To be transparent on how we handle client data, give clients control of their data and help us meet European GDPR regulation we have taken the following measures:
Bifident is a regulated investment firm so we are obligated to collect KYC documentation as well as communication, personal and financial information from clients. We have a duty to keep this information on record for 5 years following account inactivity; after which time we are permitted to delete it. This means we store photo identification and proof of address documentation as well as emails, telephone calls, contact details, address information, financial information and anything else provided during the account application or while the account is being operated.
We collect document or personal/financial information through electronic forms, paper forms, email, telephone or in-person.
We store client data in secure Amazon and Microsoft datacentres located in the EU. We also store physical hard copies of certain information such as paper forms, certified documents or contracts at our HQ offices in USA.
Client data (documents and data provided by electronic forms) is only ever uploaded or downloaded using secure SSL connections, which are enforced. This means there is no option for clients to upload or Bifident employees to download in non-SSL secure way.
We encrypt our databases and drives wherever possible.
All our systems have scheduled backups so that in the event of hardware failure or corruption we will not lose client information. All our office terminals have their data backed up using an encrypted enterprise backup solution, Acronis Cloud.
Hard copies are kept securely in the offices of management, compliance or back office departments. These offices are not open plan.
Client data is used for the following purposes:
Clients may contact us at any time and ask us to contact them by preferred methods. We will update our systems and will only contact them moving forward as they have requested. Clients may go further and ask us to delete their data (within the constraints of the financial regulation). If they do so we will remove them from the marketing database, however we are obliged to maintain their account records for 5 years following account inactivity. If 5 years has passed we will remove their data entirely from our systems. If not they will only be removed from the marketing database. In the event we need to contact them about important financial or legal matters within this time period we may do so, but only in these cases.
Clients can control their communication preferences using the following link:
Clients can request we delete their data by sending an email to support@bifident.com
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