DLS Private Office Privacy Policy

Overview

This document is a statement that explains in simple language how DLS Private Office (a Business Division of David Landa Stewart Pty Limited ABN 26 166 455 778) handles your personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APP).

Policy

DLS Private Office is committed to ensuring all client, potential clients, business associates, suppliers and their employees, current and prospective employees and contractors’ information is confidential and private, we deal with information privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) set out in the Privacy Act.

What kinds of personal information do we collect and hold?

We collect and hold:

your contact details, such as office address, home address, telephone numbers and email address.

your personal details, such as date and place of birth, gender, qualifications, titles, ethnicity, religious affiliations, and the languages you speak.

any criminal record or medical information to the extent that it is relevant to our functions and responsibilities under, and authorized by, the Legal Profession Act; and

records of your communications and other interactions with us, both on paper and electronically;

The information about you which we may collect through the website includes the following:

the content of electronic forms you submit via the website or requesting us to provide services or information or take action.

any messages or comments you submit to us via the website – for instance via an email;

Children under the age of 18 who wish to submit a comment or idea must have their parents’ (or legal guardians’) consent to do so.

In common with many commercial websites, we may also collect aggregated information which tells us about visitors to the website but not the identity of those visitors. For example, we may collect information in relation to:

the user’s server address.

the user’s domain.

the date and time of the visit to the site.

the pages accessed and documents downloaded.

the previous site visited; and

the type of browser used.

We use this information to count the number and type of visitors to the different pages on our site, and to help us make our site more useful to visitors like you. DLS Private Office will make no attempt to identify users, correlate data collected as users or identify users browsing activities.

How do we collect and hold your personal information?

We generally collect your personal information directly from you, including when you use the DLS Private Office’s website, However, in some cases, we may receive your personal information from a third party (for instance if we receive information from an affiliated or opposing legal practitioner) or when it is relevant to our statutory responsibilities (for instance other regulators or government entities who have dealt with you).

What would happen if we did not collect your personal information?

Without your personal information we may not be able to process your application or request, perform our statutory functions or provide you with some or all our products and services.

What are the purposes for which we collect and hold your personal information?

We collect and hold your personal information to:

fulfil our functions and responsibilities under, and facilitate compliance with, the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW) and the legal profession legislation (as defined in the Legal Profession Uniform Law Application Act 2014 (NSW), Professional Standards Legislation, the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), the Professional Standards Act 1994 (NSW) and associated regulations (which require and authorize us to collect certain information) including:

maintaining regulatory and corporate records;

providing information to Australian regulators and government entities (such as the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner) and to overseas regulators.

Use and Disclosure of your personal information

We do not use your personal information or disclose it to another authorized entity unless:

it is reasonably necessary for one of the purposes described above;

having regard to the nature of the information or the circumstances of collection we believe you would expect us to use the information or make the disclosure;

required or authorized by law or court or tribunal;

it is necessary to protect the rights, property, health or personal safety of a legal practitioner or member, the public or our interests, and it is unreasonable or impracticable to obtain your consent;

the disclosure is necessary to assist any entity, body, or person to locate a person who has been reported missing;

we have reason to suspect that unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature, that relates to our functions or activities has been, is being or may be engaged in, and we believe that the collection, use, or disclosure is necessary in order for us to take appropriate action;

the assets and operations of our business are transferred to another party as a going concern;

it is necessary to obtain third party services, for example to carry out data analysis or provide information processing services. The use of your information by third parties is strictly controlled;

it is for one of the purposes expressly permitted under the Privacy Act; or

you have provided your consent.

Disclosure overseas

If you have business e in a foreign country (or apply to do so) we may send your personal information overseas in response to an inquiry from the relevant authority in that place. DLS Private Office uses the services of certain third-party service providers which may have offices or other operations outside of Australia. As a result, your personal information may be disclosed to overseas recipients located in Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, India, Japan, Mexico, Serbia, South Korea, United Kingdom, and United States of America. All service providers that have access to personal information held by the DLS Private Office are required to keep the information confidential and not to make use of it for any purpose other than to provide services in accordance with their engagement.

If you do not want your personal information to be disclosed

If you do not want your personal information to be disclosed (for instance, you want to have your name excluded from commercial mailing lists) please advise DLS Private Office in writing. We will accommodate your request provided that the disclosure is not required by law.

Storage and security of personal information

We take reasonable precautions to protect the personal information we hold from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure.

Where practicable we implement measures to require organisations to whom disclosure is made to comply with the Privacy Act. If a third party is given access to personal information, we take reasonable steps to ensure that the information is held securely and used only for the purpose of providing the relevant service or activity.

Privacy Policy application to the Sites

Cookies

We collect personal information through software such as cookies. A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on the hard disk of a user’s computer so that the website can remember that user. Without cookies, websites and their servers have no memory. This means that every time a user opens a new webpage on a website, the server where that webpage is stored will treat the user as new and require logon and password. In short, a cookie facilitates a user’s passage through a website. 

Linked websites

This Privacy Policy does not apply to linked websites.

Rights to access and correction of your personal information

You have the right to access your personal information unless we are permitted by law to withhold that information. Any requests for access to your personal information should be made to the Practice Manager of David Landa Stewart Lawyers, in writing. You also have the right to request the correction of any of your personal information which is inaccurate. You can change, update, or clear your profile and account settings at any time

In some circumstances it may be appropriate and lawful for us to deny access, including if:

we reasonably believe that giving access would pose a serious threat to the life, health, or safety of any individual, or to public health or public safety;

providing access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of another individual;

the request is frivolous or vexatious;

the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings between you and us and the information would not be accessible by the process of legal discovery in those proceedings;

giving access would reveal our intentions in relation to negotiations with you and prejudice those negotiations;

we have reason to suspect that unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature, relating to our functions or activities has been, is being or may be engaged in; and giving access would be likely to prejudice the taking of appropriate action in relation to the matter;

providing access would be unlawful or if denying access is required or authorised under Australian law or a court/tribunal order;

giving access would be likely to prejudice one or more enforcement related activities conducted by, or on behalf of, an enforcement body; or

giving access would reveal evaluative information generated within DLS Private Office in connection with a commercially sensitive decision-making process.

Further information and complaints

If you require any further information about our management of personal information or have a complaint about our handling of your personal information, you should initially write to the Practice Manager of David Landa Stewart Lawyers, who will respond to you within a reasonable time, usually 30 days.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you may contact us further to advise of your concerns and, if we are unable to reach a satisfactory resolution you may write to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner using the form available here for further review of your complaint.

David Landa Stewart Pty Ltd can be contacted in writing by electronic email or by post

Level 1, 47 – 49 Murray Street

Pyrmont NSW 2009

Phone: +61 2 9212 1099

Email: info@dls-lawyers.com