Privacy Policy

1. Purpose

At Wishart Brain and Spine Law LLP (“the Firm”), we are committed to providing our clients with exceptional legal services.  In order to do so, we require all relevant facts and information related to our retainer and representation of our clients.

Protection of personal information is one of our highest priorities.  We are committed to protecting personal information in accordance with applicable privacy law and rules of professional conduct.

We will inform our clients of why and how we collect, use and disclose their personal information, obtain their consent where required, and only handle their personal information in a manner that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.

1. Scope

This Policy applies to collection, use, and disclosure of personal information of clients or other individuals collected through our website.

 Definitions

The following definitions apply for the purpose of this policy:

1. Personal Information: information about an identifiable individual, including, but not limited to, name, age, home address and phone number, social insurance number, marital status, religion, income, credit history, medical information, education, employment information. Personal information does not include contact information (described below);
2. Contact information: information that would enable an individual to be contacted at a place of business and includes name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax number.  Contact information is not covered by this policy;
3. Privacy Officer: the individual designated the responsibility for monitoring compliance with applicable privacy law and this policy.

1. Collecting and Using Personal Information
2. When you visit our website or request services from us, we may collect personal information or other information that you choose to provide.
3. We may collect and use personal information:
   1. to provide legal services;
   2. to conduct, monitor and analyze our business operations;
   3. to monitor website usage and ensure that content on the website is presented in the most effective manner;
   4. in relation to marketing or other email communications, where we have obtained consent to send such communications;
   5. to communicate with you about your client file; or
   6. as otherwise required or authorized by law or by the applicable rules of professional conduct.
4. Use of our website constitutes consent to collect information relating to such usage.
5. Individuals who do not wish to receive email or marketing communications from us may always contact us at: privacy@slatervecchio.com to stop receiving these communications.

1. Disclosing Personal Information
2. Our Firm members are subject to professional and ethical obligations and will not disclose personal information subject to solicitor-client privilege unless the client has provided their consent.
3. We will otherwise only use or disclose personal information through our website where necessary to fulfill the purposes identified in this policy or for any other purposes for which we have obtained your consent.
4. We share personal information with Firm members, contractors, consultants and other parties who require this information to assist us with establishing, maintaining and managing our relationship with clients and business operations.
5. Subject to the obligations subsection A, above, we may collect, use or disclose personal information without knowledge or consent where the use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by applicable law or by the rules of professional conduct that apply to the Firm.

1. Retaining Personal Information
2. If we use information collected through or in relation to our website to make a decision that directly affects an individual, we will retain that personal information for at least one year so that the individual has a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.
3. Subject to subsection A, we will retain personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.

VII.        Correction of Personal Information

1. We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that a client or individual’s personal information is accurate and complete. All clients and individuals are responsible for providing timely updates to changes in personal information.
2. Clients or individuals may request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
3. A request to correct personal information should be forwarded to the Privacy Officer.
4. If the personal information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, the Firm will:
   1. correct the information and, if reasonable to do so send the corrected information to any organization to which we disclosed the personal information in the previous year; or
   2. decide not to correct the information but note the correction request in the file.

VIII.        Securing Personal Information

1. We are committed to protecting personal information in order to prevent unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.
2. We use reasonable technical and security measures to protect personal information.
3. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the Internet is not completely secure.  Although we do our best to protect personal information, we cannot absolutely guarantee security of information.
4. We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.

1. Providing Access to Personal Information
2. Individuals may submit written requests for access to:
   1. Personal information under the control of the Firm;
   2. How the personal information is being used by the Firm; and
   3. Names of individuals and organization to whom the personal information has been disclosed.
3. Individuals have a right to access their personal information in the Firm’s custody and control, subject to exceptions required or authorized by law, including, but not limited to the following:
4. The information is protected by solicitor-client privilege;
5. Disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual; and
6. Disclosure could reasonably be expected to threaten the safety or health of the individual, or an individual other than the one who made the request.
7. A request to access personal information should be forwarded to the Privacy Officer.
8. The Firm will make all reasonable efforts to respond within 30 business days, or we will provide written notice of an extension where additional time is required to fulfill the request.
9. A minimal fee may be charged for providing access to personal information. Where a fee may apply, we will inform the individual of the cost and request further direction on whether or not we should proceed with the request.
10. If a request is refused in full or in part, we will notify the individual in writing, providing the reasons for refusal and the recourse available.

1. Website and Third Parties
2. Like many organizations, we use cookies to provide the best possible website experience. “Cookies” are small items of data that may be stored in a browser or the hard drive of an individual’s computer. These data files contain information the site can use to organize the pages visited on our website. We may use “cookie” technology to provide a more optimal experience on our website and allow us to improve our site.
3. Below is a list of cookies we use on our Website:
   1. Strictly necessary cookies. These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website and use its features. The information collected relates to the operation of our website (e.g. website scripting language and security tokens) and enables us to provide you with the service you have requested.
   2. Analytical/performance cookies. These cookies collect information on how users use our website, for example which pages you visit most often, whether you receive any error messages and how you arrived at our website. Information collected by these cookies is used only to improve your use of our website. These cookies are sometimes placed by third party providers of web traffic and analysis services.
   3. Functionality cookies. These cookies are used to remember the choices you have made, for example the country you visit our website from, your language and any changes you have made to text size and other parts of the web pages that you can customise to improve your user experience and to make your visits more tailored and enjoyable.
   4. Targeting cookies. These cookies record your visit to our website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed.  We will use this information to make our website and the information (including marketing information) displayed on it more relevant to your interests and to measure the effectiveness of and marketing or information initiatives.  We may also share this information with third parties for this purpose.  They remember the other websites you visit and this information is shared with third party organizations.
4. Individuals who do not wish to accept cookies must stop using the website or change their browser settings to block the placement of cookies. Disabling or blocking cookies may affect the functionality of the website.  If you continue to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies.
5. We use Google Analytics to better understand your use of our website and our services. Google Analytics collects information such as how often users visit the Websites, what pages they visit and what other sites they used prior to visiting. Google uses the data collected to track and examine the use of the Websites, to prepare reports on its activities and share them with other Google services. Google may use the data collected on the Websites to contextualize and personalize the ads of its own advertising network.
6. For more information about Google Analytics, please see the applicable Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
7. You may opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics here.
8. Our website may include Social Media Features, such as the Facebook “Like” button and Widgets such as the “Share This” button. These Features may collect your IP address, which page you are visiting on our website and may use cookies.  Social Media Features and Widgets and your interactions with these Features are governed by the privacy policy of the company providing the service.
9. Our website may contain links to third party websites. If you submit your personal information to any third party sites, your information is governed by their privacy policies.
10. Please see our Disclaimer, which sets out our limitation of liability in respect of the use of our or third party websites.

1. International Data Transfers

By disclosing your personal information on our website, you consent to disclosure and processing of your personal information outside of your jurisdiction or geographical location.  We will take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

XII.        Questions and Concerns

1. Clients or individuals should direct any concerns or questions in writing to the Privacy Officer.

Robyn Wishart

Wishart Brain and Spine Law LLP
#1010 – 570 Granville Street

Vancouver, BC  V6C 3P1

604-674-9331

rlw@wishlaw.ca

1. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the client may also contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia at:

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia
PO Box 9038, Stn. Prov. Gov’t.
Victoria, BC  V8W 9A4

Telephone 250-387-5629
Fax 250-387-1696

XIII.        Changes to This Policy

This Policy is subject to amendment from time to time.  Please review this policy regularly to stay informed of any updates.