View Legal Pty Ltd and its related companies (referred to in this document as ‘we’, ‘us’ or ‘our’) recognise that your privacy is important and we are committed to protecting the personal information we collect from you.
We provide legal services, including documentation preparation services, to our clients, which includes the use of various applications, websites and servers (together the Service).
The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), Australian Privacy Principles and registered privacy codes (Privacy Laws) govern the way in which we must manage your personal information. The purpose of this Policy is to detail how we protect your privacy and how we comply with the requirements of the Privacy Laws.
By visiting our website (https://www.viewlegal.com.au), or by purchasing or using the Service, you accept the privacy practices described in this Policy.
Personal Information is any information that allows an individual to be personally identified.
This policy describes:
from whom we collect Personal Information;
the types of Personal Information collected and held by us;
how this Personal Information is collected and held;
the purposes for which your Personal Information is collected, held, used and disclosed;
how you can gain access to your Personal Information and seek its correction;
how you may complain or inquire about our collection, handling, use or disclosure of your Personal Information and how that complaint or inquiry will be handled;
whether we are likely to disclose your Personal Information to any overseas recipients; and
how we report any data breaches.
Collection
Types of information collected
We may collect and hold Personal Information about you, that is, information that can identify you, and is relevant to providing you with the services you are seeking.
The kinds of information we typically collect include name, gender, address, phone number, email address, bank account details, testamentary wishes, place and type of business and/or other information relevant to providing you with the services you are, or someone else you know, is seeking.
Method of collection
Personal Information will generally be collected directly from you through the use of any of our standard forms, over the internet, via email, or through a conversations with you by phone, Skype, Zoom or similar technology (that may be recorded and transcribed). We may also collect Personal Information about you from third parties acting on your behalf (for instance, dealers, brokers, financial advisors, accountants or other lawyers).
There may, however, be some instances where Personal Information about you will be collected indirectly because it is unreasonable or impractical to collect Personal Information directly from you; an example of this may be via your advisers. We will usually notify you about these instances in advance, or where that is not possible, as soon as reasonably practicable after the information has been collected.
If you access our website, we may collect additional Personal Information about you in the form of your IP address or domain name. Our website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked websites and any linked websites are not subject to our privacy policies and procedures.
When you use the Service, we may automatically record certain Personal Information from your device by using various types of technology, including cookies, “clear gifs” or “web beacons.” This “automatically collected” information may include IP address, other device address or ID, web browser and/or device type, the web pages or sites visited just before or just after using the Service, the pages or other content you view or interact with on the Service, and the dates and times of the visit, access, or use of the Service. We also may use these technologies to collect information regarding your interaction with email messages, such as whether you open, click on, or forward a message. This information is gathered from all users.
We may obtain Personal Information from third parties and sources other than the Service, such as our partners, advertisers, credit rating agencies, and Integrated Services. If we combine or associate Personal Information from other sources with Personal Information we collect through the Service, we will treat the Personal Information in accordance with this Policy.
Purpose of collection
The Personal Information that we collect and hold about you, depends on your interaction with us. Generally, we collect, use and hold your Personal Information for the purposes of:
providing legal services to you, your clients or someone else you know;
providing you with information about other services that we offer that may be of interest to you;
providing you with information relevant to your type of business or other area of expertise or interest;
providing you with the opportunity to meet other people and attend seminars and conferences in your type of business, or other areas of expertise or interest;
facilitating our internal business operations, including the fulfilment of any legal requirements;
analysing our services and customer needs with a view to improving those services; and
processing authorised credit card details for services provided through the View Legal website.
Failure to provide information
If the Personal Information you provide to us is incomplete or inaccurate, we may be unable to provide you, or someone else you know, with the services you, or they, are seeking.
Use and disclosure
Generally, we only use or disclose Personal Information about you for the purposes for which it was collected (as set out above). We may disclose Personal Information about you to:
our related entities to facilitate our and their internal business processes;
third party service providers, who assist us in operating our business (including technology service providers), and these service providers may not be required to comply with our privacy policy. These providers may be based overseas or use overseas infrastructure to perform services for us, including South Africa, India, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Argentina, Bangladesh, Philippines and the USA;
a purchaser of the assets and operations of our business, provided those assets and operations are purchased as a going concern; and
our related entities and other organisations with whom we have affiliations so that those organisations may provide you with Information about services and various promotions.
In some circumstances, the law may permit or require us to use or disclose Personal Information for other purposes (for instance where you would reasonably expect us to and the purpose is related to the purpose of collection).
We use automatically collected information and other information collected on the Service through cookies and similar technologies to:
personalise our Service, such as remembering a user’s information so that the user will not have to re-enter it during a visit or on subsequent visits;
provide customised advertisements, content, and information;
monitor and analyse the effectiveness of the Service and third-party marketing activities;
monitor aggregate site usage metrics such as total number of visitors and pages viewed; and
track your entries, submissions, and status in any promotions or other activities on the Service. You can obtain more information about cookies by visiting: http://www.allaboutcookies.org.
We may use Google Analytics to measure and evaluate access to and traffic on the public area of our website and create user navigation reports for our Service administrators. Google operates independently from us and has its own privacy policy, which we strongly suggest you review. Google may use the information collected through Google Analytics to evaluate Users’ and Visitors’ activity on our Site. For more information, see https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/6004245.
We take measures to protect the technical information collected by our use of Google Analytics. The data collected will only be used on a need to know basis to resolve technical issues, administer the Site and identify visitor preferences; but in this case, the data will be in non-identifiable form. We do not use any of this information to identify users.
Will Your Personal Information be given to anyone else?
We do not sell, rent or otherwise trade Personal Information with third parties.
We may disclose Personal Information to external service providers who help us operate our business. We limit the information provided to these service providers to that which is reasonably necessary for them to perform their functions, and our contracts with them require them to maintain the confidentiality of such information. We will take steps to ensure that those external service providers comply with the Privacy Laws when they handle Personal Information about you (even if they may be exempt from the Privacy Laws) and are authorised only to use Personal Information for the limited purposes specified in our agreement with them.
Where we engage external information technology service providers, we ensure that, wherever possible, our service providers have reasonable security measures in place to protect data and agree to be bound by Privacy Laws.
Otherwise, we will only disclose personal information if this is required by law or permitted under the Privacy Act. We are bound by professional obligations of confidentiality, including in relation to personal information.
We reserve the right to disclose Personal Information or other information that we believe, in good faith, is appropriate or necessary to:
take precautions against liability;
protect ourselves or others from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful uses or activity;
investigate and defend ourselves against any third-party claims or allegations;
protect the security or integrity of the Service and any facilities or equipment used to make the Service available; or
protect our property or other legal rights, enforce our contracts, or protect the rights, property, or safety of others.
Minors and Children’s Privacy
Protecting the privacy of young children is especially important. Our Service is not directed to children under the age of 18 however, as part of the Service, you may provide us with personal information of children under the age of 18. However, if you are under 18 years of age, then please do not use or access the Service at any time or in any manner. If we learn that Personal Information has been collected on the Service from persons under 18 years of age and without verifiable parental consent, then we will take the appropriate steps to delete this information. If you are a parent or guardian and discover that your child under 18 years of age has obtained an account on the Service, then you may alert us by contacting us as indicated in the “How to Contact Us” section, and request that we delete that child’s Personal Information from our systems.
The Service is not intended to be used by minors, and is not intended to be used to post content to share publicly or with friends. To the extent that a minor has posted such content on the Service, the minor has the right to have this content deleted or removed using the deletion or removal options detailed in this Policy. If you have any question regarding this topic, please contact us as indicated in the “How to Contact Us” section. Please be aware that, although we offer this deletion capability, the removal of content may not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of that content or information.
Storage and security of Personal Information
We store Personal Information in a variety of formats including on databases, in hard copy files and on personal devices including laptop computers, mobile phones, cameras and other recording devices. We may store information in the “cloud”, which may mean that it resides on servers which are situated outside Australia or on servers which may be subject to foreign disclosure laws, such as the ‘Cloud Act’ in the United States of America (the Cloud Act is the Clarifying Lawful Overseas use of Data Act enacted in 2018).
The security of your Personal Information is important to us and we take reasonable steps to protect the Personal Information we hold about you from misuse, loss, unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps include:
ensuring all staff are aware that they are not to reveal or share personal passwords;
implementing ICT security systems, policies and procedures, designed to protect Personal Information storage on our computer networks;
implementing human resources policies and procedures, such as email and internet usage, confidentiality and document security policies, designed to ensure that staff follow correct protocols when handling Personal Information; and
undertaking due diligence with respect to third party service providers who may have access to Personal Information, including cloud service providers, to ensure as far as practicable that they are compliant with the Privacy Laws.
However, no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. We cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or store on the Service, and you do so at your own risk. We also cannot guarantee that such information may not be accessed, disclosed, altered, or destroyed by breach of any of our physical, technical, or managerial safeguards. If you believe your Personal Information has been compromised, please contact us as set forth in the “How to Contact Us” section. If we learn of a security systems breach, we will inform you and the authorities of the occurrence of the breach in accordance with applicable law.
Personal information we hold that is no longer needed is destroyed in a secure manner, deleted or de-identified as appropriate.
When we disclose Personal Information
We only use Personal Information for the purposes for which it was given to us, or for purposes which are related (or directly related in the case of sensitive information) to one or more of our functions or activities.
We may disclose your Personal Information to government agencies, our service providers, agents, contractors, business partners and other recipients from time to time, only if one or more of the following apply:
You have consented;
You would reasonably expect us to use or disclose your Personal Information in this way;
We are authorised or required to do so by law;
Disclosure will lessen or prevent a serious threat to the life, health or safety of an individual or to public safety;
Where another permitted general situation or permitted health situation exception applies; or
Disclosure is reasonably necessary for a law enforcement related activity.
Notification of Data Breaches
If we have reasonable grounds to suspect that a data breach has occurred, we will:
complete an assessment of the suspected data breach within 30 days; and
if appropriate, take remedial action to address any potential harm to individuals that may arise due to a relevant data breach before any serious harm is caused to individuals to whom the information relates.
We will otherwise comply with privacy data breach notification requirements as set out in the Privacy Laws, including notifying affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner as applicable.
Access to your Personal Information
We respect your privacy rights and provide you with reasonable access to the Personal Information that you may have provided through your use of the Services. If you wish to access or amend any other Personal Information we hold about you, or to request that we delete or transfer any information about you that we have obtained from an Integrated Service, you may contact us as set forth in the “How to Contact Us” section. At your request, we will have any reference to you deleted or blocked in our database.
You may update, correct, or delete your Account information and preferences at any time by accessing your Account settings page on the Service. Please note that while any changes you make will be reflected in active user databases instantly or within a reasonable period of time, we may retain all information you submit for backups, archiving, prevention of fraud and abuse, analytics, satisfaction of legal obligations, or where we otherwise reasonably believe that we have a legitimate reason to do so.
You may decline to share certain Personal Information with us, in which case we may not be able to provide to you some of the features and functionality of the Service.
Under the Privacy Laws, you have the right to:
seek access to your Personal Information handled by us;
ask us to update or correct your Personal Information when it is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date; and
opt-out of receiving direct marketing communications from us.
If you wish to access the Personal Information that View Legal holds about you, please set out your request in writing, and forward this to View Legal.
Privacy Complaints
At any time, you may object to the processing of your Personal Information, on legitimate grounds, except if otherwise permitted by applicable law. If you believe your right to privacy granted by applicable data protection laws has been infringed upon, please contact us as set out in the “How to Contact Us” section. You also have a right to lodge a complaint with data protection authorities.
If you wish to make a complaint about a breach by us of the Australian Privacy Principles, you may do so by providing your written complaint by email, letter, or by personal delivery to View Legal Pty Ltd. You may also make a complaint verbally.
We will respond to your complaint within a reasonable time (usually no longer than 30 days) and we may seek further information from you in order to provide a full and complete response.
Your complaint may also be taken to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.
How to Contact Us
This View Legal Privacy Policy may change from time to time.
If you have any questions or comments about the View Legal Privacy Policy, please set out your request in writing, and forward this to View Legal, using the contact details below.
You can contact us about this Policy or about your Personal Information by emailing us at mail@viewlegal.com.au.
If practical, you can contact us anonymously (i.e. without identifying yourself) or by using a pseudonym. However, if you choose not to identify yourself, we may not be able to give you the information or provide the assistance you might otherwise receive if it is not practical to do so.
