Privacy Policy

Privacy Notice

Last updated: 10 August 2026

1. Who we are

MacAllister McAleese (“we”, “us” or “our”) is a solicitors’ firm based in Northern Ireland.
For most of the personal information described in this Privacy Notice, we are the data controller. This means that we determine the purposes for which, and the manner in which, your personal information is processed.

Our contact details:

MacAllister McAleese
20 High Street, Larne, BT40 1JN
028 28278844
advice@macallistermcaleese.com
www.macallistermcaleese.com

2. The personal information we collect

Depending on the nature of your relationship with us, we may collect and process information including:

your name and contact details;
postal and email addresses;
telephone numbers;
date of birth and other identification information;
information relating to your legal matter or circumstances;
information provided when you contact or communicate with us;
information contained in correspondence, documents and case files;
financial and payment information;
information about other individuals connected with your matter;
information obtained from other parties, professional advisers, public authorities or other legitimate sources;
information required for regulatory, compliance and anti-money laundering purposes;
information relating to employees, prospective employees, suppliers and other third parties; and
where necessary for a particular matter, special category personal data, such as information concerning health, racial or ethnic origin, religious beliefs or other sensitive information.

We only seek to collect personal information that is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed.

3. How we collect personal information

We may obtain personal information:

directly from you;
when you contact us by telephone, email, post or through our website;
when you instruct us or enquire about our legal services;
from information you provide during the course of a legal matter;
from other people or organisations involved in your matter;
from professional advisers and other representatives;
from courts, tribunals, government departments, regulators and public authorities;
from publicly available sources; and
from third-party service providers where this is lawful and necessary.

Where we obtain personal information from another source, we will provide appropriate privacy information where required by law.

4. How we use your personal information

We may use personal information for purposes including:

providing legal advice and legal services;
establishing and managing our relationship with clients;
opening and administering client files;
communicating with you about your legal matter;
carrying out legal, professional and regulatory checks;
verifying identity;
complying with our legal and regulatory obligations;
preventing and detecting fraud, money laundering and other unlawful activity;
managing payments, invoices and accounts;
maintaining appropriate records;
protecting the confidentiality and security of information;
dealing with complaints and enquiries;
managing our business and service providers;
recruiting and managing employees;
maintaining and improving our website and systems; and
establishing, exercising or defending legal rights and claims.

We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with the purposes for which it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

5. Our lawful bases for processing

Data protection law requires us to have a lawful basis for processing personal information.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We may process personal information where this is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, including providing legal services to you.

Legal obligation

We may process personal information where this is necessary for us to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

Legitimate interests

We may process personal information where this is necessary for our legitimate interests, or those of a third party, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

For example, this may include managing our business, maintaining appropriate records, protecting our systems and information, communicating with clients and managing our professional relationships.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we will consider whether the processing is necessary and balance our interests against the impact on your privacy.

Consent

In some circumstances, we may rely on your consent to process personal information. Where we do so, you may withdraw your consent at any time.

Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Vital interests

In limited circumstances, we may process personal information where this is necessary to protect someone’s vital interests.

6. Special category and sensitive information

Legal matters may require us to process information that is particularly sensitive.

This can include information concerning health, racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, biometric or genetic information, sex life or sexual orientation.

Where we process special category data, we will ensure that we have both an appropriate UK GDPR lawful basis and an applicable condition permitting the processing of special category data.

We will only process such information where it is necessary and appropriate for the relevant purpose and will apply appropriate safeguards.

7. Confidentiality

As a solicitors’ firm, maintaining the confidentiality of client information is fundamental to our work.

We take appropriate measures to ensure that personal and confidential information is accessible only to those who need it for legitimate purposes.

We will not disclose personal information to unauthorised third parties.

There may, however, be circumstances in which we are required or permitted to disclose information, including where:

you have authorised us to do so;
disclosure is necessary to provide legal services;
disclosure is necessary to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation;
disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims;
disclosure is necessary to protect our clients, our firm or other individuals;
disclosure is required by a court, tribunal, regulator or other competent authority; or
disclosure is otherwise permitted by applicable law.

Legal professional privilege and other applicable duties of confidentiality may also apply to information held by us.

8. Who we may share personal information with

Depending on the circumstances of your matter, we may share personal information with appropriate third parties where this is lawful and necessary.

These may include:

barristers and other legal professionals;
courts and tribunals;
government departments and public authorities;
regulators and professional bodies;
expert witnesses and other professional advisers;
counsel and other representatives;
other solicitors or legal representatives;
insurers;
banks and payment providers;
IT, document management, cloud storage and other technology providers;
professional service providers;
debt recovery or enforcement providers where appropriate; and
other parties where disclosure is necessary for the conduct of your legal matter or required or permitted by law.

Where third parties process personal information on our behalf, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that they are subject to appropriate contractual and data protection obligations.

9. How we protect personal information

We take the security of personal information seriously.

We maintain appropriate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage.

These measures include appropriate controls relating to:

access to personal information;
information security;
confidentiality;
physical security;
electronic systems and communications;
off-site working;
third-party access; and
secure disposal of information.

Access to personal information is restricted to those who have a legitimate need to access it.

No security measure can guarantee absolute security. If we become aware of a personal data breach, we will assess and respond to it in accordance with applicable data protection requirements.

10. How long we keep personal information
We will not retain personal information for longer than is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, subject to our legal, regulatory and professional obligations.

The appropriate retention period will depend on factors including:

the nature of the information;
the purpose for which it was collected;
the nature of the legal matter;
applicable legal and regulatory requirements;
our professional obligations; and
whether the information may be required to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Our retention periods are set out in our internal Retention and Disposal Policy.

When personal information is no longer required, we will take appropriate steps to securely delete, destroy or otherwise dispose of it.

11. International transfers

In some circumstances, personal information may be processed or accessed outside the United Kingdom.

Where we make a restricted transfer of personal information, we will ensure that an appropriate transfer mechanism and safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable UK data protection law.

We will not authorise an international transfer unless appropriate safeguards have been considered and implemented.

12. Your data protection rights

Subject to applicable legal exemptions and limitations, you may have rights in relation to your personal information, including:

The right to be informed about how your personal information is used.
The right of access to personal information we hold about you.
The right to rectification of inaccurate or incomplete information.
The right to erasure of your personal information in certain circumstances.
The right to restriction of processing in certain circumstances.
The right to data portability in certain circumstances.
The right to object to certain processing.
Rights relating to automated decision-making and profiling, where applicable.
The right to withdraw consent where we rely on consent as our lawful basis.

Not all rights apply in every circumstance. In particular, there are exemptions under data protection legislation which may apply to information held by solicitors in connection with legal matters.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact our DPO using the details set out above.

We will normally respond to a valid data protection rights request within one calendar month, although this period may be extended where permitted by law, including where a request is complex or numerous.

13. Subject Access Requests

You may ask us for a copy of the personal information we hold about you by making a Subject Access Request (SAR).

Requests should be sent to our DPO using the contact details above.

We may need to verify your identity before providing information.

Your right of access is subject to certain exemptions. In a legal practice, these may include circumstances involving legal professional privilege, confidentiality, the rights of other individuals or other applicable restrictions.

14. Complaints about our use of personal information

If you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information, we encourage you to contact us first so that we can investigate and attempt to resolve your concern.

Please contact:

Data Protection Officer
MacAllister McAleese
20 High Street, Larne, BT40 1JN
Email: kevin@macallistermcaleese.com

You also have the right to complain to the UK’s independent supervisory authority for data protection, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

15. Information about children

Our services may sometimes involve information relating to children.

Where we process personal information relating to a child, we will take appropriate steps having regard to the circumstances and the requirements of applicable data protection law.

Where consent is relied upon as the lawful basis for processing children’s personal information, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that any required parental or custodial authorisation is obtained.

16. Website and cookies

When you visit our website, certain information may be collected automatically, depending on the website’s configuration.

This may include technical information such as:

IP address;
browser type;
device information;
operating system;
pages visited;
date and time of visits; and
information about how you use the website.

This website uses cookies. By continuing to browse, you consent to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. You may withdraw your consent at any time via the cookie preference centre.

Cookies used on our website fall into the following categories:

strictly necessary cookies, which are required for the website to function and cannot be switched off;
functional and preference cookies, which remember your settings and improve your experience;
analytics and performance cookies, which help us understand how visitors use our website; and
advertising and targeting cookies, which are used to deliver and measure the performance of our advertising, including remarketing.

We use third-party tools which may set cookies on your device, including for analytics, advertising, digital media and advertising purposes. These tools may include:

Google Analytics 4 — website performance analysis;
Google Ads — conversion tracking and remarketing;
Google Tag Manager — management of tags and cookies used on our website;
Meta Pixel (Facebook and Instagram) — advertising performance tracking and remarketing, where applicable;
LinkedIn Insight Tag — advertising performance tracking and remarketing, where applicable;
other social media advertising platforms (such as TikTok, X (Twitter), YouTube and similar providers) — advertising performance tracking and remarketing, where used;
programmatic advertising and demand-side platforms (such as Google Display & Video 360, The Trade Desk and similar providers) — delivery, measurement and remarketing of programmatic advertising, where used; and
Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) and other search or display advertising networks — conversion tracking and remarketing, where used.

This list is not exhaustive. As our use of analytics, paid digital media and advertising platforms develop.

Where cookies or similar technologies require consent, we will obtain consent in accordance with applicable law and platform processes, including through our cookie preference management centre.

Strictly necessary cookies may be used where permitted without consent.

17. Contact forms and website enquiries

If you contact us through our website, we may collect the personal information you provide, such as your name, contact details and information concerning your enquiry.

We will use this information to respond to your enquiry and, where appropriate, assess whether we can provide legal services to you.

Please be aware that information submitted through a website enquiry form may not be treated as a formal instruction to the firm, and submitting an enquiry does not of itself establish a solicitor-client relationship.

You should avoid sending highly sensitive or confidential information through a website form unless specifically requested by us.

18. Recruitment

If you apply for employment or another position with us, we may process personal information relating to your application, including information contained in your CV, application and correspondence.

Further information may be provided to applicants as part of the recruitment process.

19. Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may update this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal or regulatory requirements, technology or the services we provide.

The latest version will be published on our website.

Last updated: 10 August 2026

20. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or the way we process personal information, please contact us:

MacAllister McAleese
20 High Street, Larne, BT40 1JN

Telephone: 028 28278844
Email: advice@macallistermcaleese.com
DPO: Kevin MacAllister
DPO email: kevin@macallistermcaleese.com