We take your privacy seriously - here's how we handle your information
Look, we get it - privacy policies can be a real snooze-fest. But since we're dealing with your estate, your family's future, and some pretty sensitive stuff, we figured you'd actually wanna know what happens with your information. So here's the deal, laid out as plainly as we can make it.
This policy covers what happens when you interact with Rune Shroud Chronos Legal Services, whether that's through our website, emails, phone calls, or in-person consultations at our Toronto office. By using our services, you're agreeing to these terms - but if anything doesn't sit right with you, give us a call and let's talk about it.
When you reach out to us or become a client, we're gonna need the basics - your name, contact details (email, phone number, mailing address), date of birth, and sometimes your Social Insurance Number for tax-related estate planning. Nothing too wild here, just what any lawyer needs to do their job properly.
Here's where it gets more detailed. To help you with estate planning, we'll need info about your assets (property, investments, bank accounts), beneficiary details, family structure, and any existing wills or trusts you've got. Yeah, it's personal - but that's kinda the whole point of what we do.
Like pretty much every website these days, we collect some technical info when you browse our site - your IP address, browser type, pages you visit, how long you stick around. It helps us figure out if our website's actually useful or if we need to fix something. We're not tracking you across the internet or anything creepy like that.
We keep records of our conversations - emails, phone call notes, meeting summaries. It's partly for legal reasons (gotta maintain proper files), and partly so we don't forget important details about your situation when we're working on your case six months down the line.
We're not collecting data just for kicks. Here's what we do with it:
Estate information is about as sensitive as it gets, so we've put some serious safeguards in place:
Everyone on our team goes through privacy and confidentiality training. They're bound by professional ethics rules and employment agreements that take client confidentiality seriously. Plus, we limit access - folks only see the files they need to see for their specific role.
We don't go around blabbing about your estate to anyone who'll listen. But there are some situations where we need to share info:
Sometimes you'll ask us to share stuff with your accountant, financial advisor, or family members involved in the estate planning process. We only do this when you've explicitly told us it's okay.
We work with a few trusted vendors - cloud storage providers, IT support, document management systems. They're all bound by confidentiality agreements and only get access to what they absolutely need to do their jobs.
If we're legally required to disclose information (court order, subpoena, regulatory investigation), we've gotta comply. We'll notify you first if legally allowed to do so. Also, if we become aware of elder abuse or fraud, we may have professional obligations to report it.
Sometimes we need to consult with other legal experts, tax specialists, or professional liability insurers about complex issues. When we do, we keep it anonymous or get your consent first.
Yeah, we use cookies - the digital kind, not the delicious kind (though we do keep those in the office kitchen).
These keep the website functioning properly - remembering your session, maintaining security features, that sorta thing. You can't really opt out of these if you wanna use the site.
We use tools like Google Analytics to understand how people use our website. It's anonymous data that helps us figure out if our content is actually helpful or if we're just talking to ourselves. You can disable these in your browser settings if you want.
We don't use advertising cookies, we don't track you across other websites, and we're not building detailed profiles to sell to marketers. Our website tracking is pretty minimal compared to most sites out there.
Most browsers let you control cookies through their settings. You can block 'em, delete 'em, or get notified when they're being set. Just know that blocking essential cookies might make parts of our website wonky.
Under Canadian privacy laws (PIPEDA and provincial regulations), you've got some solid rights when it comes to your personal info:
You can request a copy of what we've got on file about you. We'll provide it within a reasonable timeframe (usually 30 days). There might be some exceptions if releasing certain info would compromise legal privilege or someone else's privacy.
If something in your file is wrong, let us know and we'll fix it. Accurate information is pretty important in estate planning, so we actually want to know if there's an error.
For things that require your consent, you can change your mind. Just understand that if you withdraw consent for us to process certain information, we might not be able to continue providing services (kinda hard to draft a will without knowing your assets).
You can ask us to delete your information, but here's the catch - as lawyers, we're required to keep certain records for specific periods (usually 7-10 years after our work is done). So we'll delete what we legally can, but some stuff has to stick around.
If you think we're using your info in a way that's not cool, you can object. We'll review the situation and either stop or explain why we need to continue.
We don't hang onto your info forever, but we do need to keep it for a while:
While we're actively working with you, we keep everything related to your matter. Pretty obvious, right?
After our work is done, we're required by the Law Society of Ontario to keep files for at least 10 years. For estate matters, it's often longer because questions can come up decades later (especially with trusts or complex estates).
Billing and payment records stick around for 7 years minimum - that's what the tax folks require.
If you've signed up for newsletters or updates but aren't a client, we'll keep your contact info until you unsubscribe or until it's been inactive for 3 years.
Analytics and website usage data gets anonymized and aggregated pretty quickly - usually retained for a year or two max.
Look, privacy policies are complicated, and we've tried to make this one as straightforward as possible. But if you've still got questions, concerns, or just wanna chat about how we handle your information, we're here.
If you're not satisfied with how we've handled your privacy concerns, you've got the right to complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. We'd prefer to work it out directly with you first, but you've got options.
Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3
Phone: 1-800-282-1376
Website: www.priv.gc.ca
We might update this privacy policy from time to time - laws change, our practices evolve, you know how it goes. When we make significant changes, we'll let you know via email if you're a client, and we'll always post the updated version on our website with a new "last updated" date at the top.
We won't make changes that significantly reduce your privacy protections without getting your consent first.
We're happy to walk you through anything that's not clear. Give us a shout at (416) 555-0347 or email counsel@runeshroudchronos.info