Privacy Policy
Michael, Evrensel & Pawar LLP (dba MEP Business Counsel) and MEP Corporate Services Ltd., together with any of the irrespective affiliates, partners, employees or related parties (collectively, “MEP”, “we”, “our” or “us”) are committed to keeping our clients’ information confidential, consistent with our obligations as legal professionals. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “you” indicates such individual or individual representing an entity browsing this website (the “Website”), owned and operated by MEP, or using any of the services offered by MEP (the “Services”).
“Personal Information” is defined as information about an identifiable individual, though it does not include the name, business title, business address or telephone number of employees of organizations. We are committed to protecting any Personal Information that is collected by us in connection with the Services and adhering to all applicable privacy legislation, including British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”), Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (“PIPEDA”), the Canadian Standards Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation (“CASL”), the US Federal Trade Commission Act, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act 15 USC S6801, and US Federal law, including the Electronic Government (E-GOV) Act of 2002 and the Privacy Act of 1974. We are committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality and security of your Personal Information. As part of this commitment, we are guided by the principles set out in both PIPA and PIPEDA.
Please take a moment to review thisPrivacy Policy. By using our Website or Services, you confirm that you havecarefully read and understood this Privacy Policy and that you are consentingtoourcollection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information as describedherein. The disclosure of your Personal Information by you to us and ourcollection and use of such Personal Information is subject to our [Terms and Conditions Agreement] Found Here, including all dispute resolution provisions, limitation on damages and exclusion of liabilities, and choice of law provisions set out therein. Please take a moment to carefully review our Terms and Conditions Agreement in providing us with Personal Information.
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless MEP, its affiliates, partners, directors, officers, employees, agents and suppliers from and against any and all claims, suits, proceedings, liabilities, damages, losses, fees and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or in relation to any claims resulting from your breach of the Terms and Conditions, this Privacy Policy or your use of the Website and/or the Services.
You authorize us to use and retain this Personal Information for as long as it may be required for the purposes described herein. Consent may also be obtained by us in writing or verbally, in person or over the phone. Such consent remains valid even after the termination of our relationship with you, unless you provide us with written notice that such consent is withdrawn. If such consent is withdrawn, we will comply with your request, except where such withdrawal would frustrate a legal obligation. If you do not consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your or their information, please discontinue use of our Services and Website.
We reserve the right to make any amendments to this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. Any amendments may also apply to information collected under a previous version of this Privacy Policy and such amended version will be posted on the Website.
Collection, Maintenance, and Use
We collect Personal Information from various authorized sources including, without limitation, from you whether through your use of our Website or Services, to the extent necessary to deliver the Services or otherwise as is noted herein. Personal Information about you is essential to our being able to provide the products and services that best meet your needs.
This Privacy Policy applies to all information, including Personal Information, collected via the Website and through provision of the Services. We may also collect Personal Information about you from third parties, including but not limited to web hosting companies, and the like. We may combine information that we receive from the various sources described in this Privacy Policy, including third-party sources, with information you provide and use or share it for the purposes identified herein.
We may use portions of your Personal Information to (a) provide features of our Website, (b)determine eligibility for products and services, (c) provide the Services, (d) research potential enhancements to the Website or Services, (e) research potential enhancements to our marketing practices, (f) manage your account and our relationship, (g) communicate with you, (h) provide client support, (i) assess your future needs and offer products or services that may best meet those needs, (j) manage a third party’s account and our relationship, (k) communicate with a third party, (l) verify the accuracy of certain Personal Information, (m) perform data analyses, including financial analyses, market and consumer research, trend analysis and demographic analysis, or (m) otherwise manage our business. Our use of your Personal Information is not limited to the foregoing, but such use is limited only to the extent necessary to deliver the Services or operate the business. Personal Information may also be used for other purposes, subject to obtaining your prior consent for such use.
In providing the Services, we may need to disclose the Personal Information we collect to our affiliates, subsidiaries, partners, municipalities, public bodies, successors and other service providers or agents who perform various functions for us. As MEP continues to develop and grow, we may buy or sell parts of a business. As our businesses consists in part of client relationships, information regarding the particular accounts or services being purchased or sold could include Personal Information and be one of the transferred business assets. In certain circumstances, we may be required to provide Personal Information to third parties for legal or regulatory purposes.
There are circumstances permitted under applicable privacy laws where the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information may be done without consent and other situations where collection, use or disclosure is required by other legislation. Such situations include, but are not limited to: (a) where disclosure of information is required by applicable legislation or by order of an authorized court, tribunal, or regulatory or law-enforcement agency; (b) where MEP believes, on reasonable grounds that it is necessary to protect the health or safety of you or another; (c) where it is necessary to collect monies owing to MEP or respond to proceedings against MEP; and (d) as part of an investigation into possible breach of an individual’s obligations to MEP or proceeding involving MEP.
It is important that your Personal Information is accurate, current and complete. We rely on you to keep us informed of any changes (such as change of telephone, address, or any other circumstances), by simply contacting us. If you identify any Personal Information that is out-of-date, incorrect or incomplete, please let us know. We will make the corrections and use reasonable efforts to communicate these changes to other parties who may have inadvertently received incorrect or out-of-date Personal Information from us.
Safeguarding Personal Information
At MEP, we employ physical, electronic and procedural safeguards to protect our systems and all Personal Information under our control against unauthorized access and use. All safety and security measures are appropriate to the sensitivity level of the information collected. Our service providers and agents are required to maintain client confidentiality, and may not use any information provided by us for any unauthorized purpose. Employees of MEP are governed by strict standards and policies to ensure that Personal Information is secure and handled with due care. In the event your Personal Information is inadvertently used or disclosed in a manner not in accordance with this Privacy Policy, PIPA, or other applicable legislation, we will promptly follow MEP’s procedures to rectify the issue.
Access to Personal Information
You have a right to access your Personal Information. You can access your Personal Information by providing our Privacy Officer with a written request that has sufficient detail to identify the Personal Information you are seeking. We will endeavor to provide the requested information within a reasonable time and generally within thirty (30) days following your request.
We may charge you a minimal fee for providing access to your Personal Information. Where a fee may apply, we will inform you of the cost and request further direction from you on whether or not you would like us to proceed with the request. Although we will generally comply with your request to access your Personal Information, we may decline such access on grounds permitted or required under applicable legislation, including but not limited to circumstances where (a) the disclosure would reveal Personal Information about another individual, (b) the disclosure would reveal confidential commercial information that if disclosed, could harm our competitive position, or (c) the information is protected by solicitor-client privilege. If we refuse your access request in full or in part, we will notify you in writing with reasons for the refusal.
Compliance with CASL
By using this Website or the Services, you consent to the use of your Personal Information in order to contact you with commercial electronic messages (as defined in CASL). Such consent shall be considered withdrawn and terminated upon receipt by MEP of an opt-out request by you.
Linked Sites, Third Parties and Cookies
Our Website may contain links to third-party sites not controlled by us or covered by this Privacy Policy, such as those belonging to dealers, licensees, co-branded websites offered in conjunction with a business partner, or independent product review sites. We recommend that you check the privacy statement of other sites you visit before providing any Personal Information.
We cannot guarantee, and hereby disclaim any responsibility, that any third party, whether referred by us or through a direct link, adheres to this Privacy Policy or to the third party’s own privacy policy. We also cannot guarantee nor represent and warrant that a third party adheres to our Terms and Conditions Agreement or to the third party’s own terms of use. For example, we cannot guarantee that a third party with which we connect you has or will take reasonable steps to secure your Personal Information. If you have any questions, comments, or concerns related to a third party, please direct your questions, comments, or concerns to that third party.
Our Website may use “cookies” and other tracking technologies to gather information about your visit (such as demographic data, browser type, IP address, pages visited, activities conducted on the page, and the day and time of your visit). Cookies remember user preferences and maximize the performance of our website and services. Using cookies on our websites provides benefits to you, such as allowing you to maintain your account login information or contact information on forms between visits. In addition, we use information gathered from cookies to auto fill fields on forms such as the city, province or postal codes associated with your IP address. This information can be corrected by you before submitting any form or inquiry or you can disable the cookie as discussed below and the information will not be collected.
To measure site activity, provide a better user experience, and tailor our marketing communications, we or our business partners may compile information from the cookies, web beacons or other technologies on our websites. This information may be combined with other information collected online or offline about you, including data provided by third party sources, and may be used or shared for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We may also allow third party advertising and personalization partners to use this information to develop personalized content and appropriate advertising based on your visits over time on the Website. This information may also be used to evaluate our online advertising campaigns or to tailor promotions and other marketing messages to you.
At this time, we do not honour “do not track” signals from a web site browser. However, you may refuse or delete cookies. Please refer to your browser Help instructions to learn more about cookies and other technologies and how to manage their use. If you elect to refuse or delete cookies, you will need to repeat this process if you use another computer, or change browsers. If you choose to decline cookies, some of the functionality of a website may be impaired.
Opt-Out, Privacy Inquiries and Correcting Your Information
If you do not wish to receive unsolicited marketing communications from us, please contact us at crodriguez@meplaw.ca.
This willallow you to opt out of telephone and email communications and/or to changepreviously submitted opt-out preferences.If you have concerns or questions regarding our privacy practices or thisPrivacy Statement, you may contact our Privacy Officer at crodriguez@meplaw.ca.