Automated Decision-Making (ADM): when a decision is made which is based solely on Automated Processing (including profiling) which produces legal effects or significantly affects an individual. The UK GDPR prohibits Automated Decision-Making (unless certain conditions are met) but not Automated Processing.
Automated Processing: any form of automated processing of Personal Data consisting of the use of Personal Data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to an individual, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that individual's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements. Profiling is an example of Automated Processing.
Company name: DSF OPCO LTD (CRN: 14202460).
Company Personnel: all employees, workers, contractors, agency workers, consultants, directors, members and others.
Consent: agreement which must be freely given, specific, informed and be an unambiguous indication of the Data Subject's wishes by which they, by a statement or by a clear positive action, signify agreement to the Processing of Personal Data relating to them.
Controller: the person or organisation that determines when, why and how to process Personal Data. It is responsible for establishing practices and policies in line with the UK GDPR. We are the Controller of all Personal Data relating to our Company Personnel and Personal Data used in our business for our own commercial purposes.
Criminal Convictions Data: means personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences and includes personal data relating to criminal allegations and proceedings.
Data Subject: a living, identified or identifiable individual about whom we hold Personal Data. Data Subjects may be nationals or residents of any country and may have legal rights regarding their Personal Data.
Data Privacy Impact Assessment (DPIA): tools and assessments used to identify and reduce risks of a data processing activity. DPIA can be carried out as part of Privacy by Design and should be conducted for all major system or business change programmes involving the Processing of Personal Data.
Data Protection Officer (DPO): the person required to be appointed in specific circumstances under the UK GDPR. Where a mandatory DPO has not been appointed, this term means a data privacy manager or other voluntary appointment of a DPO or refers to the Company data privacy team with responsibility for data protection compliance (dataprotection@dltscience.org).
Explicit Consent: consent which requires a very clear and specific statement (that is, not just action).
UK GDPR: the retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679). Personal Data is subject to the legal safeguards specified in the UK GDPR.
Personal Data: any information identifying a Data Subject or information relating to a Data Subject that we can identify (directly or indirectly) from that data alone or in combination with other identifiers we possess or can reasonably access. Personal Data includes Special Categories of Personal Data and Pseudonymised Personal Data but excludes anonymous data or data that has had the identity of an individual permanently removed. Personal data can be factual (for example, a name, email address, location or date of birth) or an opinion about that person's actions or behaviour.
Personal Data Breach: any act or omission that compromises the security, confidentiality, integrity or availability of Personal Data or the physical, technical, administrative or organisational safeguards that we or our third-party service providers put in place to protect it. The loss, or unauthorised access, disclosure or acquisition, of Personal Data is a Personal Data Breach.
Privacy by Design: implementing appropriate technical and organisational measures in an effective manner to ensure compliance with the UK GDPR.
Privacy Guidelines: the Company privacy and UK GDPR related guidelines provided to assist in interpreting and implementing this Data Protection Policy and Related Policies, available here.
Privacy Notices (also referred to as Fair Processing Notices) or Privacy Policies: separate notices setting out information that may be provided to Data Subjects when the Company collects information about them. These notices may take the form of general privacy statements applicable to a specific group of individuals (for example, employee privacy notices or the website privacy policy) or they may be stand-alone, one-time privacy statements covering Processing related to a specific purpose.
Processing or Process: any activity that involves the use of Personal Data. It includes obtaining, recording or holding the data, or carrying out any operation or set of operations on the data including organising, amending, retrieving, using, disclosing, erasing or destroying it. Processing also includes transmitting or transferring Personal Data to third parties.
Pseudonymisation or Pseudonymised: replacing information that directly or indirectly identifies an individual with one or more artificial identifiers or pseudonyms so that the person, to whom the data relates, cannot be identified without the use of additional information which is meant to be kept separately and secure.
Related Policies: the Company's policies, operating procedures or processes related to this Data Protection Policy and designed to protect Personal Data, available from the DPO.
Special Categories of Personal Data: information revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or similar beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health conditions, sexual life, sexual orientation, biometric or genetic data. Introduction
- This Data Protection Policy sets out how DSF OPCO LTD ("we", "our", "us", "the Company") handle the Personal Data of our customers, users, suppliers, employees, workers and other third parties.
- This Data Protection Policy applies to all Personal Data we Process regardless of the media on which that data is stored or whether it relates to past or present employees, workers, customers, clients or supplier contacts, shareholders, website users or any other Data Subject.
We adhere to the principles relating to Processing of Personal Data set out in the UK GDPR which require Personal Data to be:
Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner (Lawfulness, Fairness and Transparency);
collected only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes (Purpose Limitation);
adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is Processed (Data Minimisation);
accurate and where necessary kept up to date (Accuracy);
not kept in a form which permits identification of Data Subjects for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data is Processed (Storage Limitation);
Processed in a manner that ensures its security using appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect against unauthorised or unlawful Processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage (Security, Integrity and Confidentiality);
not transferred to another country without appropriate safeguards being in place (Transfer Limitation); and
made available to Data Subjects and allow Data Subjects to exercise certain rights in relation to their Personal Data (Data Subject's Rights and Requests).
Personal data must be Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the Data Subject.
The UK GDPR restricts our actions regarding Personal Data to specified lawful purposes. These restrictions are not intended to prevent Processing but ensure that we Process Personal Data fairly and without adversely affecting the Data Subject.
The UK GDPR allows Processing for specific purposes, some of which are set out below:
- the Data Subject has given his or her Consent;
- the Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with the Data Subject;
- to meet our legal compliance obligations;
- to protect the Data Subject's vital interests;
- to pursue our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) for purposes where they are not overridden because the Processing prejudices the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of Data Subjects. The purposes for which we process Personal Data for legitimate interests need to be set out in applicable Privacy Notices; or
- other UK GDPR processing grounds.
A Controller must only process Personal Data on the basis of one or more of the lawful bases set out in the UK GDPR, which include Consent.
A Data Subject consents to Processing of their Personal Data if they indicate agreement clearly either by a statement or positive action to the Processing. Consent requires affirmative action so silence, pre-ticked boxes or inactivity are unlikely to be sufficient. If Consent is given in a document which deals with other matters, then the Consent must be kept separate from those other matters.
Data Subjects must be easily able to withdraw Consent to Processing at any time and withdrawal must be promptly honoured. Consent may need to be refreshed if you intend to Process Personal Data for a different and incompatible purpose which was not disclosed when the Data Subject first consented.
When processing Special Category Data or Criminal Convictions Data, we will usually rely on a legal basis for processing other than Explicit Consent or Consent if possible. Where Explicit Consent is relied on, you must issue a Privacy Notice to the Data Subject to capture Explicit Consent.
The UK GDPR requires Controllers to provide detailed, specific information to Data Subjects depending on whether the information was collected directly from Data Subjects or from elsewhere. The information must be provided through appropriate Privacy Notices which must be concise, transparent, intelligible, easily accessible, and in clear and plain language so that a Data Subject can easily understand them.
Whenever we collect Personal Data directly from Data Subjects, including for HR or employment purposes, we must provide the Data Subject with all the information required by the UK GDPR including the identity of the Controller and DPO, how and why we will use, process, disclose, protect and retain that Personal Data through a Privacy Notice which must be presented when the Data Subject first provides the Personal Data.
When Personal Data is collected indirectly (for example, from a third party or publicly available source), we must provide the Data Subject with all the information required by the UK GDPR as soon as possible after collecting or receiving the data. We must also check that the Personal Data was collected by the third party in accordance with the UK GDPR and on a basis which contemplates our proposed Processing of that Personal Data.
Personal Data is only collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes. It is not further Processed in any manner incompatible with those purposes.
You do not use Personal Data for new, different or incompatible purposes from that disclosed when it was first obtained unless we have informed the Data Subject of the new purposes and they have Consented where necessary.
Personal Data is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which it is Processed.
When Personal Data is no longer needed for specified purposes, it is deleted or anonymised in accordance with the Company's data retention guidelines.
Personal Data is accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. It is corrected or deleted without delay when inaccurate.
Personal Data is not kept in an identifiable form for longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the data is processed.
The Company will maintain retention policies and procedures to ensure Personal Data is deleted after a reasonable time for the purposes for which it was being held, unless a law requires that data to be kept for a minimum time.
Personal Data is not kept in a form which permits the identification of the Data Subject for longer than needed for the legitimate business purpose or purposes for which we originally collected it including for the purpose of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
We will take all reasonable steps to destroy or erase from our systems all Personal Data that we no longer require in accordance with all the Company's applicable records retention schedules and policies. This includes requiring third parties to delete that data where applicable.
We ensure Data Subjects are informed of the period for which data is stored and how that period is determined in any applicable Privacy Notice.
Personal Data is secured by appropriate technical and organisational measures against unauthorised or unlawful Processing, and against accidental loss, destruction or damage.
We will develop, implement and maintain safeguards appropriate to our size, scope and business, our available resources, the amount of Personal Data that we own or maintain on behalf of others and identified risks (including use of encryption and Pseudonymisation where applicable). We will regularly evaluate and test the effectiveness of those safeguards to ensure security of our Processing of Personal Data. We are responsible for protecting the Personal Data we hold. You must implement reasonable and appropriate security measures against unlawful or unauthorised Processing of Personal Data and against the accidental loss of, or damage to, Personal Data. We exercise particular care in protecting Special Categories of Personal Data and Criminal Convictions Data from loss and unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
We follow all procedures and technologies we put in place to maintain the security of all Personal Data from the point of collection to the point of destruction. We only transfer Personal Data to third-party service providers who agree to comply with the required policies and procedures and who agree to put adequate measures in place, as requested.
We maintain data security by protecting the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the Personal Data, defined as follows:
- Confidentiality means that only people who have a need to know and are authorised to use the Personal Data can access it;
- Integrity means that Personal Data is accurate and suitable for the purpose for which it is processed; and
- Availability means that authorised users are able to access the Personal Data when they need it for authorised purposes.
- We comply with and do not attempt to circumvent the administrative, physical and technical safeguards we implement and maintain in accordance with the UK GDPR and relevant standards to protect Personal Data.
The UK GDPR requires Controllers to notify any Personal Data Breach to the Information Commissioner and, in certain instances, the Data Subject.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected Personal Data Breach and will notify Data Subjects or any applicable regulator where we are legally required to do so.
The UK GDPR restricts data transfers to countries outside the UK to ensure that the level of data protection afforded to individuals by the UK GDPR is not undermined.
We only transfer Personal Data outside the UK if one of the following conditions applies:
the UK has issued regulations confirming that the country to which we transfer the Personal Data ensures an adequate level of protection for the Data Subject's rights and freedoms;
appropriate safeguards are in place such as binding corporate rules (BCR), standard contractual clauses approved for use in the UK, an approved code of conduct or a certification mechanism, a copy of which can be obtained from the DPO;
the Data Subject has provided Explicit Consent to the proposed transfer after being informed of any potential risks; or
the transfer is necessary for one of the other reasons set out in the UK GDPR including the performance of a contract between us and the Data Subject, reasons of public interest, to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or to protect the vital interests of the Data Subject where the Data Subject is physically or legally incapable of giving Consent and, in some limited cases, for our legitimate interest.
Data Subjects have rights when it comes to how we handle their Personal Data. These include rights to:
withdraw Consent to Processing at any time;
receive certain information about the Controller's Processing activities;
request access to their Personal Data that we hold;
prevent our use of their Personal Data for direct marketing purposes;
ask us to erase Personal Data if it is no longer necessary in relation to the purposes for which it was collected or Processed or to rectify inaccurate data or to complete incomplete data;
restrict Processing in specific circumstances;
challenge Processing which has been justified on the basis of our legitimate interests or in the public interest;
request a copy of an agreement under which Personal Data is transferred outside of the UK;
object to decisions based solely on Automated Processing, including profiling (ADM);
prevent Processing that is likely to cause damage or distress to the Data Subject or anyone else;
be notified of a Personal Data Breach which is likely to result in high risk to their rights and freedoms;
make a complaint to the supervisory authority; and
in limited circumstances, receive or ask for their Personal Data to be transferred to a third party in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format.
The Controller implements appropriate technical and organisational measures in an effective manner, to ensure compliance with data protection principles. The Controller is responsible for, and must be able to demonstrate, compliance with the data protection principles.
The Company has adequate resources and controls in place to ensure and to document UK GDPR compliance including:
appointing a suitably qualified DPO (where necessary) and an executive accountable for data privacy;
implementing Privacy by Design when Processing Personal Data and completing DPIAs where Processing presents a high risk to rights and freedoms of Data Subjects;
integrating data protection into internal documents including this Data Protection Policy, Related Policies, Privacy Guidelines or Privacy Notices;
regularly training Company Personnel on the UK GDPR, this Data Protection Policy, Related Policies and Privacy Guidelines and data protection matters including, for example, Data Subject's rights, Consent, legal basis, DPIA and Personal Data Breaches. The Company must maintain a record of training attendance by Company Personnel; and
regularly testing the privacy measures implemented and conducting periodic reviews to assess compliance, including using results of testing to demonstrate compliance improvement effort.
The UK GDPR requires us to keep full and accurate records of all our data Processing activities.
We keep and maintain accurate corporate records reflecting our Processing including records of Data Subjects' Consents and procedures for obtaining Consents in accordance with the Company's record-keeping guidelines.
These records include, at a minimum, the name and contact details of the Controller and the DPO, clear descriptions of the Personal Data types, Data Subject types, Processing activities, Processing purposes, third-party recipients of the Personal Data, Personal Data storage locations, Personal Data transfers, the Personal Data's retention period and a description of the security measures in place. To create the records, data maps should be created which should include the detail set out above together with appropriate data flows.
We are required to ensure all Company Personnel have undergone adequate training to enable them to comply with data privacy laws. We must also regularly test our systems and processes to assess compliance.
Weregularly review all the systems and processes under your control to ensure they comply with this Data Protection Policy and check that adequate governance controls and resources are in place to ensure proper use and protection of Personal Data.
We are required to implement Privacy by Design measures when Processing Personal Data by implementing appropriate technical and organisational measures (like Pseudonymisation) in an effective manner, to ensure compliance with data privacy principles.
We assess what Privacy by Design measures can be implemented on all programmes, systems or processes that Process Personal Data by taking into account the following:
the state of the art;
the cost of implementation;
the nature, scope, context and purposes of Processing; and
the risks of varying likelihood and severity for rights and freedoms of Data Subjects posed by the Processing.
Controllers also conduct DPIAs in respect to high-risk Processing.
We conduct a DPIA when implementing major system or business change programs involving the Processing of Personal Data including:
use of new technologies (programs, systems or processes), or changing technologies (programs, systems or processes);
Automated Processing including profiling and ADM;
large-scale Processing of Special Categories of Personal Data or Criminal Convictions Data; and
large-scale, systematic monitoring of a publicly accessible area.
A DPIA includes:
a description of the Processing, its purposes and the Controller's legitimate interests if appropriate;
an assessment of the necessity and proportionality of the Processing in relation to its purpose;
an assessment of the risk to individuals; and
the risk mitigation measures in place and demonstration of compliance.
Generally, ADM is prohibited when a decision has a legal or similar significant effect on an individual unless:
a Data Subject has Explicitly Consented;
the Processing is authorised by law; or
the Processing is necessary for the performance of or entering into a contract.
If certain types of Special Categories of Personal Data or Criminal Convictions Data are being processed, then grounds (b) or (c) will not be allowed but the Special Categories of Personal Data and Criminal Convictions Data can be Processed where it is necessary (unless less intrusive means can be used) for substantial public interest like fraud prevention.
If a decision is to be based solely on Automated Processing (including profiling), then Data Subjects must be informed when you first communicate with them of their right to object. This right must be explicitly brought to their attention and presented clearly and separately from other information. Further, suitable measures must be put in place to safeguard the Data Subject's rights and freedoms and legitimate interests.
We must also inform the Data Subject of the logic involved in the decision making or profiling, the significance and envisaged consequences and give the Data Subject the right to request human intervention, express their point of view or challenge the decision.
A DPIA must be carried out before any Automated Processing (including profiling) or ADM activities are undertaken.
We are subject to certain rules and privacy laws when marketing to our customers.
For example, a Data Subject's prior consent is required for electronic direct marketing (for example, by email, text or automated calls). The limited exception for existing customers known as "soft opt-in" allows organisations to send marketing texts or emails if they have obtained contact details in the course of a sale to that person, they are marketing similar products or services, and they gave the person an opportunity to opt out of marketing when first collecting the details and in every subsequent message.
The right to object to direct marketing must be explicitly offered to the Data Subject in an intelligible manner so that it is clearly distinguishable from other information.
A Data Subject's objection to direct marketing must be promptly honoured. If a customer opts out at any time, their details should be suppressed as soon as possible. Suppression involves retaining just enough information to ensure that marketing preferences are respected in the future.
Generally we are not allowed to share Personal Data with third parties unless certain safeguards and contractual arrangements have been put in place.
We may only share the Personal Data we hold with another employee, agent or representative of our group (which includes our subsidiaries and our ultimate holding company along with its subsidiaries) if the recipient has a job-related need to know the information and the transfer complies with any applicable cross-border transfer restrictions.
We may only share the Personal Data we hold with third parties, such as our service providers, if:
they have a need to know the information for the purposes of providing the contracted services;
sharing the Personal Data complies with the Privacy Notice provided to the Data Subject and, if required, the Data Subject's Consent has been obtained;
the third party has agreed to comply with the required data security standards, policies and procedures and put adequate security measures in place;
the transfer complies with any applicable cross-border transfer restrictions; and
a fully executed written contract that contains UK GDPR-approved third party clauses has been obtained.
We keep this Data Protection Policy under regular review.
This Data Protection Policy does not override any applicable national data privacy laws and regulations in countries where the Company operates.
Last updated: 16 March 2023