Privacy policy

This policy explains what personal information I collect when you use this website or contact me, what I do with it, how long I keep it and what rights you have.

Who I am

This website is operated by Kesters Nook Limited, a company registered in England and Wales with number 12174386, trading as Steven Mather Solicitor. Its registered office is 19 Barnards Way, Kibworth, Leicestershire, LE8 0RS. In this policy, references to me and I mean Kesters Nook Limited.

Kesters Nook Limited is the controller of the personal information described in this policy. It is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number ZA679007. It is not authorised or regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority and does not provide legal advice. 

What this policy covers, and what it does not

This policy covers the information I hold before you instruct me: your use of this website, your enquiry, our correspondence, and anything you send me while we work out whether I can help.

Once you instruct me, the legal work is carried out through Nexa Law Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA number 633024. Nexa Law becomes the controller of the information on your matter file at that point, and its own privacy notice applies to it. You can read Nexa Law’s policies at www.nexa.law – https://nexa.law/privacy-policy/ 

I use AI tools in my work, including at enquiry stage. My AI policy explains how, and sets out the controls that apply.

This website links to other websites. Those sites have their own privacy policies and I am not responsible for them.

The website is not intended for use by children and I do not knowingly collect information about children.

What I collect and why

The table below sets out what I collect, when, why, the legal basis I rely on, and how long I keep it.

What I collect	When	Why, and my legal basis	How long I keep it
Your name, contact details and an outline of your matter, including any documents you choose to send	When you make an enquiry, by form, email, phone, LinkedIn or messaging	To reply, to assess whether I can help, to scope the work and quote, and to run a conflict check. Legitimate interests, and taking steps at your request before entering a contract	Two years from our last contact if you do not instruct me, then deleted
The same information	When your enquiry becomes a matter	To open the matter with Nexa Law Limited, which then becomes responsible for your file. Steps before entering a contract, and legal obligation for identity and anti money laundering checks	Nexa Law’s retention periods apply to the matter file from that point
Your name and email address	When you subscribe to my newsletter or ask for legal updates	To send the newsletter and updates about my services. Consent, or legitimate interests where you have already enquired about a similar service	Until you unsubscribe, and then a suppression record so I do not contact you again
Your name, email address and order details	When you buy a book, guide or other product through the site	To fulfil the order and keep proper accounting records. Contract, and legal obligation	Six years from the end of the relevant accounting period
Your IP address, pages viewed, device and browser, referral source	When you use the website, through cookies	To see how the site is used and improve it. Consent, given through the cookie banner	As set out in the cookie tool, and no longer than fourteen months for analytics
Your name and the content of a review or comment	When you leave a review or feedback	To publish it where you have agreed to that. Consent	Until you ask me to remove it
Server and security logs	Automatically	To keep the site secure and to establish or defend legal claims. Legitimate interests	Up to twelve months, or longer where a claim is live

 

You do not have to give me any of this information. If you do not give me enough to identify you and understand your enquiry, I will not be able to reply to it or work out whether I can help.

Cookies

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. This site uses cookies that are necessary for it to work, and, with your consent, cookies that help me understand how the site is used.

You choose which categories to allow through the cookie banner when you first visit, and you can change your choice at any time using the cookie settings link. Necessary cookies cannot be switched off because the site will not work properly without them.

Who I share your information with

I share your information with the following, and only so that they can do the job described:

Who	What they do	Where they process
Nexa Law Limited	Delivers the legal work once you instruct me, and runs identity and anti money laundering checks	United Kingdom
Website hosting and WordPress plugin providers	Host and run this website	United Kingdom and European Union
Google	Website analytics	United States
Email and email marketing providers	Email, and sending the newsletter	European Union and United States
Form, automation and workflow providers	Contact forms and routing enquiries to me	United States
Payment providers	Take payment if you buy something from me	European Union and United States
AI providers	Summarising, drafting and note taking, as set out in my AI policy	United States generally.
Accountants, insurers and professional advisers	Advise me on my own business	United Kingdom

Each of these acts as my processor under a written contract requiring it to process your information only on my instructions, to keep it secure and to delete or return it when the work is done. None of them is permitted to use your information for its own purposes, and the AI providers I use are not permitted to train their models on it.

I will share your information with law enforcement, a regulator or a court where the law requires it. If I sell or restructure my business, information may be shared with the buyer or the new entity, and this policy will continue to apply to it.

I do not sell your information, and I do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.

Sending information outside the United Kingdom

Some of the providers listed above process information in the United States. Sending your information to them is a restricted transfer under Chapter V of the UK GDPR.

Where a provider is certified under the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, I rely on that. Otherwise I rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the European Commission standard contractual clauses, supported by an assessment of the risks of the transfer.

Contractual protection of this kind reduces risk. It does not remove the possibility of access to information by authorities in the country the information is sent to.

Marketing

I would like to send you my newsletter and occasional updates about my services. I will do this where you have subscribed, or where you have enquired about a similar service and have not told me to stop.

You can unsubscribe at any time by using the unsubscribe link in any email, or by emailing steven@stevenmather.co.uk. I will then keep a minimal record of your email address so that I do not contact you again by mistake.

Keeping your information secure

I have security measures in place to protect against personal information being lost, or accessed or used without authority. Access is limited to those who have a genuine need for it, and anyone processing it is subject to a duty of confidentiality.

I have procedures for dealing with a suspected data breach and will notify you, and the Information Commissioner’s Office, where the law requires it.

If you want general guidance on protecting your own information and devices, Get Safe Online is a useful starting point.

Your rights

Under the UK GDPR you have the right to be told how your information is used, to see the information I hold about you, to have mistakes corrected, to have information deleted in certain circumstances, to restrict or object to how I use it, to receive it in a portable format in certain circumstances, and to object at any time to direct marketing.

You also have the right to object to decisions taken about you by automated means alone which produce legal effects or similarly significant effects. I do not take decisions in that way.

Where I rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time. That does not affect anything done before you withdrew it.

To exercise any of these rights, email steven@stevenmather.co.uk or write to me at the address below. Tell me what you want and give me enough information to identify you. I may ask for proof of identity before I act on a request. I will respond within one month. The ICO guidance on individual rights explains each right and when it applies.

I have not appointed a data protection officer, as I am not required to. I deal with data protection questions myself.

How to complain

If you are unhappy with how I have handled your information, contact me first and I will try to resolve it. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or by telephone on 0303 123 1113.

If your complaint is about a legal matter being handled through Nexa Law, my complaints information page explains how to raise it.

Do you need this in another format

If you need this policy in large print, or in another format that works better for you, email or call me and I will provide it.

Changes to this policy

I review this policy at least once a year and update it when what I do changes. This version replaces the version published on 17 December 2019.

How to contact me

Email: steven@stevenmather.co.uk

Phone: 0116 3667 900

Post: Kesters Nook Limited, 19 Barnards Way, Kibworth, Leicestershire, LE8 0RS