Privacy Notice

1. Who we are and who is responsible for your data

This notice explains, in plain language, what personal data we collect when you use policestationagent.com ("Police Station Agent"), why we need it, and what rights you have. Throughout this notice, "we" and "us" mean the data controller named below.

The data controller for this website is Defence Legal Services Limited (registered name: DEFENCELEGALSERVICES LIMITED), registered in England and Wales.

• Company number: 09900871
• ICO registration number: ZA198500
• Our registered office address is shown on our Regulatory information page and at Companies House.
• Data protection contact: Robert Cashman, robertcashman@defencelegalservices.co.uk

For voluntary interview requests, our contact form and other public enquiries, Defence Legal Services Limited is the controller. Where a firm of solicitors instructs us through the agency instruction form, the instructing firm is the controller for client personal data on that form and Defence Legal Services Limited acts as a processor for that data (see our Agency Terms).

Robert Cashman is a criminal defence solicitor. Legal services are provided through Tuckers Solicitors LLP (SRA number 592449). Tuckers Solicitors LLP is not a controller of the data collected through this website. If your matter is referred to Tuckers, or you instruct them, the information needed is passed to Tuckers, which then becomes an independent controller of its own legal file and handles it under its own privacy notice.

2. The information we collect

Depending on how you use the website, we may collect:

• Contact and identity details: your name, telephone number, email address, postcode, date of birth and preferred contact method.
• Details of a police investigation that you give us in an enquiry (see section 3).
• Messages you type into the website chat assistant (see section 6).
• How you found us: the page you arrived on, the referring website and any campaign tags in the link, sent with an enquiry.
• Technical and usage information: your IP address (used briefly to protect our forms from abuse) and aggregated page-view statistics (see section 9).

3. Enquiries about a police interview: criminal offence data

When you (or an immediate family member on your behalf) use our voluntary interview request forms or our contact form, we may collect:

• your name, date of birth, telephone number, email address and postcode;
• the police force and station, the interview date and time, any crime reference, and a description of the alleged offence;
• the name, rank and work contact details of the investigating officer, if you give them;
• whether another solicitor has already been instructed;
• any documents you upload, such as a police invitation letter.

Information about an alleged offence is criminal offence data under Article 10 of the UK GDPR. What you tell us may also reveal special category data, for example about your health. Please only give us the information we need to respond to your request.

If a family member contacts us for you, we receive your information from them.

Why we use it

• to consider whether we can help, and to contact you about your request;
• to check for conflicts of interest;
• if your matter goes ahead, to arrange representation, including referring it to Tuckers Solicitors LLP.

Our lawful basis

• UK GDPR Article 6(1)(b): processing is necessary to take steps at your request before providing legal services, and to provide them.
• UK GDPR Article 6(1)(f), legitimate interests: where a family member contacts us for you, and for officers' work contact details. Our interest is in responding to requests for legal representation and preparing for police interviews.
• Criminal offence data: Article 10 UK GDPR and section 10(5) of the Data Protection Act 2018, relying on Schedule 1, Part 3, paragraph 33 (legal claims). The processing is necessary for obtaining legal advice, in connection with actual or prospective legal proceedings, and for establishing, exercising or defending legal rights.
• Special category data: where relevant, UK GDPR Article 9(2)(f) (establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims).

The forms ask you to tick a box confirming you agree to your information being processed. We do not rely on that tick alone: the bases above apply to handling your enquiry.

Where your enquiry goes

• It is emailed to Robert Cashman's mailbox for review, together with any documents you upload.
• For voluntary interview requests, a copy of the details (but not uploaded documents) is stored in a secure database so the enquiry can be looked up by its reference number.
• If you give an email address, you receive an acknowledgement containing only your reference number.
• We do not make automated decisions about you. A person reviews every enquiry.

4. Who we share your data with

We use the following service providers to run the website and handle enquiries. They act on our instructions:

• Vercel Inc.: hosts the website, processes form submissions, and provides our cookieless analytics (Vercel Web Analytics and Speed Insights).
• Resend: delivers enquiry and acknowledgement emails. Our sending domain is set up in Resend's EU region (Ireland).
• Upstash: provides the database that stores a copy of voluntary interview requests, and briefly holds IP addresses to protect our forms from abuse.
• Google: provides the Gmail mailbox that receives enquiry emails.
• OpenAI: generates replies for the website chat assistant (see section 6).

Tuckers Solicitors LLP receives your information only if your matter is referred to them or you instruct them. They then handle it as an independent controller.

We may also disclose information where the law requires it. We do not sell your data or use enquiry details for marketing.

5. International transfers

Some of our providers may process data outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or appropriate safeguards, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum, or the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.

6. The website chat assistant

If a question cannot be answered from our own website content, the chat assistant sends your message to OpenAI, which processes it to generate a reply. OpenAI may keep messages for up to 30 days to monitor abuse, and does not use them to train its models. We do not keep a record of chat conversations on our website.

Please do not include names, dates of birth, details of an alleged offence or other sensitive information in the chat. Use an enquiry form instead.

7. How long we keep your data

• Website database copy of a voluntary interview request: deleted automatically after 90 days.
• Enquiry emails and attachments from people who do not go on to instruct us: kept for up to 12 months, then deleted.
• Where instructions follow, records are kept in line with professional and regulatory file-retention requirements, typically 6 years after the matter closes.
• IP addresses used to protect our forms and chat assistant from abuse are held for no more than 15 minutes.

8. Security

Forms are sent over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. Uploads are limited to PDF, JPG and PNG files. The database copy of voluntary interview requests is deleted automatically after 90 days, and through this website only the site administrator can look it up.

9. Cookies and analytics

We only store items on your device that are strictly necessary for the website to work or to keep it secure. We do not use advertising cookies, analytics cookies or social media tracking pixels.

We use Vercel Web Analytics and Vercel Speed Insights to see which pages are visited and how quickly they load. These tools do not use cookies or store anything on your device, and we only see aggregated statistics. See our Cookie Policy for details.

10. Your rights

Under data protection law you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• have inaccurate data corrected;
• have your data erased where there is no good reason for us to keep it;
• restrict how we use your data;
• object to processing based on our legitimate interests;
• data portability, where it applies;
• withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent.

Some rights are limited where data is needed for legal advice or legal proceedings. To exercise any right, email robertcashman@defencelegalservices.co.uk.

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK data protection regulator, at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. We would appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns first, so please contact us before approaching the ICO.

11. Changes to this notice

We will update this notice when the way we handle personal data changes, and we will change the "last updated" date at the top.