We take our privacy obligations seriously and we are committed to making sure that we handle personal information and complying with the Australian Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act).

This privacy policy sets out how we store, maintain, use and disclose personal information.  Personal information is defined in the Privacy Act to mean any information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not, and whether or not the information or opinion is recorded in a material form.

By providing personal information to us, you consent to our storage, maintenance, use and disclose of your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. We may change this privacy policy from time to time by posting an updated copy on our website and we encourage you to check our website regularly to ensure that you are aware of our most current privacy policy.

Types of Personal Information We Collect

The personal information we collect about you may include the following:

  • contact details such as name, role or position, address, email address, mobile number, landline number and fax number;
  • information relating to your circumstances and affairs relevant to the matter/s in which we are instructed; 
  • information about your legal interests and requirements and the legal services that you may wish to purchase;
  • information about your business or personal circumstances;
  • information in connection with client surveys, questionnaires and promotions;
  • your device identity and type, IP address, geo-location information, page view statistics, advertising data and standard web log information; and
  • any other information provided by you to us via this website or our online presence, or otherwise required by us or provided by you.

How We Collect Personal Information

We may collect personal information either directly from you, or from third parties, including when you:

  • you contact us with a question or inquiry;
  • you subscribe to our newsletter or legal updates service;
  • you attend a seminar or event where we are hosting or presenting;
  • you instruct us to act for you and we open a file and conduct a conflict  check;
  • our clients provide information relating to related and adverse parties relevant to the advice or services we are providing;
  • we undertake a search or investigation;

We may also collect personal information from you when you use or access our website or our social media pages. This may be done through use of web analytics tools (including Google Analytics), ‘cookies’ or other similar tracking technologies that allow us to track and analyse your website usage. Cookies are small files that store information on your computer, mobile phone or other device and enable and allow the creator of the cookie to identify when you visit different websites. If you do not wish information to be stored as a cookie, you can disable cookies in your web browser.

Where practicable we collect personal information about you directly from you.     However, we may have collected information about you from a third party such as a    client, a third party information provider, the courts or a person responding to our questions or inquiries.

We are required to collect the full name and address of our clients by the Solicitors Rules made under the Legal Profession Act 2004 (NSW). Accurate name and address information must also be collected in order to comply with the trust account record keeping requirements in the Legal Profession Regulation 2005(NSW) and to comply with our duty to the courts.

If you are a client and do not provide us with name and address information we cannot act for you. 

If you do not provide us with accurate personal information we may not be able to carry out our instructions or achieve the purpose for which the information has been sought.

Why We Collect, Hold, Use and Disclose Personal Information

We collect, hold and use personal information in order to:

  • respond to your requests for consultations, quotes or legal advice;
  • provide services or information to you;
  • undertake record keeping and administrative purposes;
  • provide information about you to our contractors, employees, consultants, agents or other third parties for the purpose of providing services to you;
  • to improve and optimise our service offering and customer experience;
  • to comply with our legal obligations, resolve disputes or enforce our agreements with third parties;
  • to send you marketing and promotional messages and other information that may be of interest to you and for the purpose of direct marketing (in accordance with the Spam Act). In this regard, we may use email, SMS, social media or mail to send you direct marketing communications. You can opt out of receiving marketing materials from us by using the opt-out facility provided (e.g. an unsubscribe link);
  • to send you administrative messages, reminders, notices, updates, security alerts, and other information requested by you; and
  • to consider an application of employment from you.

Our disclosures of personal information to third parties

We may disclose personal information to:

  • our employees, contractors and/or related entities;
  • IT service providers, data storage, web-hosting and server providers such as Google;
  • third party contractors, technology service providers and suppliers that assist us with providing our business processes, products and services. This may include artificial intelligence models;
  • marketing or advertising providers such as Google, Facebook and Bing;
  • third parties involved in hosting or organising events or seminars; 
  • our talent management software application, that assists us with our recruitment process;
  • professional advisors, bankers, auditors, our insurers and insurance brokers;
  • payment systems operators such as Stripe;
  • our existing or potential agents or business partners;
  • third parties as part of an actual or proposed acquisition, disposal, merger or similar of our business or entering into a joint venture, collaboration or referral arrangement;
  • courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities, in the event you fail to pay for services we have provided to you;
  • courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities and law enforcement officers, as required or authorised by law, in connection with any actual or prospective legal proceedings, or in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights; 
  • third parties to collect and process data, such as Google Analytics (To find out how Google uses data when you use third party websites or applications, please see www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/ or any other URL Google may use from time to time), Mouseflow or other relevant analytics businesses; and
  • any other third parties as required or permitted by law, such as where we receive a subpoena.

We are bound by strict confidentiality requirements as lawyers. All of your confidential information will be handled in accordance with our professional obligations.

We may have enabled Google Analytics Advertising Features including remarketing features and advertising reporting features. We and third-party vendors may use first-party cookies (such as the Google Analytics cookie) or other first-party identifiers, and third-party cookies (such as Google advertising cookies) or other third-party identifiers together. 

You can opt-out of Google Analytics Advertising Features including using a Google Analytics Opt-out Browser add-on found here. To opt-out of personalised ad delivery on the Google content network, please visit Google’s Ads Preferences Manager here or if you wish to opt-out permanently even when all cookies are deleted from your browser you can install their plugin here.  To opt out of interest-based ads on mobile devices, please follow these instructions for your mobile device: On android open the Google Settings app on your device and select “ads” to control the settings. On iOS devices with iOS 6 and above use Apple’s advertising identifier. To learn more about limiting ad tracking using this identifier, visit the settings menu on your device. 

Overseas disclosure

While we store personal information in Australia, where we disclose your personal information to the third parties listed above, these third parties may store, transfer or access personal information outside of Australia. We will only disclose your personal information overseas in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Privacy Act.

If we do so, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that any overseas recipient deals with such personal information in a manner consistent with the Privacy Act.

We also will disclose your information if required by law to do so or in circumstances        permitted by the Privacy Act – for example, where we have reasonable grounds to    suspect that unlawful activity, or misconduct of a serious nature, that relates to our           functions or activities has been is being or may be engaged in, in response to a      subpoena, discovery request or a court order.

Security

We take reasonable steps to ensure your personal information is secure and protected from misuse or unauthorised access. Our information technology systems are password protected, and we use a range of administrative and technical measures to protect these systems. However, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information.

Links

Our website may contain links to other websites. Those links are provided for convenience and may not remain current or be maintained. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those linked websites and we suggest you review the privacy policies of those websites before using them.

Requesting Access or Correcting Your Personal Information

If you wish to request access to the personal information we hold about you, please contact us using the contact details set out below including your name and contact details. We may need to verify your identity before providing you with your personal information. In some cases, we may be unable to provide you with access to all your personal information and where this occurs, we will explain why. We will deal with all requests for access to personal information within a reasonable timeframe.

If you think that any personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, please contact us using the contact details set out below and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that it is corrected.

Complaints

If you wish to complain about how we handle your personal information, please contact us using the details set out below including your name and contact details. We will investigate your complaint promptly and respond to you within a reasonable time and in accordance with our legal obligations.

Amendments

We may vary this Privacy Policy due to changes in our privacy practices or changes in the law, regulations and/or professional standards. We will publish the amended Privacy Policy on our website.

Contact Us

For further information about our Privacy Policy or practices please contact us using the details set out below:

Email: team@frescolaw.com.au
Post: Att: Privacy Team, Fresco Law, 

Our privacy policy was last updated on 14 June 2024.