Privacy Policy

HillCowan Legal Services Professional Corporation (“HillCowan”) is a paralegal firm that offers legal services as permitted within its scope of practice as dictated and governed by the laws of Canada. with its office located in Brampton, Ontario and which services primarily the Greater Toronto Area. HillCowan is committed to protecting your privacy and protecting the information you provide to us. This Privacy Statement explains the current information management practices on our websites.

Privacy Legislation

Since January 1, 2004, all Canadian organizations engaged in commercial activities have been required to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information incorporated by reference into PIPEDA. These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including paralegal firms such as HillCowan.

In addition, an Act respecting the Protection of Personal Information in the Private Sector has been in force in Quebec since 1994 and sets out rules regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information within that province.

Personal Information

Personal information is defined in PIPEDA as information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization. In other words, it does not include the information that one expects to find on a business card.

To learn more about The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) visit: http://www.privcom.gc.ca/legislation/02_06_01_e.asp

To gain a better understanding of Canadian legislation regarding privacy legislation and Privacy Impact Assessment policy (PIA) visit: http://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pubs_pol/ciopubs/pia-pefr/paip-pefr1_e.asp#Policy statements

Consent to Our Collection of Personal Information

In most cases, we obtain your consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information. Usually, if you retain our firm, we assume that we have your implied consent to our collection and use of your personal information, however, at times we may ask for your express consent, either verbally or in writing. Generally, we collect your personal information directly from you at the start of or during the course of your retainer with our firm. Sometimes we may obtain information about you from other sources such as a government registry or other professionals who serve you. However, we are committed to protecting your privacy when you are browsing for information.

When you visit our website, we will not collect your information unless you choose to use and receive online services that require it (e.g. when completing a survey, signing up for an e-newsletter).

HillCowan will not share, sell, rent, or otherwise provide any information that you submit to us with any persons outside the company or with any external company or organization. We will only use the information that you submit to us for the purpose of providing requested services and for communicating with you.

None of the information you submit to HillCowan or that may be gathered automatically from your visit to our website is stored or hosted on networked databases, and therefore this information cannot be improperly accessed from outside of our company’s computer systems.

Use of Personal Information at HillCowan

We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, to issue invoices and to maintain our database of clients. In addition, if you apply for a position with HillCowan, we will use your personal information to assess your candidacy. Lastly, we may use your contact information (name, e-mail and postal address) so that we may communicate with you about recent developments in the law, keep you abreast of HillCowan news and invite you to our firm events.

Withdrawal of Consent

You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal and/or contractual restrictions and upon reasonable notice. Your withdrawal of consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information may impact our ability to represent you and provide you with legal advice.

You can ask us not to send you marketing communications by contacting us by email at: [email protected] or by calling us at 201-289-1724.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Generally, we do not disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent unless permitted or required by applicable laws or court orders. The following are some examples where we may disclose your personal information: such disclosure is necessary to collect fees or disbursements; we contract with a third party to provide us with certain services such as archival file storage or insurance. (In such cases, we will use contractual or other means to ensure the third party service provider is bound by obligations regarding privacy which are consistent with this policy); or we engage process servers, expert witnesses or other legal firms on your behalf.

Accuracy of Your Information

It is important that the information that we have on file 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. We may also ask you from time to time whether your personal information is up-to-date.

Safeguards

HillCowan uses various safeguards to ensure that your personal information is protected against loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying or alteration. These include: security of our physical premises; our professional obligations; security software and firewalls to prevent unauthorized computer access or “hacking”; and internal passwords that restrict access to our electronic files.

Access to your Personal Information

You have a right to challenge the accuracy and completeness of your personal information and to have it amended, as appropriate. You also have a right to request access to your personal information and receive an accounting of how that information has been used and disclosed, subject to certain exceptions prescribed by law. For example, if the requested information would reveal personal information about another individual, your request for access may be limited or denied. If your request for access is denied, HillCowan will notify you in writing of the reason for the denial.

To request access or to amend your personal information, please contact the lawyer or agent with whom you normally correspond or write to our Privacy Contact at the address below. HillCowan will respond within thirty (30) days of receipt of your written request.

Challenging Compliance

HillCowan will respond to inquiries about its policies and practices relating to its handling of your personal information. Inquiries should be directed to HillCowan Privacy Contact using the contact information below. HillCowan will investigate all complaints and will respond within 30 days of receipt of a written inquiry. If the complaint is found to be justified, HillCowan will take appropriate measures to resolve it, including, if necessary, amending this Policy and its procedures.

Website Privacy

Like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information to optimize your visit to our website. You can visit our website (www.hillcowanlegal.com) without telling us who you are or revealing any information about yourself, including your e-mail address. Our website may automatically record some general information about your visit which we then use for statistical analysis to help make our site more useful to visitors. This information might include the Internet domain and the IP address of the computer accessing the web site, such as ‘234.45.56.67’; the type and version of browser you are using, such as Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Safari; the type and version of the operating system you are using, such as Windows or Macintosh; or when you visited our web site (date and time) as well as the web pages that you visited on our web site; the previous website address you visited if you linked to us from another website.

None of the information you submit to us or that may be gathered automatically from your visit to our website is stored or hosted on networked databases, and therefore this information cannot be improperly accessed from outside of our company’s computer systems.

We do not use cookies or any electronic means to collect personal information from you or your computer; however, our website server will automatically collect IP addresses. We may view the IP log from time to time, for example, to maintain the security of our website. We do not link the IP addresses to other personally identifiable information.

Our website may contain links to other websites. We do not provide any of your information to these third parties without your consent. HillCowan is not responsible for the content, privacy, or security practices of any other website.

Submitting Comments or Information

By using this site, you accept our terms and conditions. You agree that any comment submitted by you to the site will not violate any right of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, or other personal or property rights. You agree that any comments submitted by you to the site will not be or not contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, abusive, or obscene material. You are and shall remain solely responsible for the content of any comments you submit.

Any comments, suggestions, or ideas submitted by you shall become the property of HillCowan. We will be entitled to use, reproduce, and disclose any comments, suggestions, or ideas you submit for any purpose whatsoever, without restriction, and without compensating you in any way. Please do not submit any comments or materials that you do not wish to assign to us.

Copyright

Privacy Contacts

If you have any questions or complaints about this Policy or the handling of your personal information, if you wish to withdraw your consent to our use of your personal information, or to request access to or update any information we have on file, please contact the lawyer or agent with whom you are dealing, or contact:

James Hill
HillCowan Legal Services Professional Corporation
33 Elizabeth Street South
Brampton, Ontario Canada L6Y 1R2

If any complaint or inquiry is not handled to your complete satisfaction, you may contact:

Privacy Commissioner of Canada
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1H3
Telephone: 613.995.8210 Toll free: 1.800.282.1376.

Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec
480 St. Laurent, Suite 501
Montreal, Quebec H2Y 3Y7
Telephone: 514.873.4196 Toll Free: 1.888.528.7741

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on our website at www.hillcowanlegal.com and will be made available upon request through your contact at [firm name]. Please check from time to time to ensure you are aware of our current policy. This Privacy Policy is effective May 31, 2014.