PRIVACY
POLICY
Jeffrey
Jones & Company, the "firm"
The Personal Information
Protection Act ("the Act") regulates the way private
sector organizations within British Columbia collect, use,
keep, secure and disclose personal information. "Personal
Information" means all information about an identifiable
individual. The Firm recognizes the importance of privacy
and recognizes the sensitivity of personal information received
by us in the course of our legal practice.
We recognize our professional
obligation to maintain the confidentiality of our clients’
information, and recognize our obligations concerning the
personal information of all individuals that we collect,
use or disclose in our practice. This policy has been developed
with those obligations in mind.
Our Need
for Personal Information
In order to be able
to give legal advice to our clients, we need access to all
relevant facts and information that relate to our retainer
and to the representation of our clients. This information
will necessarily include personal information about our
clients and about individuals other than our clients.
Collection,
Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
Where practical, we
endeavor to collect personal information directly from the
person to whom the information pertains. When necessary,
we will collect personal information from other sources.
By retaining this firm
for legal advice or representation, an individual consents
to our necessary collection, use or disclosure of the individual’s
personal information in order to properly advise and represent
the individual.
It is our policy to
collect personal information about individuals other than
our clients in accordance with the provisions of the Personal
Information Protection Act.
The Act deems that an
individual has consented to our collection, use or disclosure
of personal information about that individual if, at the
time the consent is deemed to be given, the purpose would
be considered obvious to a reasonable person. In such circumstances,
we will collect, use or disclose personal information without
obtaining a written or verbal consent to do so.
The Act also permits
us to collect, use or disclose personal information about
an individual in some circumstances without the individual’s
consent. Those include (but are not limited to) circumstances
in which:
the collection, use
or disclosure is clearly in the interests of the individual
and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way;
it is reasonable to expect that the collection or use of
personal information with the consent of the individual
would compromise the availability or accuracy of the information,
and the collection or use of the information is necessary
for an investigation or proceeding;
it is reasonable to expect that the disclosure of personal
information with the consent of the individual would compromise
an investigation or proceeding, and the disclosure of the
information is necessary for an investigation or proceeding;
the personal information is available to the public from
a prescribed source;
the collection, use or disclosure of personal information
is required or authorized by law.
When we collect, use
or disclose personal information, we will make reasonable
efforts to ensure that it is accurate and complete.
Security
of Personal Information
We recognize our professional
and legal obligations to protect the confidential information
of our clients. We recognize as well our legal obligations
to protect the personal information we have gathered about
our clients and about other individuals during the course
of our practice of law.
We have therefore made
arrangements to secure against the unauthorized access,
collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal
or destruction of personal information.
Requests
for Access to Personal Information
The Act permits individuals
to submit written requests to us to provide them with:
their personal information
under our custody or control;
information about how their personal information under our
control has been and is being used by us;
the names of the individuals and organizations to whom their
personal information under our control has been disclosed
by us.
We will respond to requests
in the time allowed by the Act and will make a reasonable
effort to assist applicants and to respond as accurately
and completely as reasonably possible. All requests may
be subject to any fees and disbursements the law permits
us to charge.
An individual’s
ability to access his or her personal information under
our control is not absolute. The Act provides that we must
not disclose personal information when:
the disclosure could
reasonably be expected to threaten the safety or physical
or mental health of an individual other than the individual
who made the request;
the disclosure can reasonably be expected to cause immediate
or grave harm to the safety or to the physical or mental
health of the individual who made the request;
the disclosure would reveal personal information about another
individual;
the disclosure would reveal the identity of an individual
who has provided personal information about another individual
and the individual providing the personal information does
not consent to disclosure of his or her identity.
The Act further provides
that we are not required to disclose personal information
when:
the personal information
is protected by solicitor-client privilege;
the disclosure of the personal information would reveal
confidential commercial information that, if disclosed,
could, in the opinion of a reasonable person, harm the competitive
position of an organization;
the personal information was collected without consent for
the purposes of an investigation, and the investigation
and associated proceedings and appeals have not been completed;
the personal information was collected or created by a mediator
or arbitrator in the conduct of a mediation or arbitration
for which he or she was appointed to act:
(i) under a collective
agreement,
(ii) under an enactment, or
(iii) by a court.
Requests
for Correction of Personal Information
The law permits individuals
to submit written requests to us to correct errors or omissions
in their personal information that is in our custody or
control. We will:
correct the personal
information and, if reasonable to do so, send correction
notifications to any other organizations to whom we disclosed
the incorrect information; or
decide not to correct the personal information, but annotate
the personal information that a correction was requested
but not made.
Contacting
or Communicating with Us
If you have any questions
with respect to our policies concerning the handling of
your personal information, or if you wish to request access
to, or correction of, your personal information under our
care and control, please contact our Privacy Officer at:
Jeff Jones
1488 Beach Drive
PO Box 70
Port McNeill, BC V0N 2R0
Phone: 250-956-3358
Fax: 250-956-4093
If you are dissatisfied
with our handling of your personal information, we invite
you to contact our Privacy Officer in writing, setting out
the reasons for your concern. If, after our Privacy Officer
has reviewed and responded to your concern, you remain dissatisfied,
you may wish to contact the Office of the Information and
Privacy Commissioner at:
P.O. Box 9038, Stn Prov
Govt
Victoria; BC V8W 9A4
Telephone (250) 387-5629
Fax (250) 387-1696
