links to Other Websites

This privacy policy applies only to www.stonebalance.co.uk and does not cover other websites that we link to. If you follow a link to another website, you should read the privacy policy on that website to understand how your data is used.

How long do we keep your personal data?

We keep your personal data for no longer than reasonably necessary for a period of 7 years in order to provide evidence to the HMRC and Companies House in case of any accounting queries.

Paper copies will be destroyed, and electronic copies will be deleted.

Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Data Privacy Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions.

Changes to our privacy policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail. Please check back frequently to see any updates or changes to our privacy policy.

How to make a complaint

To exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints please in the first instance contact our data protection officer at privacy@stonebalance.co.uk or by telephone 01306 257 321. If this does not resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office on 03031231113 or via email or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, England.