Last Revised: April 24, 2020

Artists’ Legal Advice Services operated by Artists and Lawyers for the Advancement of Creativity (hereinafter “ALAS”, “we”, “our” or “us”) provides a service whereby creators living in Ontario, Canada may obtain free summary legal advice from volunteer legal practitioners (“Legal Services”). For the scope of Legal Services available, please read our Terms of Use.

This Privacy Policy lets you know how we handle personal information that we collect, use or disclose in the course of operating our website located at https://www.alasontario.ca/ (the “Website”) and/or providing Legal Services (collectively, the “Service”). As legal practitioners, we have professional and ethical obligations to maintain information we have received within our client relationships in confidence. For clarity, information disclosed to our volunteer legal practitioners in connection with the Service is strictly confidential and will not be shared with ALAS. This Privacy Policy supplements our professional obligations.

When you use our Service, you are consenting to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy and you signify your agreement to be legally bound by this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. If you do not agree to this Privacy Policy or the Terms of Use, you should not access or otherwise use our Service. The Terms of Use and Privacy Policy apply to all visitors, registered users and others who access or use the Website.

We reserve the right, at our discretion, to change, modify, add, or remove portions from this Privacy Policy at any time. We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time without prior individual notice, so we encourage you to periodically review this Policy for the latest information on our privacy practices. The date on which this Policy was last amended is shown at the top of this Policy. You are responsible for verifying whether amendments have been made to this Policy. If you object to any changes we make, you should stop using the Service, otherwise you consent to these changes by continuing to use the Service.

1) INFORMATION WE COLLECT

(a) Information you provide to us

Legal Services are available by appointment only and there are no drop-ins available. To make an appointment to speak with a legal practitioner, you must complete the intake form either online or over the phone. You must provide the following information:

  • Information about you, including your name, email address, phone number and mailing address;
  • Description of your legal issue, including area of law, a description of yourself, an overview of the circumstances giving rise to the legal issue, any specific questions you have for our legal practitioners and any upcoming deadlines; and
  • Information to conduct a conflict of interest check, including the full name of any adverse or related parties and, if known, the name of his/her legal counsel, together with details of any legal assistance you have previously received on this issue.

(b) We collect certain technical information from your use of the Website.

When you visit a website, your session may be recorded through the use of cookies. A cookie is a small piece of information that is sent by a website computer to your computer’s hard drive, where the information is stored for later use by the website. Cookies allow our Website to identify you as you travel from page to page within the Website, to maintain continuity between the pages. The cookie is no longer used by a site after your visit to the site ends. If you’d like, you can configure your web browser to disable cookies, but doing so may impair your ability to fully use the Website. ALAS also monitors the total number of visitors to its Website, as well as which pages are most popular, although this information is in the aggregate and cannot be used to identify individuals.

2. HOW WE USE THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We may use your information as follows:

  • to establish, maintain and manage our relationship with you so that we can provide you with Legal Services and/or access to the Website;
  • with your consent, to send you promotional communications that we think might be of interest to you;
  • to respond to your direct inquires;
  • to create aggregate information to analyze the success of our Website;
  • to protect us and you against fraud, theft and damage to our goods and property;
  • to enable us to comply with applicable law or regulatory process;
  • to correct technical problems and malfunctions related to the Website;
  • to protect the security and integrity of the Website and the information collected through the Website;
  • to detect and protect against error, negligence, breach of contract, fraud, theft and other illegal activity, and where necessary to meet our insurance requirement;
  • to respond to judicial or other legal requirements; and
  • to the extent permitted by applicable law, to provide information to law enforcement agencies (for example, related to investigations on matters related to public safety, fraud or theft).

3. HOW WE SHARE INFORMATION

(a) We may disclose personal information in the following circumstances:

  • as required or permitted by law or legal process;
  • as described in this Privacy Policy;
  • to investigate suspected fraud, harassment or other violations of any law, rule or regulation, or the policies for the Website;
  • to meet or comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, audit or enforceable request from a government agency or regulatory body;
  • in connection with a bankruptcy proceeding or the sale, merger or change of control of ALAS or the division responsible for the Website with which your personally identifiable information is associated;
  • if we are acquired by or merged with another company, we may transfer information about you to the extent the personal information is necessary to carry on the business or activity that was the object of the transaction, for greater certainty, not including any information sent to us for the ALAS duty; or
  • counsel related to your matter. In this instance, we will give notice to affected users before personal information is transferred or becomes subject to a different Privacy Policy.

(b) Sharing with third parties – Website operation or hosting

ALAS may use third parties located outside your jurisdiction of residence to operate or host one or more Website or the computers that operate the Website. By using the Website, you understand your information may be transferred outside the jurisdiction in which you live. You understand that if your information is processed in a foreign country, it may be subject to foreign laws and accessible to law enforcement and national security authorities within that jurisdiction.

If you’d like more information about our third-party service providers, you can contact ALAS using the contact information provided below.

We may share certain aggregated demographic information with our business partners regarding the users of the Website.

4. LINKS TO OTHER WEB SITES

The Website may contain links to other websites (“Linked Sites“). ALAS provides links to Linked Sites as a convenience only. You should carefully review any privacy policies and terms of use on the Linked Sites; ALAS is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of the Linked Sites. You should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any transaction through a Linked Site or with any third party that operates a Linked Site.

Please also consider that ALAS has no control over and is not responsible for any other aspect of the Linked Sites.

ALAS’s reference to or use of a Linked Site does not imply ALAS’s recommendation, endorsement, approval, affiliation, or sponsorship of the Linked Site. You agree that ALAS shall not be responsible or have any liability, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss arising out of or relating to your interactions with any Linked Site, including without limitation any content, property, goods or services available on any Linked Site.

5. SECURITY AND DATA RETENTION

(a) Security

We have and will continue to undertake commercially reasonable efforts designed to prevent unauthorized access to user data retained in our servers. However, due to the inherent open nature of the Internet, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information provided online. ALAS does not warrant or guarantee the security of any information that is the subject of this Privacy Policy or any information that is submitted to ALAS via the Internet. However, ALAS uses procedural and technical safeguards to prevent: (i) disclosure of personal information to anyone that is not directly involved in rendering the requested service or information and (ii) loss or theft of your information.

(b) Storage of Information

ALAS will store information collected via the Website(s), including, without limitation, your personal information, only as long as is necessary for the purposes for which the information was collected. Thereafter, we will keep your information for a reasonable time in accordance with our standard procedures or as necessary for archival/audit purposes, to comply with our legal or insurance obligations, to resolve disputes, prevent fraud and abuse and to enforce our agreements.

Even if we delete some or all of your personally identifiable information, we may continue to retain and use aggregate or anonymous data previously collected and/or anonymize or aggregate your personally identifiable information. We may continue to keep archived data related to your use of the Website.

Please note that we will not be liable for disclosures of your data due to errors or unauthorized acts of third parties.

6. INFORMATION RELATING TO MINORS.

Our Website is designed for those who are at least the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence. We do not knowingly collect information from minors. If we are made aware that we have received such information, or any information in violation of our Policy, we will use reasonable efforts to locate and remove that information from our records. If you are a minor, please do not use the Website and do not submit information to any Website.

7. UPDATING YOUR INFORMATION

You can access, change, remove and modify the information you previously have provided to ALAS by contacting us with a request. If appropriate, we will change or modify the information. You may also request access to your personal information in our records. If you do so, we may request specific information from you in order to allow us to confirm your identity and right to access. Subject to any legal restrictions or rights of refusal, we will inform you of the existence, use and disclosure of personal information relating to you and give you access to that information or, in the event that we cannot provide you with access to your personal information, we will endeavour to inform you of the reasons why.

8. CONTACT INFORMATION

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the privacy practices related to the Website(s), or your dealings on the Website(s), you can contact alasontario@gmail.com.

If, having shared your concerns with us, you are still not satisfied, you may file a complaint with a privacy regulator, such as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada by mail at 30 Victoria Street, Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3 or by calling 1 800 282 1376.