Privacy policy
The Law Society of Scotland is committed to preserving the
privacy of all visitors to www.lawscot.org.uk. Please read the
following privacy policy to understand how we use and protect the
information that you provide to us.
By using this site (the "website") or contacting us by email or
through this website, you consent to the collection, use and
transfer of your personal information under the terms of this
policy. If you do not accept the terms of this policy you must
leave this website immediately and you may not use any of the
services we provide.
Minimum browser
requirements
The minimum browser requirements for optimum use of our website
are as follows:
Internet Explorer 8 (IE10 is not compatible with all features of
our website unless used in compatibility mode)
Firefox 6.0
Google Chrome 13.0
Safari 5.1
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Information that we
collect from you
When you visit the website or register or log in as a user of
the website you may be asked to provide certain information about
yourself including your name and contact details, including your
phone and fax numbers, email address and postal address. If you are
a member of the Society, we may ask for additional information
including your date of birth and practising certificate number. If
you order goods or services through the website we may keep a
record of the transactions you carry out and the fulfilment of your
orders. We may also collect information about:-
(a) your IP address, a unique identifier for your computer or
other access device;
(b) your usage of our website which may include, without
limitation the URL you have last used and the URL you next go to,
browser information and your IP address;
(c) messages you post to the website and e-mails or letters you
send to us; and
(d) information gathered during telephone conversations with
you.
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Sensitive information
that we collect from you
We may ask you to provide us information about dietary
requirements or access requirements if you are attending an event
organised by us or booked through our website. You agree that we
may use this information for the purpose of administering and
running the relevant event.
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Use of your information
Your information will enable us to provide you with access to
parts of our website suitable for your requirements and the
permissions (if any) which you have to access the special areas of
the website (referred to in our website Terms and
Conditions). It will also enable us to contact you concerning
your queries regarding our services and functions.
Where you order goods or services through the website, we will
use the information you provide to those goods or services and to
carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into
between you and us for that purpose.
We will also use, store and analyse the information we collect
so that we can administer, support, improve and develop our
operations. This includes (but is not limited to):
- quality control and training purposes;
- fulfilling the Society's regulatory role and its other
statutory functions under the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 and
other legislation;
- discharging the Society's professional obligations such as
ensuring Scottish solicitors have appropriate professional
indemnity insurance, formulating and implementing professional
practice rules; and developing and offering CPD courses;
- providing a wide range of members' services;
- providing a wide range of public services;
- carrying out the Society's Public Affairs programme,
representing the interests of the solicitors' profession in respect
of the public and representing the interests of the public in
respect of the solicitors' profession; and
- accrediting Scottish solicitors with specialist expertise in
particular areas of law; and
- engaging in consultation with the Scottish government, Scottish
parliament and other governmental and legislative bodies over
legislative and regulatory change.
In particular, we may use your information to contact you for
your views on our services and functions, and to notify you
occasionally about important changes or developments to the website
or our services or functions. More detail about the functions of
the Society and the purposes for which your personal information
may be processed may be seen elsewhere on the website, and are
available on request from the Society at the address below.
We may also use your information to let you know about other
services and products which we offer which may be of interest to
you. If these are of a commercial nature we will ask you for
specific permission at the time we ask you to provide your
information.
We offer a press release update service (please go to the media
centre on this website) and if you register with this service
we will use your information to send you copies of press releases
issued by us.
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Ways in which we may
contact you
The Society may contact you by post, telephone (including by
text), fax or email in connection with the purposes outlined above.
If you change your mind about being contacted in the future, please
let us know by contacting us at our contact details set out
below.
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Cookies
Cookies are small amounts of information, usually in the form of
a text file, which we may store on your computer or other access
device. We may access this file which acts as an easy way to
identify you when you use the website. Our system may issue cookies
to your computer or other access device when you log on to the
website. Cookies make it easier for you to log on to and use the
website during your current visit and future visits. They also
allow us to monitor website traffic and to personalize the content
of the website for you. Some features are only available through
the use of a cookie. Allowing use of cookies may allow you to enter
your password less frequently when you are using the website. You
may set up your computer or other access device to reject cookies
by following the instructions provided with your
browser/device.
Changes to online privacy laws across the EU since May 2011
require consent for the use of 'cookies' and other similar web
technologies. The new legislation was introduced to help you choose
whether or not to allow each website you visit to use cookies when
you visit them. It is your right to choose if you give your consent
or not, but you should be aware that in some cases you may not be
able to use or see all the features of our website, if you do not
allow the use of cookies. We have incorporated a consent tool
provided by Optanon to assist you.
More information can be found at Cookipedia.
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Disclosure of your
information
The information you provide to us will be held on our computers
in the UK and may be accessed by or given to our staff, our
contractors, reporters and agents who act for us, for the purposes
set out in this policy or for other purposes approved by you or as
otherwise permitted by law. This may mean that your information is
sent to computers outwith the UK.
By submitting your information to us, you agree that it may be
transferred outside the European Economic Area. Countries outside
the European Economic Area do not always have strong data
protection laws. However, wherever practicable we will take steps
to ensure that your information is used by third parties in
accordance with this policy.
We may also pass aggregate information on the usage of our
website to third parties but this will not include information that
can be used to identify you.
We shall never sell or rent your personal information gathered
through the website to third parties for their marketing
purposes.
We also reserve the right to disclose any of the information you
provide to us where required to do so by law, or to comply with a
regulatory obligation, or to assist in any investigation into
alleged illegal or criminal conduct.
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Security and data retention
We employ industry standard security measures to protect your
information from access by unauthorised persons and against
unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction and damage. We
will retain your information for a reasonable period or as long as
the law requires. You should be aware however that it is
technically impossible to provide a totally secure system on the
web and you are responsible for ensuring your own computer system
is adequately protected from access by unauthorised persons.
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Your password
security
In accordance with the Terms and Conditions of use of the
website, you are responsible for ensuring that any password and
user ID, and any other security mechanism issued to you, remain
confidential. If third parties have access to your password, user
ID or any other security mechanism they can control your personal
information and ID. We are not responsible for the consequences of
their use of your personal information and ID in these
circumstances. If your password or user ID or any other security
mechanism is compromised you should contact us immediately, and
until you do so we will be entitled to rely on any communications
sent to us using your password and user ID and any other security
mechanism as if they originated from you.
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Third party information
collectors and websites
If you disclose your personal information to third parties
including, but not limited to, third party websites with links on
our website, our privacy policy shall not be enforceable against
them. We take no responsibility and shall not be liable for third
party use of your personal information in such circumstances.
You should be aware that if you click on any link on the
website, to another website provided by a third party, it is
possible you may encounter cookies or other similar devices placed
by those third parties. We do not control the use of cookies or
other similar devices by third parties and are not responsible or
liable for them.
You should review the privacy policy of that third party website
to check how they may use or disclose your information.
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Accessing and
updating
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are entitled to request
access to the information held about you and you are entitled to
ask us to make any necessary changes to ensure that it is accurate
and kept up to date. If you wish to do this, please contact us at
the address below as we are the data controller for this
information. We are entitled by law to charge a fee of £10 to meet
our costs in providing you with details of the information we hold
about you. We may also ask you to provide suitable evidence
confirming your identity before providing you with such
details.
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Changes to our privacy
policy
We may change our privacy policy at
any time without having to give you prior notification. Any changes
to our privacy policy in the future will be posted to the website
and/or, where we think it is appropriate, through e-mail
notification.
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Contact
All comments, queries and requests relating to our use of your
information are welcomed and should be addressed to:-
Contact: The Data Protection Officer
Address: The Law Society of Scotland
26 Drumsheugh Gardens
Edinburgh
EH3 7YR
Scotland
E-mail:
The Data Protection Officer
Telephone: +44 (0)131 226 7411
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