DP1 – Data Protection Policy FEB 2024GDPR/ Data Protection policy
1. Policy, scope and objectives
1.1 The Board of Directors of Capital Financial Markets Limited, located at 8 Spicer Street,
St Albans, AL3 4PQ, are committed to compliance with all relevant UK and EU laws in
respect of personal data, and to protecting the “rights and freedoms” of individuals
whose information we collect in accordance with the General Data Protection
Regulation (GDPR) and supplementary law and regulation.
To that end, The Board of Directors/Principals has developed, implemented, maintains
and continuously improves a Personal Information Management Approach (‘PIMA’) for
Capital Financial Markets Limited (‘CFM’).
1.2 Scope
The scope of the PIMA takes into account organisational structure, management
responsibility, jurisdiction, and geography.
1.3 Objectives of the PIMA
CFM’s objectives for our PIMA are:
• that it should enable the firm to meet its own requirements for the management
of personal information;
• that it should support organisational objectives and obligations; that it should
impose controls in line with the firm’s acceptable level of risk;
• that it should ensure that the firm meets applicable statutory, regulatory,
contractual and/or professional duties; and that it should protect the interests
of individuals and other key stakeholders.
1.4 CFM is committed to complying with data protection legislation and good practice
including:
a. processing personal information only where it is strictly necessary for legitimate
business purposes;
b. collecting only the minimum personal information required for these purposes and not
processing excessive personal information;
c. providing clear information to individuals about how their personal information will be
used and by whom;
d. only processing relevant and adequate personal information;
e. processing personal information fairly and lawfully;
f. operating with a standardised system of categories of personal information processed
by the firm (and principally held within the Zoho system);
g. keeping personal information accurate and, where necessary, up to date;
h. retaining personal information only for as long as is necessary for legal or regulatory
reasons or, for legitimate organisational purposes;
i. respecting individuals’ rights in relation to their personal information, including their
right of subject access;
j. keeping all personal information secure;
k. only transferring personal information outside the EU in circumstances where it can
be adequately protected;
l. the application of the various exemptions allowable by data protection legislation;
m. developing and implementing a PIMA to enable the policy to be implemented;
n. where appropriate, identifying internal and external stakeholders and the degree to
which these stakeholders are involved in the governance of the firm’s PIMA; and
o. the identification of workers with specific responsibility and accountability for the
PIMA.
Notification
1.5 CFM has notified the Information Commissioner that it is a data controller and that it
processes certain information about data subjects. CFM has identified all the personal
data that it processes.
1.6 A copy of the ICO notification details is retained by the appointed person with the firm
(The Data Protection Officer).
1.7 The ICO notifications are automatically renewed annually.
1.8 The Data Protection Officer is responsible, each year, for reviewing the details of
notification, in the light of any changes to the firm’s activities and to any additional
requirements identified by means of data protection impact assessments.
The policy applies to all Employees and interested parties of CFM such as outsourced
suppliers. Any breach of the GDPR or this PIMA will be dealt with under the firm’s
disciplinary policy and may be a criminal offence, in which case the matter must be
reported as soon as possible to the appropriate authorities. Any such breaches will be
reported to the necessary authorities under the rules, regulations and laws promulgated
by the supervising authorities in force from time to time. Responsibility for reporting any
such breaches sits with Paul Coffin for CFM.
Partners and any third parties working with or for the firm, and who have or may have
access to personal information, are expected to have read, understood and to comply
with this policy.
No third party may access personal data held by the firm without having first entered into
a data confidentiality agreement, which imposes on the third-party obligations no less
onerous than those to which the firm is committed, and which gives the firm the right to
audit compliance with the agreement.
2. Background to the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’)
The General Data Protection Regulation 2016 replaces the EU Data Protection Directive
of 1995 and supersedes the laws of individual Member States that were developed in
compliance with the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. Its purpose is to protect the
“rights and freedoms” of living individuals, and to ensure that personal data is not
processed without their knowledge, and, wherever possible, that it is processed with
their consent.
3. Definitions used by the organisation (drawn from the GDPR)
Territorial scope – the GDPR will apply to all controllers that are established in the
EU (European Union) who process the personal data of data subjects, in the context of
that establishment. It will also apply to controllers outside of the EU that process
personal data in order to offer goods and services or monitor the behaviour to data
subjects who are resident in the EU.
Establishment – the main establishment of the controller in the EU will be the place in
which the controller makes the main decisions as to the purpose of its data processing
activities. The main establishment of a processor in the EU will be its administrative
center. If a controller is based outside the EU, it will have to appoint a representative in
the jurisdiction in which the controller operates, to act on behalf of the controller and
deal with supervisory authorities.
Personal data – any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person
(‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or
indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification
number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the
physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that
natural person.
Special categories of personal data – personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin,
political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade-union membership, and the
processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a
natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or
sexual orientation.
Data controller – the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body
which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the
processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are
determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its
nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.
Data subject – any living individual who is the subject of personal data held by an
organisation.
Processing – 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.
Profiling – is any form of automated processing of personal data intended to evaluate
certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, or to analyse, or predict that
person’s performance at work, economic situation, location, health, personal
preferences, reliability, or behavior. This definition is linked to the right of the data
subject to object to profiling and a right to be informed about the existence of profiling, of
measures based on profiling and the envisaged effects of profiling on the individual.
Personal data breach – a breach of security leading to the accidental, or unlawful,
destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data
transmitted, stored or otherwise processed. There is an obligation on the controller to
report personal data breaches to the supervisory authority and where the breach is likely
to adversely affect the personal data or privacy of the data subject.
Data subject consent – means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous
indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear
affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data.
Child – the GDPR defines a child as anyone under the age of 13 years old. The
processing of personal data of a child under 13 years of age is only lawful if parental or
custodian consent has been obtained.
Third party – 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.
Filing system – any structured set of personal data, which are accessible according to
specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or
geographical basis.
4. Responsibilities under the General Data Protection Regulation
4.1 CFM is a data controller and a data processor under the GDPR.
4.2 Anyone in a managerial or supervisory roles throughout CFM is responsible for
developing and encouraging good information handling practices within the organisation;
responsibilities are set out in individual job descriptions.
4.3 The Data Protection Officer, Paul Coffin, a member of the senior management team, is
accountable to Board of Directors/Principals of the firm for the management of
personal information within the firm and for ensuring that compliance with data
protection legislation and good practice can be demonstrated. This accountability
includes:
• development and implementation of the PIMA as required by this policy; and
• security and risk management in relation to compliance with the policy.
4.4 The Data Protection Officer, who the Board of Directors/Principals considers to be
suitably qualified and experienced, has been appointed to take responsibility for the
firm’s compliance with this policy on a day-to-day basis. In particular, has direct
responsibility for ensuring that the firm complies with the GDPR, as do Line Managers in
respect of data processing that takes place within their area of responsibility.
4.5 The Data Protection Officer has specific responsibilities in respect of procedures such as
the Subject Access Request procedure and are the first point of call for Employees
seeking clarification on any aspect of data protection compliance.
4.6 Compliance with data protection legislation is the responsibility of all members of the firm
who process personal information.
4.7 The firm’s Training Policy sets out specific training and awareness requirements in
relation to specific roles and to members of the firm generally.
4.8 Staff are responsible for ensuring that any personal data supplied by them, and that is
about them, is accurate and up-to-date.
5. Risk Assessment
Objective: To ensure that the firm is aware of any risks associated with the processing
of particular types of personal information.
CFM has a process for assessing the level of risk to individuals associated with the
processing of their personal information. Assessments will also be carried out in
relation to processing undertaken by other organisations on behalf of the firm.
CFM shall manage any risks, which are identified by the risk assessment in order to
reduce the likelihood of a non-conformance with this policy.
Where a type of processing, in particular using new technologies is likely to result in a
high risk to the “rights and freedoms” of natural persons, the firm shall, prior to the
processing, carry out an assessment of the impact of the envisaged processing
operations on the protection of personal data.
A single assessment may address a set of similar processing operations that present
similar high risks.
Where, as a result of an assessment, it is clear that the firm is about to commence
processing of personal information that could cause damage and/or distress to the
data subjects, the decision as to whether or not the firm may proceed must be
escalated for review to The Data Protection Officer. Our working presumption is that
we will not enter into any such arrangements.
The Data Protection Officer shall, if there are significant concerns, either as to the
potential damage or distress, or the quantity of data concerned, escalate the matter to
the Information Commissioners Office.
Appropriate controls will be selected and applied to reduce the level of risk associated
with processing individual data to an acceptable level, by reference to the
requirements of the GDPR.
6. Data protection principles
All processing of personal data must be done in accordance with the following data
protection principles of the Regulation, and the firm’s policies and procedures are
designed to ensure compliance with them.
6.1 Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly and transparently.
GDPR introduces the requirement for transparency whereby the controller has
transparent and easily accessible policies relating to the processing of personal data
and the exercise of individuals’ “rights and freedoms”.
Information must be communicated to the data subject in an intelligible form using
clear and plain language. The specific information that must be provided to the data
subject must as a minimum include:
• the identity and the contact details of the controller and, if any, of the
controller’s representative;
• the contact details of the Data Protection officer, where applicable;
• the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as
well as the legal basis for the processing;
• the period for which the personal data will be stored;
• the existence of the rights to request access, rectification, erasure or to object
to the processing;
• the categories of personal data concerned;
• the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, where
applicable;
• where applicable, that the controller intends to transfer personal data to a
recipient in a third country and the level of protection afforded to the data;
• any further information necessary to guarantee fair processing.
6.2 Personal data can only be collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.
Data obtained for specified purposes must not be used for a purpose that differs from
those formally notified to the Information Commissioner as part of the firm’s GDPR
registration.
The firm’s fair processing policy sets out the relevant procedures
6.3 Personal data must be adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for
processing.
• The Data Protection Officer is the GDPR Owner and is responsible for ensuring
that information, which is not strictly necessary for the purpose for which it is
obtained, is not collected.
• All data collection forms (electronic or paper-based), including data collection
requirements in new information systems, must be approved by the Data
Protection Officer.
• The Data Protection Officer will ensure that, on an annual basis all data
collection methods are reviewed by [internal audit/external experts] to ensure
that collected data continues to be adequate, relevant and not excessive.
• If data is given or obtained that is excessive or not specifically required by the
firm’s documented procedures, Paul Coffin is responsible for ensuring that it is
securely deleted or destroyed in line with the firm’s policy for disposal of
storage media.
6.4 Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date.
• Data that is kept for a long time must be reviewed and updated as necessary.
No data should be kept unless it is reasonable to assume that it is accurate.
• The firm are responsible for ensuring that all staff are trained in the importance
of collecting accurate data and maintaining it.
• It is also the responsibility of individuals to ensure that data held by the firm is
accurate and up-to-date. Completion of an appropriate registration or
application form etc. will be taken as an indication that the data contained
therein is accurate at the date of submission.
• Staff should notify the firm of any changes in circumstance to enable personal
records to be updated accordingly. It is the responsibility of the firm to ensure
that any notification regarding change of circumstances is noted and acted
upon.
• The Data Protection Officer is responsible for ensuring that appropriate
additional steps are taken to keep personal data accurate and up to date,
taking into account the volume of data collected, the speed with which it might
change and any other relevant factors.
• On at least an annual basis, The Data Protection Officer will review all the
personal data maintained by the firm. The DPO will identify any data that is no
longer required in the context of the registered purpose and will arrange to have
that data securely deleted/destroyed in line with the firm’s policy for disposal of
storage media.
• The Data Protection Officer is responsible for making appropriate
arrangements that, where third party organisations may have been passed
inaccurate or out-of-date personal information it is not to be used to inform
decisions about the individuals concerned; and for passing any correction to the
personal information to the third party where this is required.
6.5 Personal data must be kept in a form such that the data subject can be identified only as
long as is necessary for processing.
• Where personal data is retained beyond the processing date, it will be
encrypted in order to protect the identity of the data subject in the event of a
data breach. All data at rest within CFM’s Microsoft 365 tenant is encrypted as
a matter of policy and systems implementation.
• Personal data will be retained in line with the retention of records procedure
contained in our privacy notice and, once its retention date is passed, it must be
securely destroyed as set out in this procedure.
• The Data Protection Officer must specifically approve any data retention that
exceeds the retention periods defined in the firms record retention procedure
and must ensure that the justification is clearly identified and in line with the
requirements of the data protection legislation. This approval must be written.
6.6 Personal data must be processed in a manner that ensures its security.
6.7 Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised
or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or
damage to, personal data.
These controls have been selected on the basis of identified risks to personal data, and
the potential for damage or distress to individuals whose data is being processed.
6.8 Personal data shall not be transferred to a country or territory outside the European
Union unless that country or territory ensures an adequate level of protection for the
‘rights and freedoms’ of data subjects in relation to the processing of personal data.
The transfer of personal data outside of the EU is prohibited unless one or more of the
specified safeguards or exceptions apply.
6.8.1 Safeguards
An assessment of the adequacy by the data controller taking into account the
following factors:
• the nature of the information being transferred;
• the country or territory of the origin, and final destination, of the information;
• how the information will be used and for how long;
• the laws and practices of the country of the transferee, including relevant codes of
practice and international obligations; and
• the security measures that are to be taken as regards the data in the overseas
location.
6.8.2 Exceptions
In the absence of an adequacy decision, including binding corporate rules, a transfer
of personal data to a third country, or an international organisation, shall take place
only on one of the following conditions:
• the data subject has explicitly consented to the proposed transfer, after having
been informed of the possible risks of such transfers for the data subject due to
the absence of an adequacy decision and appropriate safeguards;
• the transfer is necessary for the performance of a contract between the data
subject and the controller or the implementation of pre-contractual measures
taken at the data subject’s request;
• the transfer is necessary for the conclusion or performance of a contract
concluded in the interest of the data subject between the controller and another
natural or legal person;
• the transfer is necessary for important reasons of public interest;
• the transfer is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal
claims;
• the transfer is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or
of other persons, where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving
consent;
• the transfer is made from a register which according to Union or Member State
law is intended to provide information to the public and which is open to
consultation either by the public in general or by any person who can demonstrate
a legitimate interest, but only to the extent that the conditions laid down in Union
or Member State law for consultation are fulfilled in the particular case.
A list of countries that satisfy the adequacy requirements of the Commission are
published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
6.9 Accountability
The GDPR introduces the principle of accountability which states that the controller is
not only responsible for ensuring compliance but for demonstrating that each processing
operation complies with the requirements of the GDPR.
Specifically, controllers are required to maintain necessary documentation of all
processing operations, implement appropriate security measures, perform DPIAs (Data
Processing Impact Assessment), comply with requirements for prior notifications, or
approval from supervisory authorities and appoint a Data Protection Officer if required.
7. Data subjects’ rights
Data subjects have the following rights regarding data processing, and the data that is
recorded about them:
• To make subject access requests regarding the nature of information held and to
whom it has been disclosed.
• To prevent processing likely to cause damage or distress.
• To prevent processing for purposes of direct marketing.
• To be informed about the mechanics of automated decision-taking process that
will significantly affect them.
• Not to have significant decisions that will affect them taken solely by automated
process.
• To sue for compensation if they suffer damage by any contravention of the
GDPR. To take action to rectify, block, erased, including the right to be forgotten,
or destroy inaccurate data.
7.1 To request the ICO to assess whether any provision of the GDPR has been
contravened.
7.2 The right for personal data to be provided to them in a structured, commonly used and
machine-readable format, and the right to have that data transmitted to another
controller.
7.3 The right to object to any automated profiling without consent.
Data subjects may make data access requests as described in the our subject access
request procedure this procedure also describes how the firm will ensure that its
response to the data access request complies with the requirements of the Regulation.
Complaints
Data Subjects who wish to complain to CFM about how their personal information has
been processed may lodge their complaint directly with the Data Protection Officer. The
Data Protection section of you client facing material will need to be modified to include a
GDPR complaints section.
Where data subjects wish to complain about how their complaint has been handled, or
appeal against any decision made following a complaint, they may lodge a further
complaint to the Data Protection Officer. The right to do this will be included in the GDPR
section of our complaints procedure.
8. Consent
CFM understands ‘consent’ to mean that it has been explicitly and freely given,
specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which
he or she by statement, or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the
processing of personal data relating to him or her. The consent of the data subject can
be withdrawn at any time.
CFM understands ‘consent’ to mean that the data subject has been fully informed of the
intended processing and has signified their agreement, while in a fit state of mind to do
so and without pressure being exerted upon them. Consent obtained under duress or on
the basis of misleading information will not be a valid basis for processing. There must
be some active communication between the parties, which demonstrate active consent.
Consent cannot be inferred from non-response to a communication. For sensitive data,
explicit written consent of data subjects must be obtained unless an alternative
legitimate basis for processing exists.
In most instances, consent to process personal and sensitive data is obtained routinely
by the firm using standard consent documents.
Where the firm provides online services to children, parental, or custodial authorisation
must be obtained. This requirement applies to children under the age of 13.
9. Security of data
All Employees are responsible for ensuring that any personal data, which the firm holds
and for which they are responsible, is kept securely and is not under any conditions
disclosed to any third party unless that third party has been specifically authorised by the
firm to receive that information and has entered into a confidentiality agreement.
All personal data should be accessible only to those who need to use it, and access may
only be granted in line with the Access Control Policy. You should form a judgment
based upon the sensitivity and value of the information in question, but personal data
must be kept:
• in a lockable room with controlled access; and/or
• in a locked drawer or filing cabinet; and/or
• if computerised, password protected in line with corporate requirements in the Access
Control Policy; and/or
• Stored on (removable) computer media, which are encrypted.
Care must be taken to ensure that PC screens and terminals are not visible except to
authorised Employees of CFM. All Employees are required to adhere to acceptable use
and confidentiality conditions by dint of their contract of employment or engagement
before they are given access to organisational information of any sort.
Manual records may not be left where they can be accessed by unauthorised personnel
and may not be removed from business premises without explicit authorisation. As soon
as manual records are no longer required for day-to-day client support, they must be
removed from secure archiving in line with CFM’s Data Retention Policy.
Personal data may only be deleted or disposed of in line with our policy on secure
disposal. Manual records that have reached their retention date are to be shredded and
disposed of as ‘confidential waste’. Hard drives of redundant PCs are to be removed and
immediately destroyed before disposal.
Processing of personal data ‘off-site’ presents a potentially greater risk of loss, theft or
damage to personal data. Staff must be specifically authorised to process data off-site.
10. Rights of access to data
Data subjects have the right to access any personal data (i.e. data about them) which is
held by the firm in electronic format and manual records, which form part of a relevant
filing system. This includes the right to inspect confidential personal references received
by the firm, and information obtained from third-party organisations about that person.
Subject Access Requests are dealt with as described in the relevant procedure.
11. Disclosure of data
CFM must ensure that personal data is not disclosed to unauthorised third parties, which
includes family members, friends, government bodies, and in certain circumstances, the
Police. All Employees should exercise caution when asked to disclose personal data
held on another individual to a third party and will be required to attend specific training
that enables them to deal effectively with any such risk. It is important to bear in mind
whether or not disclosure of the information is relevant to, and necessary for, the
conduct of the firm’s business.
The GDPR permits certain disclosures without consent so long as the information is
requested for one or more of the following purposes:
• to safeguard national security;
• prevention or detection of crime including the apprehension or prosecution of
offenders;
• assessment or collection of tax duty;
• discharge of regulatory functions (includes health, safety and welfare of persons at
work);
• to prevent serious harm to a third party;
• to protect the vital interests of the individual, this refers to life and death situations.
All requests to provide data for one of these reasons must be supported by appropriate
paperwork and all such disclosures must be specifically authorised by the Data
Protection Officer
12. Retention and disposal of data
Personal data may not be retained for longer than it is required. Once a member of staff
has left CFM, it may not be necessary to retain all the information held on them. Some
data will be kept for longer periods than others.
Disposal of records
Personal data must be disposed of in a way that protects the “rights and freedoms” of
data subjects (e.g. shredding, disposal as confidential waste, secure electronic deletion)
and in line with the secure disposal procedure.