ACCOUNTSCO’S PRIVACY POLICY
1. Background
This Policy sets out our policies and obligations regarding how we use your personal data: how we collect it, how we hold it and how it is processed. It also explains your rights under the law relating to your personal data. This policy should be read in conjunction with our:
All of these can be found on the footer of our UK website www.accountsco.co.uk.
2. Information about us
AccountsCo is the trading name of PG&E Professional Services Ltd (the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “AccountsCo”). Details about AccountsCo can be found here.
3. Information about our Data Protection Officer
The Data Protection Officer shall be responsible for overseeing the implementation of this Policy and for monitoring compliance with this Policy, the Company’s other Data Protection-related policies (including, but not limited to, its Data Protection Policy), and with the Data Protection Legislation. Any questions regarding this Policy, the retention of personal data, or any other aspect of Data Protection Legislation compliance should be referred to the Data Protection Officer. Details of AccountsCo’s Data Protection Officer can be found here.
4. What Is Personal Data?
Personal data is defined by the UK General Data Protection Regulations (“UK GDPR”) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (collectively, “the Data Protection Legislation”) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier’. Personal data is, in simpler terms, any information about you that enables you to be identified. Personal data covers obvious information such as your name and contact details, but it also covers less obvious information such as identification numbers, electronic location data, and other online identifiers. The personal data that we use is set out below.
5. What are my rights?
Under the Data Protection Legislation, you have the following rights, which we will always work to uphold:
- The right to be informed about our collection and use of your personal data. This Privacy Notice should tell you everything you need to know, but you can always contact us to find out more or to ask any questions.
- The right to access the personal data we hold about you.
- The right to have your personal data rectified if any of your personal data held by us is inaccurate or incomplete.
- The right to be forgotten, i.e. the right to ask us to delete or otherwise dispose of any of your personal data that we hold.
- The right to restrict (i.e. prevent) the processing of your personal data.
- The right to object to us using your personal data for a particular purpose or purposes.
- The right to withdraw consent. This means that, if we are relying on your consent as the legal basis for using your personal data, you are free to withdraw that consent at any time.
- The right to data portability. This means that, if you have provided personal data to us directly, we are using it with your consent or for the performance of a contract, and that data is processed using automated means, you can ask us for a copy of that personal data to re-use with another service or business in many cases.
- Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling. Part 6 explains more about how we use your personal data, including profiling.
For more information about our use of your personal data or exercising your rights as outlined above, please contact our Data Protection Officer.
It is important that your personal data is kept accurate and up-to-date. If any of the personal data we hold about you changes, please keep us informed as long as we have that data.
Further information about your rights can also be obtained from the Information Commissioner’s Office or your local Citizens Advice Bureau.
If you have any cause for complaint about our use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. we would welcome the opportunity to resolve your concerns ourselves, however, so please contact us first.
6. What Personal Data do you collect and how?
We may collect and hold some or all of the personal and non-personal data set out in the table below, using the methods also set out in the table. We do not collect any ‘special category’ or ‘sensitive’ personal data or personal data relating to children or data relating to criminal convictions and/or offences.
| Data Collected | How we Collect the Data |
| Identity Information including name, title, date of birth, gender, passport number, tax identification number and gender. | By phone, email, by hand or web forms. |
| Identity documents, such as passports, driving licences, utility bills and bank statements | By phone, email, by hand or web forms. |
| Contact information including name, address, phone number(s) and emails. | By phone, email, by hand or web forms. |
| Business information including business name, profession and job title. | By phone, email, by hand or web forms. |
| Payment information including card details, and bank account numbers. | By phone, email, by hand or web forms. |
| Financial information including tax reference numbers, classes and amounts of income, classes and amounts of gain, tax paid and tax due. | By phone, email, by hand, accounting software, invoice recognition software or web forms. |
| Payroll information including payslips, payroll forms, salary, bonuses, benefits, tax numbers and codes. | By phone, email, by hand or web forms. |
| Accounting information including transactions, sales invoices, purchase invoices, journals and bank statements. | By phone, email, by hand, accounting software, invoice recognition software or web forms. |
| Scans of correspondence that we receive from you or to you at our office | Post, email or by hand. |
7. How do you use my Personal Data?
Under the Data Protection Legislation, we must always have a lawful basis for using personal data. The following table describes how we may use your personal data, and our lawful bases for doing so:
| What we Do | What Data we Use | our Lawful Basis |
| Administering our business. | Name, email, services provided | Invoicing and record keeping |
| Ensure that we know who our clients are | Passports, utility bills, bank statements and related information | Fulfilling our anti money laundering responsibilities |
| Supplying our tax services to you. | Tax information such as tax numbers, income, gains, expenditure, tax and related matters | Allow us to provide taxation services |
| Supplying our accountancy services to you. | Transactions, including income, expenditure, journals tax and related matters | Allow us to provide accounting services |
| Supplying our payroll services to you. | Salary, bonuses, commissions, tax , tax numbers and related matters | Allow us to provide payroll services |
| Communicating with you. | Name, email, phone and addresses | Allow us to communicate with you |
With your permission and/or where permitted by law, we may also use your personal data for marketing purposes, which may include contacting you by email and telephone and text message and post with information, news, and offers on our services. You will not be sent any unlawful marketing or spam. we will always work to fully protect your rights and comply with our obligations under the Data Protection Legislation and the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, and you will always have the opportunity to opt-out.
We will only use your personal data for the purpose(s) for which it was originally collected unless we reasonably believe that another purpose is compatible with that or those original purpose(s) and need to use your personal data for that purpose. If we do use your personal data in this way and you wish us to explain how the new purpose is compatible with the original, please contact us.
If we need to use your personal data for a purpose that is unrelated to, or incompatible with, the purpose(s) for which it was originally collected, we will inform you and explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
In some circumstances, where permitted or required by law, we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent. This will only be done within the bounds of the Data Protection Legislation and your legal rights.
8. How long will you keep my Personal Data?
We will not keep your personal data for any longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. You can read about how long we retain data for in our Data Retention Policy.
9. How and where do you store or transfer my Personal Data?
AccountsCo holds Personal data on various data systems. You can see a list of the data systems that we use here. AccountsCo is paperless and does not retain physical records.
10. How do you ensure that my Personal Data is kept securely?
The security of your personal data is essential to us, and to protect your data, we take a number of important measures. You can read about these measures in our Information Security Policy.
10. Do you share my Personal Data?
We will not share any of your personal data with any third parties for any purposes, subject to the following exceptions.
- If we sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or assets, your personal data may be transferred to a third party. Any new owner of our business may continue to use your personal data in the same way(s) that we have used it, as specified in this Privacy Policy.
- In some limited circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain personal data, which might include yours, if we are involved in legal proceedings or complying with legal obligations, a court order, or the instructions of a government authority.]
- We may sometimes contract with third parties to supply services.
| Recipient | Activity Carried Out | Sector | Location |
| Third party bookkeepers | Bookkeeping | Accountancy | UK, Europe and third countries, such as India |
| Solicitors | Legal services | Law | UK and Europe |
| Specialist service providers | Payroll, tax or accounting services | Accountancy | UK and Europe |
If any of your personal data is shared with a third party, as described above, we will take steps to ensure that your personal data is handled safely, securely, and in accordance with your rights, our obligations, and the third party’s obligations under the law. If any personal data is transferred outside of the UK, we will take suitable steps in order to ensure that your personal data is treated just as safely and securely as it would be within the UK and under the Data Protection Legislation. If we sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or assets, your personal data may be transferred to a third party. Any new owner of our business may continue to use your personal data in the same way(s) that we have used it, as specified in this Privacy Policy.
In some limited circumstances, we may be legally required to share certain personal data, which might include yours, if we are involved in legal proceedings or complying with legal obligations, a court order, or the instructions of a government authority.
11. How can I access my Personal Data?
If you want to know what personal data we have about you, you can ask us for details of that personal data and for a copy of it (where any such personal data is held). This is known as a “subject access request”. All subject access requests should be made in writing and sent to the Data Protection Officer.
There is not normally any charge for a subject access request. If your request is ‘manifestly unfounded or excessive’ (for example, if you make repetitive requests) a fee may be charged to cover our administrative costs in responding.
We will respond to your subject access request within two weeks and, in any case, not more than one month of receiving it. Normally, we aim to provide a complete response, including a copy of your personal data within that time. In some cases, however, particularly if your request is more complex, more time may be required up to a maximum of three months from the date we receive your request. You will be kept fully informed of our progress.
12. Changes to this policy
This policy was last updated 16/4/23. AccountsCo may change this policy from time to time.