Hynes Legal cares about your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy (Privacy Policy) and the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

This Privacy Policy outlines the way in which Hynes Legal and its related entities (collectively Hynes Legal) may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information.

By using Hynes Legal’s websites and services, requesting goods from Hynes Legal or otherwise providing Hynes Legal with your personal information, you consent to Hynes Legal collecting, holding, using and disclosing your personal information as described in this Privacy Policy. If Hynes Legal is unable to collect, handle, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, Hynes Legal may not be able to provide you with the relevant goods and services or with access to Hynes Legal’s websites.

Personal information

“Personal information” is defined in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) to mean information or an opinion about an identified individual or an individual who is reasonably identifiable, whether the information or opinion is true or not.

Personal information collected by Hynes Legal

The personal information Hynes Legal collects depends on the nature of your interactions with Hynes Legal. Hynes Legal may collect personal information about:

Hynes Legal’s clients, potential clients, and other individuals Hynes Legal may come into contact with in the course of acting for Hynes Legal’s clients;
Hynes Legal’s business associates, referrers, suppliers and their employees and personnel;
Hynes Legal’s current, prospective and former employees, partners and contractors;
other people who come into contact with Hynes Legal.

The personal information Hynes Legal may collect and hold includes your name, telephone numbers, email addresses, street address, postal address, other contact details, date of birth, occupation, company name, employment history, education and qualifications, personal preferences, financial information, payment details, feedback and other information which assists Hynes Legal in conducting its business and complying with its legal obligations.

Sometimes Hynes Legal may also collect your ‘sensitive information’, such as information about your membership in a professional association, criminal record or health information.

You may choose not to provide Hynes Legal with your personal information, however Hynes Legal may not be able to provide you with access to its websites, goods or services as a result.

Collecting and holding personal information

Hynes Legal collects personal information in a variety of ways, including:

when you provide it directly or indirectly to Hynes Legal, for example through emails, written forms, meetings, telephone conversations or messaging technology, business cards, when you sign up to Hynes Legal’s email lists, when you register or attend a Hynes Legal seminar, through your feedback, via the internet, websites or social media, online queries, or when when someone else provides it on your behalf, such as your employer or a third party service provider;
from public sources of information;
in some circumstances, from third parties, for example, Hynes Legal may use third parties to analyse traffic at its websites and social media channels, which may involve the use of cookies.

Hynes Legal’s collection of your personal information may be on a one-off, ad hoc or recurring basis using any of the above sources and Hynes Legal may combine or link the personal information Hynes Legal collects with the other personal information Hynes Legal already knows about you.

When Hynes Legal obtains personal information from third parties, Hynes Legal will assume and you must ensure that you have made the third party aware that you have referred Hynes Legal to them and of the purposes involved in the collection, use and disclosure of the relevant personal information.

If you supply Hynes Legal with personal information about another individual, please refer that person to this Privacy Policy.

Technology

Hynes Legal may also collect and process non-personal information provided to Hynes Legal by your browser when you visit Hynes Legal’s websites for example, the website you came from, your location information, IP address, web browser and/or device type and the time and date of access.

You are able to control your browser settings to limit the collection of information by your browser, however, if you limit your browser settings, you may not be able to use certain features of Hynes Legal’s websites.

Purpose for collecting, holding, using and disclosing personal information

Generally, Hynes Legal may collect, hold, use and disclose your personal information for the primary purposes for which it was collected, including to:

provide you with Hynes Legal’s goods or services;
conduct Hynes Legal’s business, including marketing Hynes Legal’s goods and services, and communicating with you;
confirm your identity;
understand your needs, requirements and interactions with Hynes Legal so that Hynes Legal can tailor and enhance its goods and services, including its websites;
enable third parties or suppliers to facilitate the provision of goods or services to you, for example barristers, title and court searches, accountants, mediators, valuers, printers, carriers and recruitment;
manage Hynes Legal’s relationship with you including communicating goods or services that may interest you, sending you email newsletters and providing you with technical assistance,
conduct marketing activities;
organise events;
consider the suitability of prospective employees, partners and contractors; and
comply with Hynes Legal’s legal obligations.

Hynes Legal may also use and disclose your personal information for other purposes which you consent to or which are required or permitted by law. This other purpose may include for a secondary purpose that is related to a purpose for which Hynes Legal collected the personal information, and for which you would reasonably expect Hynes Legal to use or disclose your personal information.

Disclosing personal information

Hynes Legal may disclose your personal information (including, in certain circumstances, your sensitive information) for the purposes for which it was collected to:

courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities, or to anyone else to whom you authorise Hynes Legal to disclose it to;
anyone else where Hynes Legal is required or authorised by law to do so;
contractors who assist Hynes Legal to provide its services, including barristers, hosting and data storage providers and debt collectors; and
social media channels where Hynes Legal has a presence.

Overseas disclosure

Hynes Legal may disclose your personal information to, and collect your personal information from, overseas third parties, with your consent, where authorised by law, or where Hynes Legal’s business activities or functions have been outsourced to an overseas service provider.

Hynes Legal may disclose your personal information to, and collect your personal information from, the overseas service providers to the extent necessary for Hynes Legal to perform its business activities and functions. These service providers may be located in the United States of America, Germany and the Republic of the Philippines.

Hynes Legal may need to disclose your personal information to and collect your personal information from service providers in other countries as well and this will be on an ad hoc or case by case basis, and for the purpose for which Hynes Legal collected your personal information.

Protecting personal information

Hynes Legal takes reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps include secure storage facilities for paper records, secure data centres and cloud storage providers, limiting physical access to Hynes Legal’s premises and paper records, restricting electronic access to the personal information Hynes Legal holds through information security software and firewalls, conducting privacy training for Hynes Legal employees and permanently destroying or de-identifying your personal information as required by law and otherwise when it is no longer required.

Anonymity and pseudonymity

Where possible, Hynes Legal will provide you with the option to use a pseudonym or not identify yourself, unless Hynes Legal is required or authorised by law to identify you. Hynes Legal may not be able to assist you with your specific requests if you are using a pseudonym or are anonymous.

Accessing and correcting personal information

Subject to the requirements and exceptions in the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), you may request access to and seek correction of the personal information Hynes Legal holds about you by contacting Hynes Legal’s Privacy Officer at marketing@hyneslegal.com.au. There is no fee for submitting a request to access your personal information. Hynes Legal may charge a fee for payment of its reasonable administrative costs in providing the requested personal information to you.

Third party content

Hynes Legal may include links to third party content including links to websites operated by third parties. Hynes Legal has no control over the privacy practices of these third parties and makes no representations or warranties in relation to the privacy practices of these third parties. Please check the website of each relevant third party for details of their privacy policies.

Marketing

Hynes Legal may use and disclose your personal information to advise you of the range of goods and services Hynes Legal provide, advise you of legal developments, and market Hynes Legal’s services.

You can opt out of receiving marketing materials from Hynes Legal at any time, including by sending an unsubscribe message to Hynes Legal using the contact details provided in the relevant electronic message. Otherwise you can contact Hynes Legal at marketing@hyneslegal.com.au. to unsubscribe or update your preferences.

Privacy queries and complaints

If you have any questions about privacy-related issues or wish to complain about a breach of your privacy or the handling of your personal information by Hynes Legal, please contact Hynes Legal’s Privacy Officer at marketing@hyneslegal.com.au. Hynes Legal may ask you to lodge your complaint in writing. Any complaint will be investigated by the Privacy Officer and you will be notified of the making of a decision in relation to your complaint as soon as is practicable after it has been made.

If Hynes Legal is unable to satisfactorily resolve your concerns about its handling of your personal information, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner:

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner
GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Tel: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au
www.oaic.gov.au

Changes to Privacy Policy

Hynes Legal may change this Privacy Policy at any time and Hynes Legal will post any changes to this Privacy Policy on its websites. Hynes Legal encourages you to check Hynes Legal’s website to view the current Privacy Policy or contact Hynes Legal at marketing@hyneslegal.com.au to obtain a copy of the most recent Privacy Policy.