PRIVACY STATEMENT
Introduction
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At Colquhoun Murphy, we value your privacy and are committed to protecting your personal information.
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The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) requires entities bound by the Australian Privacy Principles to have a privacy policy. The following Privacy Policy details how we collect, use and protect your information, and explains your rights and our obligations.
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This Privacy Policy should be read together with the Privacy Act, and is not intended to comprehensively address the specific legal obligations we have when collecting and handling your person information and data.
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We will update this statement when our information handling practices change. The information contained below is current at the date of publication, and Colquhoun Murphy makes no guarantees as to the accuracy of the information on an ongoing basis.
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Data Controller
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Colquhoun Murphy is an Australian law firm operated by Colquhoun Murphy Pty Ltd. The firm is located in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory.
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For the purposes of this statement, and your engagement of our services, Colquhoun Murphy is the “data controller”.
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Your Personal Information
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“Personal information” has the meaning given to it by the Privacy Act, and includes information or an opinion, whether or not true, about an individual from which that individual can be identified. It does not include anonymous (de-identified) information or data.
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We may collect, process or use your personal information in the course of our business, including when you engage us to provide legal services, through your use of this website, when you contact us, or as a result of your relationship with our staff or clients.
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The personal information we collect, process and use may include your name, date of birth, contact information, occupation, company details, personal preferences, payment details, employment history, education and qualifications, feedback, identification information and government records, technical information (such as information and data collected when you visit our website), and any other information which may assist us in conducting our business and providing legal services to clients.
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Colquhoun Murphy collects your data for various reasons, including to:
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Enable us to provide you with legal services;
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Enable us to contact you;
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Confirm or verify your identity;
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Develop and improve our marketing and performance;
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Comply with laws;
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Recruit new employees; or
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Enforce our agreements with you.
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Legal Basis for Handling Your Personal Information
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Data protection laws provide grounds upon which Colquhoun Murphy can lawfully collect, process and use your personal information, including:
By Consent
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We can collect, process and use your personal information with your consent. In majority of circumstances, if we rely on your consent as our legal basis for handling your personal information, you have the right to withdraw, limit or vary that consent at any time.
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Legal Compliance
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There are circumstances in which the law may require or compel us to collect, use or process your personal information. Specifically, we may require your personal information to comply with laws relating to the provision of legal services.
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Contractually
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As lawyers, we often require your personal information in order to comply with contractual obligations. For example, when you engage us to provide services, you enter into an agreement with us. If we are unable to handle your personal information in this instance, we may not be able to enter into a contract with you, or perform an agreement we have with you.
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Reasonable Necessity
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In some instances, we may require your personal information to pursue our legitimate interests as a business, where that information is reasonably necessary for one or more of our business’ functions or activities.
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Collecting Your Personal Information
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We will generally collect personal information:
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From you directly;
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From you indirectly through correspondence, forms, meetings, interviews, registration, applications, payments, our website;
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From third parties, including but not limited to medical and health practitioners, accountants, referrers, your employer, or persons or entities who analyse website traffic or online and social media platforms, which may involve the use of cookies.
You are able to control your browser settings to limit the collection of cookies by us, however limiting or disabling cookies may prevent you from being able to access features of our websites.
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Protecting Your Personal Information
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Colquhoun Murphy will take reasonable steps to protect the security of your personal information. Our staff are required to respect the confidentiality of personal information and the privacy of individuals. Additionally, laws governing the provision of legal services require that we maintain client confidentiality.
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We will take reasonable steps to protect personal information we hold from misuse, loss, modification, disclosure, unauthorised access and corruption. Steps we take to ensure this protection include by use of physical security systems and restricted access to electronic records.
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During the course of providing legal services to you, we may notify you of an identified risk in relation to your personal information (for example, when we are providing you with, or requesting, bank account details). We ask that our clients consider carefully the notices provided to them prior to providing personal information to us.
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When we no longer require your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify it.
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Disclosure of your Personal information
In Australia
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Colquhoun Murphy may disclose your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected to entities and persons who assist us in providing our services (including hosting and data storage providers, information technology consultants and debt collectors). There may also be circumstances in which we are required, compelled or authorised to disclose your personal information by law.
Internationally
We may disclose your personal information to international courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities, to any other entity or person whom we are required, compelled or authorised by law to disclose it to, and to any entity or person whom you authorise us to disclose it to.
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Accessing Your Personal Information
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Subject to the Privacy Act, you may contact us to seek access to or correct any of your personal information which we hold. We encourage clients to advise us if their information, such as their contact information, changes.
We may require you to verify your identity and specify what you require if you contact us in relation to your personal information. Please be mindful that our processes in this respect are for protection.
Links to Third Parties
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On our website or during the course of providing legal services to you, we may provide links to other websites operated by third parties. We make no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy policies or practices of any third parties, or the accuracy or applicability of the content provided or published by any third party. If you visit a third-party website, that website will be governed by its own terms of use, including its own privacy policy.
Complaints
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If you have any questions or concerns in relation to the collection, processing or use of your personal information, we encourage you to contact us so that we can resolve your concerns.
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