W & J Linney Privacy Policy
Date: November 2025
1. Introduction
W & J Linney Limited (trading as Linney) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.
You have the right to make a complaint about how your personal data is handled at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.
2. Who we are
W & J Linney Limited (trading as Linney) is the controller and responsible for your personal data (collectively referred to as “company”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this privacy notice).
If you have any questions about this privacy notice, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact us using the details set out below.
Our full details are:
Who you should address your query to: Data Protection Lead
Email address: dataprotectionteam@linney.com
Postal address: W & J Linney Limited, Adamsway, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire NG18 4FW
3. How we collect your data
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
Direct interactions. You may give us your personal data by filling in forms, taking part in market research, attending interviews for roles at Linney or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise.
Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we may automatically collect technical data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this personal data by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies.
Third parties or publicly available sources. We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
(a) Our customers or people or organisations acting on their behalf;
(b) Analytics providers and advertising networks such as Google based outside the UK;
(c) Search information providers;
(d) Providers of technical, payment and delivery services;
(e) Data brokers or aggregators;
(f) Publicly available sources such as Companies House and the Electoral Register based inside the UK;
(g) Your or your employer’s website or from your employer or another third party supplier directly.
4. The personal data we collect and how we use it
We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:
Where we need to perform a contract we are about to enter into or have entered into.
Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests (please see the glossary in paragraph 11 for an explanation of “legitimate interests”).
Where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation (please see the glossary in paragraph 11 for an explanation of “compliance with a legal obligation or regulatory obligation”).
Generally, we do not rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your personal data but, if we do, you will have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.
Recruitment
Within the recruitment process (including applications for work experience at Linney), we collect and store the following categories of personal data about you:
Data which you have provided to us in your candidate profile, including first and last name, country, e-mail, phone number.
Data which you have provided to us as part of your application (for example, your CV and covering letter/email) including work experience, qualifications and language skills.
Data from assessments (for example, personality tests and cognitive ability tests) and interviews (if applicable).
We retain your data for no longer than 13 months after the date we receive your application. We retain your personal data in that period in case there is a relevant position for which you could be a potential candidate and we may contact you in that instance. However, if you have provided your data to us by registering your interest generally, you should re-register that interest after 12 months if you wish to continue to be considered for positions at Linney.
If your application is successful, we may store the personal data you provide during the recruitment process. More information can be found in the data privacy statement for Linney people, which will be made available to you.
Market research
We need information about you when we invite you to take part in research to ensure that:
• you meet the criteria for this piece of research.
• we are including a wide range of people.
We need to collect data during the research session to ensure that we have an accurate record of what happened and what was said. This could be in the form of:
• audio recordings
• video recordings
• screen recordings
• written notes
• photos
We may collect additional information, based on the specific topic being researched.
We sometimes work with other organisations to carry out research. They may include companies that help us recruit people to take part in research. If we do this, those companies may also collect personal data about you for which they are the controller, and their privacy policy will also apply.
We may also use the following third party tools and services to collect, transcribe or analyse your data:
• survey tools
• online collaboration tools, including video conference and virtual whiteboard tools
• transcription services, including automatic transcription and analysis tools
• consent management tools
If we do any of the above, we will monitor and limit the access that third parties have to your data. The privacy policies of these third parties will also apply
Third-party marketing
We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any other company for marketing purposes.
Opting out
You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages at any time. You can do this by visiting the following page to amend your communication preferences www.engage.linney.com/communicationpreferences
Alternatively, you can email marketing@linney.com to adjust your communication preferences or unsubscribe from mailings.
Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data which we need to use to communicate with you in relation to a contract or other non-marketing related purpose.
Cookies
We use cookies on our website. For more information about the cookies we use, please see www.linney.com/cookies.
Change of purpose
We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law (please refer to section 11).
5. Disclosures of your personal data
We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in paragraph 4 above.
Service providers who provide IT and system administration services.
Professional advisers including lawyers, bankers, auditors and insurers who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance and accounting services.
HM Revenue & Customs, regulators and other authorities based in the United Kingdom who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.
Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer, or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy notice.
We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
6. International transfers
Some of our external third parties are based outside the United Kingdom so their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the UK.
Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the UK, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it
Please contact us if you want further information on the specific mechanism used by us when transferring your personal data out of the UK.
7. Data security
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.
8. Data retention
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.
Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal data are available in our retention policy which you can request by contacting us at dataprotectionteam@linney.com.
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data (so that it can no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.
9. Your legal rights
Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. These are:
Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.
Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.
Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.
Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data’s accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.
Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.
Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent
If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us at dataprotectionteam@linney.com
No fee usually required
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.
What we may need from you
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.
Time limit to respond
We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it may take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.
10. Changes to the privacy policy
This privacy policy is reviewed regularly and will be updated when necessary. If we make any significant changes to the policy, we will communicate these to you.
11. Glossary
Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us at dataprotectionteam@linney.com.
Comply with a legal or regulatory obligation means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal or regulatory obligation that we are subject to.