Privacy Policy / Collection of Personal Information
At The Divorce Centre, we value your privacy as much as you do and recognize how important it is to maintain the security of personal information in the digital age. Our internal best practices for handling personal information have been developed in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). This policy has been developed to help you understand how we handle and protect your personal information.
The term ‘personal information’ includes any information that can directly identify you. We only collect personal information in order to provide legal services and advice to you, as well as for our own internal use. Internal uses include accounting and billing, and can occasionally include the training and professional development of our staff.
Your personal information will never be disclosed to a third party without your explicit consent, and even then only when necessary for the provision of collaborative services which have been approved by you before provision. Your personal information will never be bartered, sold, or given to a third party without a definable benefit to you. There are some circumstances which are are an exception to this policy:
- When we are required or authorized to do so by law;
- When necessary for the provision of legal services to you, such as providing information to experts who are assisting in your case- your consent in this practice is implied unless you instruct otherwise;
- When necessary to establish the amount of fees owed or to collect same from you;
- When we engage the services of third parties to assist with the administration of our office, such third parties to sign our confidentiality agreement; and,
- When the information in question is already publicly known.
At The Divorce Centre, we take all reasonable measures to protect your personal information from loss, unauthorized access, changes or disclosure. Our premises is secure and access to areas where personal information is stored is restricted to staff and authorized subcontractors. Your consent to the use of email as a method of communication is implied, but you should know that consumer email systems can not be guaranteed secure at all times. If you do not consent to the use of email for communications, you must explicitly advise us in writing of this preference.
We are required to keep documents which include your personal information even after the close of your file, in order to meet the accountability guidelines of the Law Society of Upper Canada. These documents tend to be saved in electronic format only. Documents which do not need to be retained by us are returned to you at your request, or destroyed in order to protect your personal information.
If you wish to view your personal information that is on file; or, if you have questions or concerns about this policy or your personal information, please contact us at your convenience.
Using Files Located on Other Servers
To improve the functionality of our websites, certain files (such as open source libraries, images and scripts) may be delivered automatically to your browser via a trusted third-party server or content delivery network. The delivery of these files is intended to provide a seamless user experience by speeding response times and avoiding the need for each visitor to download these files.
Your Privacy and the Internet
The nature of the Internet is such that Web servers automatically collect certain information about a visit to a website, including the visitor’s Internet Protocol (IP) address. IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP) to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP addresses of visitors to their sites. The IP address, on its own, does not identify an individual. However, in certain circumstances, such as with the co-operation of an ISP for example, it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, The Divorce Centre considers the IP address to be personal information, particularly when combined with other data automatically collected when visitor requests a Web page such as the page or pages visited, date and time of the visit.
Unless otherwise noted, we do not automatically gather any specific information from you, such as your name, telephone number or email address. We would obtain this type of information only if you supply it to us, for example, by email or by filling in a contact form. In such cases, how your personal information is handled will be provided in a Personal Information Collection Statement.
In cases where services are provided by organizations outside of our website, such as social media platforms or mobile applications, IP addresses may be recorded by the Web server of the third-party service provider.
Third-Party Social Media
Our use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the Web. Social media account(s) are public and are not hosted on our servers. Users who choose to interact with via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications used to access them.
Digital Markers (including cookies)
A digital marker is a resource created by the visitors' browser in order to remember certain pieces of information for the Web server to reference during the same or subsequent visit to the website. Examples of digital markers are "cookies" or HTML5 web storage. Some examples of what digital markers do are as follows:
- they allow a website to recognize a visitor who has previously accessed the site;
- they track what content is viewed on a site which helps website administrators ensure visitors find what they are looking for.
Our website uses sessional and persistent digital markers on its website. During your on-line visit, your browser exchanges data with https://www.thedivorcecentre.ca. The digital markers used do not allow us to identify individuals and do not contain personal information.
You may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies, if you so choose. However, it may affect your ability to interact with websites.
Web Analytics
Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement, and reporting of data about Web traffic and visits for purposes of understanding and optimizing Web usage. Information in digital markers may be used in conjunction with computer request data to identify and track your online interactions with the thedivorcecentre.ca website.
Thedivorcecentre.ca uses Google Analytics and log file analysis to improve the site. When your computer requests a thedivorcecentre.ca Web page, the following types of information are collected and used for Web analytics:
- the originating IP address
- the date and time of the request
- the type of browser used
- the page(s) visited
- referral website
If you wish, you may opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics by disabling or refusing the cookies; by disabling JavaScript within your browser; or by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On. Disabling Google Analytics or JavaScript will still permit you to access comparable information or services from our website. However, if you opt out by disabling or refusing the cookies; by disabling JavaScript within your browser; or by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On, this may affect your ability to access other websites. Thedivorcecentre.ca accepts no responsibility for any decision you may take with regards cookies.
Thedivorcecentre.ca uses log file analysis internally and retains this information for a maximum period of 18 months. After this period, the information is disposed of. The log information is not disclosed to an external third party service provider
Data collected for Web analytics purposes goes outside of Canada to Google servers and may be processed in any country where Google operates servers. Data may be subject to the governing legislation of that country, [for example the USA Patriot Act]. For further information about Google Analytics, please refer to the Google Analytics terms of service.
Information used for the purpose of Web analytics is not used in any manner that allows association of an individual with the data. Such data may be used for communications and information technology statistical purposes, audit, and evaluation, research, planning and reporting.
Inquiring about these Practices
Any questions, comments, concerns or complaints you may have regarding the administration of our Privacy Policy may be directed to us by writing to us at:
85 Bayfield Street,
Suite 300
Barrie, ON L4M 3A7
