The lawyers and staff at Battiston & Associates (sometimes referred to as “we”) are committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy outlines how we handle your personal information to protect your privacy.

Privacy Legislation

Since January 1, 2004, all organizations collecting, using or disclosing personal information in Canada in the course of commercial activities have been required to comply with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”) and any applicable “substantially similar” provincial legislation. These obligations extend to lawyers and law firms, including Battiston & Associates.

In addition, as a professional services firm, we have professional and ethical obligations to keep confidential the information we receive in the context of a lawyer-client and agent-client relationship.

Personal Information

Personal information is defined in PIPEDA as information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization. In other words, it does not include the information that one expects to find on a business card (other than an e-mail address which is considered to be personal information).

Consent to Our Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

In most cases, we obtain your consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information. If you retain Battiston & Associates, we assume that we have your implied consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes of providing legal services to you, your company or organization; however, at times we may ask for your express consent, either verbally or in writing. By providing your personal information to us, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose your personal information as outlined in this Privacy Policy.

Withdrawal of Consent

You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to legal and/or contractual restrictions and upon reasonable notice. However your withdrawal of consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information may affect our ability to represent and provide legal advice to you, your company or organization.

Collection of Personal Information

Generally we collect your personal information directly from you at the start of or during the course of your retainer with Battiston & Associates. We may also obtain personal information about you from other sources, such as: other individuals within your company or organization, where we are representing the company or organization; your insurance company or other financial institution; your real estate agent in a property transaction; your legal counsel in another jurisdiction, if we were retained through the othelaw firm; from a government agency or registry; your employer, if we are acting for you; or your accountant.

Use of Personal Information

We use your personal information to provide legal advice and services to you, your company or organization, to issue invoices and to maintain our database of clients.

Disclosure of Personal Information

Generally, we do not disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent unless permitted or required by applicable law. There are some situations in which we may disclose your personal information without your consent. For example: when we are required or authorized by law to do so, for example if a court issues a subpoena; where it is necessary to establish or collect fees; or if the information is already on the public record and the disclosure is directly related to the purposes for which it was recorded on the public record. In some cases, your consent will be implied. For example, when the legal services we are providing to you require us to give your information to a third party (such as to a lender in a real estate mortgage transaction in which we are representing you) we would rely on your implied consent to the disclosure. If our firm is sold or merged with another firm your consent will be implied to transfer your information to the successor firm in order to continue to provide services to you, unless you tell us otherwise. If we are required to contact our insurers in connection with a claim that you have against us, we will assume that we have your implied consent to the disclosure of your personal information to the insurer. Lastly, from time to time we may transfer your personal information to the firm’s service providers. Under PIPEDA, a transfer to a service provider is not considered to be a disclosure for which your consent is required; however, we will use contractual or other means to ensure that the third party service provider is bound by obligations regarding privacy that are consistent with this Policy and our obligations under PIPEDA. Examples of transfers to service providers would be situations in which we contract with third parties to provide us with services such as archival file storage or insurance. Other examples would include cases where we engage other service providers such as expert witnesses or law firms in other jurisdictions on your behalf. Service providers may be located in various countries, so please be aware that authorized officials of governments in those countries may be lawfully able to access your personal information without your knowledge or consent pursuant to the laws of such countries. To the extent that we are permitted to do so by applicable law, we will notify you if we are advised that this access has occurred.

Accuracy of Your Personal Information

It is important that the personal information that we have on file be accurate and up-to-date. If during the course of the retainer, any of your personal information changes, please inform us so that we can make any necessary changes. We may also ask you from time to time whether your personal information is up-to-date.

Safeguards

Battiston & Associates uses various administrative and technological safeguards to ensure that your personal information is protected against loss, theft, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying or alteration. These include: security of our physical premises; our professional obligations; security software and firewalls to prevent unauthorized computer access or “hacking”; and internal passwords that restrict access to our electronic files.

Website Privacy

Like most other organizations, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information. Our website server will automatically collect IP addresses, and we may use a browser feature called a “cookie” to optimize your visit to our website. You may set your browser to turn cookies off during your use of any website and, in any event, when you close your browser the cookie is deleted. We do not link your IP address or cookies to other personally identifiable information.

By accessing and browsing our website, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose any personal information collected about you through our website as described in this Policy.

Disclaimer and Terms of Use

The material found on this website is intended for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. You should not act or fail to act on anything based on any of the material contained herein without first consulting with a lawyer. The reading, sending or receiving of information from or via the website does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Battiston & Associates strives to ensure accuracy in the materials posted here but we do not guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any of the information posted to this website and we do not necessarily endorse information found on any website which is linked to or from this website. Battiston & Associates does not guarantee the confidentiality of any email transmission from or via the website.
Unless otherwise noted, all content on this site (the “Content”) including images, illustrations, designs, icons, photographs, video and audio clips, and written and other materials are copyrights, trade-marks and/or other intellectual properties owned, controlled or licensed by Battiston & Associates. The Content may not be otherwise used, reproduced, broadcast, published, downloaded, reuploaded or retransmitted without the prior written permission of Battiston & Associates. You may, however, view and download one copy of our articles, newsletters, bios, video and audio clips and seminar materials to your personal computer for your personal, non-commercial use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices that are on that material.
Battiston & Associates may update and/or modify the Content at any time and without notice.
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