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Privacy

This version of our Privacy Policy was last updated on 26 September 2021.

This privacy policy applies to the asset and fund management services provided to UK clients of abrdn plc subsidiaries, as well as the discretionary management services provided by abrdn Capital and its subsidiaries.

This Privacy Policy also applies to the investment trusts and funds managed by abrdn plc subsidiaries, unless the documents connected with your investment in a particular investment trust or fund state otherwise.

abrdn plc and its subsidiaries take privacy seriously and is committed to safeguarding any personal information shared. As a consumer of one or more of abrdn plc’s products or services you can be assured that personal information will only be collected and used where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so to provide you with the agreed product or service and in line with applicable privacy & data protection laws.

Our Privacy Policy contains important information about what personal details we collect; what we do with that information; who we may share it with and why; and your choices and rights when it comes to the personal information you have given us.

We keep our Privacy Policy under regular review. We may need to make changes to this Privacy Policy so please check our website for updates from time to time. If there are important changes such as changes to where your personal information will be processed; we will contact you to let you know.

Our Cookie Policy forms part of our Privacy Policy. When you browse our websites we use cookies to store information about how you use these websites in order to improve the quality of service provided to you. To understand what type of cookies we use and how these work when you use our websites you can access our Cookie Policy on our website - https://www.abrdn.com/corporate/cookie-policy.

How to contact us

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or the information we collect or use about you, please contact us:

FAO Data Protection Officer
abrdn plc
1 George Street
Edinburgh
EH2 2LL
Email - DPOffice@abrdn.com

Information we collect and use

Information about you that we collect and use includes:
  • Information about who you are e.g. your name, date of birth and contact details
  • Information connected to your product or service with us e.g. your bank account details
  • Information about your contact with us e.g. meetings, phone calls, emails / letters
  • Information that is automatically collected e.g. via cookies when you visit one of our websites
  • Information if you visit one of our offices e.g. visual images collected via closed circuit television (CCTV)
  • Information classified as ‘sensitive’ personal information e.g. relating to your health. Where we collect and use sensitive personal information, this information will only be collected and used where it’s needed to provide the product or service you have requested or to comply with our legal obligations, and where we have also obtained your explicit consent to process such information.

Where we collect your information

We may collect your personal information directly from you, from a variety of sources, including:

  • An application form for a product or service
  • Phone conversations with us
  • Emails or letters you send to us
  • Meetings with one of our client relationship managers
  • Registering for one of our events
  • Participating in research surveys to help us understand you better and improve our products and services
  • Entering competitions e.g. to win tickets to a sporting event which we sponsor

Our online services such as client portals, websites, social media. We may also collect personal information about you from places such as business directories and other commercially or publicly available sources e.g. to check or improve the information we hold (like your address) or to give better contact information if we are unable to contact you directly.

Why we collect and use your information

We take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so. We will collect and use your information only if we are able to satisfy one of the lawful processing conditions set out in the data protection laws. This will be the case where:

  • it’s necessary to provide the product or service you have requested e.g. if you wish to invest in one of our funds or products we will require some personal information which may include your name, address, date of birth, and bank account details
  • it’s necessary for us to meet our legal or regulatory obligations e.g. to send you Annual Statements, tell you about changes to Terms and Conditions or for the detection and prevention of fraud
  • it’s in our legitimate interests of. i.e.
    • to deliver appropriate information and guidance so you are aware of the options that may help you get the best outcome from your product or investment;
    • where we need to process your information to better understand you and your needs so we can send you more relevant communications about the products you have with us and to develop new products and services.
    Where the processing is in our legitimate interests, we will always conduct an assessment to ensure that this use of your personal information is not excessive or unnecessary or otherwise more intrusive than it needs to be
  • You have given us your permission [consent] to use your information in this way. For example, if we are collecting and using your sensitive personal information or for certain types of direct marketing

We sometimes use systems to make automated decisions based on personal information we have - or are allowed to collect and use from others – about you. These automated decisions can affect the products, services or features we offer you now or in the future. We use automated decisions in the following ways:

  • Tailoring products and services e.g. placing you in groups with similar customers to make decisions about the products and services we may offer you to help meet your needs
  • When designing and enhancing our online services to help meet your requirements for ongoing guidance and support

    • If you do not wish us to collect and use your personal information in these ways, it may mean that we will be unable to provide you with some of our products or services.

Who we share your information with and why

We may share your information internally, and with third parties for the reasons outlined in ‘Why we collect and use your information’.

We will share your information with:

  • Other parts of abrdn plc who support us in the provision of the products or services agreed with you
  • Credit and identity check agencies for the purposes of conducting a credit check and ID verification
  • Third parties we have chosen to support us in the delivery of the products and services we offer to you and other customers. For example, research, consultancy or technology companies who help us improve our service to you
  • Companies who can help us in our contact with you, for example an internet service provider
  • Our regulators; including the Financial Conduct Authority and the Information Commissioner's Office (the ICO) in the UK
  • Law enforcement and other appointed agencies who support us (or where they request the information) in the prevention and detection of crime; and
  • HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for the purposes of tax reporting where necessary.

Whenever we share your personal information, we will do so in line with our obligations to keep your information safe and secure.

Where your information is processed

The majority of your information is processed in the UK or European Economic Area (EEA).

However, some of your information may be processed by us or the third parties we work with in locations outside of the UK or the EEA, including the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India.

Where your information is being processed outside of the UK or the EEA, we take additional steps to ensure that your information is protected to at least an equivalent level as would be applied by UK or EEA Data Protection Laws e.g. we will put in place legal agreements with third parties and abrdn affiliates with ongoing oversight to ensure they meet these obligations.

How we protect your information

We take information and system security very seriously and we strive to comply with our obligations at all times. Any personal information which is collected, recorded or used in any way, whether on paper, online or any other media, will have appropriate safeguards applied in line with our data protection obligations.

Your information is protected by controls designed to minimise loss or damage through accident, negligence or deliberate actions. Our security controls are aligned to industry standards and good practice; providing a control environment that effectively manages risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your information whether it is being processed by us or a third party acting on our behalf.

Our employees also protect sensitive or confidential information when storing or transmitting information electronically and must undertake annual training on this.

We also use internal and external audit and specialist third party consultants to conduct regular, independent assurance and benchmarking exercises across our business to ascertain the effectiveness of our security control environment and our security strategy.

How long we keep your information

To provide you with the service or product agreed, and to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations, we will keep your personal information and copies of records we create (e.g. calls with us) while you are a [prospective] client or customer of ours.

Even when you no longer have a relationship with us, we are required to keep information for different legal and regulatory reasons. The length of time will vary and we regularly review our retention periods to make sure they comply with all laws and regulations.

Your rights

You have a number of rights under data protection laws which may be exercised in certain circumstances. These are:

Right to be informed
You have a right to receive clear and easy to understand information on what personal information we hold, why we hold it and with whom we share it – these details are contained in our Privacy Policy and privacy notices.
Right of access
You have the right of access to your personal information. If you wish to receive a copy of the personal information we hold on you, you may make a data subject access request. If you would like to submit a data subject access request, please contact your Client Portfolio Manager or Business Development Manager or the Data Protection Officer See the How to Contact Us section for the DPO’s contact details.
Right to request that your personal information be rectified
If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that it is corrected.
Right to request erasure
You can ask for your information to be deleted or removed if there is not a compelling reason for Aberdeen Standard Capital to continue to have it.
Right to restrict processing
You can ask that we block or suppress the processing of your personal information for certain reasons. This means that we are still permitted to keep your information – but only to ensure we don’t use it in the future for those reasons you have restricted.
Right to data portability
You can ask for a copy of your personal information for your own purposes to use across different services. In certain circumstances, you may move, copy or transfer the personal information we hold to another company in a safe and secure way. For example, if you were moving your assets to another discretionary investment manager or ISA manager.
Right to object
You can object to us processing your personal information where: it is based on our legitimate interests; for direct marketing; and if we were using it for research and statistics.

Right to not be subject to automated decision making including profiling

You have the right to ask abrdn to:

  • Give you information about its processing of your personal information
  • Request human intervention or challenge a decision where processing is done solely by automated processes
  • Carry out regular checks to make sure that our automated decision making and profiling processes are working as they should.
More information can be found on your rights here https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public If you would like to exercise any of these rights please contact your Client Relationship Manager or the Data Protection Officer [see the How to Contact us section].

How to make a complaint

We will always strive to collect, use and safeguard your personal information in line with data protection laws. If you do not believe we have handled your information as set out in our Privacy Policy, please let us know immediately (see ‘How to contact us’ section) and we will do our utmost to make things right.

While we hope that we can resolve any complaints for you, you do have the option complain to your local data protection authority (e.g. the ICO in the UK). This is available to you whether or not you have exhausted our complaints procedure.

The UK data protection authority’s details are:
The Information Commissioner’s Office
Phone helpline (UK): 0303 123 1113
Phone helpline (outside UK): +44 1625 545 700
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns