1. Introduction

This Privacy Notice explains in detail the types of personal data we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also explains how we’ll store and handle that data, and keep it safe.

We know that there’s a lot of information here but we want you to be fully informed about your rights, and how GD Estates uses your data.

We hope the following sections will answer any questions you have but if not, please do get in touch with us.

It’s likely that we’ll need to update this Privacy Notice from time to time. We’ll notify you of any significant changes, but you’re welcome to come back and check it whenever you wish.

When you are using our website, GD Estates Ltd is the data controller.

2. Explaining the legal bases we rely on

The law on data protection sets out a number of different reasons for which a company may collect and process your personal data, including:

Consent

In specific situations, we can collect and process your data with your consent.

When collecting your personal data, we’ll always make clear to you which data is necessary in connection with a particular service.

Contractual obligations

In certain circumstances, we need your personal data to comply with our contractual obligations.

Legal compliance

If the law requires us to, we may need to collect and process your data.

For example, we can pass on details of people involved in fraud or other criminal activity affecting GD Estates to law enforcement.

Legitimate interest

In specific situations, we require your data to pursue our legitimate interests in a way which might reasonably be expected as part of running our business and which does not materially impact your rights, freedom or interests.

3. When do we collect your personal data?

  • When you visit our website, register your interest in a property or send a general property related enquiry.
  • When you create a property profile, either as an applicant, landlord or tenant.
  • When you engage with us on social media.
  • When you contact us by any means with queries, complaints etc.
  • When you ask one of our staff members to email you information about a product or service.
  • When you book any kind of appointment with us or book to attend a viewing, property appraisal or inspection.
  • When you comment on or review our products and services. Any individual may access personal data related to them, including opinions. So if your comment or review includes information about the staff member who provided that service, it may be passed on to them if requested.
  • When you fill in any forms.
  • When you’ve given a third party permission to share with us the information they hold about you.
  • We collect data from publicly available sources (such as Land Registry) when you have given your consent to share information or where the information is made public as a matter of law.

4. What sort of personal data do we collect?

  • If you have a personal profile with us: your name, gender, date of birth, address, email and telephone number.
  • If you are an applicant applying for a property or a current tenant through GD Estates, we will require employment history, bank details, address history, landlord details, next of kin, family details, pets and National Insurance details.
  • Copies of documents you provide to prove your age or identity where the law requires this. (including your passport and driver’s licence). This will include details of your full name, address, date of birth and facial image. If you provide a passport, the data will also include your place of birth, gender and nationality.
  • If you are a landlord, we will require your home address, property details, bank details, utility suppliers and knowledge of legal ownership of the property.
  • Payment card information.
  • Your comments and product reviews.
  • To deliver the best possible web experience, we collect technical data about your internet connection and browser as well as the country and telephone code where your computer is located, the web pages viewed during your visit.
  • Your social media username, if you interact with us through those channels, to help us respond to your comments, questions or feedback.

5. How and why do we use your personal data?

The data privacy law allows this as part of our legitimate interest in understanding our customers and providing the highest levels of service.

Of course, if you wish to change how we use your data, you’ll find details in the ‘What are my rights?’ section below.

Remember, if you choose not to share your personal data with us, or refuse certain contact permissions, we might not be able to provide some services you’ve asked for.

Here’s how we’ll use your personal data and why:
  • To process any enquiries that you make by using our website, or other property related websites, by email, telephone or in person. If we don’t collect your personal data during our communications, we won’t be able to assist with your query.
  • To respond to your queries and complaints. Handling the information you sent enables us to respond. We may also keep a record of these to inform any future communication with us and to demonstrate how we communicated with you throughout. We do this on the basis of our contractual obligations to you, our legal obligations and our legitimate interests in providing you with the best service and understanding how we can improve our service based on your experience.
  • To protect our business and your information from fraud and other illegal activities. This includes using your personal data to maintain, update and safeguard your information. We’ll also monitor your browsing activity with us to quickly identify and resolve any problems and protect the integrity of our websites. We’ll do all of this as part of our legitimate interest.
  • To process payments and to prevent fraudulent transactions. We do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests. This also helps to protect our customers from fraud.
  • If we discover any criminal activity or alleged criminal activity through our use of fraud monitoring and suspicious transaction monitoring, we will process this data for the purposes of preventing or detecting unlawful acts. We aim to protect the individuals we interact with from criminal activities.
  • With your consent, we will use your personal data, preferences and details of your enquiries to keep you informed by email, web, text and telephone about relevant products and services.

Of course, you are free to opt out of hearing from us by any of these channels at any time.

  • To send you relevant, personalised communications by post in relation to updates, offers, services and products. We’ll do this on the basis of our legitimate business interest.

You are free to opt out of hearing from us by post at any time.

  • To send you communications required by law or which are necessary to inform you about our changes to the services we provide you. For example, updates to this Privacy Notice, and legally required information relating to your property information. These service messages will not include any promotional content and do not require prior consent when sent by email or text message. If we do not use your personal data for these purposes, we would be unable to comply with our legal obligations.
  • To develop, test and improve the systems, services and products we provide to you. We’ll do this on the basis of our legitimate business interests.
  • To comply with our contractual or legal obligations to share data with law enforcement.

For example, when a court order is submitted to share data with law enforcement agencies or a court of law.

  • To send you a survey and feedback requests to help improve our services. These messages will not include any promotional content and do not require prior consent when sent by email or text message. We have a legitimate interest to do so as this helps make our products or services more relevant to you.

Of course, you are free to opt out of receiving these requests from us at any time by by updating your preferences in your online profile.

To process your booking/appointment requests.

Sometimes, we’ll need to share your details with a third party who is providing a service (such as a contractor visiting your home). Without sharing your personal data, we’d be unable to fulfil your request.

6. Combining your data for personalised direct marketing

For this purpose we will combine the data that we collect directly from you with data that we obtain from third parties to whom you have given your consent to pass that data onto us.

7. How we protect your personal data

We know how much data security matters to all our clients. With this in mind we will treat your data with the utmost care and take all appropriate steps to protect it.

We secure access to all transactional areas of our website.

Access to your personal data is password-protected.

We regularly monitor our system for possible vulnerabilities and attacks, and we carry out penetration testing to identify ways to further strengthen security.

8. How long will we keep your personal data?

Whenever we collect or process your personal data, we’ll only keep it for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

At the end of that retention period, your data will either be deleted completely or anonymised, for example by aggregation with other data so that it can be used in a non-identifiable way for statistical analysis and business planning.

9. Who do we share your personal data with?

We sometimes share your personal data with trusted third parties.

For example, contractors visiting your home, The Lettings Hub, utility companies and so on.

Here’s the policy we apply to those organisations to keep your data safe and protect your privacy:

  • We provide only the information they need to perform their specific services.
  • They may only use your data for the exact purposes we specify in our contract with them.
  • We work closely with them to ensure that your privacy is respected and protected at all times.
  • If we stop using their services, any of your data held by them will either be deleted or rendered anonymous.

Examples of the kind of third parties we work with are:

  • IT companies who support our website and other business systems.
  • Google/Facebook to show you products that might interest you while you’re browsing the internet. This is based on either your marketing consent or your acceptance of cookies on our websites. See our Cookies Policy for details.

Sharing your data with third parties for their own purposes:

We will only do this in very specific circumstances, for example:

  • With your consent, given at the time you supply your personal data, we may pass that data to a third party for their direct marketing purposes.
  • For fraud management, we may share information about fraudulent or potentially fraudulent activity in our premises or systems. This may include sharing data about individuals with law enforcement bodies.
  • We may also be required to disclose your personal data to the police or other enforcement, regulatory or Government body, in your country of origin or elsewhere, upon a valid request to do so. These requests are assessed on a case-by-case basis and take the privacy of our clients into consideration.
  • We may, from time to time, expand, reduce or sell GD Estates Ltd and this may involve the transfer of divisions or the whole business to new owners. If this happens, your personal data will, where relevant, be transferred to the new owner or controlling party, under the terms of this Privacy Notice.

For further information please contact our Data Protection Officer.

To help personalise your journey through GD Estates’ website we currently use the following companies who will process your personal data as part of their contracts with us:

  • Rightmove
  • OnTheMarket
  • AHRN (Automated Housing Referral Network) (a US military website)
  • Google
  • Facebook

10. Where your personal data may be processed

Sometimes we will need to share your personal data with third parties and suppliers outside the European Economic Area (EEA).

Protecting your data outside the EEA

The EEA includes all EU Member countries as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.

We may transfer personal data that we collect from you to third-party data processors in countries that are outside the EEA such as Australia or the USA.

For example, providing personal data (name, forwarding address etc) to a utility company based outside the EU).

If we do this, we have procedures in place to ensure your data receives the same protection as if it were being processed inside the EEA. For example, our contracts with third parties stipulate the standards they must follow at all times. If you wish for more information about these contracts please contact our Data Protection Officer.

Any transfer of your personal data will follow applicable laws and we will treat the information under the guiding principles of this Privacy Notice.

11. What are your rights over your personal data?

An overview of your different rights

You have the right to request:

  • Access to the personal data we hold about you, a small charge may occur.
  • The correction of your personal data when incorrect, out of date or incomplete.
  • That we stop using your personal data for direct marketing (either through specific channels, or all channels).
  • That we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you withdraw that consent.
  • Review by a staff member of any decision made based solely on automatic processing of your data (i.e. where no human has yet reviewed the outcome and criteria for the decision).

You can contact us to request to exercise these rights at any time as follows:

To ask for your information please contact Tracey Nunn, Data Protection Officer, GD Estates Ltd, 14 The Traverse, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1BJ or email tracey@gdestates.co.uk

To ask for your information to be amended please update your online profile or contact support@gdestates.co.uk .

If we choose not to action your request we will explain to you the reasons for our refusal.

Your right to withdraw consent

Whenever you have given us your consent to use your personal data, you have the right to change your mind at any time and withdraw that consent.

Where we rely on our legitimate interest

In cases where we are processing your personal data on the basis of our legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop for reasons connected to your individual situation.

We must then do so unless we believe we have a legitimate overriding reason to continue processing your personal data.

Direct marketing

You have the right to stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing activity through all channels, or selected channels. We must always comply with your request.

Checking your identity

To protect the confidentiality of your information, we will ask you to verify your identity before proceeding with any request you make under this Privacy Notice.

If you have authorised a third party to submit a request on your behalf, we will ask them to prove they have your permission to act.

12. How can you stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing?

There are several ways you can stop direct marketing communications from us:

  • Click the ‘manage my preferences/unsubscribe’ link in any email communication that we send you. We will then stop any further emails sent to you.
  • Write to GD Estates Ltd, 14 The Traverse, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP33 1BJ
  • Email support@gdestates.co.uk

Please note that you may continue to receive communications for a short period after changing your preferences while our systems are fully updated.

13. Contacting the Regulator

If you feel that your data has not been handled correctly, or you are unhappy with our response to any requests you have made to us regarding the use of your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

You can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113.

Or go online to www.ico.org.uk/concerns (opens in a new window; please note we can’t be responsible for the content of external websites).

If you are based outside the UK, you have the right to lodge your complaint with the relevant data protection regulator in your country of residence. Details can be found in Section 16.

14. If you live outside the UK

For all non-UK customers

This Privacy Notice will be available in English.

By using our services or providing your personal data to us, you expressly consent to the processing of your personal data by us or on our behalf. Of course, you still have the right to ask us not to process your data in certain ways, and if you do so, we will respect your wishes.

By dealing with us, you are giving your consent to this overseas use, transfer and disclosure of your personal data outside your country of residence for our ordinary business purposes.

This may occur because our information technology storage facilities and servers are located outside your country of residence, and could include storage of your personal data on servers in the UK.

We’ll ensure that reasonable steps are taken to prevent third parties outside your country of residence using your personal data in any way that’s not set out in this Privacy Notice. We’ll also make sure we adequately protect the confidentiality and privacy of your personal data.

We’ll also ensure that any third parties process your personal data only in accordance with their legitimate interests. These third parties may be subject to different laws from those which apply in your country of residence. Please note that we do not take active steps to ensure that any overseas recipient of your personal data complies with the laws which apply in your country.

15. Any questions?

We hope this Privacy Policy has been helpful in setting out the way we handle your personal data and your rights to control it.

If you have any questions that haven’t been covered, please contact our Data Protection Officer who will be pleased to help you:

  • Email us on tracey@gdestates.co.uk
  • Or write to us at:

Tracey Nunn

Data Protection Officer
GD Estates Ltd
14 The Traverse
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP33 1BJ

Last reviewed 1.10.2023