Privacy Policy

Fang An Law is committed to responsibly managing the personal information of our clients, visitors to our website (the Site), and other individuals we collect, use, and disclose information about in the course of our business. As legal advisors, we have a professional obligation to maintain the confidentiality of any information received within a lawyer-client relationship.

The practices outlined in this privacy policy (the "Policy") aim to strike a balance between protecting the privacy rights of individuals and Fang An's need to collect, use, or disclose personal information for legitimate business and legal purposes in Canada and the United States.

Ensuring control over the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information is an ongoing process. We are committed to regularly reviewing our personal information management practices and making necessary improvements to better safeguard the privacy of individuals.

What Is Personal Information?

PIPEDA defines Personal information as information about an identifiable individual but does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization. In other words, it does not include the information that one expects to find on a business card.

Your Consent

By providing us with your personal information, you are consenting to its collection, use, and disclosure in accordance with the terms of this Policy.

We will not require you to provide consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information beyond what is necessary to provide the requested services. The form of consent we seek may vary depending on the circumstances and the sensitivity of the information and may include express written or oral consent, implied consent, or opt-out consent. We will consider the nature of the information and the individual's reasonable expectations when determining how consent should be obtained.

You have the right to refuse to provide personal information and to withdraw your consent to the use and disclosure of previously collected personal information, subject to legal or contractual obligations and reasonable notice. The length of reasonable notice will depend on the nature of the information and its intended use by Fang An. We will inform you of the implications of refusing or withdrawing consent, which may include legal consequences or the inability of Fang An to provide certain services.

If you provide us with someone else's personal information, you represent and warrant that you have the authority to do so and that you have obtained any necessary consent from that person for us to collect, use, and/or disclose their personal information.

Collection of Personal Information

We will not collect personal information indiscriminately. We will limit the amount and the type of information we collect to that necessary to fulfill the purposes we have identified to you, or as otherwise permitted or required by law. We may also collect information about your business and business interests or your personal interests to better serve you and foster our relationship.

We collect and use personal information

· to determine whether we can act for or against you, including to identify conflicts of interest;

· to offer and provide legal services to you and to communicate with you about our firm and our services;

· to administer our client records and to bill for our services;

· to fulfill our legal and professional obligations; and

· as permitted or required by law or for purposes for which you otherwise provide your consent.

When possible, we will collect personal information from you directly. However, to provide legal services to clients or for legal, administrative, marketing or management purposes, we may also collect personal information through outside sources such as credit bureaus, government agencies or institutions, employment and other references, employers and service providers.

Internet Service Provider

Certain information may be collected on the Site through various technologies, described below, without your actively providing the information.

Our website is hosted on servers shared with an Internet service provider (ISP). Any personal information collected on our behalf by the ISP, such as server log data (see below), is managed in accordance with this Policy and is protected by applicable law.

Certain information about Internet users’ traffic patterns is passively and automatically collected and linked to users’ Internet Protocol (“IP”) addresses. These unique IP addresses are assigned to all Web users by their ISPs, and are automatically logged by Internet servers. While the IP address itself does not identify an individual, it may, in appropriate circumstances such as an investigation of a security breach, be used with the cooperation of the ISP to locate and identify an individual using the website.

Server Logs

In the normal course of establishing and maintaining Internet connections, our servers automatically log information about visits to our website. Server logs record statistical information, such as a visitor’s IP address and type of operating system, the time and duration of visit and Web pages requested. The server logs also identify categories of visitors by items such as domain and browser type. These statistics are reported in aggregate form to us and are used to improve our website and ensure that it provides the optimal online experience for visitors.

We do not link server log information to any other data in a way that would enable us to identify individual visitors, except for security purposes, as discussed above.

Remarketing

The Site also uses third-party vendor re-marketing tracking cookies, including the Google AdWords tracking cookie. This means we will show ads to you across the Internet, specifically on the Google Display Network. We do not collect personal information through the use of Google’s or any other third-party remarketing system. Rather, the third-party vendors will place cookies on web browsers in order to serve ads based on past visits to our website. This allows us to continue to market our services to those who have shown interest in our firm.

You may opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ads Settings. Also, you can opt out of other third-party vendors’ use of remarketing cookies by visiting the Network Advertising Initiative opt-out page.

Use of Personal Information

We use personal information only as described in this Policy or as otherwise disclosed to you or permitted or required by law.

Fang An generally uses personal information about clients or client representatives for the provision of legal advice, including obtaining and carrying out client instructions, reporting and communicating with clients, billing and accounting, and protecting against fraud, illegal activities or error. Fang An may also use your personal information to maintain our knowledge management system, to manage our business, and to engage in business transactions involving Fang An. We may also use personal information to send you newsletters about our services or about legal developments that we think would interest you and to invite you to client functions, seminars and sporting or cultural events.

We regularly distribute bulletins, articles and other legal updates and publications to people on our mailing lists, who can elect to receive materials on one or more subject matters. We typically distribute such materials by e-mail and other forms of electronic messages. At any time, you may change your preferences or unsubscribe from our mailing lists.

If you send personal information through our Site, we will use it to assess website use and traffic and to respond to your feedback, questions and comments.

Disclosure of Personal Information

We only disclose personal information in accordance with the terms of this Policy, with your consent, or as permitted or required by law. In order to provide legal services, we may need to disclose our client’s personal information to third parties, including foreign agents and government or regulatory agencies. We may disclose personal information

· to third parties when it is necessary to do so to provide legal services to you – for example, when we engage an expert or consultant on your behalf in a matter or when we retain another law firm or agent to act or assist us on your behalf;

· to service providers, whether located inside or outside Canada, who are retained by Fang An to assist us with marketing or other services, including technical support and mailing. We limit the service provider's right to use personal information solely for the services it provides to us, and we require the service provider to maintain the confidentiality of the personal information and to take steps to protect the security of the personal information we provide.

· to anyone who we reasonably believe is your agent;

· to third parties to assist us in evaluating your creditworthiness or to collect debts outstanding on an account;

· to our insurers and to regulatory agencies in connection with regulatory or other activities relating to the obligations of Fang An and its professional responsibilities in relation to the practice of law;

· in connection with a business transaction involving Fang An; and

· to other third parties, where you consent or where such disclosure is required or permitted by law.

Your personal information may be processed, accessed and/or stored in Canada or another jurisdiction, and will be subject to the laws of that jurisdiction.

Protection of Personal Information

We use the standard safeguards of the legal profession to protect the security of personal information in our possession, including physical, organizational and technological measures.

Retention of Personal Information

Fang An will retain information, including personal information, for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected. For example, if you send us personal information electronically to apply for employment with Fang An, we will retain your personal information for a reasonable period to consider you for future employment opportunities. Additionally, Fang An may be required by law to retain certain types of information for a specific period.

Your Access to Your Personal Information

You can request to view your personal information by writing to the Privacy Compliance Officer, whose postal and email addresses are provided at the end of this Policy. If you believe that the information we possess is inaccurate, you can request corrections to be made, provided you can demonstrate the inaccuracy. However, please note that under certain circumstances, we may not be able to grant access; for instance, if disclosing your records would raise security, legal, or confidentiality concerns.

Links to Other Websites

The Site may include links to other websites. Although we strive to link only to websites that uphold similar standards and respect for privacy, we are not accountable for the content or privacy practices of these external websites. We urge all Site visitors to thoroughly review the privacy statements and policies of all external websites.

Changes to This Policy

This policy may be changed from time to time. The changes will be posted on our website.

Contact

Please contact the Privacy Compliance Officer at info@fanganlegal.com for any questions or complaints about this Policy.