Privacy notice
1. Who we are and how to contact us
Smith & Ericsson Ltd, company number 12297484, is the controller for personal information it handles in connection with its own enquiries and instructions. Our registered office is 33 Pollards Hill South, London SW16 4LW. Our ICO registration number is ZB197531.
For questions, requests or complaints about your personal information, contact:
Kris Ericsson, Director
Smith & Ericsson Ltd
33 Pollards Hill South
London SW16 4LW
Email: kris@smithericsson.com
Telephone: +44 (0) 7595 757 516
2. Information we handle
Depending on the enquiry or instruction, we may hold your name, contact details, correspondence and information about a property or tenancy. Instruction records may include tenancy agreements, property files, key and access records, inspection and management reports, contractor instructions and relevant rent information. Where an independent client accounting firm receives rent, we also hold the landlord statements we review.
This notice covers Smith & Ericsson's own existing letting-and-management records as well as its property-management and private-home instructions. Smith & Ericsson does not hold client money or operate a client account. Holding information about rent and reviewing a statement is distinct from holding the funds.
We receive information from you and through work carried out on an instruction. Where relevant, information may also be supplied by an owner, tenant, authorised representative, adviser or contractor. Where we are appointed to manage a property previously handled elsewhere, we may request relevant records from the owner or previous agent. We request information needed for the responsibilities we are taking on, rather than an entire file without considering its relevance.
3. Why we use information and our lawful bases
Responding to enquiries and arranging an instruction
Where you ask us to take steps towards a contract with you personally, or we need to perform that contract, we rely on contractual necessity. For other relevant enquiries and communication with representatives, we rely on our legitimate interest in responding to requests and administering our services, where that interest is not overridden by your rights and interests.
Managing property and maintaining instruction records
Where the processing is necessary for our contract with you personally, we rely on contractual necessity. For other people whose information is needed for an instruction, such as tenants, occupiers, representatives and contractor contacts, we rely where appropriate on legitimate interests in managing the property, arranging access and authorised work, monitoring rent, communicating with those involved and keeping accurate records. We consider the necessity of that use and the impact on the people concerned.
Handling service complaints and disputes
We rely, where appropriate, on legitimate interests in investigating concerns, resolving disputes and establishing, exercising or defending legal claims. Where processing is required to comply with a legal obligation, we rely on that obligation instead.
Meeting legal obligations
We use information where necessary to comply with legal duties that apply to us, including responding to data protection rights requests and complaints, and keeping records required for our accounting and tax obligations. A duty that applies to a landlord or another firm is not automatically a duty of Smith & Ericsson.
We do not send newsletters, promotional messages or other direct-marketing materials.
4. Communications and service providers
We use Google Workspace for business email and Google Drive for business files. We communicate by email, telephone and WhatsApp Business to respond to enquiries and manage instructions, taking account of your preferred contact method.
If you contact us through WhatsApp, we use the messages and documents we receive to respond to you or manage an instruction. WhatsApp also processes information to provide its service, as described in its own privacy notice. Our handling of the information we receive is covered by this notice. Using WhatsApp is optional: you can also contact us by email or telephone.
5. When we share information
Where necessary for the purposes described in this notice and supported by an appropriate lawful basis, information may be shared with:
- Google, providing our business email and file-storage services, and WhatsApp's service provider when that communication channel is used;
- Vercel, providing website hosting;
- the independent client accounting firm involved in rent receipt and landlord statements, where that arrangement applies;
- owners, tenants, contractors and specialists, where information is needed to manage an instruction or coordinate authorised work;
- advisers an owner authorises us to work with or report to, such as a family office, lawyer, accountant, insurer or architect;
- The Property Ombudsman where a service complaint is referred to it; and
- a regulator, court or public authority where disclosure is legally required or otherwise lawfully necessary in connection with a matter we handle.
The information shared is limited to what is needed for the relevant purpose. A recipient's own use of information may also be covered by its privacy notice; that does not remove our responsibilities for information we hold or disclose.
We do not identify clients or their properties in public marketing.
6. Separate businesses
Smith & Ericsson and Prime London Lettings handle their own instructions separately. Prime London Lettings provides both letting and management services for its own clients. Kris Ericsson's involvement in both businesses does not automatically transfer an instruction or its records from one business to the other.
Off Market London Property is also a separate business with its own instructions. Naming a partner firm on this website does not give it access to Smith & Ericsson's client records.
Any future introduction or sharing arrangement will be considered separately, including what information is needed, its purpose and the appropriate lawful basis. It is not a routine transfer between client books.
7. How long we keep information
We review the personal information we hold and delete it when it is no longer needed.
For an enquiry, we consider whether a response or follow-up is outstanding and whether the information is still needed to deal with that enquiry. For an instruction, we consider the current responsibilities and records needed to provide and account for the service. For a complaint or dispute, we consider whether the matter remains open and whether relevant evidence is still needed.
We also consider applicable legal or regulatory record-keeping requirements and whether particular information is needed to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim. We retain only the information needed for an identified, justifiable purpose and delete it when that need ends.
An instruction ending or a document expiring does not automatically mean all associated information is no longer needed. Conversely, a possible future use is not a reason to keep all information indefinitely.
8. Visiting this website
Our website is hosted by Vercel. When you visit, the hosting infrastructure processes technical information needed to deliver the pages, maintain the service and protect it against misuse. This may include your IP address, the time of a request, the pages or files requested, and browser or device information sent with the request.
We use relevant technical information for our legitimate interests in operating a reliable, secure website, diagnosing faults and preventing abuse. Vercel also processes certain service-generated information for its own purposes, as explained in its privacy notice.
We do not use advertising pixels, remarketing tools or optional website analytics. This website has no enquiry form, client login or online payment facility. Our email, telephone and WhatsApp links allow you to contact us through those services.
Technical records are retained according to the applicable hosting service's retention arrangements and any continuing need to investigate a fault or security incident or meet a legal requirement. Where we retain a record for a particular investigation, we keep only the information needed for that purpose and review it when the matter is resolved. We do not use these records to create marketing profiles.
Links to WhatsApp and other organisations take you to separate services. Their handling of information is explained in their own privacy notices.
9. International processing
Google Workspace, Google Drive, WhatsApp Business and Vercel operate internationally. Providing these services can involve processing personal information outside the United Kingdom, including in the United States and other countries where the providers or their service providers operate.
Relevant overseas processing is subject to the applicable data-processing and international-transfer arrangements.
Google's published arrangements include the UK Extension to the EU–US Data Privacy Framework for covered transfers to Google LLC in the United States, and contractual safeguards for other restricted transfers where applicable.
Vercel's data-processing terms include Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum for relevant transfers from the United Kingdom.
WhatsApp Business's UK Data Transfer Addendum provides contractual safeguards, including Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK Addendum where applicable, for relevant personal information processed on a business's behalf.
These arrangements do not mean that all information is stored exclusively in the United Kingdom. The mechanism applying to a particular transfer depends on the service, recipient and destination.
You can contact kris@smithericsson.com for further information about the international processing relevant to your information and to request details or a copy of the applicable safeguards, subject to appropriate redaction of confidential information.
10. Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may ask for access to your personal information, correction of inaccurate information, deletion or restriction of its use.
You may object, on grounds relating to your situation, to processing based on legitimate interests. We will consider the objection and stop that use unless the law permits us to continue it. Where the legal conditions apply, you may also request a portable copy of information you supplied to us. If we rely on consent for a particular use, you can withdraw it without affecting the lawfulness of the use before withdrawal.
These rights have conditions and exceptions. We will explain any relevant restriction if it affects a request. We respond without undue delay and normally within one month, subject to lawful identity, clarification and extension provisions, which we will explain where applicable.
Contact Kris Ericsson using the details above. Requests do not need to use particular legal terms, and can also be made through your usual contact method.
11. Data protection complaints
Please contact Kris Ericsson if you are concerned about how we handle your personal information. We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days of receiving it, take appropriate steps to investigate without undue delay, keep you informed and communicate the outcome without undue delay.
We do not wait for the acknowledgement deadline before investigating. You do not have to complete our property-service complaints procedure before raising a data protection concern.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection: