GDPR Compliance Statement

How We Comply With GDPR

Astra Group maintains a consistent level of data protection and security across our organisation to ensure GDRP compliance.

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Our Compliance Includes:

Information Audit - Carrying out a company-wide information audit to identify and assess what personal information we hold, where it comes from, how and why it is processed and if and to whom it is disclosed.

 

Policies & Procedures - Data protection policies and procedures fully compliant with the GDPR and any relevant data protection laws, including:

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Data Protection – Our policy and procedure document for data protection is fully compliant with the standards and requirements of the GDPR. Accountability and governance measures are in place to ensure that we understand and adequately disseminate and evidence our obligations and responsibilities; with a dedicated focus on privacy by design and the rights of individuals.

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Data Retention & Erasure – Our data retention policy and schedule ensures that we meet the ‘data minimisation’ and ‘storage limitation’ principles and that personal information is stored, archived and destroyed compliantly and ethically. We have dedicated erasure procedures in place to meet the ‘Right to Erasure’ obligation and are aware of when this and other data subject’s rights apply; along with any exemptions, response timeframes and notification responsibilities.

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Data Breaches – Our breach procedures ensure that we have safeguards and measures in place to identify, assess, investigate and report any personal data breach at the earliest possible time. Our procedures are robust and all employees are aware of the reporting lines and steps to follow.

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International Data Transfers & Third-Party Disclosures – Where the Astra Group stores or transfers personal information outside the EU, we have robust procedures and safeguarding measures in place to secure, encrypt and maintain the integrity of the data.

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Our procedures include a continual review of the countries with sufficient adequacy decisions, as well as provisions for binding corporate rules; standard data protection clauses or approved codes of conduct for those countries without. We carry out strict due diligence checks with all recipients of personal data to assess and verify that they have appropriate safeguards in place to protect the information, ensure enforceable data subject rights and have effective legal remedies for data subjects where applicable.

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Subject Access Request (SAR) – Our SAR procedures accommodate 30-day timeframe for providing the requested information and for making this provision free of charge. Our procedures detail how to verify the data subject, what steps to take for processing an access request, what exemptions apply and a suite of response templates to ensure that communications with data subjects are compliant, consistent and adequate.

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Legal Basis for Processing - We identify the legal basis for processing and ensuring that each basis is appropriate for the activity it relates to. Where applicable, we also maintain records of our processing activities, ensuring that our obligations under Article 30 of the GDPR

 

Privacy Notice/Policy – Our Privacy Notice(s) ensures that all individuals whose personal information we process have been informed of why we need it, how it is used, what their rights are, who the information is disclosed to and what safeguarding measures are in place to protect their information.

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Obtaining Consent - Our consent mechanisms for obtaining personal data ensures that individuals understand what they are providing, why and how we use it and giving clear, defined ways to consent to us processing their information. We have developed stringent processes for recording consent, making sure that we can evidence an affirmative opt-in, along with time and date records; and an easy to see and access way to withdraw consent at any time

 

Direct Marketing - We have revised the wording and processes for direct marketing, including clear opt-in mechanisms for marketing subscriptions; a clear notice and method for opting out and providing unsubscribe features on all subsequent marketing materials.

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Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA) – Where we process personal information that is considered high risk, involves large scale processing or includes special category/criminal conviction data we carry out impact assessments in line with the GDPR’s Article 35. Our documentation processes record each assessment, allow us to rate the risk posed by the processing activity and implement mitigating measures to reduce the risk posed to the data subject(s).

 

Processor Agreements – Where we use any third-party to process personal information on our behalf (i.e. Payroll, Recruitment, Hosting etc.), GDPR Compliant Processor Agreements and due diligence procedures for ensuring that they (as well as we), meet and understand their/our GDPR obligations are in place. These measures include initial and ongoing reviews of the service provided, the necessity of the processing activity, and the technical and organisational measures in place.

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Special Categories Data - Where we obtain and process any special category information, we do so in complete compliance with the Article 9 GDPR and have high-level encryptions and protections on all such data. Special category data is only processed where necessary and is only processed where we have first identified the appropriate Article 9(2) GDPR. Where we rely on consent for processing, this is explicit and is verified by a signature, with the right to modify or remove consent being clearly signposted.