This law firm recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. By retaining this law firm, my clients confirm their trust in me. I am honoured by this trust and take pride in serving you. As a lawyer I have a professional obligation to keep confidential all information I receive within a solicitor-client relationship. I am committed to protecting any personal information I hold. This Privacy Policy outlines how I collect and manage your personal information and safeguard your privacy.
Your Privacy Rights
As of January 1, 2004, all businesses 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 Mark Quail, Barrister & Solicitor. The Act gives you rights concerning the privacy of your personal information. This law firm is responsible for the personal information I collect and hold. To ensure this accountability, I have developed this policy, and trained any support staff about this law firm’s policies and practices.
Why Does Mark Quail, Barrister & Solicitor Need Personal Information?
This law firm provides legal services and products to a wide range of clients in the music and entertainment business. In doing so, it produces direct marketing materials concerning its services and developments in the law.
What is considered personal information?
Personal information is any information that identifies you, or by which your identity could be deduced. If I did not collect and use your personal information I could not provide you with legal services.
How does Mark Quail, Barrister & Solicitor collect your personal information?
I collect information only by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible I collect your personal information directly from you, at the start of a retainer and in the course of my representation.
Sometimes I may obtain information about you from other sources: for example,
record and music publishing companies;
public performance rights societies and mechanical license agencies;
other lawyers and law firms; and
your accountant.
Consent
In most cases, I shall ask you to specifically consent, if I collect, use, or disclose your personal information. Normally, I ask for your consent in writing, but in some circumstances, I may accept your oral consent. Sometimes, your consent may be implied through the fact of your legal representation by this law firm and/or your conduct with me.
Use of Your Information
I use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, to administer my client time and billing databases and to include you in any direct marketing activities. If you tell me that you no longer wish to receive information about my services, or about new developments in the law, I will not send any further material. This law firm does not disclose your personal information to any third party to enable them to market their products and services. For example, I do not provide my client mailing lists to other law firms.
Disclosure of your Personal Information
Under certain circumstances, this law firm will disclose your personal information:
- when I am 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 I am providing to you require me to give your information to third parties (for example, during negotiations of a contract on your behalf). Your consent will be implied, unless you tell me otherwise;
- where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
- if I engage a third party to provide administrative services to me (like computer back-up services or archival file storage) and the third party is bound by my privacy policy;
- if I retain other law firms in other jurisdictions on your behalf;
- if the information is already publicly known.
Updating Your Information
Since I 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 me so that I can make any necessary changes.
Is My Personal Information Secure?
This law firm 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 I hold about you. Summary information is available on request. More detailed requests which require archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to my normal professional and disbursement fees.
Correcting Errors
If this law firm holds information about you and you can establish that it is not accurate, complete and up-to-date, I 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. I 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 my 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;
to protect my firm’s rights and property;
where the request is frivolous or vexatious.
If I deny your request for access to, or refuse a request to correct information, I shall explain why. This law firm does not use your Social Insurance Number as a way of identifying or organizing the information I hold upon you.
Can I request anonymity?
Certainly. However, given the public nature of the entertainment business, I will normally seek your consent to disclose the fact that I am representing you. If this is of concern, given the nature of the matter for which you have retained my services, then your identity will be kept confidential until you instruct me otherwise. The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act requires me to confirm the identity of all new clients. It may also require me disclose information to FINTRAC in relation to certain large cash transactions.
Credit Bureaus
To help me make credit decisions about clients, prevent fraud, check the identity of new clients and prevent money-laundering, I may on occasion, request information about you from the files of consumer reporting agencies.
Communicating with Me
You should be aware that e-mail is not a 100% secure medium, and you should be aware of this when contacting me to send personal or confidential information.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Since this law firm regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures, I may change my Privacy Policy from time to time. Your continued access of this firm’s website following the posting of changes to this Privacy Policy will mean you accept and agree to be bound by such changes.
Requests for Access
If you have any questions, or wish to access your personal information, please write to me at:
Mark G. Quail
Barrister and Solicitor
P.O. Box 84518
Toronto RPO Bloor Street West, Ontario M6S 4Z7
Canada
If you are not satisfied with my 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 to this law firm for a job, I need to consider your personal information, as part of my review process. I normally retain information from candidates after a decision has been made, unless you ask me not to retain the information. If I offer you a job, which you accept, the information will be retained in accordance with my privacy procedures for employee records.
Web Site
My website contains links to other sites, which are not governed by this privacy policy. On my website, like most other commercial websites, I may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize my web service. I may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.