WHISTL UK Limited - GDPR Compliance Statement

Introduction

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) came into force across the European Union on 25^th May 2018 and brought with it the most significant changes to data protection law in two decades. Based on privacy by design and taking a risk-based approach, the GDPR has been designed to meet the requirements of the digital age.

The 21^st Century brings with it broader use of technology, new definitions of what constitutes personal data, and a vast increase in cross-border processing. GDPR aims to standardise data protection laws and processing across the EU; affording individuals stronger, more consistent rights to access and control their personal information.

Our Commitment

Whistl UK Ltd (‘we’ or ‘us’ or ‘our’) are committed to ensuring the security and protection of the personal information that we process, and to provide a compliant and consistent approach to data protection. We have always had a robust and effective data protection program in place which complies with existing law and abides by the data protection principles.

We are dedicated to safeguarding the personal information under our remit and in developing a data protection regime that is effective, fit for purpose and demonstrates an understanding of, and appreciation for GDPR. Our preparation and objectives for GDPR compliance have been summarised in our previous statement. This statement includes the development and implementation of new data protection roles, policies, procedures, controls and measures to ensure maximum and ongoing compliance.

 Development and implementation of GDPR at Whistl

Whistl already has a consistent level of data protection and security across our organisation, however it is our aim to be fully compliant with the GDPR.

Our implementation to date includes: -

• Information Audit -  We have carried out a company-wide information audit to identify and assess what personal information we hold, where it comes from, how and why it is processed and if and to whom it is disclosed.
• Policies & Procedures -  we have updated our data protection policies and procedures to meet the requirements and standards of the GDPR and any relevant data protection laws, including: -
  • Data Protection – our main policy and procedure document for data protection has been overhauled to meet the standards and requirements of the GDPR. Accountability and governance measures are in place to ensure that we understand and adequately disseminate and evidence our obligations and responsibilities; with a dedicated focus on privacy by design and the rights of individuals.
  • Data Retention & Erasure – we  have updated our retention policy and schedule to ensure that we meet the ‘data minimisation’ and ‘storage limitation’ principles and that personal information is stored, archived and destroyed compliantly and ethically. We have dedicated erasure procedures in place to meet the new ‘Right to Erasure’ obligation and are aware of when this and other data subject’s rights apply; along with any exemptions, response timeframes and notification responsibilities.
  • Data Breaches – our breach procedures ensure that we have safeguards and measures in place to identify, assess, investigate and report any personal data breach at the earliest possible time. Our procedures are robust and have been disseminated to all employees, making them aware of the reporting lines and steps to follow.
  • International Data Transfers & Third-Party Disclosures – where  Whistl UK Ltd stores or transfers personal information outside the EU, we have robust procedures and safeguarding measures in place to secure, encrypt and maintain the integrity of the data. Our procedures include a continual review of the countries with sufficient adequacy decisions and provisions for binding corporate rules, standard data protection clauses or approved codes of conduct for those countries without. We carry out strict due diligence checks with all recipients of personal data to assess and verify that they have appropriate safeguards to protect the information, ensure enforceable data subject rights and have effective legal remedies for data subjects where applicable.
  • Subject Access Request (SAR) – we have revised our SAR procedures to accommodate the revised 30-day timeframe for providing the requested information and for making this provision free of charge. Our new procedures detail how to verify the data subject, what steps to take for processing an access request, what exemptions apply and a suite of response templates to ensure that communications with data subjects are compliant, consistent and adequate.
• Legal Basis for Processing - we have reviewed all processing activities to identify the legal basis for processing and ensure that each basis is appropriate for the activity it relates to.
• Privacy Notice/Policy – we have revised our Privacy Notice(s) to comply with the GDPR, ensuring that all individuals whose personal information we process have been informed of why we need it, how it is used, what their rights are, who the information is disclosed to and what safeguarding measures are in place to protect their information.
• Processor Agreements – where we use any third party to process personal information on our behalf, we have agreed to compliant Processor Agreements and due diligence procedures for ensuring that they meet and understand their GDPR obligations. These measures include initial and ongoing reviews of the service provided, the necessity of the processing activity, the technical and organisational measures in place and compliance with the GDPR.

Data Subject Rights

In addition to the policies and procedures mentioned above that ensure individuals can enforce their data protection rights, we provide information to support the individual’s right to access any personal information that we process about them and to request information about: -

• What personal data do we hold about them
• The purposes of the processing
• The categories of personal data concerned
• The recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
• How long do we intend to store your personal data for
• If we did not collect the data directly from them, information about the source
• The right to have incomplete or inaccurate data about them corrected or completed, and the process for requesting this
• The right to request the erasure of personal data (where applicable) or to restrict processing in accordance with data protection laws, as well as to object to any direct marketing from us and to be informed about any automated decision-making that we use
• The right to lodge a complaint or seek judicial remedy and who to contact in such instances

Information Security & Technical and Organisational Measures

Whistl UK Ltd takes the privacy and security of individuals and their personal information very seriously and works to achieve or exceed industry standards or practices to protect and secure the personal data that we process. We have robust information security policies and procedures to protect personal information from unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or destruction.

GDPR Roles and Employees

Whistl UK Ltd has designated a data privacy team to develop and implement our roadmap for complying with GDPR. The team is responsible for promoting awareness of the GDPR across the organisation, assessing our GDPR readiness, identifying gaps, and implementing new policies, procedures and measures.

 We understand that continuous employee awareness and understanding are vital to the continued compliance of the GDPR and have involved our employees in our preparation plans. We have implemented an employee training program specific to the GDPR, which will be provided to all employees and forms part of our induction and annual training program.

If you have any questions about our preparation for the GDPR, please contact gdpr@whistl.co.uk