Legal Compliance

Privacy Policy

How we collect, use, and protect your personal information in accordance with UK data protection laws

Last updated: March 2026

1. Introduction

Woolfe and Co Solicitors Ltd ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, safeguard, and otherwise process your personal information in connection with our legal services.

We are a data controller for the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Our registered address is 16 Titan Court, Laporte Way, Maidenhall, Luton LU4 8EF, and we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA number 625326).

Please read this privacy policy carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

Key Points

  • We are a UK-based law firm committed to protecting your data
  • We only collect data necessary for providing legal services
  • We never sell your personal data to third parties
  • You have rights over your personal data under UK GDPR

2. What Information We Collect

We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together follows:

Identity Data

  • • Full name
  • • Date of birth
  • • Gender
  • • Marital status
  • • National Insurance number
  • • Passport/ID details

Contact Data

  • • Home address
  • • Email address
  • • Telephone numbers
  • • Emergency contact details

Case Data

  • • Case reference numbers
  • • Court dates and details
  • • Legal proceedings information
  • • Opponent details
  • • Witness information

Financial Data

  • • Payment details
  • • Billing address
  • • Legal aid assessment
  • • Invoice history

3. How We Collect Your Data

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Direct Interactions

You may give us your Identity, Contact, and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email, or in person. This includes personal data you provide when you:

  • Instruct us to act on your behalf
  • Complete our client intake forms
  • Subscribe to our publications
  • Request marketing information to be sent to you
  • Give us feedback

Third Parties

We may receive personal data about you from various third parties including:

  • Court and tribunal services
  • The Police and Crown Prosecution Service
  • Other solicitors or barristers
  • Legal aid agency
  • Credit reference agencies
  • Professional referees

Automated Technologies

As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs, and other similar technologies.

4. How We Use Your Data

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

Purpose / Activity Type of Data Legal Basis
To provide legal services and manage our relationship with you Identity, Contact, Case Data Contract performance; Legal obligation
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations Identity, Contact, Case Data Legal obligation
To process payments and recover funds owed Identity, Contact, Financial Contract performance; Legitimate interests
To communicate with you about your case Identity, Contact Contract performance
To improve our website and services Technical, Usage Legitimate interests
To comply with money laundering regulations Identity, Contact, Financial Legal obligation

5. Data Sharing

We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table above:

Courts and Tribunals – For the proper administration of justice
Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) – For criminal proceedings
Police Forces – For police station representation
Legal Aid Agency – For publicly funded cases
HM Revenue & Customs – For tax matters
National Crime Agency – For money laundering checks
Other Solicitors/Barrister – For case handling
Bank/Financial Institutions – For payments

We Never Sell Your Data

We do not sell, trade, or otherwise transfer your personal data to outside parties. We may share data with third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, but only when those parties agree to keep this information confidential.

6. Data Security

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorized way, altered, or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors, and other third parties who have a business need to know.

Encryption

All data is encrypted in transit and at rest using industry-standard protocols

Secure Storage

Data is stored on secure servers with restricted access controls

Access Controls

Staff are trained in data protection and have role-based access

We have procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

7. Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements.

We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation with respect to our relationship with you.

Retention Periods

  • Active Cases: Duration of the case + 6 years for potential claims
  • Closed Cases: Typically 6-7 years after case closure
  • Financial Records: Minimum 6 years for tax purposes
  • Marketing Data: Until you withdraw consent

8. International Data Transfers

As a UK-based law firm, we primarily store and process personal data within the United Kingdom and the European Economic Area (EEA).

If we do need to transfer data outside the UK or EEA, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR requirements, including:

  • Transfer to countries with an adequacy decision
  • Use of Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the UK
  • Binding Corporate Rules for intra-group transfers

9. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), you have the following rights:

1 Right to Access

You have the right to obtain confirmation as to whether or not personal data concerning you is being processed, and where that is the case, access to the personal data.

2 Right to Rectification

You have the right to have inaccurate personal data about you rectified and incomplete personal data completed.

3 Right to Erasure

You have the right to have personal data about you erased ("right to be forgotten") in certain circumstances.

4 Right to Restrict Processing

You have the right to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.

5 Right to Data Portability

You have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.

6 Right to Object

You have the right to object to processing of your personal data based on legitimate interests.

Exercising Your Rights

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details provided below. We will respond to your request within one month. Please note that we may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

10. Your Right to Complain

If you are not satisfied with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection.

Information Commissioner's Office

Address: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

Helpline: 0303 123 1113

Website: ico.org.uk

Online Portal: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

11. Children's Privacy

Our services may involve representing individuals under the age of 18 in criminal matters. Where we process personal data of children, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and, where required, we obtain parental or guardian consent.

For children under 13, we require verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information, except where permitted by law.

12. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use automated decision-making or profiling that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you.

However, we may use automated tools for credit reference checks and anti-money laundering screening, which are required by law for legal service providers.

13. Cookies

Our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. For detailed information about the cookies we use, the purposes for which we use them, and how you can manage them, please see our Cookie Policy.

14. Third-Party Links

This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you.

We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

15. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new privacy policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date at the top.

Where material changes to this privacy policy are made, we will provide a prominent notice on our website or, where appropriate, contact you directly.

We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your data.

16. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact our Data Protection Officer:

Woolfe and Co Solicitors Ltd

Data Protection Officer

16 Titan Court, Laporte Way

Maidenhall, Luton LU4 8EF

Bedfordshire, England

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 01582 380938

Hours: 24/7 for emergency legal assistance

For Existing Clients

If you are an existing client, please contact the solicitor handling your matter directly for data protection queries related to your case.

17. Legal Information

This privacy policy is governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales.

Company Name

Woolfe and Co Solicitors Ltd

Company Number

10878165

SRA Number

625326

Registered Office

16 Titan Court, Laporte Way, Luton LU4 8EF

Questions About Your Privacy?

Our team is committed to protecting your personal data. Contact us if you have any questions about how we handle your information.