Privacy Policy
Your personal information[1] is important to VdV Legal but you should note that VdV Legal is not subject to the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) because we are a ‘small business’. Despite this we are doing everything we can to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles. VdV Legal will manage your personal information in an open and transparent manner in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles and in accordance with our professional obligations of confidentiality in relation to information provided to us in the course of providing legal services.
Our privacy policy recognises the importance of your rights to privacy, and that you have a right to control how your personal information is collected, stored, managed, used and protected. Providing personal information is an act of trust and we take that seriously. Unless you specifically consent to our doing otherwise, VdV Legal will only collect and use your personal information as set out in this policy. VdV Legal will not use or disclose any information about you without your consent, unless:
- required by law;
- to implement our terms of service; or
- to protect the rights, property or personal safety of another person.
Collecting information
VdV Legal will not collect or monitor your personal information without your consent. The personal information we collect is principally the information you knowingly provide to us and information about how you use our website; this may include the aggregated information included in analytics and information on which pages you visit and your IP address. If you contact us, we may keep a record of that contact.
VdV Legal may use cookies to make your use of our website and services as convenient as possible. Cookies are pieces of information that a website transfers to your computer’s hard disk for record keeping purposes. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies. Cookies in and of themselves do not personally identify users, although they do identify a user’s browser. Cookies are useful to estimate numbers of visitors and determine overall traffic patterns through the website. If you do not wish to receive any cookies you may set your browser to refuse cookies.
VdV Legal will not ‘spam’ you and will only contact you if you provide us with contact details for that purpose.
The principle purpose for which VdV Legal will collect personal or sensitive[2] information is to facilitate the provision of legal services. These services may be to you, or to a person or entity associated with you, or others.
Provision of Legal Services
If VdV Legal is providing services to you, some personal information will be needed, how much and what type of information will depend on the nature and extent of our engagement. For example, sensitive information such as information about your health and age would only be requested where this is relevant to our engagement with you as it might be in the development of estate plans and associated documentation. VdV Legal will not seek to collect information unless that information is reasonably considered relevant to a matter for which you have engaged us or is otherwise reasonably necessary for or directly related to our operations as a legal practice. In the course of dealing with a legal matter information about you and associated entities may also be collected from Government and Industry websites and data services such as the Australian Business Register, the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations or Master Builders Australia.
VdV Legal also collect personal information where it is reasonably required for the conduct of our business, including employment of staff and marketing activities. This includes personal information for employee records, or employment applications or work experience.
Use and Disclosure
Your personal information will only be used or disclosed for the purpose for which the information is provided, or for other purposes with your consent. We will also use or disclose information where this is required under an Australian law or by a court or tribunal order, or under the Australian Privacy Principles.
Updates
If at any time you wish to update your personal information that is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us and we will amend our records. If you wish to have your personal information deleted, please let us know and we will take all reasonable steps to delete any information which we are not required to retain for legal or professional responsibility requirements.
Storage
Information is stored by VdV Legal for seven years after a matter is completed unless a shorter or longer period is agreed between us. Unless you specifically request otherwise all files over seven years old are destroyed.
Electronic Risk
You should note that the provision of all information over the internet is inherently subject to risk. Use of our website and agreement to receive electronic communication from VdV Legal includes consent to the inherent risks of electronic communications. While we take all reasonable precautions to protect this website and our network we do not represent, warrant or guarantee that they and any files attached are free of all viruses or other malicious programs. We accept no responsibility for any loss or damage resulting from viruses or other malicious programs.
VdV Legal provides links to external websites for your convenience. These linked sites are not under the control of VdV Legal, and we take no responsibility for their content, privacy practices or policies nor are we responsible for the conduct of any organisations linked to our website.
Updating Policy
VdV Legal continues to evolve and we may introduce new services and features to our website. As a result and from time to time, our policies, including this privacy policy, will be reviewed and may be revised. VdV Legal reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time and notify you by posting an updated version of the policy on its website.
The amended Privacy Policy will apply between us whether or not we have given you specific notice of any change.
Queries
If you have any questions or a complaint about the way VdV Legal has dealt with your personal information at any time please contact us immediately. Such matters are taken seriously and we will respond to you as soon as possible unless we reasonably consider that your complaint is frivolous or malicious.
[1] Personal Information is defined in the Privacy Act to be ‘information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.’
[2] Sensitive Information is defined in the Privacy Act as a subset of Personal Information and includes information or an opinion about such things as gender, religion, ethnicity, health, political opinions, criminal record or sexual practices.