Introduction

Houser Henry & Syron LLP recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information. “Personal Information” is defined broadly under Canadian Privacy law as information about an identifiable individual. Personal Information does not include business contact information: your name, title or position, business address, telephone number, facsimile number or e-mail address. In addition to adhering to the provisions of the applicable privacy legislation, we also have a professional obligation to only use information that you provide to us in accordance with our professional standards or with your consent and otherwise to keep confidential the information that we receive in connection with our relationship with clients. . We take these obligations very seriously and have implemented measures to ensure that your personal information is managed in a responsible and appropriate way. By submitting personal information to us, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose the personal information in accordance with this privacy policy and as permitted or required by law. Subject to any overriding legal and contractual obligations, you may refuse or withdraw your consent to certain use of your personal information at any time by by emailing us at inquiries@houserhenry.com. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide or continue to provide you with services or information you may value.

The types of personal information we may collect about an individual will vary depending on the nature of the services we are providing, or the purpose for collecting the information. The types of Personal Information that we may collect about you includes your name, home address, telephone number, personal e-mail address, billing and account information, information about your legal issue and other information we require in order to providing you with legal advice and services. We may also collect Personal Information about others, such as your family members, directors, officers, shareholders employees, adverse parties, parties with a common interest, professional advisors and our clients’ partners, investors, competitors and customers that are individuals.

We also collect from former employers and other third parties, and from publicly available sources, personal information about prospective or current employees and other with whom we do business which is reasonably required to establish, manage or terminate an employment or other contractual relationship.

Purposes for Collecting, Using or Disclosing Personal Information

We collect information only by lawful and fair means and not in an unreasonably intrusive way. Wherever possible we collect personal information directly from individuals.

We use personal information to carry on business and to provide legal advice and services to our clients, administer our client time and billing database and to include individuals in our direct marketing activities. In general, we collect use and disclose personal information of clients and other individuals for the primary purpose of providing legal services for which we have been retained and for administrative purposes, such as billing and payment processing.

We also collect and use personal information to establish and foster relationships with clients and prospective clients by communicating about our firm and our services. We use personal information to distribute publications and invitations to events to individuals who subscribe to our mailing lists.

We collect, use and disclose personal information only with consent, except as required by law. However, because we collect information necessary for our intended purposes, as a general rule our practice is not to request specific written consent to do so because consent can reasonably be implied in most cases because of our relationship with the individual. Also, by contacting us or voluntarily providing us with your personal information or by subscribing to our mailing list, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of that personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. To the extent that you provide personal information of another individual to us, you represent that you have the necessary consent or authority to permit us to collect, use and disclose that personal information for the purposes provided in and in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Before sending any commercial electronic materials to clients or others, not in the ordinary course of providing our services, we will obtain express consent from our clients or other individuals. 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 you any further material. You can unsubscribe directly via our newsletter publication or by emailing us at inquiries@houserhenry.com.

We do not rent, sell or loan any personal information to third parties.

Retention and Safeguards

We take all reasonable precautions to ensure that Personal Information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access or use, modification or disclosure. We retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law.

You should be aware that e-mail is not a 100% secure medium when contacting us to send personal or confidential information.

Web Site

Visitors to our website are not required to provide any individual identifiable information, nor do we collect such information passively by electronic means. We collect only general information about visitors, such as their IP address and times of visit, and we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize our web service.  We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information. If you decide to give us personal information through our website, such as your email address, we will use it only for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Unfortunately no data transmitted over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure, and as such, we cannot assure the security of any information sent to us and you do so at your own risk.

From time to time, our website may contain links to other websites which may collect your personal information. We do not assume any responsibility for the privacy practices of the third parties operating such websites. You should read the privacy policies of these websites and in light of such policies, decide whether or not you want to provide your personal information to the operators of these third-party websites.

Access to Your Personal Information and Further Information

It is important that the information be accurate and up-to-date. If any of your information changes, please inform us so that we can make any necessary changes. On request, HHS will permit you with access to any personal information we have collected about you.

In some limited circumstances we may have the right to refuse access. This includes situations that would have an unreasonable impact on other people’s privacy, where information protected by solicitor-client privilege, where information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you, or where the request is frivolous or vexatious. If we deny your request for access to, or refuse a request to correct information, we will explain why.

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy, or wish to access your personal information, please contact us by emailing us at inquiries@houserhenry.com.

Changes to our Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to change our Privacy Policy at any time by updating our Privacy Policy on our website.