Last Updated: July 2023
This Privacy Policy applies to all Personal Information collected by The IP House Lawyers Pty Ltd (ACN 606 474 962) (collectively ‘we’, ‘us’ and ‘our’) via the website located at http://www.theiphouse.com.au/ (Website).
We respect your right to privacy and are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our clients and website visitors. This policy sets out how we collect and treat your Personal Information.
We adhere to the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), and to the extent applicable, the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
You may contact us in writing for further information about this Privacy Policy.
- What is ‘Personal Information’?
(a) ‘Personal Information’ is the information we hold which is identifiable as being about you. This includes information such as your name, email address, identification number, date of birth, occupation, family status, bank details, signature, tax information or any other type of information that can reasonably identify an individual, either directly or indirectly.
(b) The Privacy Act currently defines ‘Personal Information’ as meaning information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:
(i) whether the information or opinion is true or not; and
(ii) whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.
(c) If information does not disclose your identity or enable your identity to be ascertained, it will in most cases not be classified as “Personal Information” and will not be subject to this Privacy Policy.
(d) Personal Information also includes sensitive personal information, including but not limited to individual health records, racial and ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, political opinions and association with organisations (Sensitive Personal Information).
2. What Information Do We Collect?
(a) The kind of Personal Information that we collect, receive, use, hold, handle and disclose from you will depend on how you use the Website.
(b) The Personal Information which we collect and hold about you may include but is not limited to:
(i) We may collect Personal Information from you whenever you input such information into the Website, such as your name, identification number or document, date of birth, signature, phone number, address and email address, bank details and tax information to enable us to send you information and provide services and support to you; and
(ii) We also collect cookies from your computer which enable us to tell when you use the Website and also to help customise your website experience. As a general rule, however, it is not possible to identify you personally from our use of cookies.
(c) We collect Personal Information from you in a variety of ways, which may include:
(i) when you interact with us electronically or in person;
(ii) when you access the Website; and
(iii) when we engage in business activities with you; and
(iv) when we receive Personal Information from third parties.
(d) By providing us with Personal Information, you consent to the supply of that information subject to the terms of this Privacy Policy.
(e) The Website may from time to time have links to other websites not owned or controlled by us. These links are meant for your convenience only. Links to third party websites do not constitute sponsorship or endorsement or approval of these websites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of other such websites. We encourage our users to be aware, when they leave the Website, to read the privacy statements of each and every website that collects personal identifiable information.
3. Purpose of Collection
(a) We only collect Personal Information that is reasonably necessary for the primary purpose of providing legal services, performing our contractual obligations related to our legal services to you or complying with any applicable laws. If we must collect Sensitive Personal Information for the purpose of providing legal services to you, we will first obtain your consent.
(b) We may also collect Personal Information that is reasonably necessary for the purpose of answering your inquiries about our legal services, informing you about our legal services relevant to you, securing funding related to disbursement or litigation, and improving our legal services, our business and business development.
(c) We may also collect Personal Information for our service providers who assist us in operating the Website. Your Personal Information may also be exposed from time to time to maintenance and support personnel acting in the ordinary course of their duties.
(d) You are not obliged to provide us with the requested Personal Information. If you withhold your Personal Information, it may not be possible for us to provide you with our legal services or for you to fully access the Website.
(e) If you provide us with another person’s Personal Information, you acknowledge and agree that you have already obtained their consent to provide Personal Information to us based on this Privacy Policy.
(f) By using the Website, you consent to the receipt of direct marketing material. We will use your Personal Information for this purpose if we have collected such information directly from you and if it were material of a type that you would reasonably expect to receive from us. You can request not to receive further communications of this nature by contacting us at the contact details in this Privacy Policy.
(g) If there is a change of control in our business or a sale or transfer of business assets, we reserve the right to transfer to the extent permissible at law our user databases, together with any Personal Information and non-Personal Information contained in those databases.
(h) You expressly understand and agree that we may collect, use, hold and handle the Personal Information about you in the course of providing you with legal services, conducting our business and complying with our obligations under applicable laws.
4. Access and Correction
(a) You may request details of Personal Information that we hold about you in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act and to the extent applicable to the EU GDPR.
(b) If you would like a copy of the information which we hold about you or believe that any information we hold on you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please contact us at the contact details in this Privacy Policy.
(c) We reserve the right to refuse to provide you with information that we hold about you, in certain circumstances set out in the Privacy Act or any other applicable laws.
5. Disclosure of your Personal Information
(a) We may disclose your Personal Information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, unions, professional advisers, agents, suppliers, subcontractors, or other service providers insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes outlined in Clause 3 of this Privacy Policy.
(b) We may disclose your Personal Information to a third party for the purposes outlined in Clause 3 of this Privacy Policy, which include but are not limited to courts, tribunals, government and regulatory organisations, other stakeholders in litigation, third parties or entities who assist us in providing legal services to you or provide you with legal services and any person with your consent.
(c) The transmission and exchange of information is carried out at your own risk. We cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us or receive from us. Although we take measures to safeguard against unauthorised disclosures of information, we cannot assure you that Personal Information that we collect will not be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy.
(d) You expressly understand and agree that we may disclose the Personal Information about you in the course of providing you with legal services, conducting our business and complying with our obligations under applicable laws.
6. Complaint Procedure
If you have a complaint concerning the manner in which we maintain the privacy of your Personal Information, please contact us at the contact details in this Privacy Policy. All complaints will be considered by our privacy officer, and we may seek further information from you to clarify your concerns. If we agree that your complaint is well-founded, we will, in consultation with you, take appropriate steps to rectify the problem. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome, you may refer the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
7. Overseas Transfer
(a) Your Personal Information will not be disclosed to recipients outside Australia unless you expressly request us to do so. If you request us to transfer your Personal Information to an overseas recipient, the overseas recipient will not be required to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, and we will not be liable for any mishandling of your information in such circumstances.
(b) For the purpose of consulting overseas-based experts and/or law practices regarding your matter, your Personal Information may be transferred to recipients located in, for example the EU where countries that are members of the EU,which have data protection laws that protect Personal Information in a way that is at least substantially similar to the Australian Privacy Principles, and there will be mechanisms available to you to enforce protection of your Personal Information under that overseas law. In the circumstances, we do not require overseas recipients to comply with the Australian Privacy Principles, and we will not be liable for a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles if your Personal Information is mishandled.
(c) For the purpose of consulting overseas-based experts and/or law practices regarding your China or other countries. You consent to us transferring your Personal Information to eg China or other countries in the knowledge that if your Personal Information is mishandled in that jurisdiction, we disclaim responsibility, and you will not have a remedy under Australian law.
(d) You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through the Website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.
8. European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
In some circumstances, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides additional protection to individuals located in the EU. Where this is the case, there may be additional rights and remedies available to you under the GDPR if your Personal Information is handled in a manner inconsistent with that law.
(a) We comply with your rights under the GDPR as to how your Personal Information is used and controlled if you are an individual residing in the EU.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in the GDPR, you have the following rights:
(i) to be informed how your Personal Information is being used;
(ii) access your Personal Information (we will provide you with a free copy of it);
(iii) to correct your Personal Information if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
(iv) to delete your Personal Information (also known as “the right to be forgotten”);
(v) to restrict processing of your Personal Information;
(vi) to retain and reuse your Personal Information for your own purposes;
(vii) to object to your Personal Information being used; and
(viii) to object against automated decision making and profiling.
(c) Please contact us at any time to exercise your rights under the GDPR at the contact details in this Privacy Policy.
(d) We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on any of your requests.
9. Change to Privacy Policy
Please be aware that this Privacy Policy may be updated by us from time to time to comply with new laws or accommodate the change in our business (Updates). Updates will be effective immediately from the date of their publication on the Website. Please check back from time to time to review our Privacy Policy.
10. How to Contact Us About privacy
If you have any queries, or if you seek access to your Personal Information, or if you have a complaint about our privacy practices, you can contact us at admin@theiphouse.com.au.