Legal
Privacy policy
Birmingham Psychiatry takes the privacy of solicitors, barristers, applicant experts, and case subjects seriously. This notice explains what personal data we hold, why we hold it, and the rights available to you under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Who we are
For the purposes of UK data protection law, the controller of personal data collected through this website is Birmingham Psychiatry. You can reach us at enquiry@birminghampsychiatry.co.uk.
What we collect
- Enquiry information you provide through our contact form, including your name, firm or chambers, contact details, and the brief details of the matter.
- Expert applications submitted through our panel form, including your name, GMC number, contact details, specialism, experience, CV, and any covering message.
- Limited technical information such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited, collected through standard server logs and any analytics we operate.
Why we use it
We process personal data for the following purposes and on the following lawful bases:
- To respond to your enquiry and to match you with a suitable expert. Lawful basis: legitimate interests and, where you are an individual instructing us directly, the performance of a contract.
- To assess applications to join our panel. Lawful basis: legitimate interests and the steps taken at your request before entering into a contract.
- To meet our legal and regulatory obligations, including record keeping for tax and complaints handling. Lawful basis: legal obligation.
- To improve and secure our website. Lawful basis: legitimate interests.
Sharing
Where you ask us to introduce an expert, we will share the information you provide with the expert we propose so that they can consider the instruction. We use a small number of trusted processors to operate the site, including a forms provider used to receive submissions on our behalf. These processors act only on documented instructions and are bound by appropriate contractual safeguards.
We do not sell personal data, and we do not transfer it for marketing purposes.
International transfers
Some of our processors are based outside the United Kingdom. Where they are, transfers are protected by UK adequacy regulations or the International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses.
Retention
Enquiry records are kept for up to two years from the last contact, after which they are deleted unless they form part of an instructed matter, in which case the retention period applicable to that matter applies. Expert application records are kept for the duration of any panel listing and for two years after a listing ends. Server logs are kept for short, security-led periods.
Your rights
You have the right to:
- Ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Ask us to correct inaccurate data or complete incomplete data.
- Ask us to erase data where there is no good reason for us to keep processing it.
- Restrict our processing in defined circumstances.
- Object to processing carried out on the basis of legitimate interests.
- Receive a portable copy of data you have provided to us.
- Lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Cookies
We use a small number of strictly necessary cookies to operate the site. We do not set advertising cookies. If we add analytics in future that requires consent, we will ask for it through a cookie banner.
Children
Our services are aimed at legal professionals. Where a case involves a child, we receive information about that child only through the instructing solicitor, and only as needed to assess the instruction.
Security
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. These include access controls, encryption in transit, and regular review of our processors.
Changes
We may update this notice from time to time. The date at the top reflects the most recent update.
Contact
For any privacy query, please email enquiry@birminghampsychiatry.co.uk.