Ironclad Employment Contract Law

Privacy Policy

Purpose and application

Ironclad Employment Contract Law (“Ironclad”) is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by our clients. We manage your personal information in accordance with Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act and other applicable laws. This policy outlines the principles and practices we follow in protecting your personal information. 

This policy applies to Ironclad, its Principal, and any other person providing services on our behalf.

What is personal information?

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This includes an individual’s name, home address and phone number, age, sex, marital or family status, an identifying number, financial information, educational history, etc.

What personal information do we collect?

We collect only the personal information that is necessary for the provision of legal services to our clients.  The information we collect is necessary to, among other things:

·         Deliver requested products and services;

·         Bill and receive or collect payment;

·         Contact clients about matters relevant to their legal retainer;

·         Follow up with clients to determine satisfaction with products and services;

·         Notify clients of upcoming events of interest;

·         Meet the requirements of the Law Society, including without limitation those relating to “know your client” and conflicts; and

·         Meet other regulatory requirements, as applicable.

We normally collect client information directly from our clients. We may collect your information from other persons with your consent or as authorized by law.

We inform our clients, before or at the time of collecting personal information, of the purposes for which we are collecting the information. However, we may not provide this notification when a client volunteers information for an obvious purpose.

Consent

We ask for consent to collect, use, or disclose client personal information, except may not do so in circumstances where collection, use, or disclosure without consent is authorized or required by law. We may assume your consent in cases where you volunteer information for the purpose of obtaining legal services.  Where express consent is needed, we will normally ask clients to provide their consent orally, in writing , or electronically.

As further set out in our standard Retainer Agreement, clients who retain us to provide legal services are consenting to the collection, use, and disclosure of their personal information for the purpose of fulfilling the mandate for which we have been retained.

A client may withdraw consent to the use and disclosure of personal information at any time, unless the personal information is necessary for us to fulfill our legal obligations. We will respect your decision, but we may not be able to provide you with continuing legal services if we do not have the necessary personal information.

We may collect, use, or disclose client personal information without consent only as authorized by law. For example, and without limitation, consent shall not be required when the collection, use, or disclosure is reasonable for an investigation or legal proceeding, is clearly in the interests of the individual and the individual’s consent cannot be obtained in a timely way or the individual would not reasonably be expected to withhold consent, to collect a debt owed to our organization, in an emergency that threatens life, health or safety, or when the personal information is obtained from a public source.

Use and disclosure

We use and disclose client personal information only for the purposes for which the information was collected, except as authorized by law.  The law also allows us to use information for the purpose of collecting a debt owed to our organization, should that be necessary.

Safeguards

We appreciate the importance of privacy and confidentiality of personal information and have implemented administrative and technological safeguards to prevent unauthorized loss, misuse, disclosure, access, or modification of personal information.

We will notify the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, without delay, of a security breach affecting personal information if it creates a real risk of significant harm to individuals.

Personal information will be retained only for as long as is necessary for us to discharge our duties as a provider of legal services.

We use appropriate security measures when destroying client personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records.

Accuracy and access

Clients of Ironclad have a right of access to their own personal information in a record that is in our custody or under our control, subject to some exceptions. For example, organizations are required under the Personal Information Protection Act to refuse to provide access to information that would reveal personal information about another individual. Organizations are authorized under the Act to refuse access to personal information if disclosure would reveal confidential business information. Access may also be refused if the information is privileged or contained in mediation records.

If we refuse a request in whole or in part, we will provide reasons for the refusal. In some cases where exceptions to access apply, we may withhold certain information and provide you with the remainder of the record.

You may make a request for access to your personal information by writing to a@ironcladlaw.ca. You must provide sufficient information in your request to allow us to identify the information you are seeking.

You may also request information about our use of your personal information and any disclosure of that information to persons outside our organization.

We make every reasonable effort to ensure that client information is accurate and complete. We rely on our clients to notify us if there is a change to their personal information that may affect their relationship with our organization. If you are aware of an error in our information about you, please let us know and we will correct it on request wherever possible.  In some cases we may ask for a written request for correction.

We will respond to requests for access and/or corrections within 45 calendar days, unless an extension is granted. We may charge a reasonable fee to provide information, but not to make a correction. We will advise you of any fees that may apply before beginning to process your request.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or concern about any collection, use or disclosure of personal information by Ironclad, or about a request for access to your own personal information, please contact:

Alexander MacDonald, Principal

Ironclad Employment Contract Law

Phone: 403-875-2539

E-mail: a@ironcladlaw.ca Website: https://ironcladlaw.ca

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you should contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta:

Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta

Suite 2460, 801 – 6 Avenue, SW

Calgary, Alberta T2P 3W2

Phone: 403-297-2728 Toll Free: 1-888-878-4044

E-mail: generalinfo@oipc.ab.ca Website: www.oipc.ab.ca