Privacy Policy

Background

As a global law firm with entities in Australia, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, Biztech Lawyers respects your privacy and is committed to privacy protection and meets the highest global privacy standards.  We have provided some additional definitions the end of this policy, which explain what some of the terms we have used in this policy would be understood to mean in each of our key jurisdictions.

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This policy explains what information we collect about you, how and why we collect, use and hold it, and who we disclose your personal information to.  It also explains your rights and what to do if you have any concerns about our use of your personal information.

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We regularly review this privacy policy and may make changes as our services or privacy practices change, or as required by applicable laws or regulations.  Future versions of our privacy policy will be available on our website.  We encourage you to review this privacy policy periodically to be informed of how we use your personal information..

Who we are and other important information

We are Biztech Lawyers Pty Ltd, Biztech Lawyers (US) LLP and Biztech Lawyers UK Ltd (one or more of these entities being referred to in this Policy as “we”, “us” and “our”).   Biztech Lawyers UK Ltd is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection matters.


For our clients, prospective clients and suppliers (or, where any of these is an organisation, their personnel), all visitors to our website, and all other individuals with whom we communicate in the course of providing our services or running our business (each referred to as “you” and “your”), we are the controller of your information (which means we decide what information we collect and how it is used).

What personal information we collect

The information we collect and process that relates to you may include the following:


• details of your identity, including your name, date of birth, gender, and other information that appears on your identification documents;
• your contact details, including your telephone number(s), residential and/or business postal address, and personal and/or business email address
• details of your employer or business, including the business name, your job title;
• financial information, including your bank account details and/or credit/debit card and billing information;
• information about your personal and/or business circumstances;
• information relevant to your legal requirements;
• information collected automatically by our website and any other computer systems to which we give you access, such as your usage data, internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and generic location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform on the devices you use to access our systems;
• all other information that is reasonably required for the purpose of allowing us to provide our legal services to you; and
• all other information that is provided by you voluntarily.

Sensitive information

We do not intend to collect or process sensitive information and we request that you do not provide sensitive information to us unless this is strictly necessary for us to perform our services.

Sensitive information will only be processed by Biztech Lawyers Pty Ltd, or Biztech Lawyers UK Ltd where we have your consent to the processing, which can include your provision of the sensitive information to us for a specified purpose.

How we collect your personal information

We collect and process information about you and your interactions with us, for example:

• when you inquire about, purchase, or request information about, our legal services, call us, or otherwise visit our website and we provide you or your employer or legal representative with legal advice;
• when you subscribe to (or do not opt out of) our online services, or our mailing list;
• when you attend one of our events;
• whenever you interact with us, including over the phone, through our online enquiry form, email, social media channels, or post, or leave a review of the services we have provides to you;
• we may also collect personal information from third parties such as parties who have connected us to you by way of a referral; and
• we may use publicly available sources or third-party vendors to allow us to maintain the accuracy of contact details we hold for you or provide missing information

How and why we use your personal information

In some jurisdictions in which we collect and use personal information (in particular the UK and European Union), we are required to identify a legal justification (also known as a lawful basis) for collecting and using your personal data. Under Australian privacy law, we are obliged to identify the reasons why we collect your personal information. There are six legal justifications which organisations can rely on. The most relevant of these to us are where we use your personal data or personal information to:

• fulfill a contract that we have with you as an individual (Contract);
• comply with our legal obligations (Legal Obligation);
• pursue our legitimate interests (our justifiable business aims) but only if those interests are not outweighed by your other rights and freedoms (Legitimate Interests); or
• do something for which you have given your consent (Consent).

The table below sets out the specific purposes for which we use your personal information and the lawful basis we rely on when we do so.

How we store and hold personal information

We store most information about you in computer systems and databases operated by either us at locations from where we provide legal and other services, or our service providers. Some information about you is recorded in paper files that we store securely at locations from where we provide legal and other services.

We are bound by professional obligations of confidentiality and legal professional privilege and treat and protect all client information which we receive (including any personal information) in accordance with these obligations.  We implement and maintain processes and security measures to protect personal information which we hold from misuse, interference, destruction or loss, and from unauthorised access, modification or disclosure.

These processes and systems include:

• the use of identity and access management technologies to control access to systems on which information is processed and stored;
• requiring all employees to comply with internal information security policies and keep information secure; and
• monitoring and regularly reviewing our practise against our own policies and against industry best practice.

We will also take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information once we no longer require it for the purposes for which it was collected or for any secondary purpose under any relevant privacy regulations.

Who we may disclose your personal information to and why

We may share your personal information with:

Our personnel: our employees (or other types of workers) who have contracts containing confidentiality and data protection obligations.

‍Our supply chain: other organisations that help us provide our services. We ensure these organisations only have access to the information required to provide the support we use them and have a contract with them that contains confidentiality and data protection obligations.

‍Regulatory and Law Enforcement authorities: If we were asked to provide personal information in response to a court order or legal request (e.g. from the police), we would provide you with notice (where legally permitted) before disclosing any information and carefully consider the impact on your rights when providing a response.

‍Our professional advisers: such as our accountants or legal advisors where we require specialist advice to help us conduct our business.

‍Any actual or potential buyer of our business.

We do not sell your personal information

Transfer of Personal Data overseas

‍As we are a global law firm, we may disclose your personal information to our entities located in Australia, UK or USA or elsewhere at locations from where we provide legal and other services.

We may disclose personal information across borders to third parties so that they may perform services for us, on our behalf, or in the context of the provision of legal and other services to you.

We may also disclose your personal information across borders to others outside our group of companies where:

• it is necessary for the provision of our services to you;
• we are required or authorised by law to do so;
• you may have expressly consented to the disclosure; or
• we are otherwise permitted to disclose the information under any relevant privacy regulations.

Marketing Messages

We may use your personal information to offer you services we believe will interest you, but we will not do so if you tell us not to.

How long we keep your information

We retain information are based on the requirements of applicable data protection laws and the purpose for which the information is collected and used.  We take into account legal and regulatory provisions which require information to be retained for a minimum period.  We also consider the limitation periods for taking legal action and good practice in the legal industry.

We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for.

We may keep Identity Data, Contact Data and certain other data (specifically, any exchanges between us by email or any other means) for up to seven years after the end of our contractual relationship with you.

If you browse our Website, we keep personal information collected through our analytics tools for only as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for.

If you have asked for information from us or you have subscribed to our mailing list, we keep your details until you ask us to stop contacting you.

Your legal rights

Where you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Economic Areas, you have specific legal rights in relation to your personal information. Where you are resident in Australia or the United States, or other locations where we provide legal and other services, you have rights under applicable law and regulations.

We can decide not to take any action in relation to a request where we have been unable to confirm your identity (this is one of our security processes to make sure we keep information safe) or if we feel the request is unfounded or excessive. We may charge a fee where we decide to proceed with a request that we believe is unfounded or excessive. If this happens we will always inform you in writing.

If you are resident in the United Kingdom or European Economic Areas and wish to make any of the right requests listed below, you can do so at info@biztechlawyers.com.

‍Access: You must be told if your personal information is being used and you can ask for a copy of your personal information as well as information about how we are using it to make sure we are abiding by the law.

‍Correction: You can ask us to correct your personal information if it is inaccurate or incomplete. We might need to verify the new information before we make any changes.

‍Deletion: You can ask us to delete or remove your personal data if there is no good reason for us to continuing holding it or if you have asked us to stop using it (see below). If we think there is a good reason to keep the information you have asked us to delete (e.g. to comply with regulatory requirements), we will let you know and explain our decision.

‍Restriction: You can ask us to restrict how we use your personal data and temporarily limit the way we use it.

‍Objection: You can object to us using your personal data if you want us to stop using it. If we think there is a good reason for us to keep using the information, we will let you know and explain our decision.

‍Portability: You can ask us to send you or another organisation an electronic copy of your personal data.

‍Complaints: If you are unhappy with the way we collect and use your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (www.ico.org.uk), but we hope that we can respond to your concerns before it reaches that stage. Please contact us at info@biztechlawyers.com.   If you still wish to complain to the ICO you can contact them by calling 0303 123 1113. Or go online to www.ico.org.uk/concerns.

Contact details

‍If you have any questions, comments, requests, or concerns, please contact us at:

Email: info@biztechlawyers.com

‍BIZTECH LAWYERS PTY LTD  The Commons, 388 George Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

+61 2-9043-1376

BIZTECH LAWYERS (US) LLP 28 Liberty Street, 6^th Floor, New York, NY, 10005, United States of America

+1 855-212-5301

BIZTECH LAWYERS UK LTD  20-22 Wenlock Road, London, N1 7GU, United Kingdom

+44 20 7101 3720

‍Definitions

What is “Personal Information”?

‍Where we have used the term “personal information” in this policy the exact definition of the term may vary depending on which Biztech entity collected your information and/or where you are located:

‍Biztech Lawyers Pty Ltd

‍Under the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) “Personal Information” means ’Information or an opinion about an identified individual, or an individual who is reasonably identifiable:

a. whether the information or opinion is true or not; and

b. whether the information or opinion is recorded in a material form or not.’

‍Biztech Lawyers UK Ltd

‍Under the retained EU law version of the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (UK GDPR) “Personal Data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person”.

‍Biztech Lawyers (US) LLP

‍Under the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA) “Personal information” is information that identifies, relates to, or could reasonably be linked with you or your household. For example, it could include your name, social security number, email address, records of products purchased, internet browsing history, geolocation data, fingerprints, and inferences from other personal information that could create a profile about your preferences and characteristics.

Elsewhere in the USA “Personal information” may be defined in applicable state and federal legislation and regulations.

‍What is Sensitive Information?

‍We have used the term “sensitive information” in this policy to refer to both of the following:

‍“Sensitive Information”, as defined under the Australian Privacy Act 1988 (Cth):  Sensitive information means information or an opinion about an individual’s mental health, biometric data which may identify an individual, racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, membership of a political association or trade union, religious beliefs or affiliations, philosophical beliefs, membership of a professional or trade association, membership of a trade union, sexual preferences or sex practices, and genetic data, biometric data processed for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation, or criminal record

‍“Special Category Data” (as defined in the UK GDPR):