Privacy Policy
Privacy Policy for Prepaid Legal Services and Assistance
Ten Privacy Principles
L.P.I. is committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of your personal information. As part of this commitment, the following Ten Privacy Principles govern our actions as they relate to the use of customer information. The principles have been built upon the values set by the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information and Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
1 - Accountability
L.P.I. is responsible for maintaining and protecting the personal information under its control. L.P.I. has designated an individual or individuals who is/are accountable for compliance with the Ten Privacy Principles.
2 - Identifying Purposes
The purposes for which personal information is collected will be identified before or at the time the information is collected.
3 - Consent
Knowledge and consent are required for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information except where required or permitted by law.
4 - Limiting Collection
The personal information collected must be limited to those details necessary for the purposes identified by L.P.I.
5 - Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Personal information may only be used or disclosed for the purpose for which it was collected unless you have otherwise consented, or when it is required or permitted by law. Personal information may only be retained for the period of time required to fulfill the purpose for which it was collected or as required by law.
6 - Accuracy
Personal information must be maintained in as accurate, complete and up-to-date form as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it is to be used.
7 - Safeguarding Customer Information
Personal information must be protected by security safeguards that are appropriate to the sensitivity level of the information.
8 - Openness
L.P.I. will make information available to our customers concerning the policies and practices that apply to the management of their personal information.
9 - Customer Access
Upon request, a customer shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of their personal information, and shall be given access to it. Customers may verify the accuracy and completeness of their personal information, and may request that it be amended, if appropriate.
10 - Handling Customer Complaints and Suggestions
Customers may direct any questions or enquiries with respect to the privacy principles outlined above or about our practices by contacting:
Law Protection Inc. Privacy Officer
P.O. Box 144, Station R
Toronto, ON M4G 3Z3
Phone: 416-920-9777, Fax: 416-920-1355
Email: inquiries@lawprotector.ca
Before L.P.I. is able to provide you with any information or correct any inaccuracies, however, we may ask you to verify your identity and to provide other details to help us to respond to your request. We will endeavour to respond within an appropriate timeframe.
If you have questions or concerns regarding our organization's privacy policy and practices, you should first contact L.P.I. directly.
If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact the Privacy Commissioner's Office at http://www.privcom.gc.ca (or 112 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1H3), who will then serve as a liaison with L.P.I. to resolve your concerns.
What information is collected?
At L.P.I., we gather and use personal information to provide you with information about L.P.I. products or services and services to which you are entitled through membership in an L.P.I. product and to offer you additional products and services we believe you might be interested in. Providing us with your personal information is always your choice. Most of the information we collect comes to us directly from you, and only with your consent. For example, when you request products or enrol for a service online, or by telephone, we will ask you to provide the information that enables us to complete your request or to provide you with better service.
The types of personal information we may ask for depends on the nature of your request and may include name, home address, home and daytime telephone numbers e-mail address, spouse’s name, language preference, credit card information to process payment for an L.P.I. product you have requested, type of service requested and some personally identifying information to allow us to verify your identity when communicating with you. We may also request additional information to help us contact you, provide you with advice about our services and information about other products and services that we believe would interest you.
When you visit the L.P.I. web site, information is not collected that could identify you personally unless you choose to provide it voluntarily. You are welcome to browse the Web site at any time anonymously and privately without revealing any personal or financial information about yourself.
For purposes of maintaining quality service, calls to our customer service lines may be recorded.
Types of Information we collect
The type of information you will be asked to provide will vary according to your activity or request.
Personal Information
Personal information is information that refers to you specifically. With your consent, we may gather personal information from you in person, over the telephone or by corresponding with you via mail, facsimile, the Internet, or from referrals by third parties. Data we collect with personal identifiers removed, so that it is impossible to determine the identity of the person to whom the information relates, is not considered Personal Information.
The type of information we may collect and maintain in your customer file may include your Name, Home Address, E-mail Address, Home and Daytime Telephone Numbers, Spouse’s Name, Language Preference, Credit card information to process payment for an L.P.I. product you have requested, Type of service requested, Some personally identifying information to allow us to verify your identity when communicating with you
The choice to provide us with personal information is always yours. However, your decision to withhold particular details may limit our ability to provide you with services.
If we are unable to accommodate your request based on the information that has been provided to us, we may ask for additional details in order to identify other ways to be of assistance. In some instances, L.P.I. may also maintain a file containing contact history that is used for customer inquiry purposes.
Anonymous/Non-Personal Information
At L.P.I., we routinely collect anonymous/non-personal information. Anonymous/non-personal information is information that we do not associate with or trace back to a specific individual or business entity. For example, our web servers collect some anonymous/non-personal information automatically when you visit the L.P.I. web site. Gathered electronically, this information may include the pages you visited, the type of web browser you are using, the level of encryption your browser supports and your Internet Protocol address. The anonymous/non-personal information collected may be used for research and analytical purposes and occasionally for security investigations.
To help us better understand our markets, we may also gather information for analytical purposes by conducting customer surveys, and by extracting demographic information from existing files.
How your information is used
Personal Information
We use your personal information to identify you, communicate with you, to provide information about L.P.I. products or services, to provide the services you have requested and to comply with legal requirements. Your Personal Information may also be used to create statistics about our business. These statistics would not contain any information that could identify you personally. We only use personal information for the purposes that we have disclosed to you. If for any reason your information is required to fulfill a different purpose, we will obtain your consent before we proceed.
Anonymous/Non-Personal Information
The anonymous/non-personal information gathered from the L.P.I. web site is used primarily for technical, research and analytical purposes like evaluating the various sections of the web site. This information does not include any personal information.
It is our goal to continuously improve our service offerings to you. Therefore, we may use anonymous/non-personal information collected from surveys, from public archives and by extracting information from existing files to better understand our customers' interests, priorities, and satisfaction levels.
When information may be disclosed to outside parties
We are obliged to keep your personal information confidential except under the following special circumstances:
- When authorized by you
- When required by law
- When permitted by law
When Authorized by You
We may use the personal information:
- to respond to any request for information by you
- to provide our services to you
- to process purchase by you of an L.P.I. product
- to facilitate the provision of our services by sharing your information with our third party service providers
- to offer you related products and services that might benefit you; and
- in the course of an actual or potential sale, reorganization, consolidation, merger or amalgamation of our business.
In addition we may also collect, use and disclose personal information when required or permitted by law.
In some cases, such as when you request information or purchase an L.P.I. product over the telephone, your consent to the use and/or disclosure of your information will be obtained verbally. In other cases, your consent may be obtained in writing or electronically.
When Required by Law
The type of information we are legally required to disclose may relate to criminal investigations or government tax reporting requirements. In some instances such as a legal proceeding or court order, we may also be required to disclose certain information to authorities. Only the information specifically requested is disclosed and we take precautions to satisfy ourselves that the authorities that are making the request have legitimate grounds to do so.
When Permitted by Law
There are some situations where we are legally permitted to disclose personal information such as to collect a delinquent account.
With whom we may share your information
With your consent we will share information with suppliers who perform services on our behalf. Unless you authorize us to release it, or release is required or permitted by law, we never sell, lease or trade information about you or your accounts to other parties.
Types of Consent
Consent can be express or it may be implied in appropriate circumstances. Express Consent can be given by you in writing, in person, electronically, by telephone, or by using a check-off box. Implied Consent may be used by us as a basis for extending new marketing offers, or delivering materials to you. We will not use your implied consent for the use or disclosure of your sensitive Personal Information.
Our Employees
In the course of daily operations, access to private, sensitive and confidential information is restricted to authorized employees who have a legitimate business purpose and reason for accessing it. For example, when you call us, our designated employees will access your information to verify who you are and to assist you in fulfilling your requests.
All employees of L.P.I. are required to abide by the privacy standards we have established and must follow all applicable laws and regulations. Employees are informed about the importance of privacy and understand that L.P.I. prohibits the disclosure of any customer information to unauthorized individuals or parties. All employees are expected to maintain the confidentiality of customer information at all times and failing to do so will result in appropriate disciplinary measures, which may include dismissal.
Outside Service Suppliers
We sometimes contract outside organizations to perform services. Our trusted service suppliers may at times be responsible for processing and handling some of the information we receive from you.
When we contract our suppliers to provide specialized services, they are given only the information necessary to perform those services. Additionally, they are prohibited from storing, analyzing or using that information for purposes other than to carry out the service they have been contracted to provide. Not just L.P.I., but also our suppliers and their employees are required to protect your information in a manner that is consistent with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.
How we safeguard your information
We know you are concerned about the security of the information you provide to us. To address this concern, we have developed processes and procedures to keep your Personal Information safe and secure. We have appropriate safeguards in place depending on the sensitivity of the information, including:
- Locked, special security filing cabinets.
- Technological: Password-protected and ecrtypted computer network.
- Organizational: L.P.I. staff trained in the importance of safeguarding your Personal Information from loss and unauthorized access.
Accessing and Amending your information
You have the right to access, verify and amend the information held by us. You may be required to verify your identity by providing some personally identifying information.
Accessing Your Information
L.P.I. members may access and verify any of your information by calling our customer contact number on the front of your membership card. Others may do so by calling 416-920-9777.
There may be instances when we will not be able to provide you with the Personal Information that you request. Examples are if the Personal Information:
- contains references to other persons
- has already been destroyed due to legal requirements or because we no longer needed it for our purposes
- is subject to solicitor-client or litigation privilege
- cannot be disclosed for legal reasons
Amending Your Information
To help us keep your personal information up-to-date, we encourage you to amend inaccuracies and make corrections as often as necessary. Despite our efforts, errors sometimes do occur. Should you identify any incorrect or out-of-date information in your file(s), we will make the proper changes. Where appropriate, we will communicate these changes to other parties who may have unintentionally received incorrect information from us.
To make a change to the personal contact information contained in your file, you may do one of the following:
- Call us at the number on the front of your membership card, or 416-920-9777;
- Send a facsimile to us 416-920-1355 to request a change in your personal contact information.
About Cookies
What is a Cookie?
A cookie is a small text file containing a unique identification number that a web site sends to your computer's web browser. While you visit a particular site, a cookie may be used to track the activities of your browser as well as provide you with a consistent, more efficient experience. There are two common types of cookies: persistent and non-persistent.
Persistent cookies are stored on your computer's hard drive where they remain resident until they are either deleted or they reach a predetermined expiration date. Persistent cookies are most commonly used to provide visitors with a customized experience by recording preferences such as how a visitor prefers to have web pages displayed. Additionally, cookies are commonly used to gather statistical information such as the average time spent on a particular page. This kind of information is valuable for several reasons, including providing insight on how to improve the design, content and navigation of a web site.
Non-persistent cookies do not permanently record data and they are not stored on your computer's hard drive. Rather, non-persistent cookies are stored in memory and are only available during an active session. Once a session ends, the cookie disappears. Non-persistent cookies are used primarily for technical reasons such as providing seamless navigation.
Why Were Cookies Created?
The world wide web uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) to govern how files such as graphics, text and sound are exchanged over the Internet. This protocol treats every action (e.g. mouse click) independently making the nature of the web 'stateless'. This means that every time you click on a new page for instance, a new connection is established and all previous activity is forgotten.
To provide visitors with a more uniform experience, cookies were used originally to maintain relevant information as visitors viewed various pages of a web site. In effect, cookies were created to bring state and consistency to the 'stateless' environment of the web.
How Do Cookies Work?
The first time you visit a web site, you may be sent a cookie that contains a unique identification number that can be easily retrieved during future visits. Cookies are used for different purposes such as remembering how you want a home page to look.
When you type the web site address in the address bar of your browser, your browser will contact the site you've entered and request its home page. The browser will search your hard drive for a cookie that may have been sent during a previous visit. If a cookie is found, the browser will send any information gathered from a previous visit to the web server. If a cookie is not found, then the browser will know you have not visited the site before.
On the L.P.I. web site, cookies are used to increase robustness and to provide more efficient navigation. Cookies cannot view or retrieve data from other cookies, nor can they capture files and data stored on your computer.
Cookies and L.P.I.
- How cookies are used
- How cookies are not used
- Maintaining personal information in a cookie
- What are your choices in relation to cookies?
How Cookies are Used
Non-persistent cookies may be used to improve operations and functionality. For example, cookies improve navigation, maintain connectivity and ensure online service sessions are secured. They do not contain personal information and they are not permanently stored for future use.
How Cookies are not Used
Although cookies have the capability of accomplishing a variety of undertakings, L.P.I. only uses cookies when they provide an obvious benefit to you. The following describes how we do not use cookies.
Web Site Tracking (What sites you go to)
Cookies or other information tracking technologies are not used to follow the surfing behaviour of visitors once they leave the L.P.I. web site. Additionally, tracking information that may be gathered during a visit to the L.P.I. web site will not be used for promotional purposes.
Aggregated Analysis Attributable to an Individual Account
L.P.I. does not associate any of the information collected via cookies with your personal information.
Maintaining Personal Information in a Cookie
Cookies cannot be used to gather sensitive information about you or data residing on your computer. These cookies are not designed to identify you personally; rather they are intended to enhance navigation of your session.
What are Your Choices in Relation to Cookies?
If you would like to browse the L.P.I. web site, you may do so without accepting cookies. However, you should understand that if you choose not to accept cookies, some areas of the L.P.I. web site may not function properly or optimally.
Cookies are widely used and most web browsers are configured initially to accept cookies automatically. If you prefer not to accept cookies, you may adjust your browser settings to alert you when a cookie is about to be sent, or you may configure your browser to refuse cookies automatically. If you would like to learn more about how to set your cookie options, please refer to your browser's documentation or online help for instructions.
QUESTIONS, CONCERNS AND COMPLAINTS
If you have a question about the privacy policies stated on this site, please call us at 1-866-319-7450.
If you have a concern or complaint about privacy, confidentiality or the personal information handling practices of L.P.I., our employees or service suppliers, please contact:
Law Protection Inc. Privacy Officer
P.O. Box 144, Station R
Toronto, ON M4G 3Z3
Phone: 416-920-9777, Fax: 416-920-1355
Email: inquiries@lawprotector.ca
Before L.P.I. is able to provide you with any information or correct any inaccuracies, however, we may ask you to verify your identity and to provide other details to help us to respond to your request. We will endeavour to respond within an appropriate timeframe.
If you have questions or concerns regarding our organization's privacy policy and practices, you should first contact L.P.I. directly.
If you do not receive acknowledgment of your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should then contact the Privacy Commissioner's Office at http://www.privcom.gc.ca (or 112 Kent Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 1H3), who will then serve as a liaison with L.P.I. to resolve your concerns.
Updating this Privacy Policy
Any changes to our privacy policy and information handling practices will be acknowledged in this policy in a timely manner. We may add, modify or remove portions of this policy when we feel it is appropriate to do so. You may determine when this policy was last updated by referring to the modification date found at the bottom of this privacy policy.
Website governed by this Privacy Policy
The web site that is governed by the provisions and practices stated in this privacy policy is: http://www.lawprotector.ca.
Links to Other Websites
www.lawprotector.ca may contain links to other websites. L.P.I. is not responsible for the practices or the content of such websites, and recommends that you check the security and privacy policy of any website before providing your personal information.
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