- Introduction
Godwins Solicitors LLP (the ‘Business’) understands that your privacy is important to you and that you care about how your personal data is used. We respect and value the privacy of everyone who visits this website, (WEBSITE) (‘Our Site’) and only collect and use your personal data as described in this Privacy Policy. Any personal data we collect will only be used as permitted by law.
Please read this Website Privacy Policy carefully and ensure that you understand it.
This Website Privacy Policy should be read in conjunction with the Terms and Conditions and Cookie Policy.
- Information About Us
Our Data Compliance Manager – Annabel Evans who is responsible for this policy, and we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.
All personal information that we may use will be collected, processed, and held in accordance with the provisions of UK General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’), which sits alongside the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA 2018’), the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (‘DUAA’) and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003.
If you have any questions about our Website Privacy Policy , you can email us at info@godwins-law.co.uk.
- What Does This Policy Cover?
This Website Privacy Policy applies only to your use of Our Site.
Our Site may contain links to other websites. Please note that we have no control over how your data is collected, stored, or used by other websites and we advise you to check the privacy policies of any such websites before providing any data to them.
- What Is Personal Data?
Personal data is defined by the UK GDPR and the DPA 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.
- What Are Your 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 Website Privacy Policy should tell you everything you need to know.
- 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
- 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. We do not use your personal data in this way.
For more information about our use of your personal data or exercising your rights as outlined above, please contact us using the details provided in Section 19 (‘Contacting Us?’).
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 for as long as we have that data.
Further information about your rights can also be obtained from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
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, using the details in Section 20 (‘Contacting Us’).
- Our Retention of Your Data
Subject to the following, our website does not collect any personal data from you. We do not place cookies on your computer or device, nor do we use any other means of data collection. We may have Third Parties that place ‘Third Party Cookies’ on your device and you can find more information on this by clicking on our Cookie Policy.
The Firm’s website will collect certain information if you visit our website such as:
- IP addresses
- Device IDs and browser configurations
- Unique visitor tracking IDs (such as Google’s _ga or tracking cookie IDs like APISID).
If you send us an email, we may collect your name, your email address, and any other information which you choose to give to us. For the purposes of the Data Protection Legislation, We are the ‘data controller’ responsible for such personal data.
The lawful basis under the Data Protection Legislation that allows us to use such information is Article 6(1)(f) of the GDPR, which allows us to process personal data when it is necessary for the purposes of our legitimate interests, in this case, for the proper operation and functionality of Our Site.
If you contact us as described above, you will be required to consent to our use of your personal data to contact you. In this case, our lawful basis for using your personal data will be Article 6(1)(a) of the GDPR, which allows us to use your personal data with your consent for a particular purpose or purposes.
- How Do We Use Personal Data?
Where we collect any personal data, it will be processed and stored securely, for no longer than is necessary in light of the reason(s) for which it was first collected. We will comply with our obligations and safeguard your rights under the Data Protection Legislation at all times. For more details on security, see section 8 (‘How and Where Do You Store Data?’), below.
Subject to the information provided above, we do not generally collect personal data directly from you, but if you contact us and we obtain your personal details from your email, we may use them to respond to your email. The other technical data referred to above is necessary for the technical operation of Our Site.
For details of who we may share data collected via our website, please refer to section 17.
- How and Where Do You Store Personal Data?
We will only store your personal data in the UK. This means that it will be fully protected under the Data Protection Legislation.
However, some of the third-party digital tools utilised on our website, specifically Google Analytics may store, process, and transfer personal data (such as cookie identifiers and IP addresses) to servers located outside of the UK, including the United States.
- How Can You Access Your 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 Data Subject Access Request (‘DSAR’).
All subject access requests should be made in writing and sent to the email or postal addresses shown in Section 19 (‘Contacting Us’) or made by telephone to 01962 841484.
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 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.
- Enquiry and Contact Forms
When you complete a contact or enquiry form on this website, we collect your name, business name, email address, telephone number, regulator, sector, and the content of your message. We collect this information to respond to your enquiry and, where you have indicated consent, to send you relevant updates and marketing communications. Our lawful basis for processing this data is our legitimate interest in responding to business enquiries, and consent where applicable.
- Email Marketing and Mailing List Subscriptions
If you subscribe to our mailing list or newsletter, we collect your name and email address and, where provided, your company name and telephone number. We use this data to send you updates, briefings, and information about our services. Our lawful basis is consent. You may withdraw consent at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email or by contacting us directly.
- Website Analytics
We use Google Analytics to collect anonymised data about how visitors use this website, including page views, time on site, and traffic sources. This data does not identify you personally. Our lawful basis is legitimate interest in understanding and improving our website’s performance. Please see our Cookie Policy for more information.
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) defaults to a data retention period of 2 months or 14 months for user-level data, while some Google advertising cookies last for up to 24 months.
- Media Uploads
If you upload images or documents to this website, you should ensure that any embedded location data (EXIF GPS) has been removed before doing so. We cannot be responsible for location data embedded in files you upload.
- Who We Share Your Data With
We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We may share your data with the following categories of third-party service providers who assist us in operating our website and delivering our services:
- Hosting and security providers for website infrastructure.
- Email marketing and CRM platforms for the management and delivery of marketing communications
- Google Analytics for website performance analysis
- WordPress hosting and security providers for website infrastructure
- Professional advisers, including compliance, legal and accountancy professionals, where required
All third-party providers are required to handle your data in accordance with applicable data protection law. Where data is transferred outside the UK or European Economic Area, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place.
- Our Retention of Your Data
We retain enquiry data for as long as necessary to respond to and manage your enquiry, and for a reasonable period thereafter in case of follow-up. Marketing data is retained until you withdraw consent or is deleted when the Firm no longer requires the data. Comment data and associated metadata may be retained indefinitely.
Cookie data collected for analytics, performance tracking, and targeted advertising purposes is retained for varying durations depending on the specific cookie’s lifecycle. For a detailed breakdown of the exact expiration periods for each cookie utilised on our website, please consult our Cookie Policy.
- Data Protection Complaints Procedure
If you wish to raise a complaint about how we have handled your personal data, please contact us in the first instance at info@godwins-law.co.uk with the subject line “Data Protection Complaint”. Click here to review our GDPR Complaint Policy.
- Changes to This Policy
We review this Website Privacy Policy regularly and will update it where necessary to reflect changes in legislation, regulatory guidance, or how we process personal data. The last reviewed date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last updated.
- Contacting Us
To contact us about anything to do with your personal data and data protection, including to make a subject access request, you should email info@godwins-law.co.uk or you can write to us 12 St Thomas Street, Winchester, Hampshire SO23 9HF.
Last reviewed: July 2026