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Clonfero Law Firm recognizes the importance of privacy and
the sensitivity of personal information. As lawyers we have
a professional obligation to keep confidential all information
we receive within a lawyer-client relationship. We are committed
to protecting any personal information we hold. This Privacy
Policy outlines how we manage your personal information and
safeguard your privacy.
Your Privacy Rights
From January 1, 2004, all businesses engaged in commercial
activities must comply with the Personal Information Protection
and Electronic
Documents Act, www.canlii.org/ca/sta/p-8.6/whole.html and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection
of Personal Information, which it incorporates. These obligations
extend to lawyers and law firms, including Clonfero Law Firm. The Act gives you rights concerning the privacy of your
personal
information.
Clonfero Law Firm is responsible for the personal information
we collect and hold. To ensure this accountability, we have
developed this policy, and trained our lawyers and support
staff about
our policies and practices.
Why Does Clonfero Law Firm Need Personal Information?
Clonfero Law Firm provides legal services and products
to a wide range of clients. In doing so, it produces direct
marketing
materials concerning its services and developments in the
law.
What personal information do we collect?
Personal information is any information that identifies
you, or by which your identity could be deduced.
If we did not collect and use your personal information
we could not provide you with legal services.
How do we collect your personal information?
We collect information only by lawful and fair means and not
in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible we collect
your personal information directly from you, at the start of
a retainer and in the course of our representation.
Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources:
for example,
- your insurance company;
- your real estate agent in a property
transaction;
- from a government agency or registry;
- your employer, if
we are acting for you, at its request;
- your accountant.
Consent
In most cases, we shall ask you to specifically consent, if
we collect, use, or disclose your personal information.
Normally, we ask for your consent in writing, but in some circumstances,
we may accept your oral consent. Sometimes, your consent
may be implied through your conduct with us.
Use of Your Information
We use your personal information to provide legal advice
and services to you, to administer our client (time and
billing databases) and to include you in any direct marketing
activities.
If you
tell us that you no longer wish to receive information
about our services, or about new developments in the law,
we will
not send any further material.
Clonfero Law Firm does not disclose your personal
information to any third party to enable them to market
their products
and services. For example, we do not provide our client
mailing lists
to other law firms.
Disclosure of your Personal Information
Under certain circumstances, Clonfero Law Firm will
disclose your personal information:
- when we are required or authorized by law to do
so, for example if a court issues a subpoena;
- when you have consented to the disclosure;
- when the legal
services we are providing to you, requires us give your information
to third
parties (for example
a lender in a real estate mortgage transaction)
your consent will be
implied,
unless you tell us otherwise;
- where it is
necessary to establish or collect fees;
- if we engage a third
party to provide administrative services to us (like computer
back-up services
or archival file storage)
and the third party is bound by our privacy
policy;
- if we engage expert witnesses
on your behalf;
- if we retain other law firms in other
jurisdictions, on your behalf;
- if
the information is already publicly known.
Updating Your Information
Since we use your personal information to provide
legal services to you, it is important that the
information be accurate
and up-to-date.
If during the course of the retainer, any of your
information changes, please inform us so that
we can make any necessary
changes.
Is My Personal Information Secure?
Clonfero Law Firm takes all reasonable precautions
to ensure that your personal information is
kept safe from
loss, unauthorized
access, modification or disclosure. Among the
steps taken to protect your information are:
- premises security;
- restricted file access to personal information;
- deploying
technological safeguards like security software and firewalls
to prevent hacking
or unauthorized computer
access;
- internal password and security
policies.
Access to Your Personal Information
You may ask for access to any personal information
we hold about you.
Summary information is available on request.
More detailed requests which require
archive or other
retrieval costs
may be subject
to our normal professional and disbursement
fees.
Correcting Errors
If Clonfero Law Firm holds information
about you and you can establish that
it is not accurate,
complete
and
up-to-date,
Clonfero Law Firm will take reasonable steps
to correct it.
Can I be Denied Access to My Personal
Information?
Your rights to access your personal
information are not absolute.
We may deny access when:
- denial of access is required
or authorized by law (for example,
when
a record
containing personal
information
about you is
subject to a claim of legal
professional privilege by
one of our clients)
;
- information relates to existing
or anticipated legal proceedings
against
you;
- when granting you access
would have an unreasonable
impact on
other people's
privacy;
- when to do so
would prejudice negotiations with you;
- to protect our firm's
rights and property;
- where the request is frivolous or vexatious.
If we deny your request for access
to, or refuse a request to
correct information,
we shall
explain why.
Clonfero Law Firm does not
use your Social Insurance
Number as
a way of
identifying or organizing
the information we
hold upon you.
Can I request anonymity.
Whenever it is legal and
practicable, we may offer
the opportunity
to deal with
general inquiries without
providing your name
(for example, by accessing
general information on
our website).
The Proceeds of Crime (Money
Laundering) and Terrorist
Financing Act Act,
www.canlii.org/ca/sta/p-24.501/whole.html requires
us to confirm the identity
of all new
clients.
It
may also
require us disclose information
to FINTRAC in relation
to certain large
cash transactions.
Credit Bureaus
To help us make credit
decisions about clients,
prevent fraud,
check the identity
of new
clients and prevent
money laundering,
we may on occasion,
request information about you
from the files of consumer
reporting agencies.
Communicating with
Us
You should be aware
that e-mail is not
a 100%
secure medium,
and you
should be aware
of this
when contacting
us to send
personal or confidential
information.
Changes to this Privacy
Policy
Since Clonfero Law Firm regularly reviews
all of
its policies and
procedures, we
may change our
Privacy
Policy
from time
to time.
Requests for Access
If you have any
questions,
or wish to access
your personal
information, please
write
to our Privacy
Contact at:
Clonfero Law Firm
360 Bay Street,
Suite 600
Toronto Ontario,
M5H 2V6
Tel: 416-703-2077
Fax: 416-703-3351
If you are not satisfied with our response, the Privacy Commissioner
of Canada can be reached at:
112 Kent Street,
Ottawa Ontario, K1A 1H3
Tel: 1.800.282.1376
Employment Inquiries
If you apply to Clonfero Law Firm for a job, we need to consider
your personal information, as part of our review process. We
normally retain information from candidates after a decision
has been made, unless you ask us not to retain the information.
If we offer you a job, which you accept, the information will
be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures for employee
records.
Web Site
Our website contains links to other sites, which are not governed
by this privacy policy.
On our website, like most other commercial websites, we may
monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information
in
order to optimize our web service. We may provide aggregated
information to third parties, but these statistics do not
include any identifiable personal information.
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