Anzarut & Partners Pty Ltd and its related law practice operations, referred to in this Privacy Policy as Anzarut & Partners, we, us or our, respects your privacy and is committed to protecting personal information handled by us in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), the Australian Privacy Principles and any other applicable privacy laws.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information, how you may access or correct your personal information, and how you may contact us if you have any privacy questions or concerns.
The personal information we collect depends on the nature of your dealings with us. It may include your name, job title, organisation, contact details, identification information, billing and payment information, information contained in correspondence, instructions or documents provided to us, information relevant to legal matters in which we act, and website usage information such as IP addresses, browser details, device information and cookies.
In some circumstances we may collect sensitive information, including health information, criminal record information, membership of a professional or trade association, financial information, information about legal proceedings, or other information required for the provision of legal services. We will only collect sensitive information where permitted by law, where it is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities, or where you have consented to its collection.
We usually collect personal information directly from you when you communicate with us, provide instructions, complete forms, send us documents, use our website, attend meetings, contact us by telephone or email, or otherwise interact with us.
We may also collect personal information from clients, counterparties, other lawyers, barristers, courts, tribunals, regulators, government agencies, service providers, publicly available sources, professional advisers, company searches, land title searches, sanctions or identity verification checks, and other persons or organisations involved in a matter.
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for purposes connected with our legal practice, including to provide legal services, manage client relationships, identify and verify clients and relevant parties, conduct conflict checks, comply with professional obligations, comply with anti-money laundering, counter-terrorism financing, sanctions, taxation and other legal and regulatory requirements, open and maintain files, communicate with you, issue invoices, recover debts, manage trust money where applicable, operate and improve our website and systems, and administer our business.
We may also use your personal information to send you legal updates, invitations, newsletters or other communications which may be of interest to you. You may opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by contacting us or using any unsubscribe facility provided.
We may disclose personal information where reasonably necessary for our legal practice or where permitted or required by law. Recipients may include barristers, experts, consultants, other lawyers, courts and tribunals, regulators, government agencies, banks, insurers, auditors, accountants, IT and document management providers, search providers, process servers, mediators, arbitrators, external storage providers, debt recovery providers, professional indemnity insurers, and other persons or organisations involved in a matter.
We may also disclose personal information to comply with our legal, professional, ethical or regulatory obligations, to protect our rights or interests, to respond to lawful requests, subpoenas, notices or court orders, or where you have consented to the disclosure.
Some of our service providers, including technology, cloud storage, email, document management, search, verification, accounting or support service providers, may store or process information outside Australia. The countries in which those providers are located may vary from time to time and may include the United States, the United Kingdom, countries within the European Union, Singapore, New Zealand and other jurisdictions where our service providers or their subcontractors operate.
Where we disclose personal information overseas, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that the disclosure is consistent with applicable privacy laws, subject to any exceptions that may apply under the Privacy Act.
We may hold personal information in physical files, electronic systems, practice management systems, email systems, cloud-based platforms, secure databases and archival storage. We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Those steps may include access controls, password protection, secure document storage, staff confidentiality obligations, information security procedures, provider due diligence, system monitoring, secure disposal practices and other administrative, technical and physical safeguards appropriate to the nature of the information we hold.
Information provided to us in connection with the provision of legal services may be subject to duties of confidentiality and, in some cases, legal professional privilege. Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to waive legal professional privilege or authorise disclosure of information contrary to our professional duties.
When you visit our website, we may collect information about your visit, including your IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed, time spent on the website, referring website and other usage information. We may use cookies, analytics tools and similar technologies to improve the functionality, security and performance of our website.
You can usually adjust your browser settings to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being used. Some parts of our website may not function properly if cookies are disabled.
You may request access to personal information we hold about you or ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.
There may be circumstances in which we are not required to provide access or correction, including where legal professional privilege, confidentiality, court processes, professional obligations or other legal exceptions apply. If we refuse a request, we will explain our reasons where it is reasonable and lawful to do so.
If you have a question, concern or complaint about the way we handle personal information, please contact us using the details below. Please provide enough information for us to understand and assess your concern. We will acknowledge your complaint and seek to respond within a reasonable time.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to comply with legal, professional, regulatory, accounting, insurance and archival obligations. In relation to client files, we may retain documents and records for minimum periods required or recommended under applicable professional obligations and our document retention practices.
When personal information is no longer required, we will take reasonable steps to destroy it or de-identify it, subject to any legal or professional obligations requiring retention.
If we become aware of a suspected or actual data breach involving personal information, we will assess the matter and take steps required by law, including under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme where applicable.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our information handling practices, legal requirements or business operations. The current version will be available on our website.