Commitment to Privacy
Edwards Creative Law recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. This Privacy Policy outlines how Edwards Creative Law manages your personal information and safeguards your privacy.
As lawyers we have a professional obligation to keep confidential all information we receive within a lawyer-client relationship. We are committed to protecting and responsible for any personal information we hold. To ensure this accountability, we have developed this Privacy Policy, and trained our lawyers and support staff about our policies and practices.
What Is Personal Information?
Personal information means any information that can be used to identify you as an individual, including the matter about which you retained or contacted Edwards Creative Law, your account with us and any other information that you choose to provide to Edwards Creative Law.
Collection of 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 in person, by telephone, email or instant messaging via our website. However, to provide legal services to clients or for legal, administrative or marketing purposes, we may obtain information about you from other sources such as credit bureaus, government agencies or institutions, employment and other references, employers and other services providers.
Where you provide your personal information, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of that information as described in this Privacy Policy. Our clients impliedly consent to the collection of information about them for the purposes of the retainer.
Collection of Non-Personal Information
When you visit our website at edwardslaw.ca (“Website”) we automatically collect certain non-personal information. We do so through the use of various technologies, such as server logs and cookies.
Server logs record information, like a visitor’s internet protocol (“IP”) address, the type of operating system used by visitors, the time and duration of visit to the Website and the pages visited on the Website. An IP address, in itself, does not identify an individual, but it can, in appropriate circumstances such as an investigation of a security breach, be used with the cooperation of your internet service provider to identify an individual using a website.
Cookies are small text files that are automatically deposited on an Internet user’s computer when browsing the Internet. We use cookies to help us analyze traffic patterns on our Website such as the total number of visitors to the Website, the geographical location of the visitors, the internet browser type and the operating systems used by our visitors. We use this information to improve the performance of our Website. If you do not wish to receive cookies you can adjust the settings in your Internet browser to notify you when your computer is receiving a cookie or to refuse cookies automatically.
Use of Your Information
We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, to communicate with you in response to a query, to assess job applicants, to administer our client databases (such as timing and billing), to manage our customer relationships, 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.
We normally retain the information we collect from you, unless you request that the information not be retained. We will only deny your request to have your information deleted where we are able to provide you with a valid explanation as to why the request was denied.
Edwards Creative Law 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
Edwards Creative Law will not use or disclose your personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except under the following circumstances:
- 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 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 at your request, and on your behalf;
- if the information is Publicly Available Personal Information, as it is defined under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
Protecting Your Personal Information?
Edwards Creative Law 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
Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet, including email, is not 100% secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk
Access to Your Personal Information
You may ask for access to any personal information we hold about you by using the contact information below. If the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate you can request that be corrected. In certain circumstances we many deny your request to access your personal information, in which case we will provide an explanation to you.
Links to other Websites
Our Website contains links to other websites, which are not governed by this Privacy Policy. We strive to link only to third-party websites whose standards and respect for privacy is equal to our own, but we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such websites. We recommend that all our visitors read the privacy policies of any third-pay website they visit.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
Edwards Creative Law regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures and may change this Privacy Policy from time to time by posting on our Website.
Contacting Us
If you have any questions, or wish to access your personal information, please write to us at
Edwards Creative Law
204-411 Roosevelt Ave.
Ottawa, Ontario K2A 3X9
Email: info@edwardslaw.ca
