Our
Privacy Policy
Daniel Brown
recognizes the
importance of
privacy and the
sensitivity of
personal
information. As a
lawyers, I have a
professional
obligation to keep
confidential all
information I
receive within a
lawyer-client
relationship. I am
committed to
protecting any
personal information
I hold. This Privacy
Policy outlines how
your personal
information is
managed in order to
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 (PIPEDA), and
the Canadian
Standards
Association Model
Code for the
Protection of
Personal
Information, which
PIPEDA incorporates.
These obligations
extend to lawyers
and law firms,
including mine. The
Act gives you rights
concerning the
privacy of your
personal
information.
My 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 I Need
Personal
Information?
We are a
criminal defence law
practice which
provides legal
services to a wide
range of clients. In
doing so, it
collects information
which may be of a
personal nature.
What personal
information do we
collect?
Personal
information is any
information that
identifies you, or
by which your
identity could be
deduced. In the
course of providing
legal services,
Daniel Brown
collects information
such as police
records, interview
notes, police
occurrence reports,
witness statements,
court transcripts,
forensic reports,
photographs video
and audio tapes and
computer data files.
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.
Sometimes we may
obtain information
about you from other
sources: for
example,
● The Crown
Attorneys Office
providing disclosure
on your case;
● Witnesses we
interview in the
course of
representing you;
● Other government
agencies or
registries with your
permission;
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
and to administer
our client (time and
billing) databases.
We do 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, we
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
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?
Daniel Brown 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 we
hold information
about you and you
can establish that
it is not accurate,
complete and
up-to-date, we 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,
for example, when:
● denial of access
is required or
authorized by law
● information
relates to existing
or anticipated legal
proceedings against
you;
● when granting you
access would have an
unreasonable impact
on other people's
safety or
privacy;
● 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.
We do 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.
The Proceeds of
Crime (Money
Laundering) and
Terrorist Financing
Act 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 we regularly
reviews all of our
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.
Daniel Brown
481 University
Avenue, Suite 510,
Toronto, Ontario M5G
2E9
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
Employment
Inquiries
If you apply 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. *drafted
November 10, 2007.
E-mail:
brown@pinkofskys.com