Privacy Notice
Valid from [08/2023]
Introduction & Scope
Engel & Völkers UK Ltd (referred to as “the Company”, "we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy and security of your personal information.
This Privacy Notice (“Notice”) describes how we collect and use personal information about you during and after your relationship with us, in accordance with the EU’s General Data Protection Regulations 2016 and the UK’s retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulations under the Data Protection Act 2018 (collectively referred to here as the “GDPR”).
This Notice applies to all our customers and website users located or using our services in the United Kingdom (“UK”) whether past, present or prospective and including any relevant third parties such as your permitted agents or representatives.
It is important that you read this Notice, together with any other privacy notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal information about you, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such information. This Notice does not form part of any contract to provide services you may have with the Company from time to time.
We reserve the right to amend this Notice at any time without notice to you so, if required, please check to ensure that you are referring to the latest copy of this Notice. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal data.
Responsible Entity
Engel & Völkers UK Ltd is a "data controller" for the purposes of the GDPR. This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you. Our contact details are:
Engel & Völkers UK Ltd
25 Bedford Square
London
WC1B 3HH
When we mention “Engel & Volkers”, “the Company”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this Notice, we are referring to Engel & Völkers UK Ltd, as a licence partner of Engel & Völkers Residential GmbH, which operates in the UK.
We have appointed [Alexander Broadfoot] (email: alexander.broadfoot@engelvoelkers.com / Tel: +44 203 283 8700) as a “Data Privacy Manager” to oversee compliance with this Notice. If you have any questions about this Notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact our Data Privacy Manager for further information.
You have the right to make a complaint about the handling of your personal data at any time to 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.
The Engel & Völkers Group
The Engel & Völkers Group is an international organisation and we may share your data with other licence partners within the Engel & Völkers Group.
When we refer to the "Engel & Völkers Group" in this Notice, we mean the companies belonging to the Engel & Völkers group of companies pursuant to §§ 15ff. AktG (German Stock Corporation Act) as well as the (master) licence partners which are directly or indirectly contractually affiliated to this group of companies and to which we also belong. A current overview of these licence partners can be found here: https://www.engelvoelkers.com/en-de/company/locations/).
Each licence partner may be considered a “joint controller” for the purposes of the GDPR which means that the parties may jointly determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data.
Generally, individual licence partners do not have access to each other's data. Licence partners will only share personal information in connection with the fulfilment of our contractual obligations with you, the management of the Engel & Völkers Group, in compliance with their own legal obligations, and the enforcement and administration of justice. However, each party may use your personal data for their own independent purposes where this is required or permitted by law.
Where data is shared between licence partners, each party is responsible for its own obligations as a ‘controller’ under the GDPR but if you have any questions about how your data may be shared within the Engel & Völkers Group please contact the Data Privacy Manager for further information.
What data do we process about you?
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data). There are also "special categories" of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection.
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, marital status, title, date of birth, gender, occupation and copies of identification documents (in the case of the purchase/sale of property) as well as land registers, electricity, council, oil and/or gas bills;· Contact Data includes billing address, home address, email address and telephone numbers;· Property Data includes details of any requests for a valuation of property and details concerning your instructions to act as your agent in connection with the sale or purchase of property, and in the case of rental property details concerning your creditworthiness including your CV, proof of salary, landlord confirmations and/or tenancy agreements.
· Payment Data includes your bank details and details about payments to and from you;
· Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and GPS based location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access our website or other online applications and any other information obtained through electronic means;
· Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, online applications and other services.
· Profile Data includes details of orders made by you, your interests, preferences, feedback and survey responses; and
· Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and your communication preferences.
Our website and services are not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.
We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data may be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate the usage data of our website to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this Notice.
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 routinely collect any information about criminal convictions and offences save in connection with our anti-money laundering screenings.
How is your personal information collected?
We collect personal information about you when you correspond with us directly either by filling in our forms or by contacting us by post, phone, email or in person. We may also collect personal information about you from publicly available sources. This specifically includes personal data you provide when you:
· visit our website;
· carry out a property search (either with us or another licence partner);
· request a valuation of your property;
· instruct us to act as your agent in connection with the sale or purchase of a property;
· apply for a job at your own initiative or in response to a job advertisement;
· fill in our forms on our website or at events or provide us with your business card;
· subscribe to our services, newsletters or publications;
· request collateral or marketing material to be sent to you; or
· give us some feedback.
We also automatically collect personal information about you as you interact with our website (and microsites) including data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies, as almost all websites do, to help provide you with the best experience we can. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of our website may become inaccessible or not function properly. For more information about the cookies we use, please see our “cookie policy” which can be accessed here: https://www.engelvoelkers.com/en-de/cookie-policy/
How we will use information about you
We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:
· Where we need to perform the contract we have entered into with you.
· Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.
· 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 have obtained your consent.
We may also use your personal information in the following situations, which are likely to be rare:
· Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else's interests).
· Where it is needed for official purposes.
Details of our most common uses of your personal data and the legal grounds which allow us to do so are set out further below.
Consent
Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data and we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law. However, we do obtain your consent to transfer your data to our licence partners and to contact you from time to time with our newsletters, some marketing content and on occasion information about our services.
We will obtain your consent to contact you when you subscribe to our newsletters or as part of our direct communications with you. At that time, we will provide you with full details of the information that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent. You should be aware that it is not a condition of any contract with us that you agree to any request for consent from us.
Marketing and Newsletters
You will receive news and marketing communications from us if you have given us your consent when subscribing to our newsletters or if you provided us with your details in some other capacity and, in each case, you have not opted out of receiving that marketing.
You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by following the ‘unsubscribe’ links on any marketing message sent to you or by contacting our Data Privacy Manager. Please note that where your personal data has been supplied to a third party, in accordance with this Notice and they are using your data in a capacity as a “joint controller”, you may also have to contact them directly in order to change your communication preferences.
Please note where you opt out of receiving marketing messages, we may still process your personal data, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
Situations in which we will use your personal information
We need all the categories of information set out above primarily to allow us to manage our contractual relationship with you and to enable us to comply with our legal obligations. We may also use your personal information to pursue legitimate interests of our own or those of third parties, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
The situations in which we will most commonly process your personal information are listed below:
· discharging the services agreed and fulfilling your requests (including, but not limited to, the sale purchase or letting of property as your agent);
· managing the payment of fees and charges (which may include the use of third party service providers);
· confirming and verifying your identity for security and compliance purposes;
· carrying out credit scoring, assessment and credit control;
· responding to, or following up on, your comments and questions, and otherwise providing customer service;
· contacting you from time to time with information about our services and with information on properties that are relevant to your interests and previous enquiries;
· recording telephone calls to monitor service, training and to assist with complaint handling;
· any other purpose connected with our contract with you and notified to you in advance or as otherwise agreed with you from time to time.
· complying with health and safety obligations;
· updating and enhancing client records;
· analysis for management purposes and the improvement of our services;
· administering and protecting our business and website including auditing;
· asking you to leave a review or take a survey;
· using data analytics to improve our website, products, services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences;
· crime prevention; and/or
· legal and regulatory compliance.
Some of the above grounds for processing will overlap and there may be several grounds which justify our use of your personal information.
Disclosure of your Personal Data
We may have to share your Personal Data with third parties. We will only share your Personal Data with third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to administer your relationship with us or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so."Third parties" includes third-party service providers such as our contractors, suppliers and designated agents. We may also need to share your personal information with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.
Most commonly, we will need to share your data with the following parties for the following purposes: Our contractual partners (including property owners, landlords, search clients) and supporting service providers such as notaries, lawyers, property managers, and property developers, as well as in the context of credibility reports or to supervisory authorities (such as for anti-money laundering purposes). Our business and accounting suppliers (such as lawyers and auditors), public authorities to comply with our legal obligations and/or to protect our rights (such as tax authorities, police, public prosecutors, courts), potential purchasers or acquirers of all or part of our assets and/or activities,Internally, we will only share your personal data with permanent staff (such as employees and freelance property consultants) and third-party companies (such as IT service providers, hosting providers, etc.) to whom we have outsourced services involving processing operations under a commissioned processing agreement.
If your contact request pertains to offers from other companies within the Engel & Völkers Group, we will transfer the personal data you entered in this case to the respective company from the Engel & Völkers Group with your prior consent or, if legally permissible, based on a so-called legitimate interest. We will not pass on your personal data beyond this.
Any third parties in the UK and the EU are subject to the provisions of the GDPR or similar regulations in relation to your personal data. They are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information and we do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.Transfers outside the EEA
The Engel & Völkers Group is an international organisation and so your data may be transferred outside the UK and EU. The GDPR restricts data transfers to countries outside the UK and EEA in order to ensure that the level of data protection afforded to individuals by the GDPR is not undermined. We transfer personal data originating in one country across borders when we transmit, send, view or access that data in or to a different country.
· the transfer is necessary for one of the other reasons set out in the GDPR including the performance of your contract with us, reasons of public interest, to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or to protect your vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent and, in some limited cases, for our legitimate interest.
Please contact the Data Privacy Manager if you want further information about when we may transfer your information outside the UK and EEA and the specific mechanisms used by us to ensure the protection of your personal data. Copies of the adequate safeguards, where we rely on them, and a list of recipients outside the EEA/UK are available on request. Please note that these copies may be redacted to the necessary extent to protect trade secrets or other confidential information.
If your enquiry relates to licence partners of the Engel & Völkers Group outside the EEA, we will transfer your data to the local licence partner only with your consent.
The GDPR requires us to put in place procedures and technologies to maintain the security of all personal data from the point of collection to the point of destruction. We ensure that reasonable security measures are taken against unlawful or unauthorised processing of personal data, and against the accidental loss of, or damage to, personal data.
We have also put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.
If you have any questions about our current organisational and technical security procedures, please contact the Data Privacy Manager for further information.
How long will you use my information for?
We will only retain your personal information 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.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal information are available on request from the Data Privacy Manager.
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.
Your rights in connection with personal information
It is important that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal information changes during your relationship with us.
Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:
· Request access to your personal information (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal information we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
· Request correction of the personal information that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
· Request erasure of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal information where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal information where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
· Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal information for direct marketing purposes.
· Request the restriction of processing of your personal information. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal information about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
· Request the transfer of your personal information to another party.
If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal information, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal information to another party, please contact the Data Privacy Manager in writing.
However, if you do wish to assert data subject rights, please check in advance whether you wish to assert them against us or against another licence partner of the Engel & Völkers Group who also processes your data.
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal information (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
In the limited circumstances where you may have provided your consent to the collection, processing and transfer of your personal information for a specific purpose, you have the right to withdraw your consent for that specific processing at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact the Data Privacy Manager. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another legitimate basis for doing so in law.
If you have any questions about this Notice, please contact the Data Privacy Manager.