Privacy policy

This policy is about this website, which belongs to Sanctum Law Professional Corporation(“we”, “us”, “our”). It says what we collect when you use it, why, where it goes, and what you can ask of us.

1. What we collect, and where

Three things on this site take information from you. Each goes to the same place.

• The intake at Book services. Your name, your email address and phone number, how you would like to be reached, the names of the other people or companies involved in your matter (which we need to check for conflicts of interest), and your answers to the questions about your matter. Nothing is sent until you press Send to the firm.
• The newsletter sign-up. Your name and email address.
• The chat window. Whatever you type into it, and the contact details you give there.

All three are delivered into the client-management system we use to run the firm, which is provided by HighLevel Inc. and hosted on its servers. It stores your information on our behalf and under our instructions. We do not sell it, trade it, or pass it to anyone else, except as set out in section 4.

We do not collect documents through this site. If we need documents from you, we ask for them through our client portal after we have been in touch.

2. What stays on your device

While you fill in the intake, your answers are saved in your own browser after every screen, so that you can close the page and come back to it. That draft is on your device only. It is not sent to us until you press Send, and it is removed once you do. Your choice of light or dark theme and text size is kept in your browser the same way. The chat window also keeps a small identifier in your browser so a conversation can continue between visits.

We run no analytics and set no advertising cookies. Nothing on this site tracks you across other websites.

3. Why we collect it

• To respond to your enquiry and speak with you about your matter.
• To check for conflicts of interest before we can act, which we are required to do.
• To decide whether we can help, and whether a lawyer-client relationship can be established.
• To send you the newsletter you signed up for, until you unsubscribe.
• To meet our professional and legal obligations as a law firm.

We do not use your information for any other purpose without asking you first.

4. Who we disclose it to

• The lawyers and staff at the firm who need it to respond to you.
• The service providers who run our systems, such as the client-management system in section 1, which are bound to keep your information confidential.
• Where a law, a court order or a regulator requires it.
• Where it is needed to protect the rights, property or safety of the firm, our clients or others, as the law permits.

5. Consent

By sending us the intake, signing up for the newsletter or writing in the chat window, you consent to us collecting, using and storing that information for the purposes in section 3. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us at the address in section 10, subject to any legal or professional obligation that requires us to keep it.

6. Solicitor-client privilege

Sending us an enquiry does not make you our client and does not create a solicitor-client relationship. We treat every enquiry as confidential, but the full protection of solicitor-client privilege applies only once we have agreed in writing to act for you. On the criminal defence form we say this plainly: do not describe what happened until we have spoken.

7. How long we keep it

We keep your information for as long as we need it for the purposes above, or for as long as the law and the Law Society of Ontario require. When it is no longer needed, we destroy it securely or make it anonymous.

8. How we protect it

This site is served over HTTPS, so what you send is encrypted in transit. Access inside the firm is limited to the people who need it. We review how we collect and store information regularly. No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your rights

Under PIPEDA you can:

• ask to see the personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct anything that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• withdraw your consent to our use of it, subject to our legal obligations;
• complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada if you believe your privacy rights have been infringed.

To exercise any of these, contact our Privacy Officer, Vidit Deswal, at the address below.

10. Contact

Questions, concerns and requests about this policy or about your information go to our Privacy Officer, Vidit Deswal:

We answer privacy requests within thirty days of receiving them.

11. Changes to this policy

When we change this policy we post the new version here with a new date at the top. Our legal disclaimer covers the terms on which we practise and the limits of what this site can tell you.