Privacy Policy

1. Who we are and what this policy covers

This policy explains how Iqbal Law ("we", "us") handles personal information collected through iqbaltaxlaw.com and when you contact us by phone, email or the website forms. We are a law firm in Ontario, Canada, and we collect and use personal information in the course of our commercial activities in line with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

If you become our client, the information you give us for your legal matter is also protected by our professional duty of confidentiality and by solicitor-client privilege, which are governed by the Law Society of Ontario's Rules of Professional Conduct and by law. Those duties are stricter than this policy, and your retainer agreement may add more detail.

2. Information we collect

• Information you give us. If you complete a form on this site, we collect your name, email address, telephone number (if you give it), your message, the page or form you used, and your confirmation that you understand sending the form does not create a lawyer-client relationship. We also keep what you tell us when you call or email.
• Technical information. Like most websites, our servers and hosting systems record technical details such as your IP address, browser type, device, the pages you visit and the date and time. We use this to keep the site secure and working. We also use your IP address to limit repeated form submissions and login attempts.
• Analytics information. We may use an analytics service such as Google Analytics to understand which pages are visited and which actions are taken (such as clicking our phone number or sending a form). These tools may use cookies or similar technologies. See section 6.

Please do not send sensitive information through the website. Give us a short summary of your issue. Do not include your Social Insurance Number, banking or login details, or detailed facts about your tax situation until we have spoken and confirmed whether we can act for you. Sending a form does not create a lawyer-client relationship, and we cannot give legal advice until we have confirmed that we can act for you.

3. Why we collect and use it

• To reply to your inquiry and arrange a consultation.
• To check whether we have a conflict of interest and whether we can take on your matter, as the law and our professional rules require.
• To provide legal services if you become a client, and to meet our legal and professional obligations.
• To protect the site and our systems against spam, abuse and security threats.
• To understand how the site is used so that we can improve it.

4. Your consent

By sending us a form or contacting us, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose your information for the purposes in this policy. You can withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, by contacting us using the details in section 10. If you withdraw consent, we may not be able to respond to you or provide services. We do not send marketing emails or newsletters unless you have agreed to receive them, and any marketing message will include a way to unsubscribe, as Canada's anti-spam law requires.

5. When we share information

We do not sell or rent personal information. We share it only when necessary:

• Service providers that help us run the site and our email and systems, such as web hosting, email delivery and analytics providers. They may use the information only to provide those services to us.
• Our own lawyers and staff who need it to respond to you or to act on your matter.
• Professional and legal requirements. We may disclose information when the law, a court order or the Law Society of Ontario requires it, or to protect our rights. We will limit what we disclose as the law allows, and we will protect solicitor-client privilege.
• With your direction. For example, if you ask us to speak with your accountant or another adviser.

Some of our providers, including email and analytics providers, may store or process information on servers outside Canada, including in the United States. When information is processed in another country, it may be subject to the laws of that country, and courts, law enforcement and national security authorities there may be able to access it.

6. Cookies and analytics

A cookie is a small file stored on your device. If analytics are turned on, they may set cookies that collect information such as pages viewed, approximate location and the type of device. We do not use this information to identify you personally, and we do not use advertising cookies.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, and you can use Google's browser add-on to opt out of Google Analytics. The site will still work if you do.

7. How we protect your information

We use reasonable safeguards for the sensitivity of the information, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) on this website, password-protected systems, and limiting access to people who need it. No method of sending information over the internet or storing it electronically is completely secure, so please keep that in mind when deciding what to send. If a breach of security safeguards creates a real risk of significant harm, we will report it to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada and notify the people affected, as PIPEDA requires.

8. How long we keep information

We keep information only as long as we need it for the purposes in this policy and to meet our legal and professional obligations. Inquiries that do not lead to a client relationship are kept for a limited time and then securely deleted. Client files are kept for the periods the law and the Law Society of Ontario require, and are then securely destroyed.

9. Your rights

You may ask us:

• what personal information we hold about you and how we use it, and for a copy of it;
• to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• to stop using your information or to delete it, where we are not required to keep it.

We may need to verify your identity first. We will respond within the time that the law requires, which is generally 30 days, and we may decline some requests where the law allows, for example if the information is protected by solicitor-client privilege. If we do, we will tell you why.

If you are not satisfied with how we handled your information, please contact us first. You can also complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

10. Contacting us about privacy

Questions, access requests or complaints about privacy can be sent to the firm's privacy contact at Iqbal Law, 77 Finch Avenue East, Unit #807, North York, ON M2N 6H8, by email at info@iqbalslaw.com, or by phone at 647-526-1677. Please put "Privacy" in the subject line.

11. Children, other sites and changes

This website is for adults and is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Our site links to other websites, such as the Canada Revenue Agency. We are not responsible for their privacy practices, so please read their policies.

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top shows when it last changed. If we make a major change, we will post a notice on this page.