Privacy Policy

Altern8 Legal Ltd, trading as Altern8 Legal, "Altern8", "we", "our" or "us", is committed to protecting your privacy and handling personal information in a safe, lawful and transparent way.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect personal information when you visit our website, contact us, engage with us as a client or prospective client, or work with us as a candidate, consultant, lawyer, contractor, supplier or other business contact.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, the controller of your personal information is:

This policy applies to personal information processed by Altern8 in connection with our website, business and services.

This policy applies to:

• visitors to our website;
• candidates, consultants, interim lawyers and other professionals who register with us, speak to us about opportunities or are introduced to us;
• clients and prospective clients who use, enquire about or may be interested in our services;
• representatives of suppliers, partners, advisers and other organisations we work with;
• individuals who contact us by email, telephone, website form, social media or otherwise.

Our website and services are intended for business users and adults. They are not aimed at children.

The personal information we collect depends on the nature of our relationship with you.

2.1 Website visitors and people who contact us

When you visit our website or contact us, we may collect:

• your name;
• business email address;
• business phone number;
• job title;
• organisation name;
• the content of your enquiry or message;
• marketing and communication preferences;
• technical information such as IP address, browser type, device information, operating system, pages visited, referring website, time spent on the website and cookie preferences.

2.2 Clients, prospective clients and business contacts

When you engage with us as a client, prospective client or business contact, we may collect:

• name, business email address, phone number and job title;
• organisation name, office location and business contact details;
• information about your organisation's legal resourcing needs;
• details of roles, projects, assignments, budgets, rates, hiring requirements and preferred engagement models;
• information shared during meetings, calls, emails or other communications;
• feedback on candidates, consultants or assignments;
• records of our relationship with you, including meeting notes, proposals, commercial terms and contract records;
• marketing preferences and records of business development communications.

2.3 Candidates, consultants and interim lawyers

When you engage with us in relation to legal consultancy, interim legal assignments, candidate registration or future opportunities, we may collect:

• name, email address, phone number and address;
• CV, biography, LinkedIn profile and other professional profile information;
• employment history, qualifications, skills, languages, sector experience, legal specialisms, professional memberships and practising status;
• current role, employer, notice period, availability, preferred working pattern, location preferences and rate expectations;
• information about your limited company, umbrella company or contracting arrangements, where relevant;
• right-to-work information, identity documents and verification information where necessary;
• references and referee contact details;
• interview notes, call notes, suitability assessments, client feedback and assignment records;
• information needed to arrange, manage or administer an engagement;
• payment, tax, billing, insurance or compliance information where relevant to an assignment.

We may also collect limited special category personal information where necessary, such as information about health, disability or reasonable adjustments. We will only collect this where relevant and lawful, for example to support adjustments during a recruitment process or assignment.

We may process criminal offence or background check information only where necessary, proportionate and permitted by law, for example where a client, regulated role or legal obligation requires screening.

We may collect personal information:

• directly from you;
• from your employer or organisation;
• from clients, prospective clients, referees or people who recommend or introduce you;
• from publicly available sources, such as LinkedIn, law firm websites, company websites, professional directories, legal rankings, Companies House or other public registers;
• from recruitment platforms, job boards, professional networks or events;
• from service providers who support our website, communications, CRM, document management, screening, accounting or other business operations.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, those interests include running and developing our business, providing legal talent and consultancy services, maintaining our professional network, managing client and candidate relationships, assessing suitability for assignments, protecting our business and keeping appropriate records. We consider and balance these interests against your rights and freedoms.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

We do not seek to collect sensitive personal information unless it is necessary and lawful to do so.

Where relevant, this may include:

• health or disability information, for example to make reasonable adjustments;
• information relating to working capacity or availability;
• diversity or equal opportunities information, if we choose to collect it and you choose to provide it;
• background check or criminal offence information, where required for a particular assignment or legal/regulatory reason.

We will only process this type of information where we have a lawful basis and an additional condition under applicable data protection law. We will also apply appropriate safeguards.

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share personal information with:

• clients and prospective clients, where you are being considered for an assignment, role or project;
• candidates or consultants, where necessary to progress an assignment or client opportunity;
• service providers who support our website, CRM, email, cloud storage, document management, accounting, billing, screening, e-signature, IT support, analytics or other business systems;
• professional advisers, including lawyers, accountants, auditors and insurers;
• referees, background checking providers or compliance providers, where relevant;
• regulators, public authorities, courts, law enforcement agencies or other third parties where required by law;
• third parties involved in a business transfer, restructuring, acquisition or sale of all or part of our business.

Where we use service providers, we require them to protect personal information and use it only for the purposes for which it was provided.

We are based in the United Kingdom. Some of our service providers or business contacts may be located outside the UK.

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. This may include relying on an adequacy decision, appropriate contractual protections or other safeguards permitted by applicable data protection law.

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to provide our services, maintain appropriate business records, comply with legal obligations and protect our legal rights.

The period for which we keep information will depend on the nature of the information and our relationship with you. For example:

• website enquiry records may be kept for a shorter period unless they become part of a client, candidate or business relationship;
• candidate and consultant records may be kept while we continue to have a professional relationship with you or may reasonably consider you for future opportunities;
• client and supplier records may be kept for the duration of the relationship and for a period afterwards;
• contracts, invoices, accounting and tax records may be kept for the period required by law;
• information relevant to legal claims or disputes may be kept for longer where necessary.

When information is no longer required, we will delete it, anonymise it or securely archive it in accordance with our retention practices.

We may use business contact details to send relevant updates, opportunities, event invitations, market insights or information about our services.

You can opt out of marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe link where provided or by contacting us at privacy@altern8legal.com.

We will not send marketing communications where we are not legally permitted to do so.

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to operate securely, remember preferences, understand website usage and improve the website.

Some cookies are necessary for the website to function. Others, such as analytics or marketing cookies, will only be used where permitted by law and, where required, with your consent.

You can manage cookie preferences through our website cookie banner or through your browser settings.

A separate Cookie Policy may be provided if we use analytics, advertising pixels or other non-essential tracking technologies.

We may use technology to help us organise, search, summarise, store or manage information more efficiently.

We do not make decisions about candidates, consultants, clients or assignments based solely on automated processing where that decision would have a legal or similarly significant effect on you.

Human judgement remains central to how we assess suitability, make introductions and manage our services.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include access controls, password protection, secure cloud systems, staff awareness, data minimisation, backup procedures and supplier due diligence.

No system is completely secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect the information we hold.

Depending on the circumstances, you may have rights under data protection law, including the right to:

• request access to your personal information;
• ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• ask us to delete your personal information;
• ask us to restrict how we use your personal information;
• object to certain uses of your personal information;
• request transfer of your personal information in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format;
• withdraw consent where we rely on consent;
• complain about how we handle your personal information.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal limitations.

To exercise your rights, please contact us at privacy@altern8legal.com.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a request.

If you have a concern or complaint about how we handle your personal information, please contact us at: privacy@altern8legal.com

We will acknowledge data protection complaints within 30 days of receipt, investigate them without undue delay, keep you informed as appropriate and tell you the outcome.

You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office, the UK regulator for data protection matters.

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, platforms or services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of those third-party sites.

Please let us know if your personal information changes during your relationship with us so that we can keep our records accurate and up to date.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our business, website, systems, services or legal obligations.

The latest version will be posted on our website with the date of last update.

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal information, please contact: