MANAGEMENT OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
At Mason Law, we recognise the importance of your privacy and understand your concerns about the security of the personal information you provide to us.
“Personal information” is information or an opinion about an identified individual, or about an individual who is reasonably identifiable.
This policy details how Mason Law manages the personal information that you provide to us.
What personal information we collect and hold
The kinds of personal information that we commonly collect and hold from you or about you include your name, address, phone, fax and mobile numbers, email address and date of birth. We may also collect your Tax File Number and bank account details.
We may also collect other personal information, depending on the nature of the advice and/or services we are providing to you.
When you browse our website or contact us electronically, we record: statistical data including your computer system Internet address, your top level domain name (for example .com, .gov, .au, .uk etc), the date and time of your visit to the site, the pages you accessed and documents downloaded, and the type of browser you are using.
Note that our website does not have facilities for the secure transmission of emails or facsimile. If you are concerned about the security of any personal information you submit by email, please contact us using an alternative method.
How we collect and hold personal information
We aim to collect personal information only directly from you, unless it is unreasonable or impracticable for us to do so. For example, we collect personal information from you or about you from correspondence that you submit to us, meetings and interviews with us, telephone calls with us, and other documentation you submit to us, and from your activity on our website.
We may also collect personal information about third parties from you (for example, the beneficiaries in a will), by providing this personal information to us, we rely on you having obtained consent from the third party to provide this personal information to us.
However, in some instances we may receive personal information about you from third parties, such as Real Estate Agents and Land Surveyors. We may also receive personal information about you from your family members, authorised third parties and publicly available sources.
You can be anonymous or use a pseudonym when dealing with us, unless:
- the use of your true identity is a legal requirement; or
- it is impracticable for us to deal with you on such basis.
Why we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information
We collect, hold, use and disclose personal information from you or about you where it is reasonably necessary for us to provide you with legal advice and/or services.
We may need to disclose personal information about you to external third parties, including, but not limited to, the Land Titles Office, financial institutions, PEXA, the State Revenue Office, Australian Taxation Office and Real Estate Agents in order to provide you with legal advice and services. Where practical, we will seek your express consent to disclose your personal information to these third parties before disclosing personal information.
We also collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for purposes related to the provision of legal advice and/or services that you would reasonably expect, such as internal audit investigations, performance reporting, our own internal administrative and accounting functions, our obligations under professional schemes, data backups, statistical collation and website traffic analysis.
Where we wish to use or disclose your personal information for other purposes, we will obtain your consent.
If we do not collect, hold, use or disclose your personal information, or if you do not consent, then we may not be able to provide you with advice and/or services
How we hold and store personal information
Your personal information is held and stored on paper, by electronic means or both. We have physical, electronic and procedural safeguards in place for personal information and take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is protected from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure:
- Data held and stored on paper is stored within secure key-card premises with monitored alarms.
- Data held and stored electronically is protected by internal and external firewalls, and our electronic databases require passwords for access.
- Access to personal information is restricted to staff and contractors whose job description requires access. Our employees and contractors are contractually obliged to maintain the confidentiality of any personal information held by us.
- Data stored or archived off-site is contained within secure facilities. We also require our storage contractors to implement privacy safeguards.
- Our staff receive regular training on privacy procedures.
- Password controls and implemented on corporate computers, devices and servers.
Destruction and De-identification
We will retain your personal information whilst it is required for to provide you with advice and/or services, or for any other lawful purpose. We will commonly destroy your personal information seven years from the date that we cease to provide you with advice and/or services.
We use secure methods to destroy or to permanently de-identify your personal information when it is no longer needed:
- Paper records are sent for secure destruction. In some instances, paper records will be returned to you and/or relevant third parties.
- Electronic records are deleted from all locations, to the best of our ability, or encrypted and/or placed beyond use.
Overseas disclosure
We do not disclose personal information overseas.
Requests for access and correction
We have procedures in place for dealing with and responding to requests for access to, and correction of, the personal information held about you.
In most cases, we expect that we will be able to comply with your request. However, if we do not agree to provide you access or to correct the information as requested, we will give you written reasons why. For further information, please contact us.
To assist us to keep our records up-to-date, please notify us of any changes to your personal information.
Complaints and Concerns
If you have a complaint or concern about privacy, please contact our office on (03) 9213 5722 or team@masonlaw.com.au.
Updates to our Privacy Policy
From time to time, it may be necessary for us to review our Privacy Policy. We may amend our Privacy Policy at any time and notify you by providing you with an updated version.