Data Retention Policy
1. ABOUT THIS POLICY
1.1 The corporate information, records and data of My Anna Health Limited (‘Company’) is important to how we conduct business.
1.2 There are legal and regulatory requirements for us to retain certain data, usually for a specified amount of time. We also retain data to help our business operate and to have information available when we need it. However, we do not need to retain all data indefinitely, and retaining data can expose us to risk as well as be a cost to our business.
1.3 This Data Retention Policy explains our requirements in respect of data retention and requirements to dispose of data and provides guidance on appropriate data handling and disposal.
1.4 Failure to comply with this policy can expose us to fines and penalties, adverse publicity, difficulties in providing evidence when we need it and in running our business.
1.5 This policy does not form part of any contract of employment or contract with self-employed contractor and we may amend it at any time.
2. SCOPE OF POLICY
2.1 This policy covers all data that we hold or have control over. This includes physical data such as hard copy documents, contracts, notebooks, letters and invoices. It also includes electronic data such as emails, electronic documents, audio and video recordings. It applies to both personal data and non-personal data. In this policy we refer to this information and these records collectively as “data”.
2.2 This policy covers data that is held by third parties on our behalf, for example cloud storage providers or offsite records storage.
2.3 This policy explains the differences between our formal or official records, disposable information, confidential information belonging to others, personal data and non-personal data. It also gives guidance on how we classify our data.
2.4 This policy applies to all business units and functions.
3. GUIDING PRINCIPLES
3.1 Through this policy, and our data retention practices, we aim to meet the following commitments:
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We comply with legal and regulatory requirements to retain data.
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We comply with our data protection obligations, in particular to keep personal data no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed.
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We handle, store and dispose of data responsibly and securely.
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We create and retain data where we need to do this to operate our business effectively, but we do not create or retain data without a legitimate business reason.
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We allocate appropriate resources, roles and responsibilities to data retention.
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We regularly remind our workers or employees of their data retention responsibilities.
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We regularly monitor and audit compliance with this policy and update this policy when required.
4. ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
4.1 Responsibility of all employees and workers. We aim to comply with the laws, rules, and regulations that govern our organisation and with recognised compliance good practices. All employees and workers must comply with this policy, the Record Retention Schedule, any communications suspending data disposal and any specific instructions from the DPO. Failure to do so may subject us, our employees and contractors to serious civil and/or criminal liability. A failure to comply with this policy may result in disciplinary sanctions, including suspension or termination. It is therefore the responsibility of everyone to understand and comply with this policy.
4.2 Data Protection Officer (‘DPO’), Dr Zahid Khan, is responsible for identifying the data that we must or should retain, and determining the proper period of retention. He also arranges for the proper storage, retrieval or removal of data, co-ordinating with outside vendors where appropriate. He is also responsible for advising on and monitoring compliance with data protection laws which regulate personal data.
5. TYPES OF DATA AND DATA CLASSIFICATIONS
5.1 Formal or official records. Certain data is more important to us and is therefore listed in the Record Retention Schedule. This may be because we have a legal requirement to retain it, or because we may need it as evidence of our transactions, or because it is important to the running of our business. Please see Paragraph 6.1 below for more information on retention periods for this type of data.
5.2 Disposable information. Disposable information consists of data that may be discarded or deleted at the discretion of the user once it has served its temporary useful purpose and/or data that may be safely destroyed because it is not a formal or official record as defined by this policy and the Record Retention Schedule. Please see Paragraph 6.2 below for more information on how to determine retention periods for this type of data.
5.3 Personal data. Both formal or official records and disposable information may contain personal data; that is, data that identifies living individuals. Data protection laws require us to retain personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. See Paragraph 6.3 below for more information on this.
5.4 Confidential information belonging to others. Any confidential information that a self-employed contractor or an employee may have obtained from a source outside of the Company, such as a previous employer, must not, so long as such information remains confidential, be disclosed to or used by us. Unsolicited confidential information submitted to us should be refused, returned to the sender where possible, and deleted, if received via the internet.
5.5 Data classifications. Some of our data is more confidential than other data. Our privacy policies explain how we classify data and how each type of data should be marked and protected.
6. RETENTION
6.1 Formal or official records. Any data that is part of any of the categories listed in the Record Retention Schedule contained in the Annex to this policy, must be retained for the amount of time indicated in the Record Retention Schedule. A record must not be retained beyond the period indicated in the Record Retention Schedule, unless a legitimate business reason (or notice to preserve documents for contemplated litigation or other special situation) calls for its continued retention. If you are unsure whether to retain a certain record, contact the DPO.
6.2 Disposable information. The Record Retention Schedule will not set out retention periods for disposable information. This type of data should only be retained as long as it is needed for business purposes. Once it no longer has any business purpose or value it should be securely disposed of. If you are unsure whether to retain a certain record, contact the DPO.
6.3 Personal data. As explained above, data protection laws require us to retain personal data for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. In our DPO, we balanced it against our requirements to retain the data. It should be taken into account when deciding whether to retain the data. If you are unsure whether to retain a certain record, contact the DPO.
6.4 What to do if data is not listed in the Record Retention Schedule. If data is not listed in the Record Retention Schedule, it is likely that it should be classed as disposable information. However, if you consider that there is an omission in the Record Retention Schedule, or if you are unsure, please contact the DPO.
7. STORAGE, BACK-UP AND DISPOSAL OF DATA
7.1 Storage. Our data must be stored in a safe, secure, and accessible manner. Any documents and financial files that are essential to our business operations during an emergency must be duplicated and/or backed up at least once per week and maintained off site.
7.2 Destruction. The DPO is responsible for the continuing process of identifying the data that has met its required retention period and supervising its destruction. The destruction of confidential, financial, and employee-related (or self-employed contractor-related) hard copy data must be conducted by shredding if possible. Non-confidential data may be destroyed by recycling.
7.3 The destruction of data must stop immediately upon notification from the DPO that preservation of documents for contemplated litigation is required (sometimes referred to as a litigation hold). This is because we may be involved in a legal claim or an official investigation.
8. SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES
8.1 Preservation of documents for contemplated litigation and other special situations. We require all employees and self-employed contractors to comply fully with our Record Retention Schedule and procedures as provided in this policy. All employees should note the following general exception to any stated destruction schedule: If you believe or are informed, that certain records are relevant to current litigation or contemplated litigation (that is, a dispute that could result in litigation), government investigation, audit, or other event, you must preserve and not delete, dispose, destroy, or change those records, including emails and other electronic documents until it is determined that those records are no longer needed. Preserving documents includes suspending any requirements in the Record Retention Schedule and preserving the integrity of the electronic files or other format in which the records are kept.
8.2 If you believe this exception may apply, or have any questions regarding whether it may apply, please contact the DPO.
8.3 In addition, you may be asked to suspend any routine data disposal procedures in connection with certain other types of events, such as our merger with another organisation or the replacement of our information technology systems.
9. WHERE TO GO FOR ADVICE AND QUESTIONS
9.1 Questions about the policy. Any questions about retention periods relevant to your function or the this policy should be raised with the DPO.
10. BREACH REPORTING AND AUDIT
10.1 Reporting policy breaches. We are committed to enforcing this policy as it applies to all forms of data. The effectiveness of our efforts, however, depend largely on employees. If you feel that you or someone else may have breached this policy, you should report the incident immediately to your supervisor. If you are not comfortable bringing the matter up with your immediate supervisor, or do not believe the supervisor has dealt with the matter properly, you should raise the matter with the your direct manager. If employees or contractors do not report inappropriate conduct, we may not become aware of a possible breach of this policy and may not be able to take appropriate corrective action.
10.2 No one will be subject to and we do not allow, any form of discipline, reprisal, intimidation, or retaliation for reporting incidents of inappropriate conduct of any kind, pursuing any record destruction claim, or co-operating in related investigations.
10.3 Audits. The DPO may periodically review this policy and its procedures (including where appropriate by taking outside legal or auditor advice) to ensure we are in compliance with relevant new or amended laws, regulations or guidance. Additionally, we will regularly monitor compliance with this policy, including by carrying out audits.
11. OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES
11.1 This policy supplements and should be read in conjunction with our other policies and procedures in force from time to time.
ANNEX A
DEFINITIONS
Data: all data that we hold or have control over and therefore to which this policy applies. This includes physical data such as hard copy documents, contracts, notebooks, letters and invoices. It also includes electronic data such as emails, electronic documents, audio and video recordings. It applies to both personal data and non-personal data. In this policy we refer to this information and these records collectively as “data”.
Data Retention Policy: this policy, which explains our requirements to retain data and to dispose of data and provides guidance on appropriate data handling and disposal.
Disposable information: disposable information consists of data that may be discarded or deleted at the discretion of the user once it has served its temporary useful purpose and/or data that may be safely destroyed because it is not a formal or official record as defined by this policy and the Record Retention Schedule.
Formal or official record: certain data is more important to us and is therefore listed in the Record Retention Schedule. This may be because we have a legal requirement to retain it, or because we may need it as evidence of our transactions, or because it is important to the running of our business. We refer to this as formal or official records or data.
The Data Protection Officer (‘DPO’). Dr Zahid Khan, who is responsible for identifying the data that we must or should retain, and determining the proper period of retention. He also arranges for the proper storage, retrieval or removal of data, co-ordinating with outside vendors where appropriate. The DPO is also responsible for advising on and monitoring compliance with data protection laws which regulate personal data
Non-personal data: data which does not identify living individuals, either because it is not about living individuals (for example financial records) or because it has been fully anonymised.
Personal data: any information identifying a living individual or information relating to a living individual that we can identify (directly or indirectly) from that data alone or in combination with other identifiers we possess or can reasonably access. This includes special categories of personal data such as health data and pseudonymised personal data but excludes anonymous data or data that has had the identity of an individual permanently removed. Personal data can be factual (for example, a name, email address, location or date of birth) or an opinion about that person’s actions or behaviour.
Record Retention Schedule: the schedule attached to this policy which sets out retention periods for our formal or official records.
ANNEX B
RECORD RETENTION SCHEDULE
The Company establishes retention or destruction schedules or procedures for specific categories of data. This is done to ensure legal compliance (for example with our data protection obligations) and accomplish other objectives, such as protecting intellectual property and controlling costs.
Employees and self-employed contractors should comply with the retention periods listed in the record retention schedule below, in accordance with the Company’s Data Retention Policy.
Customer data
Customer email address
RETENTION PERIOD
Until the customer requests that they are unsubscribed from the mailing list, or six years from the date of referral to any medical professional, whichever is the later.
Customer special category personal data consisting of health history and symptoms.
RETENTION PERIOD
Subject to anonymisation or deletion on the day of obtaining the data.
Customer name
RETENTION PERIOD
Six years from date of referral to any medical professional.
Employee Data
Recruitment Records (such as CV, interview notes etc.)
RETENTION PERIOD
Six months from the date of rejection; or
Six years from the date of termination of employment or contract of engagement with the contractor or a third party through which services were provided by the contractor to us, whichever is the later.
Identity, Entitlement to Work and Address Documents
RETENTION PERIOD
Six months from the date of rejection; or
Six years from the date of termination of employment or contract of engagement with the contractor or a third party through which services were provided by the contractor to us, whichever is the later.
Academic Records
RETENTION PERIOD
Six years from the date of termination of employment or contract of engagement with the contractor or a third party through which services were provided by the contractor to us, whichever is the later.
HR, Disciplinary and Attendance Records
RETENTION PERIOD
Six months from the date of rejection; or
Six years from the date of termination of employment or contract of engagement with the contractor or a third party through which services were provided by the contractor to us, whichever is the later.
Education and training records, contract of employment, contract with self-employed contractor or contract with third party through which the self-employed contractor has provided services to us
RETENTION PERIOD
Six years from the date of termination of employment or contract of engagement with the contractor or a third party through which services were provided by the contractor to us, whichever is the later.
Payroll, Pension and Tax Records, invoices, bank details
RETENTION PERIOD
Six years from the date of termination of employment or contract of engagement with the contractor or a third party through which services were provided by the contractor to us, whichever is the later.