Privacy Policy
1. Protecting Your Privacy. This Privacy Policy applies to Melissa Agnes ("Agnes", "we", "us", "our") and explains how we collect, use, and disclose personal information in Canada. In general, "personal information" is information about an identifiable individual, subject to more particular definitions or interpretations under applicable law. This Privacy Policy does not apply to personal information about employees, partners, or other temporary or permanent staff, consultants, volunteers, or other individuals assigned to Agnes (each, an "Agnes Member"), or to any information that is not personal information as defined in or interpreted under applicable law. Agnes offers and provides services and information to a wide range of clients. We collect, use, and disclose personal information as necessary to offer and provide clients and potential clients with certain services and information and generally to fulfill our responsibilities with respect to our business.
2. The Information We Collect and How We Use It. (a) The types of personal information we collect and use in relation to clients and potential clients will depend upon the information and services requested. However, subject to applicable law, it may include: (i) name, address, email address, contact details, nature of the client, or potential client, financial, credit, billing, and account information, and other incidental information relating to the services we provide; (ii) information material to your business, for example, financial, property ownership, family, employment, disciplinary, benefit, or tax information, and any other information you give to us when you engage us; (iii) information about individuals we collect in the course of acting for clients, including personal information about employees of clients, referrals, counterparties and consultants; (iv) information about you contained in communications within Agnes and between us and you, whether online or offline; and (v) information we may collect with your consent or as permitted or required by law. We use this information: (i) to assess whether we are able to work with you; (ii) to offer and provide services and deliverables to you; (iii) to communicate with you regarding the services you request and to respond to your requests and inquiries; (iv) to administer our client time and billing databases and issue and collect accounts; (v) to provide you with material on our services and to invite you to Agnes seminars and functions; (vi) to develop and use our knowledge management systems and permit Agnes Members to consult documents that we have created on your behalf and that contain personal information; (vii) to manage and administer our business, including to avoid negligence and protect you and us against error; and (viii) as permitted or required by law or for purposes for which you otherwise provide your consent. If you do not wish to receive further materials about our services or if you do not wish to receive further invitations to seminars and functions, you may unsubscribe or ask us not to contact you for these purposes.
(b) If you apply for a position at Agnes, we will collect the personal information contained in, and generated in relation to, your application package, in order to evaluate your application and assess whether to offer you a position at Agnes. For candidates who are not offered or do not accept a position, we normally retain this information for a reasonable period in the event that an appropriate position becomes available or that you reapply to Agnes. If you accept a position at Agnes, the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures applicable to the personal information of Agnes Members.
(c) Agnes may collect information about third-party agents, vendors and suppliers (each, a "Service Provider") who provide goods, services, and information to Agnes. This information may include name and contact information as well as any information (such as banking information) that we need to pay you for your services and other relevant information, such as experience and qualifications of Service Providers. We use this information in order to assess suitability for particular assignments, to contact you, where necessary, in relation to the goods, services and information you are providing to Agnes, and to pay you for your services. We may also use this information to provide you with material regarding our services or developments in the law or to invite you to Agnes seminars and functions. If you do not wish to receive further materials about our services or if you do not wish to receive further invitations to seminars and functions, you may unsubscribe or ask us not to contact you for these purposes.
3. How We Collect Information About You. (a) We typically collect personal information directly from you or through our interaction with you. However, sometimes we may obtain personal information about you from other sources. (b) In relation to clients, in addition to personal information that you provide, we may collect personal information from: (i) a government agency or registry; (ii) third parties; and (iii) law firms or agents who have acted for you in the past or are currently acting for you, where these parties have information relevant to the matter in respect of which we are engaged by you. (c) In relation to potential Agnes Members, in addition to personal information that you provide, we may collect personal information from: (i) the third parties you provide as references in support of your application; and (ii) individuals involved in the evaluation and review process.
4. How We Disclose and Share Your Information. (a) We may disclose the personal information we collect about clients or other individuals we deal with to third parties, including: (i) where we are required or authorized by law to do so; (ii) where it is necessary to collect fees, for instance, to a financial institution or collection agent; (iii) to regulatory (including self-regulatory) or governmental authorities; (iv) where you have instructed us to disclose your personal information to a third party for a designated purpose; (v) where we reasonably believe a third party requesting your information is your agent; and (vi) where you consent or as permitted or required by law. (b) Agnes may also transfer your personal information to our Service Providers hired to administer or provide products, services or information on our behalf. We use reasonable measures to require the organizations with whom we share your personal information for these purposes to use your personal information only to perform the services we have hired them to provide. Note that some of the Service Providers that process or handle personal information on our behalf are located outside of Canada. As a result, your personal information may be transferred, stored and/or processed outside Canada in connection with the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. Contractual or other measures we may use to protect your personal information are subject to the legal requirements of the foreign jurisdictions where your personal information may be transferred, stored or processed, for example, lawful requirements to disclose information to government authorities in those countries. (c) We may also use and disclose certain personal information to parties connected with the proposed or actual financing, insuring, sale or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets, for purposes connected to evaluating and performing the transaction. These purposes may include determining whether to proceed with the transaction or business relationship, or fulfilling any records or other reporting requirements to those parties. Where applicable, we will take steps to require that such parties treat your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and use and disclose it only for the purposes for which it was collected, including to provide the services or information that Agnes would otherwise provide to you and generally to carry on Agnes business.
5.Our Website. The only personal information that we collect about you when you use our website is what you tell us about yourself, for example, by completing an online form when you request receipt of a Agnes publication, or information you provide to us through the "Contact Us" section or when you send us an email. As most websites do, we track usage patterns on our website on an anonymous basis. Your identity cannot reasonably be ascertained from this information. Each time you visit our website, our server records your Internet service provider, the date and time of your visit, the pages you visit and the documents downloaded, the searches you performed, and the referring URLs you came from. We use this non-personal information to optimize our website service. For your convenience, we may offer links from our website to other websites. However, Agnes is not responsible for, nor do we accept any liability for, the personal information collection, use, and disclosure practices of other entities to which our website may link. You should consult the privacy policies of these other entities before providing any personal information on their websites.
6. Your Consent. We collect, use and disclose your personal information with your consent or as permitted or required by law. Your consent may be express or implied, depending on the circumstances and the sensitivity of the personal information in question. For example, in most cases, a client's consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information by Agnes may be implied by the fact that the client has engaged Agnes to provide services, where the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information relates to the performance of those services by Agnes. If you provide personal information about another person to us, we assume you have the consent of that individual to enable us to collect, use, or disclose their information as described in this policy. If you choose to provide personal information to Agnes, we assume that you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as outlined in this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent, please do not provide your personal information or, where applicable, exercise the opt-in or opt-out options offered. Subject to legal and contractual requirements and reasonable notice, you may refuse to consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information or you may withdraw your consent to our further collection, use, and disclosure of information about you, by contacting us via email at melissa@melissaagnes.com. Note that if you withdraw your consent to certain uses of your personal information, we may no longer be able to provide certain of our services. There are instances where Agnes may collect, use, or disclose your personal information without your consent, for example, to collect a debt you owe to us, to comply with a subpoena or court order, or to comply with the rules of court regarding the production of records.
7. Security. Agnes has implemented reasonable physical, organizational, and technological security measures to safeguard the personal information in our custody or control. These include safeguards to protect personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. Authorized Agnes Members, agents, and mandatories have access to your personal information. You can generally visit the Agnes website without providing any personal information. However, given that electronically submitted data is not one hundred percent (100%) secure, we make no warranties as to the security of any such personal information that you submit, which you do at your own risk.
8. Access, Correction, Inquiries, and Complaints. We maintain a file of your personal information for the above-mentioned purposes. If you wish to request access to, or correction of, your personal information in custody or control of Agnes, please make your request in writing to us at the address below. We may need to verify your identity before searching for or providing you with personal information. In some circumstances, we may not provide access to your personal information, for example, if it contains the personal information of other persons, if it constitutes confidential commercial information, or if it is otherwise not properly the subject of an access request. It is important that your personal information be accurate and up to date. Please inform us as soon as possible of any changes to your personal information. If you have any questions, requests or complaints about our personal information practices, please contact us at Melissa Agnes via email at melissa@melissaagnes.com.
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy. Agnes reserves the right to change this Privacy Policy at any time, and we will take reasonable steps to advise affected individuals of any material changes, if necessary. However, you should review this Privacy Policy from time to time to ensure that you are aware of and accept any changes made. You may contact us at the address, email address, or telephone number above to obtain a current copy of this Privacy Policy.