Pivacy Policy

Introduction

This Privacy Policy describes how we obtain and use personal data, the basis on which we do so, who has access to your personal data and what your rights are.

Abel Associates takes data security very seriously and we handle data and personal information in accordance to UK laws and EU laws and regulations; as set out under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

The terms "Controller", "Data Subject", "Personal Data", "Processor", "Sub-Processor" and "processing" have meanings as defined in the GDPR Data Protection Legislation.

The Data Controller

We are obliged by law to inform you of the organisation(s) legally responsible for collecting and processing your personal information, known as the Data Controller(s).

When you provide personal information to Abel Associates, the data controller is Abel Associates, whose registered office is Abel Associates, 51 Mortimer Road, Rayleigh SS6 9NU, UK.

You can check our Data Protection Registration by clicking here. Our Data Protection Registration number is ZA251405.

The Data Processor

Personal Data may be provided to Abel Associates by a Data Controller (e.g. a solicitor, estate administrator, local authority, licensed data suppliers) with legitimate interests for processing in order to facilitate our agreed service to them.

The Purpose of Processing

Personal data is collated and used to assist in the preparation of family trees to identify heirs to estates and to establish the ownership of unclaimed assets and property along with other estate administration tasks. Examples of personal data include name, gender, date of birth, marital status, contact addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses, kinship information. Such information is held on heirs, missing heirs, potential beneficiaries to assets and relatives and individuals who may be of assistance to enable the provision of service.

We may process personal data in the legitimate interests of protecting the legal rights of potential beneficiaries under local and international probate law, verification of legal claims to an estate, preventing fraudulent claims to an estate and obtaining applicable insurance cover.

We may also process and store your personal data when you have made direct contact with Abel Associates (e.g. via our website, telephone, in writing, etc) so that we may respond to your enquiry, assist with your enquiry and provide you with the best possible customer service.

Data Storage

The personal information which we hold will be held securely in accordance with our internal security policy and applicable data protection legislation.

Sharing & Transfer of data

Personal information may be shared with our clients (e.g. a solicitor, estate administrator, local authority) for the purposes of their legal duties.

If we intend to transfer your information outside the EEA (European Economic Area) we will always obtain your consent first.

Abel Associates will not pass on any personal information about you to any third parties without your explicit consent. If you provide this consent, you will always be given the chance to withdraw it in the future.

How we use cookies

In running and maintaining the website we may collect and process the following data about you, this includes Information about your use of the site, including details of your visits, including pages viewed and the resources you access. This information includes traffic data and other communication data covered in our Cookie Policy.

Obtaining or verifying your personal information

We wish to ensure the information we store about you is accurate and up to date. You have a right to ask for a copy of your information and to correct any inaccuracies. If you wish to do so, please contact us.

Retention of your data

Your data will be retained for no longer than is necessary and in accordance with our ISO 27001 Data Retention Policy.

Your rights

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Rights to be informed - You have the right to be provided with clear, transparent and easily understandable information about how we use your personal data and your rights. This is why we are providing you with the information in this Privacy Policy.
Right of access - You have the right to obtain access to your personal data (if we are processing it) and certain other information (similar to that provided in this Privacy Policy). This is so you are aware and can check that we are using your personal data in accordance with data protection law.
Right to rectification - You are entitled to have your personal data corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
Right to erasure - This is also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’ and, in simple terms, enable you to request the deletion or removal of your personal data where there is no compelling reason for us to keep using it. This is not a general right to erasure; there are exceptions.
Right to restrict processing - You have the right to ‘block’ or supress further use of your personal data in certain circumstances. When processing is restricted, we can still store your personal data, but may not use it further.
Right of data portability - You have the right to obtain and reuse your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format in certain circumstances. In addition, where certain conditions apply, you have the right to have such information transferred directly to a third party.
.Right to object to processing - You have the right to object to us processing your personal data for our legitimate business interests or for direct marketing purposes (including in each case any related profiling).
Right to withdraw consent to processing - If you have given your consent to us to process your personal data for a particular purpose (for example, direct marketing), you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time (although if you do so, it does not mean that any processing of your personal data up to that point is unlawful).
Right to make a complaint to the data protection authorities - You have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data or believe our processing of your personal data does not comply with data protection law.

How to contact us

To exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints please in the first instance contact the Data Protection Officer at enquiries@abel-associates.co.uk or Abel Associates, 51 Mortimer Road, Rayleigh SS6 9NU, UK.