Privacy Statement
At dgbLAW (AUST) ABN 82 742 994 812, we understand how important it is that your personal information is properly protected, so that your privacy can be maintained.
We take our obligations to preserve the confidentiality and security of your personal information seriously and seek to ensure that you can be confident at all times that your personal information remains secure.
This Privacy Policy is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and explains the types of personal information that we collect, how we use that information and the circumstances in which it may be disclosed by us.
Meaning of “Personal Information”
In this Policy, where we refer to “Personal Information”, we are referring to information or an opinion about you or another individual, from which your identity or the identity of the other relevant individual is apparent or can be reasonably ascertained.
Personal Information Collected
The types of Personal Information that we collect will depend upon the nature of the matter that we are undertaking on your behalf. We may c0llect Personal Information such as:
Contact information – your name, mobile number, telephone number, email address, home address and preferred billing address.
Identification documents – licence information, passport or other documents necessary for verification of identity.
Business and employment information – your business or company name, occupation, job title, employment history, staff and contractor information, and information about your business practices and affairs.
Insurance information – insurance provider details and insurance policy numbers.
Banking information – bank account numbers and related information, such as tax file numbers.
Other information – information regarding your gender, date of birth, family and personal relationships, gender and other information of a similar nature.
In delivering our services to you and undertaking matters on your behalf, it may also become necessary for us to collect Personal Information about you which is considered “Sensitive Information”, such as information about your:
religious beliefs and affiliations;
memberships to professional and trade associations, or membership to a trade union;
sexual preferences or orientations;
criminal record; and
health information.
Methods of Collection
We endeavour to only collect your Personal Information from you directly, where it is reasonable and practical to do so.
Collection of your Personal Information may occur:
through your interactions with our website, including where you have entered information into our website;
where we take instructions from you, whether we are meeting with you in person, by telephone or corresponding with you via another form of electronic communication;
when you attend seminars, conferences or events that we are hosting;
when received from third party search providers or government agencies;
through requests that we make (with your permission) to third parties with which you have engaged, including for example your accountant, medical professionals, business advisers and coaches, financial planners, mortgage brokers, insurance brokers and other parties of a similar nature (Third Party Providers), or where those third parties initiate providing that information to us; and
from other legal professionals and persons that are involved in legal proceedings and transactions to which you are a party.
Use of Personal Information
The Personal Information that we collect from you is used by us to provide legal services to you. We also use Personal Information for evaluating, improving, personalising and developing our business and our services.
More specifically we use Personal Information for:
delivering the legal services you have requested;
improving our services and client satisfaction;
issuing you with invoices and collection payments for services rendered;
interacting with Third Party Providers;
briefing third parties regarding matters we are undertaking on your behalf (where you have instructed us to do so) for example barristers, town planners and third-party search providers;
promoting, marketing and delivering our services to you, including inviting you to events and seminars;
our internal research and statistical purposes;
conducting surveys and obtaining feedback from you regarding your experiences with our business; and
enabling us to forward to you other information or material which we believe may be of interest to you.
Storing and Protecting Personal Information
We hold and store all Personal Information that we have collected either:
in physical form, such as paper documents and files, on our premises; or
in electronic form, on our internal computer network, with our managed information technology service providers and with third party data storage providers.
We take all reasonable and practical steps to protect Personal Information we hold from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. The precautionary steps we take to protect your Personal Information include:
adopting measures to protect our computer systems and networks for storing, processing and transmitting personal information;
adoption of procedural and personnel measures for limiting access to personal information by our staff;
limiting physical access to our premises;
requiring password protection to be enabled for all devices through which Personal Information can be accessed and, where appropriate, multi-factor authentication protocols;
regularly reviewing our information collection, storage and processing practices; and
such other security measures we consider reasonable and appropriate from time to time.
However, notwithstanding that we use our best endeavours to protect all Personal Information, it is unfortunately impossible for us to guarantee its complete security, particularly in instances of targeted attacks by nefarious actors. If after considering this Privacy Policy you choose to provide us with your Personal Information, we will rely on the fact that you are fully aware and accept that despite our efforts and the security measures that we implement, there is always a risk that personal information may be subject to a data breach event.
When your Personal Information is no longer required to be kept by us, we will take all reasonable steps to destroy or delete the Personal Information in a confidential manner, or otherwise maintain secure storage of that information (subject to the qualifications set out above).
Disclosure of Personal Information
In order for us to deliver our services to you, it may become necessary for us to disclose your Personal Information to certain third parties.
When you provide us with Personal Information so that we may deliver our services to you, then your consent to certain disclosures will also be implied. For example, if you are involved in a commercial transaction, negotiation or dispute, we will be required to disclose certain Personal Information relating to you to the other parties that are involved in your matter.
Examples of circumstances in which we disclose Personal Information to third parties include:
where you have requested that we engage or consult with a third party on your behalf in relation to your matter such as a barrister, town planner or other expert;
where the disclosure is necessary in order for us to properly deliver our services to you, or in connection with the purpose for which it was collected;
if we are required to make the disclosure due to the operation of any law, Court order or directive of a regulatory authority;
if we are required to engage the services of any third party debt collection agency;
where you have provided your consent to the disclosure; and
in circumstances that are otherwise permitted by the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth).
If we are legally required or compelled by a law enforcement, government agency or regulatory authority to disclose your Personal Information, we will notify you as soon as reasonably possible (provided we are permitted to do so).
Overseas Disclosure
Typically, we do not make any disclosure of your Personal Information to any party located outside of Australia. However, we may do so in circumstances where it is necessary for us to deliver the services that you have requested. For example, we will disclosure your Personal Information to an overseas recipient where:
we are obtaining legal or other services from persons located in foreign countries on your behalf;
we are prosecuting an application for registration of your rights in a foreign jurisdiction, for example a trade mark, patent, design or application for registration of copyright; or
it is necessary or forms part of our internal administrative processes and facilitates the conduct of our business and delivery of our services.
Examples of the types of overseas recipients to whom we will disclose Personal Information include:
IT service providers – where we use third party software platforms in the operation of our business, and where those platforms use or store data and information outside Australia.
Outsourced staffing – we may disclose Personal Information to outsourced staff or third-party service providers that are based overseas; however, the information and data remains within Australia.
Regulatory bodies – government and other regulatory and administrative bodies.
Services partners – legal professionals, accountants, trade mark and patent attorneys, other experts and professional advisers that are consulting or involved in or are contributing to your matter.
By engaging with us you expressly consent to the transfer and processing of your Personal Information outside of Australia in the circumstances contemplated above, with informed knowledge of the risks associated with the international transfer and processing of Personal Information.
Accessing and Updating Your Personal Information
We will provide you with access to your Personal Information held by us unless:
giving access would be unlawful; or
enying access is required under the Privacy Act or any other applicable law.
If you would like access to your Personal Information, you must contact us in writing making such a request. Following receipt of your request, we will contact you and either provide you with the information you have sought or return to you with an explanation detailing why we will not provide you with the requested information.
We may, at our discretion, require that you provide proof of identity before we provide you with access to any Personal Information.
If you wish to amend Personal Information that we hold, please contact us to request amendment. If you wish to have your Personal Information deleted, please let us know and we will take all reasonable steps to delete it, unless we are required to keep it to comply with our record keeping obligations.
Complaints
We strive to ensure our compliance with this Privacy Policy and to regularly review our practices under it.
If at any time you have a complaint, we invite you to email us at privacy@barlow.lawyer. All complaints made will be dealt with in confidence. We endeavour to respond within 30 days of receipt of a complaint with a proposed resolution.
You may also make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) about the handling of your Personal Information. You can access further information on making a privacy complaint on the OAIC website at https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints.
Variations
We reserve the right to vary this Privacy Policy from time to time.
If we have varied this Privacy Policy we will publish an updated version of the policy on our website https://davidbarlowlawyer.com.au
Please ensure that you are regularly reviewing and checking this Privacy Policy to ensure you remain familiar with your rights in respect of your Personal Information, as well as our practices regarding the collection, storage, use and disclosure of Personal Information.
Further Information
For any further information about this Policy please contact us at : privacy@barlow.lawyer