Privacy Policy

Provident Lawyers is committed to providing quality services to you and this policy outlines our ongoing obligations to you in respect of how we manage your Personal Information which we receive from users of our website at www.providentlawyers.com.au.

“Personal Information” for the purposes of this Policy is any information or an opinion that identifies an individual or makes the identity of an individual easily ascertainable.

We have adopted the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) contained in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (“the Privacy Act”) for managing your Personal Information. The APPs govern the way in which we collect, use, disclose, store, secure and dispose of your Personal Information.

You can find further information on the Privacy Act and copy of the APPs on the website of The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at www.oaic.gov.au.

Personal Information We Collect

We will need to collect Personal Information from you when you instruct us to act for you and in most cases where we have other business dealings with you. The nature of personal information we collect will depend on your dealings with us.

We regularly collect personal information such as your name, address, email address, phone number, facsimile numbers and any information you provide to us pertaining to you and your matter in order to assist us in providing our services or fulfilling enquiries or requests. We may also collect details such as your date of birth, your title and employer or organisation.

The kind of personal information that we collect from you will depend on how you use the website and We may collect personal information from you whenever you input such information into the website. Some other situations where we collect personal information include when:

(1)                providing you legal services;

(2)                we take instructions to provide you with legal services or when you inquire about us;

(3)                you provide us, or one of our staff members, with your business card;

(4)                you attend an event that we organise;

(5)                you subscribe to receive our publications on our website;

(6)                you apply for a job with us or submit an expression of interest application to us;  or

(7)                you supply goods or services to us.

This Personal Information is obtained in many ways including interviews, correspondence, by telephone and facsimile, by email, via our website at www.providentlawyers.com.au, from your website, from media and publications, from other publicly available sources, from cookies and from third parties.

We may offer links to sites that are not operated by Provident Lawyers. If you visit one of these linked sites, you should review their privacy and other policies. We are not responsible for the policies and practices of third parties and we don’t guarantee website links or policy of third parties.

Collection of Log Data

When you access our website, we collect information that your browser sends whenever you visit our Site (“Log Data“) for statistical purposes.  Log Data may include information such as your computer’s Internet Protocol (“IP”) address, browser type, browser version, the pages you accessed and documents downloaded, your top level domain name (for example .gov, .com, .au, .law, etc.), the time and date of your visit, the time spent on those pages and other statistics.

In addition, we may use third party services such as Google Analytics that collect, monitor and analyse any Log Data we collect for statistical and marketing purposes.

Provident Lawyers will not make an attempt to identify users or their browsing activities. However, in the unlikely event of an investigation, a law enforcement agency may exercise its legal authority to inspect our Internet Service Provider’s logs.

Cookies

Cookies are files with small amount of data, which may include an anonymous unique identifier. Cookies are sent to your browser from a web site and stored on your computer’s hard drive.

Like many sites, we use Cookies to collect information which enable us to tell when you use the website and also to help customise your website experience. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. However, if you do not accept cookies, you may not be able to use some portions of our website. As a general rule, however, it is not possible to identify you personally from our use of cookies.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

We collect your personal information for the primary purpose of providing our services to you, providing information to our clients and marketing. We may also use your Personal Information for secondary purposes closely related to the primary purpose, in circumstances where you would reasonably expect such use or disclosure.

Your personal information will only be used for these purposes and will not be shared, sold or given to any third parties, unless required or authorised under the exemptions set out in the Privacy Act.

We do not sell, rent or trade personal information to or with third parties. We will disclose personal information to the extent we deem appropriate in the circumstances of our relationship with you. Otherwise, we will not disclose personal information unless required by law or permitted under the Privacy Act. If we disclose your personal information to others, we will try to ensure that they undertake to comply with the NPPs in respect of it.

When we collect Personal Information we will, where appropriate and where possible, explain to you why we are collecting the information and how we plan to use it.

We may from time to time use Personal Information for purposes of sending invitations to educational or social functions or for purposes of disseminating information (which can be by way of newsletters, marketing or promotional material and other media) which we think may be of interest to our clients and contacts. You may unsubscribe from our mailing/marketing lists at any time by contacting us in writing.

Quality of Personal Information

We aim to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to-date.  To assist us with this, please contact us if any of the Personal Information you have provided changes and we will use all reasonable efforts to update the data.

Emails

Emails we receive from you will only be used or disclosed for the purposes given and are subject to the conditions set out in this privacy policy. There are inherent risks transmitting information across the Internet. Sending personal information in an email remains entirely at your own risk and Provident Lawyers will not be responsible for any unauthorised use of this information.

Overseas Transfers

We store the personal information that we collect in Australia. However, from time to time our IT suppliers and service providers may be required to access our server and the personal information that we hold on our server for assisting with resolving issues and maintenance.

Our IT suppliers and service providers are located in Australia as well as the UK and the USA.

Our arrangements with our IT suppliers and service providers:

(1)                ensure that at all time we maintain control of the information stored on our server; and

(2)                prohibit our IT suppliers and service providers from using or disclosing personal information for purposes other than providing services to us.

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 APPs and we will not be liable for any mishandling of your information in such circumstances.

GDPR

In some circumstances, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) provides additional protection to individuals located in Europe. The fact that you may be located in Europe does not, however, on its own entitle you to protection under the GDPR. Our website does not specifically target customers located in the European Union and we do not monitor the behaviour of individuals in the European Union, and accordingly the GDPR does not apply.

Sensitive Information

Sensitive information is defined in the Privacy Act to include information or opinion about such things as an individual’s racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association, religious or philosophical beliefs, membership of a trade union or other professional body, criminal record or health information.

Sensitive information will be used by us only:

(1)                For the primary purpose for which it was obtained

(2)                For a secondary purpose that is directly related to the primary purpose

(3               With your consent; or where required or authorised by law.

Third Parties

Where reasonable and practicable to do so, we will collect your Personal Information only from you. However, in some circumstances we may be provided with information by third parties. In such a case we will take reasonable steps to ensure that you are made aware of the information provided to us by the third party.

Security of Personal Information

We are committed to keeping the data you provide to us secure and we will take all reasonable precautions to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, modification or disclosure.

Your Personal Information is stored in a manner that reasonably protects it from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.

When your Personal Information is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was obtained, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify your Personal Information. However, most of the Personal Information is or will be stored in client files which will be kept by us for a minimum of 7 years.

The security of your Personal Information is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

Access to your Personal Information

You may access the Personal Information we hold about you and to update and/or correct it, subject to certain exceptions. If you wish to access your Personal Information, please contact us in writing, marked to the attention of Yikai Hoe.

Provident Lawyers will not charge any fee for your access request, but may charge an administrative fee for providing a copy of your Personal Information.

In order to protect your Personal Information we may require identification from you before releasing the requested information.

Maintaining the Quality of your Personal Information

It is an important to us that your Personal Information is up to date. We  will  take reasonable steps to make sure that your Personal Information is accurate, complete and up-to-date. If you find that the information we have is not up to date or is inaccurate, please advise us as soon as practicable so we can update our records and ensure we can continue to provide quality services to you.

Policy Updates

This Policy may change from time to time and is available on our website. Provident Lawyers reserves the right to change this policy at any time and it is advisable to review this privacy policy periodically for changes.

This Privacy Policy is effective as of 8 August 2020 and will remain in effect except with respect to any changes in its provisions in the future, which will be in effect immediately after being posted on this page.

We reserve the right to update or change our Privacy Policy at any time and you should check this Privacy Policy periodically. Your continued use of the Service after we post any modifications to the Privacy Policy on this page will constitute your acknowledgment of the modifications and your consent to abide and be bound by the modified Privacy Policy.

If we make any material changes to this Privacy Policy, we will notify you either through the email address you have provided us, or by placing a prominent notice on our website.

Privacy Policy Enquiries

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us.

 

Last updated: 8 August 2020