Data Protection Policy

Introduction:

Nanjgel Solutions needs to gather and use certain information about individuals.

These can include customers, suppliers, business contacts, employees and other people the organisation has a relationship with or may need to contact.

This policy describes how this personal data must be collected, handled and stored to meet the company’s data protection standards — and to comply with the law.

Why this policy exists:

This data protection policy ensures Nanjgel solutions:

Data protection law:

The Data Protection Act 1998 describes how organisations — including Nanjgel Solutions— must collect, handle and store personal information.

These rules apply regardless of whether data is stored electronically, on paper or on other materials.

To comply with the law, personal information must be collected and used fairly, stored safely and not disclosed unlawfully.

The Data Protection Act is underpinned by eight important principles. These say that personal data must:

Policy scope:

This policy applies to:

It applies to all data that the company holds relating to identifiable individuals, even if that information technically falls outside of the Data Protection Act 1998. This can include:

Data protection risks:

This policy helps to protect Nanjgel Solutions from some very real data security risks, including:

Responsibilities:

Everyone who works for or with Nanjgel Solutions has some responsibility for ensuring data is collected, stored and handled appropriately.

Each team that handles personal data must ensure that it is handled and processed in line with this policy and data protection principles.

However, these people have key areas of responsibility:

Keeping the board updated about data protection responsibilities, risks and issues.
Reviewing all data protection procedures and related policies, in line with an agreed schedule.
Arranging data protection training and advice for the people covered by this policy.
Handling data protection questions from staff and anyone else covered by this policy.
Dealing with requests from individuals to see the data Nanjgel Solutions holds about them (also called ‘subject access requests’).
Checking and approving any contracts or agreements with third parties that may handle the company’s sensitive data.

General staff guidelines:

The only people able to access data covered by this policy should be those who need it for their work.
Data should not be shared informally. When access to confidential information is required, employees can request it from their line managers.
Nanjgel Solutions will provide training to all employees to help them understand their responsibilities when handling data.
Employees should keep all data secure, by taking sensible precautions and following the guidelines below.
In particular, strong passwords must be used, and they should never be shared.
Personal data should not be disclosed to unauthorised people, either within the company or externally.
Data should be regularly reviewed and updated if it is found to be out of date. If no longer required, it should be deleted and disposed of.
Employees should request help from their line manager or the data protection officer if they are unsure about any aspect of data protection.

Data storage:

These rules describe how and where data should be safely stored. Questions about storing data safely can be directed to the IT manager or data controller.

When data is stored on paper, it should be kept in a secure place where unauthorised people cannot see it.

These guidelines also apply to data that is usually stored electronically but has been printed out for some reason:

When data is stored electronically, it must be protected from unauthorised access, accidental deletion and malicious hacking attempts:

Data should be protected by strong passwords that are changed regularly and never shared between employees.
If data is stored on removable media (like a CD or DVD), these should be kept locked away securely when not being used.
Data should only be stored on designated drives and servers and should only be uploaded to an approved cloud computing service.
Servers containing personal data should be sited in a secure location, away from general office space.
Data should be backed up frequently. Those backups should be tested regularly, in line with the company’s standard backup procedures.
Data should never be saved directly to laptops or other mobile devices like tablets or smart phones.
All servers and computers containing data should be protected by approved security software and a firewall.

Data use:

Personal data is of no value to Nanjgel Solutions unless the business can make use of it. However, it is when personal data is accessed and used that it can be at the greatest risk of loss, corruption or theft:

When working with personal data, employees should ensure the screens of their computers are always locked when left unattended.
Personal data should not be shared informally. In particular, it should never be sent by email, as this form of communication is not secure.
Data must be encrypted before being transferred electronically. The IT manager can explain how to send data to authorised external contacts.
Personal data should never be transferred outside of the European Economic Area.
Employees should not save copies of personal data to their own computers. Always access and update the central copy of any data.

Data accuracy:

The law requires Nanjgel Solutions to take reasonable steps to ensure data is kept accurate and up to date.

The more important it is that the personal data is accurate, the greater the effort Nanjgel Solutions should put into ensuring its accuracy.

It is the responsibility of all employees who work with data to take reasonable steps to ensure it is kept as accurate and up to date as possible.

Data will be held in as few places as necessary. Staff should not create any unnecessary additional data sets.
Staff should take every opportunity to ensure data is updated. For instance, by confirming a customer’s details when they call.
Nanjgel Solutions will make it easy for data subjects to update the information Nanjgel Solutions holds about them. For instance, via the company website.
Data should be updated as inaccuracies are discovered. For instance, if a customer can no longer be reached on their stored telephone number, it should be removed from the database.
It is the marketing manager’s responsibility to ensure marketing databases are checked against industry suppression files every six months.

Subject access requests:

All individuals who are the subject of personal data held by Nanjgel Solutions are entitled to:

If an individual contacts the company requesting this information, this is called a subject access request.

Subject access requests from individuals should be made by email, addressed to the data controller. The data controller can supply a standard request form, although individuals do not have to use this.

Individuals will be charged £10 per subject access request. The data controller will aim to provide the relevant data within 14 days.

The data controller will always verify the identity of anyone making a subject access request before handing over any information.

Disclosing data for other reasons:

In certain circumstances, the Data Protection Act allows personal data to be disclosed to law enforcement agencies without the consent of the data subject.

Under these circumstances, Nanjgel Solutions will disclose requested data. However, the data controller will ensure the request is legitimate, seeking assistance from the board and from the company’s legal advisers where necessary.

Providing information:

Nanjgel Solutions aims to ensure that individuals are aware that their data is being processed, and that they understand:

To these ends, the company has a privacy statement, setting out how data relating to individuals is used by the company.

[This is available on request.]