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CLA privacy statement

The Community Legal Advice (CLA) helpline provides free, confidential and independent legal advice as part of the Legal Services Commission’s (LSC) programme to fund, provide and promote civil legal aid services. By contacting calling 0845 345 4 345, people will get through to the CLA call centre which is run by First Assist Ltd.

The Legal Services Commission (as the data controller) and First Assist Ltd (as the data processor) are committed to protecting and respecting client’s privacy and understand the importance of the protection of personal data. 

The Privacy Policy explains how CLA will process personal data under the Data Protection Act 1998 (“the Act"). Please read the following carefully

What personal information does CLA collect?

CLA may collect and process the following personal data;

1. Information provided by requesting a call from the helpline. This includes information provided during a call such as

• name
• address
• phone number
• email address
• nature of problem
• personal financial information needed to determine eligibility for legal aid.

2. Information provided when ordering  CLA promotional materials. Usually:

• name
• organisation name and type
• email address
• telephone or fax number
• address

3. Details of visits to the CLA tools and transactions. This information is collected using cookies.

How will CLA use personal information?

Personal data will be processed as follows:

1. Details collected during a requested call from the helpline will be passed on to the telephone operator so they can get in contact.
2. Details entered relating to any feedback may be processed by the LSC in order to respond to any queries or other matters.
3. Personal  details provided when ordering CLA promotional materials will be shared with the external provider to fulfil the order.
4. The LSC reserves the right to gather information relating to the usage of the CLA tools. Cookies are used solely for the purpose of compiling statistics. A cookie is a token that a web browser stores on disk in the form of a small text file. The name and location of this text file will depend on the person’s operating system and the type of browser used. Cookies do not contain executable code, and so do not provide a potential point of entry for viruses etc. However, cookies can be refused, to do so check the browser settings.

Emailing Community Legal Advice

Email is not a secure medium, as messages can be intercepted and read by someone else. Please bear this in mind when deciding whether to send information by email. Postal addresses for the LSC are available.

The LSC reserves the right to monitor, record and retain any incoming and outgoing emails for security reasons and for monitoring compliance with the LSC’s internal policy on electronic working.

Email monitoring and/or blocking software may be used and email content may be read. Each individual has a responsibility to ensure laws are not broken when writing or forwarding emails and their contents. No contracts can be entered into on the LSC’s behalf by email.

Security measures

The LSC (which includes the CLA services) takes the security of its information technology (IT) systems very seriously.

Its security policies comply with the International Security Standard ISO/IEC-27001:2005.

These policies ensure that the LSC is committed to preserving the confidentiality, integrity and availability of all information assets held within the organisation, or by external parties on the LSC’s behalf.

Other websites

CLA website tools are hosted on other websites. This privacy policy only applies to CLA tools and not to the websites on which they appear,  so when using  other websites please refer to their own privacy notices.

Changes to the privacy policy

This policy is under regular review. Any changes made to the privacy policy will be posted here and, where appropriate, people will be notified by email.

Access to your information and correction

Everyone has the right to request access to the information held about them. As per section 7 (2) and (3) of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), valid requests must include the following:

• Full name and address of applicant
• Description of the information required
• Any additional information which will help verify identity, such as date of birth and case reference number. This will help confirm that the data relates to that individual and is not being released to a third party
• A fee of £10.

To access personal information that might be held about you, please make the request by emailing  foi.staff.cf@legalservice.gsi.gov.uk or in writing to Governance Team, Chief Executive’s Office, Legal Services Commission, 4 Abbey Orchard Street, London, SW1P 2BS.

For further information, please refer to the LSC leaflet Access to Information.

Further information about CLA

If you have any queries about CLA please contact emailhelp@communitylegaladvice.org.uk

 

Last updated: 05 April 2011