At F2 Legal Counsel, we value your interest in our services, and are committed to collecting and safeguarding your personal information and privacy in accordance with the standards set out in Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FOIP”) and Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”), the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPDEA), and other applicable provincial and federal laws.   

As a law firm, we also have a professional and ethical obligation to keep all information that we receive within a lawyer-client relationship confidential and secure, subject to the client’s instructions to provide legal services. 

These are obligations that we take very seriously.

This privacy policy, along with F2 Legal Counsel's internal privacy policy, outlines the principles and practices we follow in collecting, protecting, using, and disclosing your personal information. 

A copy of this policy is available upon request.  

WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

For the purposes of this privacy policy, “Personal Information” means information, recorded in any form, about an identifiable individual, or an individual whose identify may be inferred or determined from the information in question. This includes an individual’s name, home address and phone number, age, sex, marital or family status, identifying number, financial information, educational history, etc.

This privacy policy does not cover information, recorded in any form, about more than one individual where the identify of the individuals is not known and cannot be inferred from the information.

Also note that in Alberta, “Personal Information” does not include business contact information such as your office address, job title, business phone number, email address, fax number or other related business contact information.

WHAT YOU ARE ENTITLED TO KNOW

With respect to any information that you provide to F2 Legal Counsel, you have the right:

  • to know why F2 Legal Counsel collects, uses or discloses your information;
  • to expect F2 Legal CounselL to handle your information reasonably and to not use it for any other purpose other than the one to which you consented;
  • to know who in F2 Legal Counsel is responsible for protecting your information;
  • to expect F2 Legal Counsel to protect your information from unauthorized disclosure;
  • to inspect the information F2 Legal Counsel holds about you and make sure it is accurate, complete and current;
  • to expect F2 Legal Counsel to destroy your information when requested and when no longer required for the intended purpose or required by law; and
  • to confidentially complain to F2 Legal Counsel about how it handles your information and to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if need be.

COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE

When you send us communications, or enter into a business arrangement with us, we may collect three types of information: Personal Information, non-personal information (which includes business information), and anonymous information.

We ask that you share these three types of information, as it is often necessary in order for us to:

  • provide you information about F2 Legal Counsel and its services that you may find of interest;
  • understand, access, and assist you,  as a client or potential client, with your ongoing legal needs;
  • ensure that your information is accurate and up-to-date;
  • collect information through legal means on you, and other individuals, for the purposes of providing legal services to clients and potential clients;
  • communicate with you in a timely and efficient manner; and
  • analyze the F2 Legal Counsel target audience, and to track business results.

Although not all information that we collect will be Personal Information, we inform our clients and potential clients, before or at the time of collecting Personal Information, of the purposes for which we are collecting the information.  In those cases, we will specifically ask for consent to collect, use or disclose the Personal Information, except in specific circumstances where the collection, use or disclosure without consent is authorized or required by law, or where consent is otherwise assumed (i.e. in cases where you volunteer information for an obvious purpose).  Without limiting the nature of the foregoing, such instances may include:

  • where required by law or order or requirement of a court, administrative agency, or any other governmental or administrative tribunal;
  • where F2 Legal Counsel believes, upon reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of an identifiable person or group;
  • where F2 Legal Counsel retains organizations to perform services in conjunction with, or on behalf of F2 Legal Counsel  (in such cases, Personal Information will only be provided to such organizations if they agree to use such information solely for the purposes of providing services to F2 Legal Counsel, and to act in a manner consistent with the relevant principles articulated in this policy);
  • where it is necessary to establish or collect monies owing to F2 Legal Counsel;
  • where it is necessary to permit F2 Legal Counsel to pursue available remedies or limit any damages that F2 Legal Counsel may sustain; or
  • where the information is otherwise public.

In all cases, we collect, use and disclose Personal Information, non-personal information, and anonymous information, only for the purposes for which the information was collected, or as otherwise identified in this privacy policy, and will not disclose more information than is required.

We do not sell or rent your information to anyone. Nor do we share your information with organizations outside of our relationship with you that would use it to contact you about their own products or services.

When we release information about you, it is done to serve specific needs, in the course of providing legal services.  With your consent (explicit or implied), we may provide information to:

  • our staff and agents who use the information for the reasonable business purpose of providing you with legal services;
  • to a third party that we contract with to provide administrative services to F2 Legal Counsel;
  • professionals working with us, such as investigators, paralegals and experts; and
  • organizations that require such information in order to perform the services requested.

INFORMATION WE AUTOMATICALLY COLLECT

When you visit the F2 Legal Counsel website, our web server automatically collects a limited amount of standard, computer information, essential to the operation and evaluation of the website and our programs.  Some of the information collected does not identify who you are.  Other information, such as your domain name or IP address, may identify you, depending on the naming standards followed by your internet service provider.  You may wish to ask them about their policies and practices.

While we make no attempt to link the information captured to the identity of individuals, the information captured upon visiting the F2 Legal Counsel website does identify the following:

  • the internet domain and IP address from which you access our website;
  • the type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
  • the screen resolution of your monitor;
  • the date and time you access our site;
  • the pages you visit while on our site; and
  • if you linked to the F2 Legal Counsel site from another website, the address of that website.

This information is used to help us make the F2 Legal Counsel website more useful to our audiences, by learning about the number of visitors to our site, and by monitoring traffic patterns and the types of technology that our visitors use.  We do not track or record information about specific individuals and their visits. 

Visitor information is not disclosed to anyone except F2 Legal Counsel personnel, who in certain circumstances may need the information for legitimate business purposes, such as responding to a request.

Note: The F2 Legal Counsel website runs on Squarespace, which uses cookies to measure website usage.  A cookie is a file that is placed on your hard drive with your temporary internet files while you are visiting a website. Although we use cookies to track how visitors use our site, we do not store Personal Information in cookies, nor do we collect Personal Information from you without your knowledge as you browse this site.  As mentioned earlier, however, they do collect information about your location, browser, and what pages you view.  Most internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies.  If you do not wish to accept cookies, you can set yours to refuse cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. 

You can learn more about Squarespace’s privacy policy at www.squarespace.com/privacy - however, this website does not require user registration or some of the other functions that the Squarespace policy describes.

INFORMATION WE MAY REQUEST

The only Personal Information that is collected about you, is the information that you provide to us voluntarily, in response to a request for same, in the course of filling out a form on the F2 Legal Counsel website, during the course of our conversations or meetings, or otherwise.

In some areas of the F2 Legal Counsel website, as is the case with the Contact page, you are asked to provide Personal Information that will enable us to provide you with additional information, and to assess whether or not we are able to provide you services. Your participation in this process is completely optional. Should you decide to participate, you will be asked to submit your name, e-mail address and other appropriate Personal Information that would be needed to facilitate the information request.

While we will use this Personal Information to respond to your request, and to provide you with additional information about F2 Legal Counsel and its services, we may also use this data for marketing purposes. For example, we may use information you provide to contact you to further discuss your interest in the services F2 Legal Counsel provides, or to share information about F2 Legal Counsel promotions or events that may take place from time to time. 

Should you not be agreeable to providing such Personal Information, we may not be able to respond to your request for additional information, or provide certain services. 

You are free to cancel or withdraw your consent to providing such Personal Information, and to opt out of receiving such contact, at any time, unless the Personal Information is necessary for us to fulfil our legal obligations.  

WHEN YOU PROVIDE US WITH INFORMATION

We collect your information, including your Personal Information, only by lawful and fair means.  When we make directed individual requests for relevant, sensitive personal information from a particular organization or business, such as medical professionals or financial institutions, we will obtain your written consent.  Wherever possible, however, we will endeavor to collect such information directly from you.  In the course of doing so, we may ask you for your consent impliedly (such as when you provide your Personal Information when submitting a form on our website), or directly, such as asking you to agree to the terms of our engagement letter, or during the course of our representation.  Your consent may be in writing, verbal, or implied as necessary, and this privacy policy is your notice of the purposes for which we collect, use, or disclose such information.  Of particular note:

  • our practice is to request either your written or express oral consent, which may be given in person or over the telephone if your identity is authenticated;
  • if you volunteer to provide relevant Personal Information verbally or in writing, we assume that you are consenting to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this policy;
  • when you initiate contact with us, we may determine that consent has been implied for us to collect, use and disclose Personal Information in a reasonable manner; and
  • in some situations, we will require express consent in writing, by the provision of a letter, application form, electronic signature, or other document authorizing certain activities.

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES 

This privacy policy applies solely to information collected by this website.  Notwithstanding, this F2 Legal Counsel website may contain links to other websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our website, and to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personally identifiable information. 

NO WARRANTY / LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

F2 Legal Counsel attempts to provide accurate information on this website, but it assumes no responsibility for accuracy. F2 Legal Counsel may change the information on the website, or the products or services mentioned, at any time without notice. Content on this website is provided "as is" and F2 Legal Counsel disclaims all warranties, express or implied. This includes but is not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. It also includes any express or implied warranties arising from any course of dealing, usage or trade practice.

F2 Legal Counsel is not liable for any direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of material on this website. This includes but is not limited to the loss of data or loss of profit, even if F2 Legal Counsel was advised of the possibility of such damages.

PROTECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

F2 Legal Counsel endeavors to maintain adequate physical, procedural, and technical security with respect to its offices and information-storage facilities, so as to prevent any loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, or modification of Personal Information.  All employees and associates who are granted access to Personal Information are screened by F2 Legal Counsel management, and understand the need to keep this information protected and confidential. They know they are to use the information only for the purposes intended.

Notwithstanding, in terms of communicating Personal Information to F2 Legal Counsel, you should note that there is no method of transmitting or storing data that is completely secure.  Mail, telephone calls, faxes, and transmissions over the internet are all susceptible to possible loss, misrouting and interception.  With this in mind, F2 Legal Counsel attempts to strike a reasonable balance between security and convenience.  In communicating with clients and others, F2 Legal Counsel often uses methods of communication that are less secure than some of its less convenient alternatives.  An example of this is email.  When we use email, it may be sent as unencrypted plain text.  This is done for our clients’ convenience, but has the security concern that, if misrouted or intercepted, it could be read more easily than encrypted email.

ACCESS TO AND RETENTION OF INFORMATION 

Clients of F2 Legal Counsel 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 PIPA to refuse to provide access to information that would reveal Personal Information about another individual;
  • organizations are authorized under PIPA to refuse access to Personal Information if disclosure would reveal confidential business information; and
  • 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 the reasons for the refusal. In some cases where exceptions to access apply, we may withhold that information and provide you with the remainder of the record.

You may make a request for access to your Personal Information by writing to our Privacy Officer, Christopher Spasoff, at the contact information on the F2 Legal Counsel website. 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, or request a correction of an error or omission in your Personal Information.

We will respond to your request 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.

We endeavor to keep information, personal and otherwise, only as long as it is required for the reasons it was collected, and to comply with legal retention requirements, or to respond to any issues that may arise in relation to the information, at a later date.  The length of time varies, depending on the product or service and the nature of the information. 

When your information is no longer required for F2 Legal Counsel purposes, we will employ procedures to destroy, delete, erase, or convert it into an anonymous format. 

Although operating throughout Western Canada, the principle place in which F2 Legal Counsel holds Personal Information is the City of Edmonton, Alberta. 

QUESTIONS / CONTACTING THE WEBSITE

If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this web site, please contact our Privacy Officer, Christopher Spasoff.

UPDATING THIS PRIVACY POLICY

F2 Legal Counsel may modify or amend this privacy policy at any time, without prior notice.  We may add, modify, or remove portions of this privacy policy when we feel it is appropriate to do so. Policy changes will apply to information collected from the date of posting the revised policy to the F2 Legal Counsel website, as well as to existing information held by F2 Legal Counsel.  You may determine when this privacy policy was last updated by referring to the modification date found at the bottom of this page.

 

(LAST REVISED: MARCH 2016)