Privacy Statement

The Policy of the HS Law Corporation (“HS Law”) is committed to maintaining the security, confidentiality and privacy of personal information. HS Law adheres to the Canadian Privacy Act (PIPEDA)and the Personal Information Protection Act (BC). We also adhere to the Canada Anti-Spam Law, or CASL. Express consent is granted by opt in on our web site forms. Refer here for more Information and FAQS on the CASL.

Privacy Policy Scope

This policy applies to HS Law and any other affiliates from time to time in respect of activities that are subject to federal and provincial privacy legislation. References to “HS Law “, “we” or “us” in this policy includethe HS Law Corporation.

We recognize our professional obligation to maintain the confidentiality of our clients’ information, and recognize our obligations concerning the personal information of all individuals that we collect, use or disclose in our practice. This policy has been developed with those obligations in mind.

This Policy addresses personal information about our clients, service providers and other individuals. It does not apply to information collected, used or disclosed with respect to corporate or commercial entities. This Policy does not apply to the collection, use or disclosure of the following information by HS Law:

Business contact information;

Publicly available information recognized under applicable privacy legislation;

1. Accountability

HS Law is responsible for personal information under its control.

2. Purposes

Upon or before collecting information, HS Law will state the purpose of collection, unless the purpose is obvious, and will provide, on request, contact information for the Privacy Commissioner who can answer questions about the collection.

We collect, use and disclose personal information for purposes authorized or required by applicable privacy legislation or other law and for the following purposes:

To be able to provide legal services to our clients, we need access to all relevant facts and information that relate to our retainer and to the representation of our clients. This information will necessarily include personal information about our clients and about individuals other than our clients;

To fulfill legal duties and avoid conflicts of interest;

To share information with third parties for the purpose of providing legal services, including data service providers, printers, registry agents, other suppliers of products and services, opposing counsel, foreign counsel, witnesses and experts;

To manage and develop our business and operations;

To detect and protect HS Law, you and others from error, negligence, fraud or other illegal activity, which may include providing information to insurers;

To provide information to anyone working with or for HS Law as needed for the provision of our services;

To issue invoices, process payments and collect debts owed to HS Law;

To engage in business transactions, including the sale, transfer, securitization, financing or other disposition of assets or liabilities of HS Law;

To establish and maintain relationships, which may include evaluating credit standing and obtaining and providing credit information and credit reports;

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

The above collections, uses and disclosures are a necessary part of your relationship with us.

We may also use your personal information for the following additional purposes:

To offer you additional or alternative services and we may add it to client lists which we prepare and use for this purpose;

To provide you with newsletters, bulletins, information about upcoming seminars and other general information about areas of law and about HS Law;

To contact you for survey purposes.

If you do not want us to use your personal information for these additional purposes you may at any time by provide written notice to the HS Law Privacy Commissioner. You will not be refused services merely because you advised HS Law to stop using information in these ways.

Before using or disclosing personal information for a purpose not previously identified, we will identify the new purpose and obtain your consent unless the use or disclosure is authorized or required by law.

3. Consent

Where practical, we endeavor to collect personal information directly from the person to whom the information pertains. When necessary, we will collect personal information from other sources. By retaining HS Law for legal advice or representation, you consent to our necessary collection, use or disclosure of the individual’s personal information in order to properly advise and represent the individual.

We will obtain your consent to collect, use or disclose personal information except where we are authorized or required by law to do so without consent. For example, we may collect, use or disclose personal information without your knowledge or consent where:

Our collection, use or disclosure of personal information about you or that individual if, at the time the consent is deemed to be given, the purpose would be considered obvious to a reasonable person;

The collection, use or disclosure is clearly in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way;

It is reasonable to expect that the collection or use of personal information with the consent of the individual would compromise the availability or accuracy of the information, and the collection or use of the information is necessary for an investigation or proceeding;

It is reasonable to expect that the disclosure of personal information with the consent of the individual would compromise an investigation or proceeding, and the disclosure of the information is necessary for an investigation or proceeding;

The personal information is available to the public from a prescribed source;

the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is required or authorized by law.

HS Law is collecting or paying a debt;

Your consent can be express, implied or given through an authorized representative such as a lawyer, agent or broker.

Consent may be provided orally, in writing, electronically, through inaction (such as when you fail to notify us that you do not wish your personal information collected/used/disclosed for optional purposes following reasonable notice of same) or otherwise. By providing personal information to us, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose such personal information as set out in this Privacy Policy and as otherwise permitted or required by law.

You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions, provided that reasonable notice of withdrawal of consent is given to HS Law. On receipt of notice of withdrawal of consent, we will inform you of the likely consequences of the withdrawal of consent, which may include our inability to provide services for which that information is necessary.

4. Limits on Collection of Personal Information

We will not collect personal information indiscriminately and will limit collection of personal information to that which is reasonable and necessary to provide our services and which is reasonable and necessary for the purposes consented to by you. HS Law also collects personal information as authorized or required by law.

5. Limits for Using, Disclosing and Retaining Personal Information

Your personal information will only be used or disclosed for the purposes set out above and as authorized by law. Your personal information is protected by solicitor-client privilege.

We will;

Keep personal information used to make a decision affecting an individual for at least one year after using it to make the decision.

Destroy, erase or make anonymous documents or other records containing personal information as soon as it is reasonable to assume that the original purpose is no longer being served by retention of the information and retention is no longer necessary, or required by law for legal or business purposes.

Take due care when destroying personal information so as to prevent unauthorized access to the information.

We will not disclose personal information when:

the disclosure could reasonably be expected to threaten the safety or physical or mental health of an individual other than the individual who made the request;

the disclosure can reasonably be expected to cause immediate or grave harm to the safety or to the physical or mental health of the individual who made the request;

the disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual;

the disclosure would reveal the identity of an individual who has provided personal information about another individual and the individual providing the personal information does not consent to disclosure of his or her identity.

We are not required to disclose personal information when:

The personal information that would reveal confidential commercial information that, if disclosed, could, in the opinion of a reasonable person, harm the competitive position of an organization;

The personal information was collected without consent for the purposes of an investigation, and the investigation and associated proceedings and appeals have not been completed;

The personal information was collected or created by a mediator or arbitrator in the conduct of a mediation or arbitration for which he or she was appointed to act: a. under a collective agreement, b. under an enactment, or c. by a court.

6. Accuracy

We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate and complete. In some cases, we rely on you to ensure that certain information, such as your address or telephone number, is current, complete and accurate.

If you demonstrate the inaccuracy or incompleteness of personal information, we will amend the information as required. If appropriate, we will send the amended information to third parties to whom the information has been disclosed.

When a challenge regarding the accuracy of personal information is not resolved to your satisfaction, we will annotate the personal information under our control with a note that the correction was requested but not made.

7. Safeguarding Personal Information

We recognize our professional and legal obligations to protect the confidential information of our clients. We recognize as well our legal obligations to protect the personal information we have gathered about our clients and about other individuals during the course of our business.

We have therefore made arrangements to secure against the unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or destruction of personal information.

Please note that confidentiality and security are not assured when information is transmitted through e-mail or other electronic communication. We will not be responsible for any loss or damage as a result of a breach of security and/or confidentiality when you transmit information to us by e-mail or other electronic communication or when we transmit such information by such means at your request.

8. Openness

HS Law is open about the policies and procedures it uses to protect your personal information. Information about these policies and procedures will be made available. However, to ensure the integrity of our security procedures and business methods, we do not disclose sensitive information about our policies and procedures.

9. Providing Access

In some situations, we may not be able to provide access to certain personal information. This may be the case where, for example, disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual, the personal information is protected by solicitor/client privilege, the information was collected for the purposes of an investigation, disclosure of the information would reveal confidential commercial information that, if disclosed, could harm the competitive position of HS Law, or we prevented by law from providing access to certain personal information.

We may charge a reasonable fee for providing information in response to an access request and will provide an estimate of any such fee upon receiving an access to information request. We may require a deposit for all or part of the fee. We will make the information available within 30 days or provide written notice where additional time is required to fulfill the request.

Where an access request is refused, we will notify you in writing, document the reasons for refusal and outline further steps which are available to you.

10. Changes

We may review and change our Privacy Policy from time to time.

11. Web Site

Our web site uses cookies. Cookies are small pieces of data which are stored on your computer to allow your web browser to remember something about a web site. Cookies are useful because they enable site personalization. For example, cookies can be used to remember a password so that you do not need to enter it every time you log onto a site. Cookies may also enable a site to track and target a user’s interests to enhance your experience on their site.

Our web site may contain links to other sites and advertisements. Our Privacy Policy only applies to information collected by our web site. We are not responsible for the privacy practices and policies of third parties.

12. Compliance

HS Law will, on request, provide information regarding its complaint procedures.

If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your personal information, we invite you to contact our Privacy Officer in writing, setting out the reasons for your concern. If, after our Privacy Officer has reviewed and responded to your concern, you remain dissatisfied, you may wish to contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner at: PO Box 9038, StnProvGovt, Victoria, BC V8W 9A4