Look, we get it. Privacy policies can be a real snooze-fest, but this stuff actually matters when you're dealing with legal services. At Quantira Velos, we've been handling sensitive corporate information for years, and we take your privacy just as seriously as we take our clients' confidential business matters.
This policy lays out how we collect, use, and protect your personal information when you interact with us - whether that's through our website, email, phone calls, or in-person meetings. We've tried to keep the legalese to a minimum (ironic, we know), but there are some technical bits we gotta include to stay compliant with Canadian privacy laws.
Bottom line: Your information stays protected, and we'll never sell it to third parties. That's not how we roll.
Here's what we typically gather when you reach out or work with us:
We'll only ask for what we actually need to provide legal services or respond to your inquiries. We're not in the business of collecting unnecessary information.
We use the information we collect for legitimate business purposes, mainly to provide you with top-notch legal services. Here's the breakdown:
This is the big one. We use your info to actually do the legal work you've hired us for - drafting contracts, handling litigation, advising on M&A deals, ensuring compliance, protecting your IP, and managing employment matters. Can't really represent you without knowing who you are and what your situation involves.
We'll use your contact details to respond to inquiries, send case updates, schedule meetings, and provide legal advice. Sometimes we'll share relevant legal developments that might impact your business, but we're not gonna spam you with newsletters unless you've specifically asked for them.
Gotta keep the lights on, right? We use your information for invoicing, payment processing, maintaining client records, and managing our business operations. Pretty standard stuff for any professional services firm.
As lawyers, we're bound by various professional obligations and regulations. We may need to use your information to comply with court orders, respond to regulatory inquiries, prevent fraud, or fulfill our duties under the Law Society rules.
The technical data helps us understand how people use our site so we can make it better. Nothing creepy - just basic analytics to improve user experience.
We don't just hand out your information to anyone who asks. Here are the limited situations where we might share your data:
If you've given us explicit permission to share your information with specific third parties, we'll do so. This might include opposing counsel in a transaction, co-counsel on complex matters, or other parties you've directed us to communicate with.
We work with trusted vendors who help us run our practice - think cloud storage providers, legal research platforms, billing software, and IT support. These folks are bound by confidentiality agreements and only get access to what they need to do their jobs.
If we're legally required to disclose information - like in response to a valid court order, subpoena, or regulatory demand - we'll comply with those obligations. We'll generally try to notify you first unless we're prohibited from doing so.
In the unlikely event that we merge with another firm or sell our practice, your information might be transferred as part of that transaction. Any successor would still be bound by this privacy policy.
What we DON'T do: We don't sell your information to marketers, data brokers, or anyone else. That's a hard line for us.
Security isn't just an IT thing for us - it's fundamental to maintaining attorney-client privilege and confidentiality. We've implemented multiple layers of protection:
Look, no system is 100% bulletproof, but we're doing everything reasonably possible to keep your information secure. If there's ever a breach that affects your data, we'll notify you promptly as required by law.
Yeah, we use cookies, but not the tasty kind. These are small text files that help our website function properly and give us insights into how it's being used.
These are necessary for the website to work correctly. They handle things like maintaining your session when you navigate between pages and remembering your preferences. We can't really turn these off without breaking the site.
We use tools like Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with our site - which pages are popular, how long people spend reading content, where they're coming from, etc. This helps us improve the site and create better content. The data is anonymized and aggregated.
These remember your choices and provide enhanced features. For example, if you've filled out a contact form before, these might remember some of your details to save you time.
You can control cookies through your browser settings. Most browsers let you block or delete cookies, though this might affect how our website functions. Check your browser's help section for instructions on managing cookies.
We don't use advertising cookies or allow third-party advertisers to track you on our site. We're a law firm, not an ad platform.
Under Canadian privacy laws, particularly PIPEDA, you've got several rights when it comes to your personal information:
You can request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. We'll provide it within a reasonable timeframe, usually within 30 days. There might be some exceptions where legal privilege applies, but we'll explain those if relevant.
If you believe any information we have is inaccurate or incomplete, you can ask us to correct it. We'll update our records or, if there's a legitimate reason not to, we'll note your requested correction in the file.
In some circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal information. However, there are limits here - we might need to retain certain information for legal or professional reasons (like maintaining client files for regulatory compliance or defending against potential claims).
You can object to certain uses of your information, particularly for marketing purposes. Just let us know and we'll honor your preferences.
If we're processing your information based on consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. Keep in mind this might affect our ability to provide certain services.
Just reach out to us using the contact information at the bottom of this page. We'll respond to your request within the timeframes required by law. There's no charge for most requests, though we might charge a reasonable fee for excessive or repetitive requests.
We don't keep your information forever, but we can't just delete it immediately either. Here's our approach:
While we're actively representing you, we'll maintain all relevant information for as long as necessary to provide legal services and fulfill our professional obligations.
After a matter concludes, we're required by the Law Society to retain client files for a minimum period - typically seven to ten years, depending on the type of work. This protects both you and us in case questions arise later about the legal services provided.
Tax regulations require us to keep billing and financial records for at least seven years. Can't argue with the CRA on this one.
For matters involving litigation or disputes, we typically retain files longer due to potential limitation periods and the possibility of appeals or related proceedings.
If you contacted us for a consultation but didn't become a client, we'll keep that information for a reasonable period (usually a couple of years) in case you reach out again, then delete it.
Once the retention period expires and there's no legal reason to keep the information, we'll securely dispose of it - either through secure deletion for electronic records or confidential shredding for paper documents.
Privacy laws and best practices evolve, and so does our business. We might need to update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or technology.
When we make significant changes, we'll update the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and notify active clients by email. For minor updates (like fixing typos or clarifying existing practices), we'll just update the date.
We encourage you to review this policy periodically, especially if you're a regular visitor to our site or an ongoing client. Continued use of our services after changes are posted means you're cool with the updated policy.
If you have concerns about any changes we make, reach out to us and we'll discuss them with you.
If you've got questions about this privacy policy, want to exercise any of your rights, or have concerns about how we're handling your information, don't hesitate to reach out. We're here to help and take this stuff seriously.
Quantira Velos Legal Services
Privacy Officer
1250 Bay Street, Suite 1800
Toronto, ON M5R 2A5
Canada
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
If you're not satisfied with how we've addressed your privacy concerns, you have the right to file a complaint with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at www.priv.gc.ca