Privacy policy overview
Introduction
Focus Business Solutions Limited Limited is committed to protecting your personal information.
This Privacy Notice explains what personal information will be collected and used by Focus Business Solutions Limited (“we”, “our” or “Focus”) where you or the firm you work for (or are associated with) have engaged our services.
The Privacy Notice contains important information about what personal information we collect; what we do with that information; who we may share it with and why; and your choices and rights.
Our Cookie Policy forms part of our Privacy Notice. When you browse our website, we use cookies to store information about how you use the site to improve the quality of service provided to you.
To understand what type of cookies we use and how these work when you use our website, as well as how to update your preferences, read our Cookie Policy.
We keep our Privacy Notice under regular review. This version was last updated on 16th June 2023. We may need to make changes to this Privacy Notice so please check our website for updates from time to time. If there are material changes such as changes to where your personal information will be processed, we will let you know.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or the information we collect or use about you, please contact:
Information we collect and use
Information that we collect, and use includes:
- Information about who you are e.g. your name, contact details, the name of your firm, and your job title
- Information connected to your service with us
- Information about your contact with us e.g. meetings, phone calls, emails / letters
- Information that is automatically collected via cookies when you visit one of our websites e.g. activity on our website linked to IP address or device ID (some information will only be collected where you have turned on the relevant cookies in our preference centre).
- Information to allow you to access our online services e.g. username and email address.
- Information if you visit one of our offices e.g., visual images collected via closed circuit television (CCTV).
Where we collect your information
We may collect your personal information directly from you, or from a variety of sources, including but not limited to:
- When you interact with us e.g. phone conversations, email, letters and meetings
- Registering for one of our events
- Participating in research surveys
- Our online services such as websites, and through our social media (if you engage with our marketing campaigns)
- We may also collect your personal information from places such as business directories and other commercially or publicly available sources e.g., to check or improve the information we hold (e.g. Your address) or to obtain updated contact information if we have been unable to contact you directly
- Individuals who work in businesses you are associated with or own (in part or whole)
If you give us personal information about other people (such as Beneficial Owners or Shareholders of the company you work for), you confirm that you have their authorisation to do so and have advised them how to view this notice about how we will use their personal information.
Why we collect and use your information
We take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair, and lawful to do so. We will collect and use your information only if we are able to satisfy one of the lawful processing conditions set out in the data protection laws.
This will be the case where:
- It's necessary to manage our relationship with you and to provide information about the product or service you have requested
- It is necessary for us to meet our statutory obligations
- We require your permission (consent) to use your information, e.g. to send you email communications promoting other products and services offered by Focus. You can withdraw your consent at any time via the unsubscribe link in our emails or by contacting DPOffice@focus-solutions.co.uk
- It's in our legitimate interests to process your information to better understand your needs so we can:
- Send you postal communications to make you aware of other relevant products and services available from us
- Show you targeted ads for our products and services through social media channels
- To conduct research and collate management information to improve the products and services we offer
Where the processing is in our legitimate interests, we will always conduct an assessment to ensure that this use of your personal information is not excessive or unnecessary or otherwise more intrusive than it needs to be. If you wish to object to this processing, please contact us (see Contact Us section).
If you do not wish us to collect and use your personal information in these ways, it may mean that we will not be able to offer our services to you.
Where your information is processed
The majority of your information is processed in the UK or European Economic Area (EEA).
However, some of your information may be processed by us or the third parties we work with in countries outside of the UK or the EEA, including countries such as the United States.
Where your information is being processed outside of the UK or the EEA, we take additional steps to ensure that your information is protected to at least an equivalent level as would be applied by UK or EEA Data Protection Laws e.g. we will put in place legal agreements with third parties and affiliates with ongoing oversight to ensure they meet these obligations.
How we protect your information
We take information and system security very seriously and we strive to comply with our obligations at all times. Any personal information which is collected, recorded or used in any way, whether on paper, online or any other media, will have appropriate safeguards applied in line with our data protection obligations. An example of this is that Internal and external audit and specialist third party consultants conduct regular, independent assurance and benchmarking exercises across our business to ascertain the effectiveness of our security control environment and our security strategy.
Your information is protected by controls designed to minimise loss or damage through accident, negligence or deliberate actions. Our employees also protect sensitive or confidential information when storing or transmitting information electronically and must undertake annual training on this.
Our security controls are aligned to industry standards and good practice; providing a control environment that effectively manages risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your information.
How long we keep your information
To provide your product and meet our legal and regulatory obligations, we keep your personal information and copies of records we create (e.g., calls with us) while you are a customer of ours.
Even when you no longer have a relationship with us, we are required to keep information for different legal and regulatory reasons. The length of time will vary, and we regularly review our retention periods to make sure they comply with all laws and regulations.
Your rights
You have a number of rights under Data protection laws which may be exercised in certain circumstances. These are:
- Right to be informed about how and why we are processing your personal information
- Right of access to personal information relating to you
- Right to request rectification of inaccurate or incomplete personal information
- Right to request erasure of your personal information
- Right to restrict processing of your personal information
- Right to data portability
- Right to object to processing of your personal information
More information can be found on your rights here https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/
If you want to talk to us about any of the individual rights, please contact us at our Data Protection Officer's address.
How to make a complaint
We will always strive to collect, use and safeguard your personal information in line with data protection laws. If you do not believe we have handled your information as set out in our Privacy Notice, please let us know immediately and we will do our utmost to make things right. Contact us at:
While we hope that we can resolve any complaints for you, you do have the option complain to the ICO (whether or not you have exhausted our complaints procedure). Their contact details are as follows: