Privacy Policy
What is this page?
This is The Inns of Court College of Advocacy’s (ICCA) privacy notice. It explains the College’s approach on the personal information we collect, how it is used, stored, the processes we use; and third parties we engage with. For clarity, when we refer to ‘personal information’ we are talking about information that relates to or identifies an individual, such as their name or email address.
Our privacy policy applies to all the College’s activities where personal information is collected and it is accessible from our website and any digital communications we send you.
The ICCA privacy policy is kept under regular review.
Who are we?
The ICCA was established by the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC) to provide education, leadership, guidance and coordination in relation to the pursuit of excellence in advocacy and professional ethics. Learn more about the work we do.
This website is operated by COIC, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales under company number 8804708, registered charity number 1155640 and registered office of 9 Gray’s Inn Square, London WC1R 5JD. To contact COIC please send an email to info@coic.org.uk or call 020 7822 0763
What types of personal data do we collect?
The ICCA may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information:
- Information you provide us as part of your application or enrolment onto the ICCA Bar Course (or other courses), and information about your progress (for example your examination results)
- Information you provide us in order to register an account or sign up to a mailing list, including your name, contact details and which Inns or Circuits you are associated with (if any)
- Information about your computer and about your visits to and use of our sites (including your IP address, geographical location, browser type, referral source, length of visit and number of page views)
- Information provided to us in the course of a BTAS tribunal, which may include information about you provided by third parties (including, the prosecution and the defence)
- Any other information that you choose to send to us (which may include your name, address, telephone number and/or email address) including, for example, information provided as part of events bookings or in response to a job vacancy, which may include references, or simply information provided in email correspondence
Why are we processing your personal information?
We process (collect, use, store etc) your personal information if one of the following applies:
- We need your personal information to provide a service as part of a contract (for example, to enable you/us to fulfil your/our obligations under a student contract or employment contract). Note that in English law ‘contracts’ are not limited to those in writing, so this justification may also cover less formal agreements between you and the college
- We need your personal information to perform our official functions as an Authorised Education & Training Organisation (AETO), and those functions are in the public interest. Our official functions may derive from legislation or our Academic Regulations. This justification also covers situations where we need to share information with other organisations in order for them to carry out their official functions (for example, taxation, reporting crimes, preventive and occupational medicine)
- We need your personal information to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject (for example, providing data about our staff and students to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) is a legal requirement for universities under the Further and Higher Education Act 1992)
- We need your personal information for a legitimate interest of the college or a third party, provided that interest is not overridden by your interests and rights (for example, we may need to process your information to protect our network and information security). Note this justification cannot be used when we are carrying out our official functions
- We need your personal information to protect somebody’s life (a vital interest)
- You provide consent for us to process your personal information, based on clear and specific information, with a genuine choice (without any pressure), and the ability to change your mind at any time
How do we use your personal information?
We will generally use your personal information to provide you with the services, products or information you have requested from us. We will contact you, depending on your communications preferences, to keep you informed and updated of the ICCA’s work and projects. Other ways we may use your personal data include:
- To answer your correspondence and communicate with you in general
- To administer your memberships and register, administer and personalise online accounts
- To further our charitable aims in general, including to promote high standards of advocacy and enforce professional standards of conduct (including administering disciplinary tribunals)
- To analyse and improve our work, services, activities, products or information (including our website), or for our internal records
- To register and administer participation in events
- To process your application for a job or other role with us
- To administer your employment/ other working relationship with us (for example, to pay your salary)
- To provide references
- For training and/or quality control
- To audit and/or administer our accounts
- To satisfy legal obligations which are binding on us, for example in relation to regulatory, government and/ or law enforcement bodies with whom we may work (for example: requirements relating to the payment of tax or anti-money laundering)
- For the prevention of fraud or misuse of services
- For the establishment, defence and/or enforcement of legal claims
- Administer the sites
- Improve your browsing experience by personalising the sites
What personal data do we share with third parties, and under what circumstances?
We may need to share your information with our service providers in order to provide you with the services, products or information you have requested from us. We will ensure that appropriate contracts with these parties are in place and they only process your information in accordance with our instructions and data protection legislation. If we need to transfer any information to a country not recognised as providing equivalent protection, we will use additional safeguards approved by UK or EU regulators.
Do we use ‘cookies’?
Yes we do. Cookies are text files, which identify a user’s computer to our servers. Cookies in themselves do not identify the individual user, just the computer used.
Our website uses cookies for collecting user information which may include IP address, operating system and browser information. We use persistent cookies to track returning visitors. They expire after 12 months and enable us to compare website traffic from month to month.
Information on controlling or rejecting cookies is available from several websites, such as http://www.aboutcookies.org. Most browsers allow you to refuse cookies – see the help section of your browser’s toolbar for further information.
How long do we keep your information for?
The period for which we keep your personal information depends on the purposes for which it is held.
In general, unless still required in connection with the purpose(s) for which it was collected and/or otherwise processed, we remove your personal information from our records six years after the data it was collected – but this varies. If before that date:
- Your personal information is no longer required in connection with such purpose(s)
- We are no longer lawfully entitled to process it, or
- You validly exercise your right of erasure, we will remove it from our records at the relevant time
Will changes be made to this privacy notice?
Yes, we keep our privacy notice under regular review to ensure we are clear, open and transparent about how we collect and use personal data. We will email all our subscribers to inform of any changes and updates to our privacy policy; this was last updated on 30 August 2022.
What are your rights?
By law, you have certain rights over your personal information:
- To receive a copy of your information
- To ask us to correct any errors
- To delete it once we no longer need it
- To ask us to stop using your information in a certain way
- To ask for certain information in a portable, electronic format
- To object to certain uses of your information (for example, marketing and automatic profiling or decision making)
To make a request for any of the above, please contact info@icca.ac.uk
How can you contact us or make a complaint to the regulator?
If you have any questions about the data we collect or how it is processed, please contact info@icca.ac.uk – we will endeavour to respond in 5 working days.
To make a complaint, contact the Information Commissioner’s Office, however we always appreciate the opportunity to hear about your concerns before you feel this step is necessary.
