What data do we collect and why?
We collect personal information about you when you use our website, contact us about products and services, visit a financial adviser or carry out transactions with us. We collect information that is necessary for the provision of financial advice and administration of the products or services you are seeking, and for legal and regulatory purposes. We also collect and use your personal information where necessary to improve our services, our business processes, and to communicate with you. For the provision of advice we need to collect sensitive information, such as information about your health. To do this, we will ask for your consent.
We will always keep your data safe and secure, and where we share your data with other businesses to fulfill the purposes above we make sure they follow our instructions and keep your data secure. We will never sell your data, and we will not send you communications about unrelated services without your consent.
CUSTOMER PRIVACY NOTICE
USM Financial Consultants are committed to protecting your privacy and ensuring that your personal information is collected and used appropriately, lawfully and transparently.
This Privacy Notice explains:
- Who we are.
- What personal information we collect.
- How we use your personal information.
- How we keep your information secure.
WHO WE ARE
USM Financial Consultants provide financial planning solutions and advice through experienced and qualified advisers.
WHAT PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT
Personal information includes your name, address, or phone number and other information that is not otherwise publicly available. We collect personal information about you when you contact us about products and services, visit a financial advisor, visit a website we may have or register to receive one of our newsletters (if applicable).
The type of personal information we collect will depend on the purpose for which it is collected and includes:
- Contact details.
- Information to verify your identity.
- Family, lifestyle, health and financial information.
- Payment details.
We collect personal information directly from you. For example, we ask for personal information at the start of our relationship and in subsequent communications in order to check your identity, and protect you from fraud. This is a legal requirement and is important to help safeguard you against potential crime.
SPECIAL CATEGORY INFORMATION
In some instances, it is necessary to collect more sensitive information (such as health or lifestyle information) which is called special category data. This is to allow us to provide our financial advice service to you. We will always obtain your consent during the advice process to gather this data and explain what information we require and why it is needed. Sensitive personal information will always be processed and stored securely. You can withdraw your consent at any time to us processing this data, however, this may mean that you can no longer access the service or product the information was gathered for.
DATA RETENTION
We keep your personal information only as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet regulatory or legislative requirements. Personal information will be securely disposed of when it is no longer required, in accordance with our Data Retention and Disposal Schedule. A copy of this is available using the contact details below.
HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
We process your information in order to support and maintain our contractual relationship with you and to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
This includes the following:
- Providing our advice, products or services to you.
- Carrying out transactions you have requested.
- Confirming and verifying your identity for security purposes.
- Credit scoring and assessment, and credit management (where applicable).
- Detecting and preventing fraud, crime, money laundering or other malpractice.
We also process your data for specific business purposes to enable us to give you the best products and services and the best and most secure experience. For example, we process your information to send you marketing that is tailored to your interests.
HOW WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION SECURE
We are committed to ensuring the confidentiality of the personal information that we hold and we continue to review our security controls and related policies and procedures to ensure that your personal information remains secure.
When we contract with third parties, we impose appropriate security, privacy and confidentiality obligations on them to ensure that personal information is kept secure.