Rae And Company
The Personal Information Protection Act (“the Act”) came into effect in Alberta on January 1, 2004. The Act regulates the way private sector organizations within Alberta collect, use, keep, secure and disclose Personal Information in the course of a commercial activity. Personal Information means all information about an identifiable individual. Rae and Company recognizes the importance of privacy and recognizes the sensitivity of personal information received by us in the course of our legal practice.
We recognize our professional obligation to maintain the confidentiality of our clients’ information, and recognize our obligations concerning the personal information of all individuals that we collect, use or disclose in our practice. This policy has been developed with those obligations in mind.
Our Need for Personal Information
In order to be able to give professional legal advice to our clients, we need access to all relevant facts and information that relate to our retainer and to the representation of our clients. This information will necessarily include Personal Information about our clients and about individuals other than our clients.
What types of Personal Information do we collect?
The types of Personal Information that we may collect about an individual includes the individual’s name, home address, telephone number, personal email address, billing and account information, information about a client’s legal issue and other information incidental to providing legal advice and services (including Personal Information about witnesses, family members, beneficiaries, directors, officers, employees, adverse parties, parties-in-interest, investigators, decision makers, experts, other professional advisors and our clients’ business partners, investors, shareholders, competitors and customers whom are individuals).
Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
Where practical, we endeavor to collect personal information directly from the person to whom the information pertains. When necessary, we will collect personal information from other sources.
By retaining Rae and Company for legal advice or representation, an individual consents to our necessary collection, use or disclosure of the individual’s personal information in order to properly advise and represent the individual.
It is our policy to collect personal information about individuals other than our clients in accordance with the provisions of the Personal Information Protection Act.
The Act deems that an individual has consented to our collection, use or disclosure of personal information about that individual for a particular purpose if, at the time the consent is deemed to be given, the individual voluntarily provides the information for that particular purpose and if it is reasonable that a person would voluntarily provide that information. In such circumstances, we will collect, use or disclose personal information without obtaining a written or verbal consent to do so.
In addition to the circumstances outlined above, the Actalsopermits us to collect, use or disclose personal information about an individual in some circumstances without the individual’s consent. Those include (but are not limited to) circumstances in which:
- a reasonable person would consider that it is clearly in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way;
- another Act or regulation requires or allows for collecting information without consent;
- the information is provided by a public body under an enactment of Alberta or Canada;
- the collection is reasonable for the purposes of an investigation or legal proceedings;
- the personal information is publicly available as defined in the PIPA regulation.
When we collect, use or disclose personal information, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that it is accurate and complete.
Security of Personal Information
We recognize our professional and legal obligations to protect the confidential information of our clients. We recognize as well our legal obligations to protect the personal information we have gathered about our clients and about other individuals during the course of our practice of law.
We have therefore made arrangements to secure against the unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or destruction of personal information.
Requests for Access to Personal Information
The Act permits individuals to submit written requests to us to provide them with:
- their personal information under our custody or control;
- information about how their personal information under our control has been and is being used by us;
- the names of persons to whom and circumstances in which their personal information under our control has been and is being disclosed by us.
We will respond to requests in the time allowed by the Act and will make a reasonable effort to assist applicants and to respond as accurately and completely as reasonably possible. All requests may be subject to any fees and disbursements the law permits us to charge.
An individual’s ability to access his or her personal information under our control is not absolute. The Act provides that we must not disclose personal information when:
- to do so would be detrimental to our client
- the disclosure of the information could reasonably be expected to threaten the life or security of another individual;
- the information would reveal personal information about another individual;
- the information would reveal the identity of an individual who has in confidence provided an opinion about another individual and the individual providing the opinion does not consent to disclosure of his or her identity.
The Act further provides that we are not required to disclose personal information when:
- the information is protected by any legal privilege;
- the disclosure of the information would reveal confidential information that is of a commercial nature and it is not unreasonable to withhold that information;
- the information was collected for an investigation or legal proceeding;
- the disclosure of the information might result in that type of information no longer being provided to the organization when it is reasonable that that type of information would be provided;
- the information was collected by a mediator or arbitrator or was created in the conduct of a mediation or arbitration for which the mediator or arbitrator was appointed to act:
- under an agreement,
- under an enactment, or
- by a court.
- the information relates to or may be used in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.
Requests for Correction of Personal Information
The law permits individuals to submit written requests to us to correct errors or omissions in their personal information that is in our custody or control. We will:
- correct the information as soon as reasonably possible, and where we have disclosed the incorrect information to other organizations, send a notification containing the corrected information to each organization to which the incorrect information has been disclosed, if it is reasonable to do so; or<
- decide not to correct the personal information, but annotate the personal information that a correction was requested but not made.
Contacting or Communicating with Us
If you have any questions with respect to our policies concerning the handling of your personal information, or if you wish to request access to, or correction of, your personal information under our care and control, please contact our Privacy Officer:
L. Douglas Rae
Rae and Company
900, 1000 – 5 Avenue S.W.
Calgary, Alberta T2P 4V1
Phone: (403) 264 8389
Fax: (403) 264 8399
Email: [email protected]
If you are dissatisfied with our handling of your personal information, we invite you to contact our Privacy Officer in writing, setting out the reasons for your concern. If, after our Privacy Officer has reviewed and responded to your concern, you remain dissatisfied, you may wish to contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner at:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (Calgary)
Suite 2460, 801 6 Avenue SW
Calgary AB, T2P 3W2
Phone: (403) 297-2728
Fax: (403) 297-2711
Toll Free: 1-888-878-4044
Email: [email protected]