AGB Lawyers Privacy Policy
AGB Lawyers 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 business engaged in commercial activities must comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, 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 AGB Lawyers. The law gives you rights concerning the privacy of your personal information.
AGB Lawyers are responsible for the personal information we collect and hold. To ensure accountability, we have developed this policy, and trained our Lawyers and support staff about our policies and practices.
Why Does AGB Lawyers Need Personal Information?
AGB Lawyers provides legal services and products to a wide range of clients. In doing so, it collects personal information from, and about clients in order to serve the legal needs of such clients.
We ask you for your personal information so that we can:
1) Process, administer and manage your file;
2) Provide requested services;
3) Establish and maintain communication with you, including responding to your inquiries;
4) Meet any legal, regulatory, processing or security requirement that requires use or disclose of our personal information.
We will be using personal information collected prior to and after January 1, 2004, for the purposes described above.
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 your acting for you as your Lawyers. Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources. For example:
- your insurance company;
- your real estate agent in a property transaction;
- a government agency or registry;
- your employer, at your request, if we are acting for you;
- your accountant.
Consent.
In most cases, we will 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 relationship, or conduct with us, or the nature of the legal Retainer we have undertaken.
Use Of Your Information.
We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, and to administer our client time and billing databases. AGB Lawyers does not disclose your personal information to any third party to enable them to market their products and services.
AGB Lawyers does not use your Social Insurance Number as a way of identifying or organizing the information we hold about you.
Disclosure Of Your Personal Information.
Under certain circumstances, AGB Lawyers 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 to 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 (such as computer back-up services or archival file storage) and the third party is bound by our privacy policy;
- if we retain other Law Firms 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?
AGB Lawyers 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 (including monitored alarms);
- 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 time, archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to out normal professional fees and disbursement fees.
Correcting Errors.
If AGB Lawyers holds information about you and you can establish that it is not accurate, complete and up-to-date, AGB Lawyers 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 to correct information, we will explain why.
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 (FINTRAC) requires us to confirm the identity of all new clients. It may also require us to disclose information to FINTRAC in relation to certain large cash transactions.
Credit Bureaus
To help us make credit decisions about client, 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 AGB Lawyers regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures, we may change our Privacy Policy from time to time.
Employment Inquiries
If you apply to AGB Lawyers 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 www.lawyerbuttigieg.com
On our website, like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related 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.
Request for Access
If you have any questions, or wish to access your personal information, please write to our Privacy Contact, A. Gaetan Buttigieg at:
1400 Clyde Avenue ,suite 208
Nepean, Ontario
Canada K2G 3J2
or e-mail him at gaetan@lawyerbuttigieg.com
If you are not satisfied with our response, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can be reached at:
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1H3
1-800-282-1376.
