The Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre (QMLAC) is part of the School of Law at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). For the purposes of data protection legislation, QMUL is the data controller of the personal data the QMLAC processes in the course of providing its services. This notice explains how the QMLAC collects, uses and shares your personal data and your rights in relation to the processing of your data.
When you register to use the QMLAC we will ask you to provide some information about yourself and the issue on which you seek advice. The type and extent of personal data will depend on the nature of the legal advice sought by you. You must provide us with at least your name and either an email or telephone contact and brief details of your enquiry to allow us to consider whether we can assist. If you do not, we will not be able to inform you about whether we can assist you with your enquiry or provide you with any legal advice.
If you telephone and we are not available to answer, you can leave a voicemail message with your details and we will return your call. You do not have to leave your details in a voicemail message but if you do, we will delete the message off our clinic telephone immediately after returning your call.
By providing us with your personal information, you agree to the QMLAC processing your personal information in accordance with the purposes as laid out in this privacy notice.
To be able to process your personal information, we must have a valid legal reason for doing so.
The reason in our case is that we need your personal information to deliver any agreement we have with you. This includes providing free legal advice, in the form of a written letter, to you following a request from you asking for assistance. It can also include providing a written response to your initial enquiry.
In relation to any special category personal data you provide to use, for example about health or ethnicity, the legal basis is explicit consent.
We will only share information outside of the QMLAC to volunteer supervising lawyers, with your consent or as required by law. Otherwise, all personal data stays within the QMLAC, handled by its staff and student advisors.
We do routinely collect data on appointments, and advice given (in anonymous form). This is used to:
We will securely keep your personal data for 6 years from when we close your case, in accordance with guidance from The Law Society, which solicitors’ firms adhere to. After this period, it will be deleted. The right to erasure does not apply, although any such requests before this retention period has elapsed will be decided by QMLAC on a case by case basis.
Your personal data is confidential. There are some exceptional circumstances where we may breach confidentiality such as if: there is an imminent risk to life, to protect a child or vulnerable adult at risk of significant harm and to prevent the commission of a criminal offence. We would attempt to notify you before the breach of confidentiality unless this could increase the risk of harm.
You have a right to see all the information that we keep about you. This is called a subject access request. Find out more about data protection at Queen Mary.
Where we are processing data based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time by contacting us by email (lac@qmul.ac.uk) or writing to us at:
Queen Mary Legal Advice Centre School of Law Queen Mary University of London Mile End Road London E1 4NS
For further information, including on your other rights, please see Queen Mary's privacy notice.
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