Founders of London Limited is dedicated to safeguarding your privacy. Please read this policy carefully as it provides important details about who we are and how we collect, store, use, and share your personal information. It also explains your rights regarding your information and how to contact us or relevant authorities if you have a complaint. We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom). As the ‘controller’ of your personal information, we ensure compliance with these regulations.
The ICO Registration number of Founders of London Limited is ZA647540.
1. Personal Information Covered in this Privacy Notice
We collect personal data such as your name, contact details, date of birth, and bank details. Special category data, including health, religion, or sexual orientation, may also be collected under strict conditions, as well as criminal conviction data when required. Additional legal bases under the Data Protection Act 2018 apply for processing this sensitive data.
2. Personal Information We Collect
We collect your name, contact details, and any information relevant to the services we provide, such as property requirements, employment details, and financial information. Depending on the service, we may also collect:
- Identity proof (passport, driving licence, etc.)
- Financial details (bank statements, credit history, proof of deposit)
- Mortgage and insurance details
- Property-related data (photographs, floor plans, energy performance certificates)
- Information on any other individuals linked to the property
This information helps us perform required legal checks (e.g., anti-money laundering, right to rent) and manage transactions (e.g., payments, referencing, and tenancy services).
We may also collect data such as your IP address and communication preferences to improve our services.
While we do not provide services to children, we may need to collect and share information on children for specific cases like tenancy or mortgage applications.
Any calls to or from our customer service teams may be recorded for training, monitoring, or security purposes.
3. How We Collect Your Personal Information
- Direct interactions: Information you provide through forms, surveys, emails, phone calls, web chats, or social media, or when enquiring about our services or promotions.
- Indirect interactions: Information collected from third parties, including other Countrywide Group companies, payment providers, house builders, data brokers, or public sources like the Land Registry, Companies House, or the Electoral Register.
Information on Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) and Sanctioned Individuals is collected by third parties to comply with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.
4. How We Use Your Personal Information
We use your data to provide products and services and respond to enquiries. The legal bases for processing your data include:
- Performance of a contract: Necessary to fulfil a contract or to take steps before entering into one.
- Legal obligation: Required for legal compliance, such as identity verification and fraud prevention.
- Consent: With your clear consent, for example, to send marketing communications.
- Legitimate interest: For activities like network security, customer updates, web analytics, sales, and lettings, including direct marketing.
For special category and criminal conviction data, we rely on additional legal bases under the Data Protection Act, such as explicit consent or legal claims.
5. Who We Share Your Personal Information With
5.1 Sharing with Third Parties
We may share your personal information with regulators, law enforcement, courts, and government agencies as required by law. Additionally, we may share data with third-party service providers, such as IT contractors, referencing agencies, and those involved in mortgage and insurance services, for the purposes outlined below:
- Vendors, buyers, and estate agents: To support property sales and exchanges.
- Developers and contractors: To arrange property management and maintenance services.
- Conveyancing and survey firms: To facilitate property transactions.
- Mortgage and insurance providers: To assist with mortgage, insurance, and protection products.
- Credit and fraud prevention agencies: To conduct credit checks and prevent fraud.
We contractually require third parties to protect your data and only use it for the requested purpose.
5.2 Automated Decision Making
Some services involve automated decisions, such as credit scoring, which are regularly reviewed for fairness and accuracy.
6. How We Keep Your Personal Information Secure
We take the security of your personal information seriously and have put in place the following measures to protect it from damage, destruction, or unauthorised access:
- Software systems: Protected against unauthorised access, with strict access controls.
- Hard copy files: Stored in secure facilities with restricted access.
All staff undergo data protection training. When we share information with third parties, we ensure they also use adequate security measures.
7. How Long We Keep Your Personal Information
We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to meet legal, regulatory, and business obligations. Typically, we keep information for 7 years, but this period may vary based on the nature of the service or legal requirements.
8. Your Rights Regarding Your Personal Information
You have several rights concerning your personal information, including:
- Right of access: Request copies of your data.
- Right to rectification: Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Right to erasure: Request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
- Right to restrict processing: Limit how we use your data in certain situations.
- Right to object: Object to data processing in certain scenarios.
- Right to data portability: Request information about where your data is transferred.
- Rights related to automated decision making and profiling.
To exercise any of these rights, please email us.