Privacy

Application

This policy applies to Brown Wright Stein and related bodies corporate (collectively referred to as "BWS", "We", "Our", "Us"). BWS and entities controlled by BWS are subject to the National Privacy Principles in the Privacy Act, 1988 (Cth). BWS has a duty to maintain the confidentiality of the affairs, including personal information of our clients, potential clients, contractors and others. This Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement explains how BWS collects and protects the privacy of personal information about you collected by BWS or provided by you to BWS via our website or from other sources. This Policy outlines the obligations which BWS has in managing your personal information that we hold.

This Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement does not apply in relation to acts and practices of BWS which relate directly to the employee records of present and former employees of BWS.

Our Disclosure Statement

BWS collects personal information in order to conduct our business, to provide and market our services and to meet our legal obligations. BWS will generally collect personal information about you directly from you when you use this website or deal with BWS over the telephone or by letter or e-mail. BWS will also collect personal information by way of forms filled out by people, face-to-face meetings, interviews, business cards, and from third parties.

BWS may collect some information about your movements throughout our website. For example, we can identify the pages on our website that your browser requests or visits. This information can only identify you as an individual if you have chosen to identify yourself, for example, by registering on our website.

You may be able to access other websites by clicking on links we have provided on our website. You should be aware that we are not responsible for these other sites. You may need to check their privacy policies and practices, which may not be the same as BWS's privacy policies and practices.

BWS may collect personal information about you from a third party source. BWS will take reasonable steps to contact you and make you aware of the purposes for which BWS has collected your personal information which has been obtained from a third party source.

Normally, the type of personal information collected will include your name, address, telephone number, occupation, e-mail address and service requirements. In certain circumstances, we may also collect sensitive information about you such as information about membership of a professional or trade association or health information.

The type of information we may collect and hold includes (but is not limited to) personal information about:

clients, business associates and potential clients and their employees
suppliers and their employees
prospective employees, employees and contractors; and
other people who come into contact with BWS.

Use Or Disclosure Of Your Personal Information

BWS will use and disclose personal information for the primary purpose for which the personal information was collected or for purposes related to or ancillary to that primary purpose and in other circumstances authorised by the Privacy Act.

In general, we use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

to conduct our business;
to provide and market our services;
to communicate with you;
to purchase from you;
to comply with our legal obligations; and
to help us manage and enhance our services.

BWS may from time to time engage third party contractors to carry out work for BWS. Third party contractors are prohibited from using collected personal information about you, except for the specific purpose for which that personal information has been supplied by BWS to the contractor.

BWS does not disclose personal information collected about you to third parties for the purpose of allowing them to direct market their products and services to you.

BWS may disclose your personal information to:

other companies or individuals who assist us in providing services or who perform functions on our behalf (barristers, experts and consultants );
courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities; and
anyone else to whom you authorise us to disclose it.

BWS may be obliged to disclose your personal information:

under compulsion of law; or
for the sole purpose of avoiding the probable commission or concealment of a felony, or
in accordance with any order, rule, practice or procedure of any court.

In many cases, information which we hold will be subject to legal professional privilege and will not be liable to disclosure.

Personal Information About Other People

You must not provide personal information to BWS about another person, unless that person has authorised BWS, through you, to collect, use and disclose personal information about that person for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement.

Security

BWS protects any personal information that we hold from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.

Your personal information may be stored either in hard copy documents or as electronic data in BWS's software or systems.

BWS maintains physical security over our paper and electronic data and premises. BWS also maintains computer and network security through firewalls and other security systems such as user identifiers and passwords to control access to our computer systems.

Sending Personal Information Overseas

BWS will not send your personal information to recipients outside of Australia without:

obtaining your consent (in some cases this consent will be implied); or
otherwise complying with the National Privacy Principles

Access To Personal Information

BWS will, on request, provide you with access to personal information held by BWS about you, subject to any limitations or exceptions in the Privacy Act. BWS will deal with requests for access within a reasonable time. You must pay BWS for reasonable costs incurred by BWS in providing you with access. BWS will advise you of the likely cost in advance and will require you to verify your identity and specify what information you require.

If BWS refuses to provide you with access to personal information about you, BWS will provide you with reasons for the refusal, in accordance with the requirements of the Privacy Act.

Up-to-Date Information

BWS will take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is up-to-date when collected or used by BWS. If any personal information held by BWS about you is incorrect, you should contact BWS immediately, so that we can take reasonable steps to correct the incorrect information stored about you.

Enquiries

If you wish to gain access to your personal information or make a complaint about a breach of your privacy or if you have any query on how your personal information is collected or used or any other query relating to BWS's Privacy Policy and Disclosure Statement, please contact our Privacy Officer:

Telephone: 02 9394 1010
Mail: Level 6, 179 Elizabeth Street, Sydney NSW 2000.
Fax: 02 9394 1011
Email: privacy.officer@bwslawyers.com.au