Your privacy is important to us, which is why we want to ensure that the information you provide to us is protected. Before interacting with us, our website or any of our services, please read this policy which sets out what information we collect from you and how we use it.
This policy forms part of any costs agreement you enter into with us and you consent to our use of your information in accordance with this policy by accepting the terms of our costs agreement.
If you have any questions about this policy please contact us.
What information do we collect and hold?
We may collect and hold a variety of information from you. This may include information which can be used to personally identify you (Personal Information). Some types of information we may collect, depending on the services we provide you with, include your:
- name;
- age and date of birth;
- e-mail address;
- street address;
- telephone number and other contact details;
- credit card details;
- bank account details; and
- photographic identification;
- government identifier details;
- business, employment, legal, personal and financial situation details;
- details about your computer, location, browser, operating system, internet service provider and statistical metadata when you use our website or online services; and
- any other information you disclose to us through interacting with us or our services.
It is optional for you to provide us with Personal Information. However, we may not be able to provide some or all of our services to you without certain Personal Information.
How do we collect information?
How we collect and store your information depends on what services you require from us and how you interact with us.
We generally collect information directly from you when you:
- meet with us;
- call us;
- send us emails;
- provide us with letters, documents or other correspondence;
- provide information to us via our website or our social media pages.
We may also collect your information from third parties such as:
- our business partners and contractors;
- other service providers affiliated with you, such as your accountant or financial advisor;
- government bodies, departments or agencies;
- anyone who forwards us correspondence from or about you;
- publicly available sources;
- cookies and other data tracking technologies.
How do we store information?
We take the security and confidentiality of your information seriously.
Any information held by us is stored on our business premises in Mooloolaba, Australia and/or stored digitally on the cloud or third party servers. Stored information about you may be combined or linked with any other information about you that we hold, including any information we receive from third parties.
Stripe Payments Australia Pty Ltd ACN 160 180 343 (Stripe) processes any payments made through our website on our behalf. Information collected by Stripe will be handled in accordance with Stripe’s Privacy Policy.
We have taken all reasonable steps, including implementing security systems and protocols, to prevent any misuse, loss, interference, modification or unauthorised access or disclosure of the information held by us and require our contractors to do the same.
We will only retain your information for as long as necessary:
- to fulfil the purposes for which the information was obtained;
- for any other purpose you have consented to;
- for our legitimate business purposes as outlined in this policy; and
- as required by law.
What do we use your information for?
We hate junk mail as much as you do – we will never sell your information to third parties.
We collect, hold, use and disclose (as applicable) your information:
- to verify your identity;
- to communicate with you (e.g. via email, phone or post);
- to third party service providers engaged by you or us (e.g. your accountant);
- to provide you with our legal advice and services and to conduct legal research;
- to provide you with news, promotional offers and information on products and services offered by us, our clients and our business partners;
- to process payments and to collect and pay any amount on your behalf or to make a payment to you;
- to provide information to our related bodies corporate and third party service providers such as search providers, payment processors, data hosting partners and IT service providers in order to carry out our business operations;
- for our marketing, planning, research, maintenance and administrative purposes;
- to investigate any complaint made by or against you or to investigate any unlawful or improper use of our services;
- to government agencies or government databases where required by law, as part of investigation, enforcement action or legal proceedings or as part of our services;
- to third parties as part of a transfer of our assets should we propose or proceed to sell, merge or otherwise alter ownership of our business;
- to initiate or respond to a claim or other legal action;
- to monitor and improve our services;
- to obtain statistical and geographic information and reports about your use of the internet and our services;
- to exercise or defend our rights, including disclosing information to credit reporting agencies, courts, tribunals and other regulatory agencies; and
- as otherwise permitted or required by law.
When Personal Information is disclosed by us to third parties as above, it will only be disclosed to that party to the extent necessary for the disclosure purpose identified.
Where we determine it is appropriate and viable to do so, we will attempt to carry out the above listed purposes without using Personal Information or by de-identifying Personal Information first.
Except where retention is required by law, we will take reasonable steps to de-identify or destroy any Personal Information where it is no longer needed for the purposes provided for in this policy.
Third Party Interactions
You may interact with third parties in connection with our services. Any services or content provided by a third party may be subject to that party’s own privacy and data collection policies and practices which may vary from our own and which we recommend you familiarise yourself with.
Please do not provide us with Personal Information of a third party unless requested by us. If you provide us with Personal Information about a third party, you warrant that you have the consent of that third party to provide that Personal Information.
If you provide us with Personal Information online you will need to ensure that the information is not intercepted by a third party before it reaches us.
We may send and receive electronic mail from you. Please note that this mail may not be secure and could be copied, read or interfered with by a third party prior to delivery. You release us from any claim in relation to any loss or damage arising in connection with the transmission of information via electronic means.
International Disclosure of Personal Information
Our office and business operations are based in Australia however we may use third party data hosts and other service providers who are located internationally, including in the United States and India, to assist with our business operations. Accordingly, your Personal Information may be disclosed outside of Australia, however we take reasonable steps to ensure that overseas recipients handle your Personal Information in accordance with this policy.
Accessing, updating and deleting your Personal Information
You have a right to request access to and seek correction of any Personal Information we hold about you, such as information which you believe is incorrect, incomplete, outdated, misleading or irrelevant. You may also request additional information from us regarding the purposes for which we process your Personal Information and the types of third parties to whom we disclose your Personal Information. We may charge a reasonable access fee for fulfilling information access requests.
If you wish to exercise any of the above rights in relation to your Personal Information, you can make this request via the email or postal contact details at the end of this policy.
Queries
If you have any complaints, comments or concerns regarding this policy, please first contact us directly via the details at the end of this policy. We will endeavour to get back to you as soon as possible, but we ask that you allow us up to 30 days to respond before taking any other action. We will investigate any complaint in a timely manner and advise you of the outcome of our investigation, including what steps, if any, we propose to take to handle or remedy the complaint.
Contact Details
For any queries relating to this policy, please contact:
Managing Director
New Era Lawyers Pty Ltd
PO Box 1076
Mooloolaba, Queensland
Australia 4557
+ 61 (07) 5444 5496
[email protected]
Updates
We may update this policy from time to time; the most current version of this policy will always apply. We may notify you of updates to this policy by email.
Last updated: 4 March 2020