The Personal Information Protection Act (“the Act”) regulates the way private sector organizations within Alberta collect, use and disclose personal information. “Personal Information” is everything about an identifiable individual, such as home address, home phone number, gender, medical information, employment history, and comments about the individual. Shtabsky & Tussman LLP recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal information received by us in the course of carrying out our legal practice.

We recognize our obligation to maintain the confidentiality of our clients’ information and our obligations concerning individuals’ personal information which we collect, use or disclose in the course of our legal practice. It is with those obligations in mind that this policy has been developed.

THE NEED FOR PERSONAL INFORMATION

To be able to give legal advice to our clients, we need to collect all relevant facts and information that relate to our retainer and to the representation of our clients. We also require information to manage and develop our business. 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 will try to collect personal information directly from the person to whom the information pertains. Where necessary, we will collect personal information from other sources. We will collect only the personal information necessary for the purposes stated in the previous paragraph.

The Act provides that an individual is deemed to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information about that individual for a particular purpose if the individual voluntarily provides the information for that purpose, and it is reasonable that a person would voluntarily provide that information.

By retaining Shtabsky & Tussman LLP for legal advice or representation, we consider that an individual consents to our collection, use or disclosure of the individual’s personal information as necessary 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 Act.

When we collect personal information about individuals directly from them, except when their consent to the collection is deemed, we will tell them the purpose for which the information is collected, and the name of a person who can answer questions about the collection.

We are permitted to collect, use or disclose personal information about an individual in certain circumstances without the individual’s consent such as where it is in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely fashion or where the personal information is available to the public from a designated source or where the collection, use or disclosure is required or authorized by law or is reasonable for purposes of an investigation or proceeding.

SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that any personal information that we collect, use or disclose is accurate and complete. The Act allows us to retain personal information for a reasonable period of time for the purposes of conducting our practice. We recognize our obligation to protect the confidential information of our clients as well as protecting the personal information we have gathered about our clients and about other individuals in the course of carrying out the practice of law. Therefore, we will continue to take steps to secure against the unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or destruction of personal information.

ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION

Under the Act, individuals are permitted to submit written requests to us to provide them with their personal information under our custody or control, information about the purposes for which the personal information has been and is being used by us and the names of persons to whom and the circumstances in which their personal information has been and is being disclosed by us.

We will respond to requests in the time allowed by the Act and will make efforts 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.

There are exceptions to the individual’s ability to access his/her personal information. By law, we must not disclose personal information if the disclosure reveals personal information about another individual, could reasonably by expected to threaten the safety or physical or mental health of another individual, or would reveal the identity of an individual who has provided us with an opinion about another individual in confidence and the individual providing the opinion has not consented to disclosure of his or her identity.

Furthermore, we are entitled to choose not to disclose personal information if such personal information is protected by any legal privilege, or its disclosure would reveal confidential commercial information and it is not unreasonable to hold that information, or the personal information was collected for an investigation or legal proceeding. In addition, we may choose not to disclose personal information where it relates to or may be used in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion or as disclosure might result in similar information no longer being provided to us when it is reasonable that it otherwise would be provided or if the personal information was collected or created by a mediator or arbitrator in the conduct of mediation or arbitration for which he or she was appointed to act.

The Act is not to be applied so as to affect any legal privilege. Therefore, we will not disclose information that is privileged where the applicant is not the client in whom the privilege is vested.

If there is an error or omission in personal information in our custody or under our control for which a request for correction has been received, we will, subject to legal limitations, correct the information as soon as reasonably possible or annotate it with the correction that was requested but not made.

MORE INFORMATION

If you have any questions, with respect to our policy concerning the handling of your personal information, or you wish to request access to, or correction of, your personal information under our care and control, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Jim Bouthillier
#1400, 10025 – 102A Avenue
Edmonton , AB T5J 2Z2
Phone (780) 429-4671

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 you remain dissatisfied after our Privacy Officer has reviewed and responded to your concern, you may wish to contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner at:

410, 9925 – 109 Street
Edmonton , AB T5K 2J8
Phone (780) 422-6860 or Fax (780) 422-5682