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Updated July 2026
What is the purpose of this document?
Withers LLP and other entities within the Withers group, are autonomous "data controllers". This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal data about you in connection with the Withers alumni network. We are required under data protection legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy notice.
This notice applies to former employees, partners, and other leavers who join or interact with the Withers alumni network. We may update this notice at any time and will make the latest version available on our website.
It is important that you read and retain this notice, together with any other privacy notice we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you, so that you are aware of how and why we are using such data and what your rights are under the data protection legislation.
Data protection principles
We will comply with data protection law and principles, which means that your data will be:
- used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way;
- collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes;
- relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes;
- accurate and kept up to date;
- kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about; and
- kept securely.
What data do we hold about you?
Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).
There are "special categories" of more sensitive personal data which require a higher level of protection. This may include information related to your health, dietary preferences, accessibility or access needs that you choose to share with us in connection with events or alumni activities. In addition, photographs, video footage or audio recordings taken at alumni events may capture your image or voice.
We have compiled a schedule (page 6) which sets out what personal data we collect, how and why we collect it, the purposes for which it is used, including special categories of more sensitive personal data.
How is your personal data collected?
- Directly from you (e.g. through the Withers alumni network sign-up form, event registrations, emails, surveys)
- From our internal HR/leaver processes
- From publicly available sources (e.g. LinkedIn or company websites)
- From services providers that support the alumni network (e.g. event and email platforms)
- From photographs, video footage or audio recordings taken at alumni events
Further details of how specific categories of personal data are collected are set out in the schedule.
How will we use data about you?
Most commonly, we will use your personal data to:
- To administer the Withers alumni network and maintain accurate records;
- Send alumni communications, including updates about the alumni network, emails, newsletters, invitations to
- events, and information about opportunities to reconnect, network and engage with the alumni community.
- Manage and deliver alumni events, including registration, logistics and attendance
- Personalise content and measure engagement
- Use photographs, video footage or audio recordings taken at alumni events in alumni-related communications, on our website and social media channels, and in internal communications
- Gather feedback and analyse performance
Further details of the specific purposes for which your personal data are used are set out in the schedule.
How the law protects you
We are allowed to use personal information only where we have a suitable legal basis to do so. We will only process your personal data on one of the following legal bases:
- Where we have your consent or explicit consent
- When is it in our legitimate interests and is not overridden by your interests, rights and freedoms
- Where we need to comply with a legal obligation
If you fail to provide personal data
If you choose not to provide certain data when requested, we may be unable to add you to the Withers alumni network, register you for an event, tailor communications to your preferences, or be prevented from complying with our legal obligations).
Change of purpose
We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.
Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.
You should note that some of the basis for processing your personal data will overlap and there may be several bases which justify our use of your personal data. The basis we rely on are stated in the schedule.
How we use particularly sensitive personal information
Special categories of particularly sensitive personal information require higher levels of protection. We need to have further justification for collecting, storing and using this type of personal data. We are required by law to maintain certain standards and may process special categories of personal information in the following circumstances:
- In limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent;
- Where it is needed in the public interest.
Less commonly, we may process this type of data where it is needed in relation to legal claims or where it is needed to protect your interests (or someone else's interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the data public.
The schedule includes the 'special categories' of personal data that we process and the reasons for this.
Do we need your consent to process special categories of personal data?
In limited circumstances, we may approach you for your written consent to allow us to process certain particularly sensitive data. If we do so, we will provide you with full details of the data that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent.
Data sharing
We may need to share some of the categories of personal data set out in the schedule with third parties, including third-party service providers and other associated entities in the Withers Group.
We require third parties to respect the security of your data and to treat it in accordance with the law.
We may transfer your personal information outside the EU. If we do, you can expect a similar degree of protection in respect of your personal data.
Why might you share my personal data with third parties?
We will share your personal data with third parties where required by law, where it is necessary to administer the Withers alumni network or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.
The circumstances in which your personal data may be shared with third parties, and the activities those third parties will undertake, are set out in the schedule to this notice.
How secure is my data with third-party service providers and other entities in the Withers Group?
All our third-party service providers and other entities in the Withers Group are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal data in line with our policies. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes. We only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
When might you share my personal information with other entities in the Group?
We will share your personal data with other entities in the Withers Group for the purposes of administering the Withers alumni network, to verify your status as a past employee, or for event administration purposes.
What about other third parties?
We may also need to share your personal information with other third parties, such as service providers that process data on our instructions (e.g. event, mailing and survey platforms), venue and event hosts where necessary for access, security or catering, or, in order with the law and our regulatory requirements.
Transferring data outside the EU
Please note that because of the international scope of our business it may be necessary to transfer your data provided or collected within the European Union (‘’EU”) to a jurisdiction outside of the EU. The level of protection for personal data available in jurisdictions outside of the EU may be lower than the standards applied within the EU or the jurisdiction where you live. Whenever we transfer your personal information outside of the EU, the transfer will be on the basis of a European Commission adequacy decision or we will implement adequate measures, for example, contractual clauses for the protection of personal data in those countries, territories or international organisations in accordance with applicable data protection laws.
Data security
We have put in place measures to protect the security of your data. Details of these measures are available upon request by emailing gdproffice@withersworldwide.com
Third parties will only process your personal information on our instructions and where they have agreed to process the data confidentially and to keep it secure.
We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed.
We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.
Data retention
How long will you use my data for?
We retain alumni data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes set out in this notice (including accurate alumni records and unsubscribe preferences) and to comply with legal, regulatory and operational requirements. If you unsubscribe or ask us to delete your data, we will only retain the minimum we need to comply with our obligations. Details are available upon request by emailing gdproffice@withersworldwide.com
In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use such information without further notice to you.
Rights of access, correction, erasure, and restriction
Your duty to inform us of changes
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes.
Your rights in connection with personal data
Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:
- Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.
- Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate information we hold about you corrected.
- Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have exercised your right to object to processing (see below).
- Object to processing of your personal information where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this basis. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes.
- Request the restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of personal data about you, for example if you want us to establish its accuracy or the reason for processing it.
- Request the transfer of your personal data to another party.
If you want to review, verify, correct or request erasure of your personal data, object to the processing of your personal data, or request that we transfer a copy of your personal data to another party, you can make a data subject request by completing the relevant form which is available on our website.
No fee usually required
You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request for access is clearly unfounded or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with the request in such circumstances.
What we may need from you
We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access the information (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is another appropriate security measure to ensure that personal information is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
Right to withdraw consent
Where we rely on your consent to collect, process or share your personal data, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. To withdraw your consent, please contact our officer responsible for data protection issues. Once we have received notification that you have withdrawn your consent, we will no longer process your data for the purpose or purposes you originally agreed to, unless we have another lawful basis for continuing to do so in law.
Changes to this privacy notice
We reserve the right to update this privacy notice at any time, and we will provide you with a new privacy notice when we make any substantial updates. We may also notify you in other ways from time to time about the processing of your personal data.
Further information
We have an officer responsible for data protection issues and compliance with the GDPR who is contactable at gdproffice@withersworldwide.com to oversee compliance with this privacy notice. If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact them.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) here: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ but we would welcome the opportunity to address you concerns directly first.