Privacy & Cookies Policy
MAR Accountancy & Taxation Services Limited (“https://www.maraccountancy.co.uk”,“MAR Accountancy & Taxation Services”, “MAR Accountancy”, “@AccountancyMar”, MAR_Accountancy”, “us”, “we”, “our”). We are a company registered in England and Wales under company number 11919185 and our registered office address is Unit 16 Brickfields, Huyton Business Park, Liverpool, Merseyside, L36 6HY.
This privacy and cookies policy sets out how we use and protect any information that you give when engaging with us and/or using our website.
General
The Data Protection Act 2018 (“DPA 2018”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) impose certain legal obligations in connection with the processing of personal data.
The General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) aims to set a new standard for how companies use and protect individuals’ data. We take how we use and hold your personal data very seriously.
As a controller of your data we respect your privacy, and we are committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data in the course of providing our services to you and when you visit our website (regardless of where you visit it from) and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.
This Privacy Policy (the ‘Policy’) explains the data we collect from you, either directly or indirectly, why, and how we use it. It explains how we protect your data; the choices you can make about the data we collect and how you can control these decisions.
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.
Comments
When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, and the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.
An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.
If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.
Media
If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.
Embedded content from other websites
Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.
These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.
Type of information we collect, why and how
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified.
We will only collect personal data from you that we consider to be necessary in the context and purpose in which it is given.
We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal data about you which we have grouped together as follows:
- Identity Data includes first name last name.
- Contact Data includes email address and telephone numbers.
- Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.
- Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.
- Professional Data includes any information we may collect while providing services to you.
We also collect and use Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for internal purposes.
We do not collect any Special Categories of Personal Data about you (this includes details about your race or ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, information about your health and genetic and biometric data). Nor do we collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.
Through your use of our services we may also collect personal data from you about someone else. If you provide us with personal data about someone else, you must ensure that you are authorised to disclose that data to us and that without us taking any further steps required by applicable data protection or privacy laws, we may collect, use and disclose such personal data for the purposes described in this Policy. You must, therefore, take reasonable steps to ensure that the third party concerned is aware of and consents to the various matters detailed in this Policy, including: the fact that their personal data is being collected; the purposes for which that data is being collected; the intended recipients of that data; and the third party’s right to obtain access to the data (including details of how to request access). Where requested to do so, you must assist us with any requests by the third party to access or update the personal data you have collected from them and provided in connection with our Services.
If you fail to provide personal data
Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, to provide you with an answer to an enquiry). In this case, we may have to cancel a service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.
How is your personal data collected?
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
- Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity, Contact and Professional Data when you instruct us to provide our services to you by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by phone or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
– submit an equiry; or
– request marketing to be sent to you.
- Automated technologies or interations. 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, and other similar technologies.
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:
- Where we need to perform the contract, we are about to enter or have entered with you.
- Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
- Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.
Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data other than in relation to sending third party direct marketing communications to you via email or text message. You have the right to withdraw consent to marketing at any time by contacting us.
Purposes for which we will use your personal data
We have set out below, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.
Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the below.
Purpose/Activity
Type of data
Lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest
To respond to your enquiry submitted on the site or via phone
(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Professional
Performance of a contract with you
To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data)
(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Technical
(a) Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise)
(b) Necessary to comply with a legal obligation
To use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences
(a) Technical
(b) Usage
Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy)
To make suggestions and recommendations to you about services that may be of interest to you
(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Technical
Necessary for our legitimate interests (to develop our products/services and grow our business)
To provide our professional services to you
(a) Professional
Performance of a contract with you
To allow us to manage and maintain standards within our business
(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Professional
Necessary for our legitimate interests in operating our business network
To comply with legal and regulatory requirements including under anti-money laundering legislation
(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Professional
Necessary to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
To make suggestions and recommendations to you about our services that may be of interest to you
(a) Identity
(b) Contact
(c) Marketing and Communications
Consent
- Marketing
We use several marketing tools in support of our advertising efforts.
We may work with third party advertisers that use cookies and similar technologies to provide more relevant advertising about our services on our website and across the internet.
To provide this ‘interest-based advertising’, the parties combine non-personal data about your online activities acquired over time which helps cater advertising that we deliver to you.
Examples of this may include an advertisement on a Facebook page, or a Google-owned page such as a search results page or YouTube, or on a site within Google’s advertising network. We do not share your data as part of this process.
We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.
We may use your Identity, Contact, Technical and Marketing of Communications Data to form a view on what we think you may want or need, or what may be of interest to you. This is how we decide which services and offers may be relevant for you (we call this marketing).
You will receive marketing communications from us if you have requested information from us and unless you have opted out of receiving that marketing.
If you wish to opt out of interest-based advertising, please contact us.
If you have opted out of receiving communications from us, we will not use your email for interest-based advertising, although you may still be subject to certain interest based advertising depending upon your browser and device settings.
We use cookies and similar technologies like pixels, tags and other identifiers to help us personalise our websites and services for you, remember your preferences, understand how users are using our websites and services and help customise our marketing offerings.
Performance upped. These cookies collect information about how you use our websites. This data may be used to help optimise our website and make it easier for you to navigate.
Most web browsers allow you to control cookies through their settings preferences, however if you limit the ability of websites to set cookies, you may impact your overall user experience.
You can learn about how to control cookie settings on popular web browsers, by visiting:
Google Chrome
Internet Explorer
Safari
Firefox
Pixels
In addition to cookies, we sometimes use small graphic images known as ‘pixels’ (also known as web beacons, clear GIFs, or pixel tags). We use pixels in our email, online chat and phone communications (if you have selected to receive such communications) to help us to understand how you interacted with our communication.
We also use third party pixels (such as those from Google, Facebook, and other advertising networks) to help us provide advertising that is relevant to your interests.
Other Identifiers
When you use our app, we collect a unique ad tracking identifier from your device (the Advertising Identifier or “IDFA” on iOS devices and the Google Ad ID or “AID” on Android devices) so that we can learn more about users of our app and provide the most relevant messaging and marketing. Although these identifiers are unique to your device, they do not contain any of your data such as name or email address.
How to control Identifier Settings
You can control how these identifiers are used, including the ability to reset them, through your device settings. Below you can learn about how to control cookie settings on the following popular device operating systems:
Change of purpose
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.
When we may share or disclose your data
We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table in paragraph 4 above.
- Our third party service providers
- Law enforcement and regulatory agencies in connection with any investigation to help prevent unlawful activity or as otherwise required by law
- HMRC and other authorities where we are required to do so
- An alternate appointed by us in the event of incapacity or death
- Third parties in the event of an actual or proposed sale, transfer, or merger of our business, parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy notice.
- Others, where you have specifically agreed.
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
International transfers
Some of our third-party service providers are based outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) so their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the EEA.
Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:
- we will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission. For further details, see European Commission: Adequacy of the protection of personal data in non-EU countries ;
- where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe. For further details, see European Commission: Model contracts for the transfer of personal data to third countries ; and/or
- where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to them if they are part of the Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between Europe and the US. For further details, see European Commission: EU-US Privacy Shield.
Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the EEA.
How to access and control your data
You can review, edit, or delete your personal data by contacting us. We will respond to any request to access or delete your personal data as soon as possible, but certainly within 14 days.
Where we store and process data
By submitting your personal data, you agree to its transfer, storing and processing.
Most personal data is stored electronically on servers or computer systems with controlled access and controlled environments.
Our servers are located within enterprise-grade hosting facilities that employ robust physical security controls to prevent physical access to the servers they house. These controls include monitoring, 24/7 surveillance and on-site security staff.
Other personal data may be kept in paper form within our office, if needed, although in the main copies are destroyed after they have been scanned into computer systems.
We will not transfer personal data outside of the European Economic Area (EEA) without complying with the provisions of the Data Protection Legislation in respect of such transfer. Where you access our services outside the EEA, it shall be your responsibility to ensure that any access outside of the EEA which results in a transfer of personal data complies with the provisions of the Data Protection Legislation.
However if you choose to access your personal data outside the EEA, you should only do so in a secure environment which means that your browser must support the encryption security used in connection with our services.
How we secure your data
We are committed to protecting the security of your personal data. We use a variety of security technologies and procedures to help protect your personal data from unauthorised access, use or disclosure.
For example, any personal data transferred to us over the internet is protected with Secure Sockets Layer / Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) Encryption Certificate technology. This ensures that all personal data transferred is encrypted to prevent eavesdropping and tampering.
While no Service is completely secure, we take precautionary measures and have strict security standards to help prevent data loss, theft, misuse and unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration and destruction or other like incidents that might affect the security of your personal data.
These measures include encryption, password protection, anti-malware, firewalls, server authentication, user profiles, backup/disaster recovery systems, restriction of access to premises and computer systems, as well as use of relevant third-party service providers to provide security.
We impose strict contractual obligations on our suppliers, subcontractors, and partners to ensure data is secure, protected and treated in accordance with this Policy and we will take all steps reasonably necessary to maintain compliance with these obligations.
However, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal data while it is being transmitted to us if you do not enter or import it from a secure environment or secure mobile device.
Our services can be accessed using an individual user login and password. To protect the confidentiality of data, you must keep your password confidential and not disclose it to any other person. Please alert us immediately if you believe your password has been misused. Additionally, always logout and close your browser when you finish your session, especially if you’re on a public computer. You are ultimately responsible for administering and safeguarding any passwords or memorable words created to control access. Please note, we will never ask you to disclose your password in an unsolicited phone call or email.
Our contracts with certain commercial banks to provide automated feeds of bank transaction data into our accounting software. These services provide an efficient method of transferring receipt and payment details directly from bank statements to your accounting records and the banks’ security protocols are applied to the transmissions. These services do not give us or any third party the ability to transact via the relevant bank accounts.
If you have any questions about the security of your data, you can contact us.
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised 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. They will only process your personal data on our instructions, and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We have put in place 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. If you think that any part of our process is not secure please email us at info@maraccountancy.co.uk.
Our retention of your data
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Your rights
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data.
- Request access to your personal data.
- Request correction of your personal data.
- Request erasure of your personal data.
- Object to processing of your personal data.
- Request restriction of processing your personal data.
- Request transfer of your personal data.
- Right to withdraw consent.
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
What we may need from you
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made several requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
Changes to our policy
This version was last updated on 1st March 2021. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
How to contact us
You can opt out of receiving certain direct communications from us.
If you wish to stop receiving promotional or marketing related emails from us, you can do so by following the instructions included in every email sent to you via the “Unsubscribe” link. We respect your choice, and we will stop sending you emails once you unsubscribe or update your preferences. It may take up to 14 days to process your request.
If you have consented to receive communications or marketing from us by SMS text message, you may stop this by replying STOP or by emailing STOP to info@maraccountancy.co.uk, or by advising us over the phone.
Please note, if you have become a member, subscribed or purchased any of our services regardless of your preferences we will continue to communicate with you for service emails, software updates, policy updates, or significant information about our services.
You can adjust the amount of ‘interest-based advertising’ (as described above) you may receive by changing your cookie settings, changing your device settings, and/or opting out of certain advertising networks. If you have opted out of receiving emails from us, we will not use your email for interest-based advertising activities.
The contact details for our data protection officer are as follows:
MAR Accountancy & Taxation Services Limited
Data protection officer
Unit 16 Brickfields
Huyton Business Park
Merseyside
L36 6HY
England
www.maraccountancy.co.uk
Alternatively, you can contact our data protection officer via our contact form on the homepage.
If you are not happy with our response, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.