Privacy Policy
Veall Immigration Law provides a range of legal and immigration consulting services to our clients. We have a policy of protecting the privacy of our clients in the course of providing services to them. Our relationship with our clients is based upon trust, so that maintaining client privacy is given the utmost priority.
Veall Immigration Law recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. As a law firm, we have a professional obligation to keep all confidential information we receive within a lawyer-client relationship. We are committed to protecting any personal information we hold. This Privacy Policy outlines what information we collect, how we manage the personal information, how we safeguard the information, and the choices our clients, service providers and other individuals (“you”) have with respect to your personal information.
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), available at www.priv.gc.ca, and the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, which it incorporates. PIPEDA gives you rights concerning the privacy of your personal information.
Veall Immigration Law is responsible for the personal information we collect and hold. To ensure this accountability, we have developed this Privacy Policy, and continue to review our policies and practices to ensure that your privacy rights are met.
What Personal Information Do We Collect?
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, personal information is given the same meaning as it is given in applicable privacy legislation from time to time. Currently, Canadian privacy legislation defines personal information as any information that identifies an individual, or any information by which an individual’s identity could be deduced. Generally, personal information does not include what is generally considered to be business contact information, including your name, title or position, business address, telephone number or facsimile number.
The types of personal information that we may collect from you include:
your name, home address, telephone number, personal e-mail address, billing and account information, information about a client’s legal issue and other information incidental to providing legal advice and services;
information material to your legal issue, for example, financial property ownership, family, employment, disciplinary, benefit or tax information, and any other information you give us when you ask or instruct us to act for you;
information about individuals we collect in the course of acting for clients, including personal information about witnesses, family members, beneficiaries, directors, officers, employees, adverse parties, parties-in-interest, investigators, decision makers, experts, other professional advisors, and our clients’ business partners, investors, shareholders, competitors and customers whom are individuals;
information about you contained in communications with Veall Immigration Law and between us and you, whether online or offline; and
information we may collect with your consent or as permitted or required by law.
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, at the start of a retainer and in the course of our representation.
We may also obtain information about you from other sources, including:
Your insurance company;
A government agency or registry;
Your employer, if we are acting for you, at its request; and
Your accountant.
Why Do We Collect Your Information?
We use your personal information to provide legal products and services to you, to administer our client billing databases and to include you in any direct marketing activities. Direct marketing activities include providing you with information about our services or about new developments in the law from time to time. 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. Our specific purposes for collecting your personal information include, but are not limited to:
Establishing and managing client relationships;
Providing legal advice and performing legal services;
Providing immigration related consulting advice and services;
Avoiding conflicts of interest;
Developing and managing our knowledge-management precedent systems and databases;
Detecting error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft and other illegal activity and protecting Veall Immigration Law from the same;
Auditing compliance with Veall Immigration Law’s policies and contractual obligations;
Engaging in business transactions, including the purchase, sale, lease, merger, amalgamation or any other type of acquisition, disposal, securitization or financing involving Veall Immigration Law;
Any purpose required to comply with any legal or regulatory requirements or provisions; and
For any other purpose for which your consent has been obtained.
Consent
Your knowledge and consent is required for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information except in situations where this would be inappropriate. Inappropriate circumstances include where your personal information is being sought for certain legal, medical, security reasons that would make it impossible or impractical to provide you with knowledge and to seek your consent.
Consent to collect, use or disclose your personal information is required and can be accepted orally or in writing, depending on the circumstances. In some cases, your consent will be implied through your conduct.
We will re-obtain your consent where we intend to use your personal information for a purpose, which varies from the purpose for which the personal information was initially obtained.
You can withdraw your consent subject to reasonable notice and legal and contractual obligations. We will inform you of any and all implications of your withdrawal of consent.
Disclosure of Your Personal Information
Veall Immigration Law may disclose your personal information under certain circumstances. These circumstances include but are not limited to the following:
Where the legal services we are providing to you require us to give your personal information to third parties;
When required or authorized by law to do so;
When your consent for the disclosure has been obtained;
When disclosure is required for the delivery of legal services wherein you consent is implied;
Where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
If we engage a third party, bound by this Privacy Policy, to provide administrative services to us;
If we engage expert witnesses on your behalf;
If we retain other law firms in other jurisdictions on your behalf; and
If the information is already publicly known.
Veall Immigration Law does not disclose your personal information to any third party to assist the third party in marketing their products or services. Veall Immigration Law does not provide our client mailing lists to other firms.
Is My Personal Information Secure?
Veall Immigration Law has implemented all reasonable physical, organizational, and technological security measures to safeguard the personal information in our custody or control. Reasonable precautions taken include:
Premises security;
Restricted file access to personal information;
Technological safeguards to prevent hacking, viruses and unauthorized computer access as much as is possible; and
Implementing and employing internal password and security policies.
Access to Personal Information
You may ask for access to any personal information we hold about you. Summary information is available upon request. More detailed requests that require archive or other retrieval costs may be subject to our standard professional and disbursement fees. Contact information is provided below.
Updating Your Personal Information
Since Veall Immigration Law uses your information to provide you with legal and immigration related consulting services, it is important that this information be accurate and up-to-date. If during the course of the retainer, any of your information changes, please inform us so that all necessary updates can be made. Contact information is provided below.
If Veall Immigration Law holds information about you and you can establish that it is not accurate, complete and up-to-date, Veall Immigration Law will take reasonable steps to correct it.
Can I Be Denied Access to My Personal Information?
Your right to access your personal information is not absolute. Veall Immigration Law may deny you access to your personal information in certain circumstances, including:
When denial of access is required or authorized by law;
When the information is prohibitively costly to provide;
When the personal information requested relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you;
When granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on another person’s or other people’s privacy;
When granting you access would prejudice negotiations with you;
For legal, security or commercial propriety reasons and to protect Veall Immigration Law’s rights and property;
Where the request for access is frivolous or vexatious.
If Veall Immigration Law denies your request for access to your personal information, or denies your request to correct your personal information, Veall Immigration Law shall provide reasons.
Veall Immigration Law does not use Social Insurance Numbers as a way of identifying or organizing the personal information we hold.
Can I Request Anonymity?
Whenever it is legal and practicable, we may offer the opportunity to deal with general inquiries without providing your name, for example, by accessing general information on our web-site. 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 to disclose information to FINTRAC in relation to certain large cash transactions.
Credit Bureaus
To help 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.
Electronic Communication
You should be aware that e-mail is not a 100% secure medium, regardless of the steps taken to secure it. You should be aware of this when you are contacting Veall Immigration Law using e-mail and when you are sending confidential and personal information to Veall Immigration Law using e-mail.
Challenging Compliance
If you have any questions, or if you wish to access your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer.
All complaints will be investigated by our Privacy Officer or by any other individual or individuals to whom the Privacy Officer has delegated this responsibility. We will respond to your request or inquiry within a reasonable time and at minimal or no cost to you. Appropriate measures will be taken where the complaint is justified, including amendments to this Privacy Policy.
We will record the substance of any challenges that are not resolved to your satisfaction. If you are not satisfied with the response from Veall Immigration Law, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada can be reached at:
112 Kent Street
Ottawa Ontario, K1A 1H3
1-800-282-1376.
Changes to This Privacy Policy
Veall Immigration Law reserves the right to change this privacy statement at any time, and we will take reasonable steps to advise affected individuals of any material changes, if necessary. However, you should review this privacy statement from time to time to ensure that you are aware of and accept any changes made.
Our Website
Our Website may contain links to other sites which are not governed by this Privacy Policy. Our web-site monitors traffic patterns, site usage, and related site information in order to optimize our web service. However, the only personal information that we collect about you when you use our website is what you tell us about yourself, for example, by completing an online form through the “Contact Us” section or when you send Veall Immigration Law an email.
Interpretation of This Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy includes examples but is not intended to be restricted in its application to such examples, therefore, where the word ‘including’ is used, it shall mean ‘including without limitation’.
This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the Federal laws of Canada applicable therein. This Privacy Policy does not create or confer upon any individual any rights or impose upon Veall Immigration Law any rights or obligations outside of, or in addition to, any rights or obligations imposed by Canada’s federal and provincial privacy laws, as applicable. Should there be, in a specific case, any inconsistency between this Privacy Policy and Canada’s Federal and provincial privacy laws, as applicable, this Privacy Policy shall be interpreted, in respect of that case, to give effect to and comply with such privacy laws.
Requests for Information Access And/Or Corrections
If you have any questions, or wish to access your Personal Information, please write to our Privacy Contact at:
Ms. Alexandra Danielle Veall
Veall Immigration Law
60 Atlantic Avenue, Suite 200
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M6K 1X9
1-647-858-3959
alexandra@veallimmigrationlaw.com
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.
Thank you for taking the time to review our Privacy Policy.
Veall Immigration Law Professional Corporation