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Confidentiality and data protection

Countrywide Tax and Trust Corporation LTD (CTTC) will process your personal and special category data, whether provided by you or collected by your advisor when your details are entered in our software platforms and you use our services. We encourage you to read this policy carefully to understand how we handle your data.

Under GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) and Data Protection Act 2018, we are classed as a data controller (we determine the purpose and means of processing personal data). CTTC are registered with the ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) under Z8276255.

Your personal data will be collected or used for purposes of the services we are instructed to provide for you.

 

What information do we collect?

We process personal data, including but not limited to:

  • Name, address and contact details
  • Correspondence with you, such as any information that you have provided
  • Information relating to your personal circumstances
  • Information regarding living individuals (e.g. clients, and other living individuals such as your chosen beneficiaries)
  • Financial details
  • Data provided to prove your identity

We also process special categories of personal data, such as:

  • Racial or ethnic origin
  • Political opinions
  • Religious or philosophical beliefs
  • Trade union membership
  • Genetic data
  • Biometric data
  • Data concerning health
  • Data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation

We may need to gather information about your close family members and dependants in order to provide our service to you effectively. In such cases it will be your responsibility to ensure that you have the consent of the people concerned to pass their information on to us.

 

How we use personal data

In accordance with the GDPR regulations, personal data is managed by conducting regular audits and having a Data Protection officer, who is responsible for data processing and accountability. We will maintain and protect the confidentiality of your information.

We gain information about you from the use of our website, your contact with us, and your adviser’s contact with us, via telephone or writing.

We are the sole owner of the data collected and will not transfer, trade, sell or share the data, unless consent is sought.

We will use the information for marketing or improve our services, but only when consent is obtained.

The primary legal basis that we intend to use for the processing of your data is for the performance of a contract with you. The information that we collect about you is essential for us to be able to carry out the services that you require from us effectively. Without collecting your personal data, we would also be unable to fulfil our legal obligations to you. We will contact you by post, telephone and electronic means.

In order to deliver our services to you effectively we may send your details to third parties such as those that we engage for professional compliance, accountancy or legal services. We may also send your details to public authorities such as the Land Registry and HM Courts & Tribunals Service.

Where it is necessary to send your personal data to third parties to comply with the contract, we confirm that that these third parties will have confirmed their compliance with the GDPR. Where it is necessary for your personal data to be forwarded to a third party, we will use appropriate security measures to protect your personal data in transit.

To deliver our services, we may share your personal data with:

  • Regulatory Bodies & Public Authorities (e.g., HM Courts & Tribunals, Land Registry) to comply with legal obligations.
  • Professional Service Providers (e.g., legal, tax, or financial advisors) to administer your estate planning.
  • Identity Verification Agencies (e.g., TransUnion, Legl, Veriphy) to prevent fraud and comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

To fulfil our obligations in respect of prevention of money-laundering and other financial crime we may send your details to third party agencies for identity verification purposes and credit searches, such as:

 

Data security

During the course of our relationship with you we will retain personal data which is necessary to provide services to you. We will take all reasonable steps to keep your personal data up to date throughout our relationship. We reserve the right to retain data for as long as is required thereafter where we believe it is in our legitimate interests to do so.

You have the right to request deletion of your personal data. We will comply with this request, subject to the restrictions of our regulatory obligations and legitimate interests as noted above.

Where we are required to hold your data as a result of Money Laundering Regulations, please note that we are required to keep this data for a period of 6 years.

We do not transfer data outside of the EEA.

 

Lawful basis for Special Category data

We process certain special category personal data (e.g., health information, biometric data, and religious beliefs) as necessary for the performance of our services in will and estate planning. The lawful bases under GDPR for processing such data include:

  • Explicit Consent – When you provide us with special category data voluntarily.
  • Legal Obligations – Where required for compliance with legal and regulatory requirements (e.g., inheritance laws, tax reporting).
  • Legitimate Interests – To ensure the effective administration of estate planning and trustee services.

We ensure that all special category data is handled with the highest level of confidentiality and security.

 

Automated decision-making & profiling

We do not use automated decision-making to process your data in a way that has a legal or significant impact on you. However, we may use automated profiling tools for identity verification and fraud prevention. If you believe that automated processing affects your rights, you have the right to request human intervention.

 

We may use automated tools for:

  • Identity Verification & Fraud Prevention (AML and compliance checks).
  • Client Risk Profiling (assessing trust or estate-related risks).

You have the right to request human review if an automated decision significantly impacts your estate planning.

 

Data retention & Deletion policy

We retain your personal data only as long as necessary to fulfil our contractual and legal obligations, including:

  • 6 years post-service completion for compliance with Money Laundering Regulations.
  • Indefinitely, where required for long-term estate planning and trust management (subject to review).
  • Upon request, we will delete personal data unless legally required to retain it.

To request deletion of your data, email compliance@ctt-group.co.uk.

 

Marketing & Consent

We may collect your name and contact details (such as email, phone number, or address) to provide information about relevant will, trust, or estate planning services. We will only send such communications if you have given explicit consent.

You have the right to withdraw consent at any time by contacting us at compliance@ctt-group.co.uk or using the unsubscribe link in any email communication.

 

CCTV

We operate CCTV on our premises for security of staff and visitors.

We only release footage where there is a legal obligation to do so, to protect interests of individuals or other persons.

We use this information as necessary for our legitimate interests in administering your visit, ensuring site security and visitor safety.

 

Your rights

Under GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018, we have outlined below your key rights:

Informed – We are clear, transparent and easily understandable about the way and how we use your personal data and about your rights

Right of access – your right to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

Rectification – You can request any incomplete or inaccurate data to be corrected

Right to erasure – your request to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is not valid reason for us to hold this.

Restrict processing – you can ask us to suspend the processing of personal data about you

Data portability – this allows you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal data about you.

Right to object – You may request that your data is not processed for the purpose or process you originally agreed to.

Further information on your rights can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.

If you have any of the above requests, please email us at compliance@ctt-group.co.uk. Please allow one calendar month from when we receive your request.

If you consider we are using your information in a way which breaches the GDPR or the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the ICO.

 

Changes in legislation/Privacy notice

Part of fulfilling our contract with you means it may also be necessary to contact you in regard to changes in legislation or our privacy notice, in order to ensure that your estate planning / legal services remain effective. We will contact you by post, telephone and electronic means.

This privacy policy was last updated in March 2025.

 

Cookies

We use cookies to track visitor use of the website and to compile statistical reports on website activity. For further information visit https://www.allaboutcookies.org/ You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the above website tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases some of our website features may not function as a result.

 

Google Analytics

This website uses Google Analytics, a web analysis service provided by Google Inc., 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, California 94043, USA. Google Analytics also uses cookies that allow, among other things, to analyse the way you use the website.

As a rule, the information generated by these cookies is transferred to and stored on a server operated by Google in the USA. Google will use this information on behalf of the operator of this website in order to evaluate your use of the website, compile reports regarding website activities and provide services for the website operator relating to website and Internet usage.

These reports and services are used to continuously improve the facilities offered by this website. You can prevent the storage of cookies by making an appropriate setting in your browser. We must point out, however that if you do so, you will be unable to use all the functionalities of this website to their full extent.

You can also prevent the capture and processing of data relating to your use of the website (incl. your IP address), generated by these cookies, by Google by simply downloading and installing the following Google browser plug-in, clicking on the following link: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout?hl=en. Google’s data privacy statement, is available at www.google.com/intl/en/policies/privacy/

 

Vimeo

This website contains embedded Vimeo videos on some pages or provides links to Vimeo videos. Vimeo is a video service provided by Vimeo Inc, 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011. Vimeo’s data privacy statement is available at https://vimeo.com/privacy

 

Other websites

Our website contains links to other websites. This privacy policy only applies to this website so when you link to other websites you should read their own privacy policies.

 

How to contact us

Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policy or the information we hold about you.

Email us at: compliance@ctt-group.co.uk

Write to us at: Countrywide Tax & Trust Corporation Ltd, Gables House, 62 Kenilworth Road, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 6JX