Overview
1. LawCafe is a public self-service platform that enables the public to manage their legal needs in a secure, online environment. The Site connects users to Contributors (i.e. legal professionals), and provides legal content and articles on various topics. To ensure the best user experience and protect the interests of our users and other members, including Contributors on our Site, we require all users to comply with our Terms of Use and this Privacy Policy.
2. In order to provide you with the best user experience and protect your interests and the interests of other users, including Contributors on our Site, we require all users of the Site to comply with our website Terms of Use, the Contributor Terms and Conditions, and this Privacy Policy.
3. We comply with the Australian Privacy Principles as provided for in the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth) and, to the extent applicable, with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).
4. This Privacy Policy sets out how LawCafe (“LawCafe,” “Us,” “We”) collects, stores, uses, protects, and shares your personal information.
5. It applies to our platform at www.lawcafe.com.au (the “Site”) and any LawCafe platform we create which connects to, or is in connection with, the Site.
6. By visiting or using the Site , you agree to the collection, storage, usage, and disclosure of your personal information by Us in the manner described in this Privacy Policy.
Amendments and Deleting Your Information
7. We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Policy at any time by posting the amended terms on the Site . If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you via the Site or by email to any of the contact details you provided when registering as a member of the Site so that you can access and review the changes.
8. If you object to any changes, you may:
(a) Discontinue your use of the Site ; and/or
(b) Delete your membership/subscription, in accordance with our Terms of Use; and
(c) Request that we delete your information.
9. By continuing to use the Site after notice of changes has been sent to you or published on the Site, you are deemed to have consented to the changes.
How We Collect Personal Information
10. We collect personal information in several ways, including:
(a) When you provide information directly to Us in person, by phone, or in writing (whether electronic, via our Site, or otherwise);
(b) When you visit and/or use the Site, in which case, we record information sent to us by your computer, mobile device, or other access device; and
(c) From third parties such as operators of linked websites, applications, and advertising on the Site.
What Type of Information We Collect
11. We may collect the following types of personal information to provide you with access to and use of the Site and for the purposes provided for in this Privacy Policy:
(a) Your name, phone number, mobile telephone number, email address, physical address, and other contact information;
(b) Your education, work experience, employer, skills, and photo (if applicable);
(c) Events you attend and your interaction at the events within the Site and/or App;
(d) Any social media data you choose to share with us or which is in the public domain;
(e) Feedback, market research, and opinion polls provided by you;
(f) Records and content of communications with Us or any other person, including when using the Site communication tools;
(g) Personal information based on your activities on the Site;
(h) Personal information you provide to us through any discussion boards, correspondence, user information pages, disputes, or shared by you from other social applications, services, or websites;
(i) To the extent permitted by law, other personal information provided by or obtained from third parties (such as a credit bureau), including navigation and demographic data;
(j) Additional personal information we ask you to provide to verify your identity or when we suspect that you are in breach of our Terms of Use, this Privacy Policy, or other Site policies (including your personal ID and your answers to any questions we pose to you); and
(k) Personal information from your interaction with the Site and its content and advertising, including device identifiers, device type, geo-location information, connection information, statistics on page views, traffic to and from the Site, mobile network information, time, date, referring URL, the type of operating system and browser, ad data, IP address, and standard web log data.
12. As a Contributor, you understand that the Site will show your picture, name, phone number, and social media link that you provide us with when you register as a Contributor, and that you may then edit your profile information via your user dashboard. You agree not to post or add personal data or information to your profile or account that you would not want to be publicly available.
How Your Personal Information is Used
13. How We use your data will depend on the Services you use and how you use those Services.
14. Our principal purpose in collecting, using, and storing your personal information is to provide you with access to and use of the Site in a personalised, safe, and efficient manner.
15. You consent to us collecting, using, storing, and sharing your personal information to:
(a) Operate the Site, generate content, and provide support and billing services (including updates and improvements);
(b) Provide the services requested by you;
(c) Provide you with information via content, general email and online correspondence, and newsletters;
(d) Research, develop, and improve Our services;
(e) Conduct surveys to determine use and satisfaction with Our services;
(f) Generate statistics in relation to the Site;
(g) Detect, investigate, and prevent potentially unlawful acts or omissions or acts or omissions with the potential to breach our Terms of Use, this Privacy Policy, or other policies;
(h) Enforce our Terms of Use, this Privacy Policy, or other policies;
(i) Verify information for accuracy or completeness (including by way of verification with third parties);
(j) Combine or aggregate your personal information with information we collect from third parties and use it for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy;
(k) Contact you at your contact details we have collected, by way of voice call, post, text message, or email;
(l) Aggregate and/or make anonymous your personal information so that it cannot be used, whether in combination with other information or otherwise, to identify you;
(m) Collect fees, resolve disputes, and identify, test, and resolve problems;
(n) Notify you about the Site and updates to the Site from time to time; or
(o) Supply you with generalised, targeted, or personalised marketing, advertising, and promotional notices, offers, and communications based on your preferences, and measure and improve our marketing, advertising, and promotions based on your ad customisation preferences.
Opting Out
16. You may withdraw your consent to us collecting, storing, using, and disclosing your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy, but you will not be permitted to continue to use the Site.
17. You may opt out of receiving our marketing, advertising, and promotional notices, offers, and communications by communicating this to us by email.
18. You may also request that we delete your information at any time.
Disclosure to Third Parties
19. Notwithstanding section 5 above, you agree that we may disclose your personal information to:
(a) Enforce our Terms of Use, this Privacy Policy, and other policies;
(b) Comply with any applicable law, request by a governmental agency or regulatory authority, or legally binding court order;
(c) Respond to or resolve claims that a member has violated the rights of others;
(d) Protect a person’s rights, property, or safety;
(e) Our staff, contractors, professional advisers, and related entities strictly for the purpose of use in relation to the platform and/or associated services to you;
(f) Outsourced service providers who assist Us in providing our services such as information technology providers and marketing advisers (including in relation to fee collection, fraud investigations, and Site operations);
(g) Third parties to whom you expressly ask us to send, or consent to us sending, your personal information, including our Contributors;
(h) Credit agencies (including regarding missed and late payments or other defaults or breaches on your account); or
(i) Such entities that we propose to merge with or be acquired by, and in such a case, we will require that the new entity following the merger or acquisition adhere to this Privacy Policy.
Use of Cookies
20. We (or a third party providing services to Us) may use cookies, pixel tags, “flash cookies,” or other local storage provided by your browser or associated applications (each a Cookie and together Cookies). A Cookie is a small file that stays on your computer or device until, depending on whether it is a sessional or persistent cookie, you turn your computer or device off or it expires (typically between 7 and 30 days
21. We (or a third-party providing services to us) may use cookies, pixel tags, “flash cookies,” or other local storage provided by your browser or associated applications. A cookie is a small file that remains on your computer or device until, depending on whether it is a sessional or persistent cookie, you turn your computer or device off or it expires (typically between 7 and 30 days depending on user settings).
22. Cookies may be used to provide you with our range of services including identifying you as a user or member of the Site, remembering your preferences, customizing and measuring the effectiveness of the Site and our promotions, advertising, and marketing, analyzing your usage of the Site, and for security purposes.
23. Cookies may collect and store your personal information. This Privacy Policy applies to personal information collected via cookies. You may adjust your internet browser to disable cookies. If cookies are disabled, we may not be able to provide you with the full range of our services.
24. You may also encounter cookies used by third parties and placed on certain pages of the Site that we do not control and have not authorized (such as webpages created by another user). We are not responsible nor liable for the use of such cookies.
25. The Site may also include links to third-party websites (including links created by users or members) and applications and advertising delivered to the Site by third parties (Linked Sites). Organisations who operate Linked Sites may collect personal information including through the use of cookies. We are not responsible nor liable for Linked Sites and recommend that you read the privacy policies of such Linked Sites before disclosing your personal information.
No Spam, Spyware, or Spoofing
26. You are prohibited from engaging in spam, spyware, or spoofing type activities, regardless of whether directed towards us or other users of us.
27. You must not use the Site to send, upload, or distribute spam, viruses, or malicious, illegal, or prohibited content to the Site or otherwise send content that would breach our Terms of Use or this Privacy Policy.
28. You are not permitted to add a user or member to our mailing list (postal or email details included) without the written consent of a user or member.
29. We may (or we may engage a third-party service provider to) take steps to scan and filter messages to check for spam, viruses, phishing attacks, and other malicious activity or unlawful or content prohibited by this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.
Storage and Security
30. We store and process your personal information on our host’s servers, currently located in multiple locations around the world. You consent to the transfer, storage, and retention of that information onto the servers of our host provider used from time to time by us, regardless of the location of those servers.
31. We have taken steps to protect your personal information by contracting with a third party to provide technical and security measures. These measures are designed to mitigate, but do not guarantee against, the risk of loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure, and alteration.
32. We are committed to ensuring that the information you provide to us is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure information and protect it from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorized access, modification, and disclosure.
33. Where we employ data processors to process personal information on our behalf, we only do so on the basis that such data processors comply with the requirements under the GDPR and have adequate technical measures in place to protect personal information against unauthorized use, loss, and theft.
34. The transmission and exchange of information is carried out at your own risk. We cannot guarantee the security of any information that you transmit to us or receive from us. Although we take measures to safeguard against unauthorized disclosures of information, we cannot assure you that personal information that we collect will not be disclosed in a manner that is inconsistent with this Privacy Policy.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) for the European Union (EU)
35. We will comply with the principles of data protection set out in the GDPR for the purpose of fairness, transparency, and lawful data collection and use.
36. We process your personal information as a Processor and/or to the extent that we are a Controller as defined in the GDPR.
37. We must establish a lawful basis for processing your personal information. The legal basis for which we collect your personal information depends on the data that we collect and how we use it.
38. We will only collect your personal information with your express consent for a specific purpose and any data collected will be to the extent necessary and not excessive for its purpose. We will keep your data safe and secure.
39. We will also process your personal information if it is necessary for our legitimate interests, or to fulfill a contractual or legal obligation.
40. We process your personal information if it is necessary to protect your life or in a medical situation, it is necessary to carry out a public function, a task of public interest or if the function has a clear basis in law.
41. We do not collect or process any personal information from you that is considered “Sensitive Personal Information” under the GDPR, such as personal information relating to your sexual orientation or ethnic origin unless we have obtained your explicit consent, or if it is being collected subject to and in accordance with the GDPR.
42. You must not provide us with your personal information if you are under the age of 16 without the consent of your parent or someone who has parental authority for you. We do not knowingly collect or process the personal information of children.
Your Rights under the GDPR
43. If you are an individual residing in the EU, you have certain rights as to how your personal information is obtained and used. We comply with your rights under the GDPR as to how your personal information is used and controlled if you are an individual residing in the EU.
44. Except as otherwise provided in the GDPR, you have the following rights:
(a) To be informed how your personal information is being used;
(b) To access your personal information (we will provide you with a free copy of it);
(c) To correct your personal information if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
(d) To delete your personal information (also known as “the right to be forgotten”);
(e) To restrict processing of your personal information;
(f) To retain and reuse your personal information for your own purposes;
(g) To object to your personal information being used; and
(h) To object against automated decision making and profiling.
45. Please contact us at any time to exercise your rights under the GDPR at the contact details in this Privacy Policy.
46. We may ask you to verify your identity before acting on any of your requests.
Hosting and International Data Transfers
47. Information that we collect may from time to time be stored, processed in, or transferred between parties or sites located in countries outside of Australia. These may include, but are not limited to Australia, UK, New Zealand, and the USA.
48. The hosting facilities for our website are situated in Australia.
49. Our suppliers and contractors are currently in Australia, but may in the future be situated in Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and the USA. Transfers to each of these countries will be protected by appropriate safeguards, including one or more of the following:
(a) The use of standard data protection clauses adopted or approved by the European Commission which you can obtain from the European Commission Website;
(b) The use of binding corporate rules, a copy of which you can obtain from our Data Protection Officer.
50. You acknowledge that personal data that you submit for publication through our website or services may be available, via the internet, around the world. We cannot prevent the use (or misuse) of such personal data by others.
Access to Your Personal Information
51. You may request details of personal information that we hold about you in accordance with the provisions of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), and to the extent applicable the EU GDPR. If you would like a copy of the information which we hold about you or believe that any information we hold on you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant, or misleading, please email us at admin@lawcafe.com.au.
52. We reserve the right to refuse to provide you with information that we hold about you, in certain circumstances set out in the Privacy Act or any other applicable law.
Contact Us
53. If you have a question regarding this Privacy Policy, would like to amend your personal information stored securely by us, or would like to make a complaint, please send an email via the Contact Us page or to admin@lawcafe.com.au or use the contact form on the Site.
