Last updated: June 23, 2021
This Privacy Policy (Policy) outlines the way in which Brydens Lawyers collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information. By using our website, applications and services, or otherwise providing us with your information, you consent to us collecting, holding, using and disclosing your personal information as described in this Policy. If we are not able to collect, handle, use and disclose personal information about you as set out in this Policy, we may not be able to provide you with our services or with access to our websites or applications. How we handle and process information about you is governed by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (‘APP’) (collectively, the ‘Privacy Laws’).
Interpretation
The following definitions shall have the same meaning regardless of whether they appear in singular or in plural.
Definitions
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy:
Company (referred to as either “the Company”, “We”, “Us” or “Our” in this Policy) refers to Brydens Lawyers Pty Ltd.
Cookies are small files that are placed on Your computer, mobile device or any other device by a website, containing the details of your browsing history on that website among its many uses.
Device means any device that accessing or using the website, services of the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the website or services, as applicable.
You mean the individual accessing or using the website, services of the company, or other legal entity on behalf of which such individual is accessing or using the website or services, as applicable.
We collect personal information about:
Our clients, business associates, potential clients and their personnel;
other individuals in the course of acting for our clients;
our suppliers and their employees;
our employees, partners, contractors, former employees, former partners, former contractors or prospective employees, contractors or partners; and
other people who meet a member of Brydens Lawyers.
We will collect personal information from clients and prospective clients in the course of providing our legal services. We may also obtain personal information from third party searches, other investigations and sometimes from adverse parties.
We are required to collect the full name and address of our clients by Rule 93 of the Legal Profession Uniform General Rules 2015. Accurate name and address information must also be collected to comply with the trust account record keeping requirements of Rule 47 of the Uniform General Rules and to comply with our duty to the courts.
Your personal information will only be used for the purposes for which it is collected or in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). For example, we may use your personal information to provide advice and recommendations that consider your personal circumstances.
If you do not provide us with the full name and address information required by law, we cannot act for you. If you do not provide us with the other personal information that we request, our advice may be wrong for you or misleading.
We may also collect and process non-personal information provided to us by your browser when you visit our websites or use our applications, for example, the website you came from, your location information, IP address, web browser and/or device type and the time and date of access.
‘Personal data’ or ‘personal information’, as defined in the Privacy Act, means information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether true or not and whether it is recorded in a material form or not. An identifiable individual is a natural person who can be identified, directly or indirectly, by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person. Examples include an individual’s name, date of birth, signature, address and contact details, occupation, employment history, family situations, bank account details, financial and tax information, IP address. Unless specified otherwise, ‘personal data’ or ‘personal information’ includes Government Related Identifiers.
‘Sensitive information’ includes information or opinion about an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions and memberships, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of professional or trade associations or of a trade union, sexual orientation or practices, criminal record, health information including information about physical and mental health, notes on symptoms, diagnosis, disability and treatment, information about suitability for work and other health related information, genetic and biometric information.
‘Government Related Identifiers’ (‘GRI’) are numbers, letters, symbols or a combination of all three assigned by a State, Territory or Commonwealth authority, agency or contracted service provider to identify an individual or verify identity. GRI may include Tax File Numbers, Medicare Numbers, Centrelink References, Driver’s License Numbers and Passport details.
‘Usage Data’ refers to data collected automatically, either generated using our website or from the website infrastructure itself (for example, the duration of a page visit). It may include information such as your device’s Internet Protocol address (e.g. IP address), browser type, browser version, the pages of our website that you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data. When you access our website by or through a mobile device, we may collect certain information automatically, including, but not limited to, the type of mobile device you use, your mobile device unique ID, the IP address of your mobile device, your mobile operating system, the type of mobile Internet browser you use, unique device identifiers and other diagnostic data.
We will generally collect personal information:
From you directly when you provide your details to us;
From you indirectly through emails, forms, face-to-face meetings, interviews, registration and attendance at seminars, business cards, online queries and telephone conversations, and through use of services available through our websites, applications and social media channels (including our blogs and LinkedIn channels); and
From third parties in some instances, for example, we may use third parties to analyse traffic at our website, our blogs and social media channels, which may involve the use of cookies. You can control your browser settings to limit the collection of cookies by us; however, if you choose to disable cookies, you may not be able to use certain features of our websites. In some circumstances we may collect personal information about an individual from a third party, for example, a report provided by a medical professional or an employment reference from another person.
Protecting Your Data
We will take reasonable steps to protect the security of your data. Our personnel are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals. We take reasonable steps to protect personal information held from misuse and loss and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure, for example by use of physical security and restricted access to electronic records.
Personal information is destroyed or de-identified when no longer needed or when we are no longer required by law to retain it, whichever is the later.
Your information, including personal data, is processed at the Company’s operating offices and in any other places where the parties involved in the processing are located. It means that this information may be transferred to — and maintained on — computers located outside of your state, province, country or other governmental jurisdiction where the data protection laws may differ than those from your jurisdiction. Your consent to this Privacy Policy followed by your submission of such information represents your agreement to that transfer.
The Company will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this Privacy Policy and no transfer of your personal data will take place to an organization or a country unless there are adequate controls in place including the security of your data and other personal information.
If the Company is involved in a merger, acquisition or asset sale, your personal data may be transferred. We will provide notice before your personal data is transferred and becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.
Usage and Disclosure of Data
In general, we may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the primary purposes for which it was collected, including:
to conduct our business;
to provide and market our services;
to communicate with you to provide or promote our services;
to purchase goods or services;
to help us manage, develop and enhance our services, including our websites and applications;
to consider the suitability of prospective employees;
to comply with our legal obligations; and
to administer, maintain, support, and provide upgrades to, our services and applications.
We may also use and/or disclose your personal information for other purposes which you consent to or which are required or permitted by law. This may include for a secondary purpose that is related to a purpose for which we collected it, and for which you would reasonably expect us to use or disclose your personal information.
If at any time you would like to unsubscribe from receiving future content, surveys, features or other marketing information or communications, we include in all electronic messages a statement to the effect that you, as the recipient, may send an unsubscribe message to us using the contact details provided in that electronic message. Otherwise, you can contact us any time at info@brydens.com.au to unsubscribe or update your preferences
We may disclose your personal information (including, in certain limited circumstances, your sensitive information) for the purposes for which it was collected (as described above) to:
courts, tribunals, ombudsmen, commissions and regulatory authorities (information provided to courts and tribunals may be made available to other parties to the litigation and will be on the public record);
other parties involved in your matter and their solicitors (for example, counter parties to litigation or a transaction);
third parties or entities who assist us in providing legal services or who provide services to you, or who provide services to us including recruitment services, data storage, distribution and mailing services, direct marketing, technology support services, and business development services;
insurers;
litigation and disbursement funders;
unions;
market researchers and analysts;
social media channels on which we have a presence; and
where we are required or authorised to do so by law.
We do not disclose your information overseas unless your instructions involve dealing with parties located overseas. If your matter involves parties overseas, we may disclose select personal information to overseas recipients associated with that matter to carry out your instructions.
We use Cookies and similar tracking technologies to track the activity on website and store certain information. Tracking technologies used are beacons, tags, and scripts to collect and track information and to improve and analyse Our Service. The technologies We use may include:
Cookies or Browser Cookies. A cookie is a small file placed on Your Device. You can instruct Your browser to refuse all Cookies or to indicate when a Cookie is being sent. However, if You do not accept Cookies, You may not be able to use some parts of our Service. Unless you have adjusted Your browser setting so that it will refuse Cookies, our website may use Cookies.
Web Beacons. Certain sections of our Service and our emails may contain small electronic files known as web beacons (also referred to as clear gifs, pixel tags, and single-pixel gifs) that permit the Company, for example, to count users who have visited those pages or opened an email and for other related website statistics (for example, recording the popularity of a certain section and verifying system and server integrity).
Our website does not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from anyone under the age of 13. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from anyone under the age of 13 without verification of parental consent, we take steps to remove that information from our servers.
If we need to rely on consent as a legal basis for processing your information and your country requires consent from a parent, we may require your parent’s consent before we collect and use that information.
We may provide links to other websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of any third-party website, and we are not responsible for the privacy policies or the content of any third-party website. If you visit these websites, they will be governed by their own terms of use (including privacy policies).
Subject to the exceptions set out in the Privacy Act, you may seek access to and correction of the personal information which we hold about you by contacting us:
By email: info@brydens.com.au
By visiting this page on our website: https://www.brydens.com.au/contact-us/
By phone number: 1800 848 848
We will require you to verify your identity and to specify what information you require. If a fee is charged for providing access, you will be advised of the likely cost in advance.
If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of your privacy or the handling of your personal information by us, please contact our Privacy Officer at info@brydens.com.au. We may ask you to lodge your complaint in writing. Any complaint will be investigated by the Privacy Officer, and you will be notified of the making of a decision in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after it has been made, usually within 30 days.
If we are unable to satisfactorily resolve your concerns about our handling of your personal information, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:
GPO Box 5218 Sydney NSW 2001 Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au Tel: 1300 363 992 www.oaic.gov.au
We may update Our Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will take effect immediately upon their posting on our application and/or website. You are advised to review this Privacy Policy periodically for any changes.
We will let you know via email and/or a prominent notice on our website, prior to the change becoming effective and update the “Last updated” date at the top of this Privacy Policy.