In the course of our business there may be circumstances where we collect personal information. Our privacy policy has been developed to ensure that such information is handled appropriately. We are committed to complying with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) in relation to all personal information we collect. This commitment is demonstrated in this policy. The Privacy Act incorporates the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The APPs set out the way in which personal information must be treated. Any personal information that we collect about you will only be used for the purposes for which we have collected it, or as allowed by law.  It is important to us that you are confident that any personal information we hold about you will be treated in a way which ensures protection of your personal information.

Who does this privacy policy apply to?

This policy applies to any person for whom we currently hold, or may in the future collect, personal information.

This policy does not apply to acts and practices which relate directly to the employee records of our current and former employees.

What information does this privacy policy apply to?

In broad terms, ‘personal information’ is information or opinions relating to a particular identifiable individual.

Information or opinions are not personal information where they cannot be linked to a particular individual.

Personal information 

When we refer to personal information we mean information from which your identity is reasonably apparent.  This information may include information or an opinion about you.  The personal information we hold about you may also include sensitive information or credit information. 

Credit information is information which is usually exchanged between credit and finance providers, credit reporting bodies and other entities that are involved in managing credit.

The kinds of personal information we may collect about you include your name, date of birth, address, account details, occupation, and any other information we made need to identify you or provide our services.

We may collect personal information from you directly, or via your use of our services.  We will only collect personal information which is reasonably necessary for, or directly related to, our functions and activities.

Credit information

In the course of providing legal services, we may collect and hold credit information.  The type of credit information that we hold may include details of your liabilities in respect of consumer credit, default information, and information about court proceedings.  If we collect or hold credit information we do so to assist in the management of the credit. 

You may access any credit information that we hold about you, seek correction of this information, or enquire about how we have used your credit information by using the contact details below.

We will acknowledge your enquiry within 7 days, and provide you with the outcome of our investigation within 30 days.

Why we collect your personal information

We collect personal information for the purposes of providing the services you have requested and managing our relationship with you. This occurs when you seek legal advice from us, attend a seminar, sign up to receive information from us, apply for a position with us or provide services to us.

We may also collect your personal information from our clients, where that information is necessary for us to act for them.

Sensitive information

Sensitive information is any information about a person’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, membership of a political association, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional, or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or practices, criminal record or health information.

We will not ask you to disclose sensitive information unless it is necessary for providing our services to you.  However, if you elect to provide unsolicited sensitive information, it may be captured and stored.

Do we use cookies?

We may use cookies in a limited manner when you visit our website, for the purpose of providing you with a better and more customised service.  Cookies are not used by us to collect and store your personal information.

A cookie is a small text placed on your computer by our web page server. A cookie can later be retrieved by our webpage services.  Cookies are frequently used on websites. You can choose if and how a cookie will be accepted by configuring your preferences and options in your internet browser.

We may use cookies for different purposes such as:

• to allocate a unique number to your internet browser;
• to customise our website for you;
• for statistical purposes;
• for security purposes; or
• to authenticate or identify whether you are registered on our web site, without requiring you to re-enter details each time you log on to our web site.
•  

If at any time you do not wish to accept cookies or wish to delete existing cookies, you may manually configure your browser to refuse cookies or may manually delete existing cookies from your hard drive.  However by deleting or refusing to accept cookies you may frustrate or hinder your access to or use of areas of our web site.

IP addresses

Your IP address is the identifier for your computer when you are using the internet.

It may be necessary for us to collect your IP address for your interaction with various parts of our website.

Do we disclose your personal information?

We may disclose your personal information the following parties:

• external service providers, so they can provide the service we have contracted out to them;
• companies that provide information and infrastructure systems to us;
• anybody who represents you;
• anyone, where you have provided us consent;
• investors, agents, advisers, or any entity that has an interest in our business;
• third parties who have instructed us to provide services; or
• organisations that provide products or services used or marketed by us.

Prior to disclosing any of your personal information to another person or organisation, we will take all reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that:

(a)  the person or organisation has a commitment to protecting your personal information at least equal to our commitment, or

(b)  you have consented to us making the disclosure.

We may use cloud storage to store the personal information we hold about you.  The cloud storage and the IT servers may be located outside Australia.

Mailing Lists

From time to time we may use your personal information to provide you with current information about legal issues that you may find of interest. 

If you do not wish to receive marketing information, you may at any time decline to receive such information by telephoning us on (07) 4148 6444, or by writing to us at admin@hintonlaw.com.au .  If the direct marketing is by email you may also use the unsubscribe function.

Updating your personal information

It is important to us that the personal information we hold about you is accurate and up to date.  During the course of our relationship with you we may ask you to inform us if any of your personal information has changed. 

If you wish to make any changes to your personal information, you may contact us.  We will generally rely on you to ensure the information we hold about you is accurate or complete.

Access and correction to your personal information

We will provide you with access to the personal information we hold about you.  You may request access to any of the personal information that we hold about you at any time.

Depending on the type of request that you make, we may respond to your request immediately. Otherwise, we usually respond to you within seven days of receiving your request.  We may need to contact other entities to properly investigate your request. 

There may be situations where we are not required to provide you with access to your personal information, for example, if the information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings, or if your request is vexatious.

An explanation will be provided to you if we deny you access to the personal information we hold about you.

If any of the personal information we hold about you is incorrect, inaccurate or out of date, you may request that we correct the information.  If appropriate, we will correct the personal information at the time of the request. Otherwise, we will provide an initial response to you within seven days of receiving your request.  Where reasonable, and after our investigation, we will provide you with details about whether we have corrected the personal information within 30 days.

We may need to consult with other entities as part of our investigation. 

If we refuse to correct your personal information, we will provide you with our reasons for not correcting the information. 

Using government identifiers

If we collect government identifiers, such as your tax file number, we will not use or disclose this information other than required by law.  We will never use a government identifier in order to identify you.

Business without identifying you

In most circumstances it will be necessary for us to identify you in order to successfully do business with you. However, where it is lawful and practicable to do so, we will offer you the opportunity to do business with us without providing us with personal information.

How safe and secure is your personal information that we hold?

We will take reasonable steps to protect your personal information by storing it in a secure environment.  We may store your personal information in paper and electronic form. We will also take reasonable steps to protect any personal information from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. 

What to do if you are not satisfied with the way we handle your personal information?

If you are dissatisfied with how we have dealt with your personal information, or you have a complaint about our compliance with the Privacy Act, please contact us on the details above.

We will acknowledge your complaint within seven days, and provide you with a decision on your complaint within 30 days.

If you are dissatisfied with the response of our complaints officer you may make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner which can be contacted via the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner website (www.oaic.gov.au) or on 1300 363 992.

Further information

You may request further information about the way we manage your personal information by contacting us on the details below.

Change in our privacy policy

We are constantly reviewing all of our policies and attempt to keep up to date with market expectations.  Technology is constantly changing, as is the law and market place practices. 

As a consequence we may change this privacy policy from time to time or as the need arises.