Privacy
Commitment to privacy and responsible use of information
The privacy of our clients is of utmost importance to Benjamin Lawyers.
We view privacy as a serious matter and we strictly adhere to the National Privacy Principles and the Privacy Act 1988. Privacy safeguards are also featured in our Service Charter to members.
This Privacy Policy Statement sets out our policies on how we manage personal information across our business.
Type of personal information we collect
The kind of information we collect generally includes your name, address, telephone numbers and other contact details, date of birth, email address and other identifying data to enable us to identify and communicate with you. We may also collect information about your use of our products and services, and any preferences you tell us about.
We do not collect sensitive information, such as your political or religious beliefs, ethnic background or sexual preference, unless that is information relevant to your legal matter.
We also collect general information for statistical and maintenance purposes that enables us to continually evaluate the performance of this website.
This information includes:
- – the number of users visiting this website and the number of pages viewed;
- – the date, time and duration of visits; and
- – the path taken through this website.
This information will not identify you and we will not combine it with any information in a way where we can identify you.
Why we collect personal information
Generally, we collect and use personal information to assist our internal administration and operations including providing legal services, accounting, risk management, record keeping, archiving, systems development and testing, and staff training.
How we collect information
Generally, we collect personal information directly from you, such as when you engage us to act for you or enquire about our services.
We may collect and update that information over the phone, over the Internet, when you write to us or if you participate in our marketing campaigns.
We may also collect personal information through third parties such as:
- – your accountant
- – your financial institution
- – other professional service providers.
How we store information
We store personal information in a combination of secure computer storage facilities and paper-based files and other records. In so doing, we have taken numerous steps to protect your personal information from misuse, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.
Additionally we take reasonable steps to destroy or permanently de-identify personal information when we no longer need it. Wherever practicable we will provide you the option of interacting with us anonymously.
Other organisations and marketing to you
Because your privacy is important we will not sell, rent or trade your personal information without your consent.
However, to ensure a high level of service, we may disclose information about you to outside contractors to carry out specialised activities on our behalf, eg a barrister.
To better protect your privacy, we impose strict requirements of security and confidentiality on all third parties as to how they handle your personal information. Outside contractors are not allowed to use information about you for any purpose except to perform the services we have asked them to provide.
Access to personal information
We will take reasonable steps to make sure that the personal information we collect, use or disclose is accurate, complete and up to date. If your personal details change, such as your address or phone number, please contact us by telephone, email, fax or mail to update your details so we can still provide you with our services.
Following a request, we will provide you with a copy of any personal information which we hold about you in accordance with our obligations under the Privacy Act. We may charge a fee for retrieving this information, in which case we will inform you of the fee in advance of providing the information.
We undertake to promptly acknowledge and investigate any complaint about the way we manage personal information.
Other Third Parties and our Website
We use external companies for the following reasons:
- – for web hosting services for this website
- – to gather non-personal information in the form of statistics about people’s use of this website
- – for maintenance or problem solving; and
- – to gather non-personal information from cookies in order to evaluate the effectiveness of online marketing activities.
Our Privacy Policy
We may update our policies and this Privacy Policy Statement from time to time. The most current version will always be located on our website.
Contacting us
If you have any questions about this policy or if you wish to update information we hold about you or to make a complaint, please write to:
The Privacy Officer
Benjamin Lawyers
Suite 11.01, Level 11
82 Elizabeth Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
You can also telephone us on (02) 9223 1555 or fax us on (02) 9232 2971.