This Privacy Policy is intended to inform you about the types of information we collect and process about you (“personal data”), the reasons we use it, how we use it, and who we may share it with. It also outlines your rights concerning your information and provides guidance on how to contact us with any questions or concerns.
DEFINITIONS USED IN THIS PRIVACY NOTICE CAN BE FOUND HERE
"Client" refers to an investor in our products or a recipient of our services, which may include individual investors, or employees, directors, officers, trustees, beneficiaries, or representatives of an institutional or intermediary client of kestone Capitals.
"kestone Capitals," "we," or "us" refers to kestone Capitals.
"kestone Capitals Websites" refers to the websites operated by kestone Capitals.
"kestone Capitals Products and Services" refers to the various products and services we offer to our Clients, including those provided through related support, mobile, or cloud-based services.
"Personal Data" refers to any data related to a living individual who can be identified from that data, or from that data combined with other information in the possession of, or likely to be in the possession of, kestone Capitals (or its representatives or service providers). This can include factual details such as a name or address, as well as opinions or intentions related to an individual.
"You" refers to the individual to whom this notice is addressed, who may be:
(a) A Client or prospective Client of ours;
(b) A visitor to the kestone Capitals website; or
(c) An employee, director, officer, or representative of another organization with which we have a business relationship.
1. BACKGROUND
(1.1) kestone Capitals collects and processes certain Personal Data. kestone Capitals is responsible for ensuring that the use of this Personal Data complies with applicable data protection laws.
(1.2) At kestone Capitals, we value your privacy and are committed to safeguarding your Personal Data.
(1.3) This Privacy Notice applies to individuals whose Personal Data we handle as part of our commercial activities. These individuals may include Clients, prospective Clients, or their representatives, agents, or appointees, as well as employees, directors, officers, or representatives of organizations with whom we have a business relationship. It also applies to visitors of our websites.
2. OUR PRIVACY PROMISE
(2.1) To protect your Personal Data and maintain its privacy.
(2.2) Not to sell your Personal Data.
(2.3) To provide you with options to manage and review your marketing preferences at any time.
3. OVERVIEW OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH WE HANDLE YOUR PERSONAL DATA
(3.1) kestone Capitals collects information about you through the following methods:
(a)Information received during the provision of our products or services. This may come directly from you or through third parties, such as providers of identity verification and anti-money laundering services, which assist us in fulfilling our legal and regulatory obligations.
(b)Information you provide when expressing interest in our products or services. This includes details you share during enquiries, visits to our premises, participation in events, or interactions on kestone Capitals Websites. Further information on how we handle data collected via our Websites is outlined in section 11 of this Privacy Notice.
We may also combine personal data collected directly from you with information obtained from other sources, such as our websites or trusted third parties, to build a more complete understanding of your needs and preferences.
4. THE TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT
(4.1) To provide you with the appropriate service or product, kestone Capitals needs to collect and process Personal Data, such as:
a)Information you provide directly to kestone Capitals. The type of Personal Data we collect will depend on the nature of our relationship with you. This may include:
* Basic Personal Data, such as your first and last name, national insurance number, email address, phone number, home address (including city, postcode, and country), occupation, job title, bank details, identification documents, date of birth, and family or life event details.
* Sensitive Personal Data, which may include details about your racial or ethnic origin, health information, disability status, trade union membership, genetic and biometric data, religious or political affiliations, or records related to criminal offences and court proceedings.
b)*Personal Data regarding any individuals on whose behalf you are acting, such as investment beneficiaries. By providing us with their Personal Data, you confirm that you will inform them about the details set out in this Privacy Notice.
c)Information we collect or generate about you, including:
*Records we maintain of our relationship with Clients and prospective Clients, such as contact history.
* Any Personal Data you share during communication with us, which we may monitor and record for purposes such as resolving complaints, improving service, or meeting legal and regulatory requirements.
* Any Personal Data obtained regarding your use of kestone Capitals Websites, but only when users identify themselves by creating a secure, authenticated session.
d)*Information obtained from third-party sources, some of which may be sensitive, including:
* Data from publicly available sources, such as credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies, law enforcement agencies, public records and databases (e.g., Companies House, the FCA Register), and other publicly accessible sources.
* Information provided by independent financial advisors (IFAs), other professional advisers, product providers, event organisers, agents, representatives, industry databases, and business intelligence tools kestone Capitals subscribes to.
* Data provided by companies or firms that refer you to us.
* Information obtained through sanctions checks and background screening service providers.
5. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION
(5.1) Your Personal Data may be stored and processed by us in the following ways and for the following purposes:
- To allow Clients and prospective Clients to use and access kestone Capitals Products and Services;
- To assess Client and prospective Client applications or contracts for kestone Capitals Products and Services;
- To set up / on-board prospective Clients to use kestone Capitals Products and Services;
- To keep our records up to date;
- To monitor IT systems in order to protect against cyber threats or malicious activity including abuse and misuse;
- To protect our premises from unauthorized access or use, or any unlawful activity;
- To administer or maintain IT systems in order to uphold standards of service;
- For ongoing review and improvement of the information provided on kestone Capitals Websites to make them user-friendly and prevent potential disruptions or cyber-attacks;
- To understand feedback on kestone Capitals Products and Services and to help provide more information on the use of those products and services quickly and easily;
- To communicate with and better understand the interests of Clients and prospective Clients in order to provide services or targeted information about kestone Capitals and other kestone Capitals Products and Services;
- To effectively manage and strengthen Client and prospective Client relationships, understand Client and prospective Client needs and interests and learn more about our Clients and prospective Clients in order to develop, improve and manage the products and services we can offer;
- For the management and administration of our business;
- In order to comply with and assess compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, and internal policies and procedures; or
- For the administration and maintenance of databases storing your Personal Data.
(5.2) When we use your Personal Data, we comply with applicable law. The law allows or requires us to use your Personal Data for a variety of reasons. These include instances where:
- We are performing our contractual obligations;
- We have legal and regulatory obligations that we have to discharge;
- We may need to do so in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights or those of our Clients or for the purpose of legal proceedings;
- We have obtained your consent;
- When it is in our legitimate interest.
When we have a business or commercial reason of our own to use your information, this is called a ‘legitimate interest’. We will tell you what that is if we are going to rely on it as the reason for using your data. Even then, it must not unfairly go against your interests.
(5.3) We may use systems to make automated decisions about you. This helps us to make sure our decisions are quick, fair, efficient, and correct, based on what we know. Automated decisions can affect the products, services, or features we may offer you now or in the future. They are based on Personal Data that we have or that we are allowed to collect from others.
6. WHO WE SHARE YOUR PERSONAL DATA WITH
(6.1) Your Personal Data may be shared with kestone Capitals plc, and entities within their respective corporate groups.
(6.2) We may also share your Personal Data outside of kestone Capitals as further described below:
- With business partners of ours where they are contractually obliged to comply with appropriate data protection obligations;
- With representatives, agents, custodians, intermediaries and/or other third-party product providers appointed by the Client or prospective Client (such as accountants, professional advisors, custody service providers, and product providers);
- With law enforcement and fraud prevention agencies as well as other financial services companies (to help prevent, detect and prosecute unlawful acts and fraudulent behavior). The personal information we have collected from you and anyone you have a financial link with may be shared with fraud prevention agencies who will use it to prevent fraud and money laundering and to verify your identity. If fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance, or employment. Further details of how your information will be used by us and these fraud prevention agencies, and your data protection rights, can be found here;
- With third-party agents and contractors for the purposes of them providing services both to us (for example, kestone Capitals accountants, professional advisors, IT and communications providers, background screening providers, credit reference agencies, and debt collectors) and to Clients or prospective Clients. These third parties will be subject to appropriate data protection obligations and due diligence;
- With any depository, stock exchange, clearing or settlement system, counterparties, dealers and others where disclosure of your Personal Data is reasonably intended for the purpose of effecting, managing, or reporting transactions or establishing a relationship with a view to such transactions;
- Where you are a joint account or portfolio holder (or otherwise one of multiple persons holding an account or portfolio), we may disclose your Personal Data to the other joint account or portfolio holder or other person;
- To the extent required by law or regulation, for example if we are under a duty to disclose your Personal Data in order to comply with any legal obligation (including, without limitation, in order to comply with court order, tax reporting requirements and disclosures to regulators, auditors or public authorities), or to establish, exercise or defend its legal rights;
- If we sell any part of our business or our assets, in which case we may need to disclose your Personal Data to the prospective buyer for due diligence purposes.
7. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS OF PERSONAL DATA
(7.1) When we transfer your Personal Data to another country, we ensure that it will be protected and transferred in a manner consistent with legal requirements. For data transferred outside of the UK and the European Economic Area (the “EEA”), this may be done in one of the following ways:
- The country to which we send your Personal Data is approved by the European Commission as offering an adequate level of protection for Personal Data;
- The recipient has signed a contract based on "model contractual clauses" approved by the European Commission, obliging them to protect your Personal Data;
- In some limited circumstances, the law may permit us to transfer your Personal Data outside of the UK and the EEA in other ways.
(7.2) You can obtain more details about the protection given to your Personal Data when it is transferred outside the UK and the EEA by contacting us as described in paragraph 13 below.
8. HOW WE SAFEGUARD YOUR PERSONAL DATA
(8.1) Personal Data is a critical business asset and must be protected appropriately based on its risk, importance, and value.
We ensure safe processing operations by maintaining physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect your non-public Personal Data. Access to this data is restricted to authorized personnel only. The effectiveness of these safeguards is periodically tested. Additionally, we have extensive controls and mechanisms in place designed to detect, respond to, and recover from any adverse events that may arise.
9. HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL DATA
(9.1) The length of time for which we retain your Personal Data will vary based on the following criteria:
- The purpose for which we are using it (as further described in this Privacy Notice at paragraph 5.1) – we will retain the data for as long as necessary to fulfill that purpose;
- Our legal obligations – laws or regulations may specify a minimum period for which we must retain your Personal Data.
10. YOUR RIGHTS
(10.1) In all the cases mentioned above where we collect, use, or store your Personal Data, you may have the following rights. You can exercise these rights free of charge in most cases. These rights include:
- The right to obtain information regarding the processing of your Personal Data and access the Personal Data we hold about you;
- The right to withdraw your consent to the processing of your Personal Data at any time. Please note, however, that we may still be entitled to process your Personal Data if we have another legitimate reason for doing so. For example, we may need to retain your Personal Data to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation or to satisfy our internal audit requirements;
- In some circumstances, the right to receive certain Personal Data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, and/or request that we transmit such data to a third party where this is technically feasible. Please note that this right only applies to Personal Data you have provided directly to kestone Capitals;
- The right to request that we rectify your Personal Data if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
- The right to request that we erase your Personal Data in certain circumstances. Please note that there may be situations where you request the deletion of your Personal Data, but we are required or entitled to retain it;
- The right to object to, or request that we restrict, our processing of your Personal Data in certain circumstances. However, there may be instances where we are required or entitled to refuse such a request;
- The right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection regulator if you believe any of your rights have been infringed by us.
(10.2) You can exercise your rights by contacting us at:
11. kestone Capitals WEBSITE
(11.1) If you use an kestone Capitals Website, we may collect technical information through the use of cookies. The type of information collected varies by category of cookies, as explained in our Cookie Notice. As detailed in our Cookie Notice, we provide you with the option to selectively accept certain categories of cookies in your web browser through our Cookie Manager Application. If you accept cookies from the tracking category and identify yourself during a secure (logged-on) browsing session on one of our websites, we will be able to combine the information we collect about your usage during that session with other information we know about you, such as any searches you conduct or information you request during your web session. We will use this combined information to assess the appeal and usefulness of the content and tools offered on our websites, as well as to identify kestone Capitals products and services that may be of interest to you.
We also gather anonymous information related to the browsing habits of users through other categories of cookies, with the purpose of managing and improving our website.
(11.2) If you use an kestone Capitals Website and follow a link from it to another website, different privacy policies may apply. Before submitting any Personal Data to another website, you should read the privacy policy applicable to that site.
12. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY NOTICE
(12.1) Any changes we make to our Privacy Notice in the future will be posted on this website, and where appropriate, notified to you by email. Please check back frequently to review any updates or changes to our Privacy Notice.
13. QUESTIONS AND CONCERNS
(13.1) If you have any questions or concerns about kestone Capitals' handling of your Personal Data, this Privacy Notice, or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at the address below.
To exercise your right to withdraw consent to receive electronic marketing communications at any time, please follow the “unsubscribe” instructions found in such marketing materials.