As an international trade law firm, Affilia Legal LLP (“Affilia“, “we“, “us “, “our“) collects, uses, and discloses information on a daily basis in the course of providing its legal services, including consultation, support and transactions.

At Affilia, we take your privacy to heart. This includes the protection of your Personal Information.

The purpose of this privacy policy (hereinafter the “Policy“) is to help you understand in a transparent manner how Affilia collects, uses, discloses, and retains your Personal Information in the course of its activities. The Affilia Website Terms of Use (https://affilia.legal/en/terms-and-conditions-of-the-use-of-the-affilia-website/) are an integral part of this Policy, and govern the manner in which Affilia collects, uses and discloses your Personal Information in connection with your interaction with our Site.

1. 1. WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF THIS POLICY?

By providing us with Personal Information, you agree and authorize Affilia, its third parties and its service providers to process such Personal Information in accordance with the manner set out in this Policy.

You understand that this Policy does not apply to third-party websites that can be accessed through the Affiliate website by clicking on links, and that these sites have their own privacy policies. Consequently, Affilia cannot be held responsible in any way with regard to these third-party websites.

2. 2. WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

For the purposes of the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, “Personal Information” is defined as information that can be used to identify a natural person, directly or indirectly.

This definition excludes information that is considered public. Indeed, some information that directly identifies individuals is public and is not subject to laws protecting Personal Information. This includes information concerning the performance of a function by an individual within an enterprise or public body, including the name, title, position, email address, address, and telephone number of the individual’s place of work.

Additionally, Personal Information is considered “Sensitive” when it gives rise to a high degree of reasonable expectation of privacy, particularly because of its nature or the context in which it is used. Examples of sensitive personal information include medical, biometric, or otherwise intimate information. This can be about health, sexual orientation, physical characteristics, ethnicity, beliefs, or the state of finances.

3. 3. HOW DO WE COLLECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION?

In the context of your relationship with Affilia, you may be required to transmit Personal Information to us, including by technological means.

Affilia collects Personal Information particularly in the context of training or networking activities, the provision of legal services by Affilia, as well as when consulting our website.

This collection of Personal Information may be done in person, or through emails received by our team members, online appointment request forms, third-party vendors’ applications such as DocuSign, by telephone or video conference, or through cookies on our website.

4. 4. WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

Affilia limits the collection of your Personal Information to what is strictly necessary and appropriate for the identified purposes.

In the course of our activities, we may ask you for and process different types of Personal Information as part of our business and the provision of our services. This Personal Information may include, but is not limited to:

• • Personal identification, contact and background Information such as first and last name, government ID information, address, email address, telephone number, date of birth, nationality, place of residence

• • Personal financial and billing Information: banking and credit information, payment information, billing address

• • Personal Information in connection with services rendered or to be rendered by Affilia

• • Personal Information related to staff recruitment: Curriculum Vitae, educational record, proof of graduation, criminal record

• • Technical and digital Personal Information in connection with the use of our website and other platforms, including social networks: cookies.

Affilia does not collect Personal Information from anyone under the age of 16. Any Personal Information relating to a minor under the age of 16 that has been communicated to us without the express consent of a person authorized by law will be destroyed.

5. 5. WHY DO WE COLLECT THIS INFORMATION?

In the course of its activities, and as agreed with you at the time of collection, Affilia collects Personal Information for the purposes identified and permitted or required by law, including:

• • In order to initiate a possible business relationship and/or to open a client file

• • To process and fulfill requests for services, particularly in the provision and administration of its legal services.

• • To manage administration, invoicing, and payment processing

• • In order to fulfil its legal and ethical obligations in terms of customer identification and identity verification

• • To offer personalized recommendations in the context of client satisfaction forms

Affilia strives to limit the collection of Personal Information to only that which is necessary and appropriate to perform its activities.

It is also possible that Affila may from time to time ask your permission to use your Personal Information for secondary purposes, such as for database feeding, for the distribution and subscription of newsletters, workshop offers or any other communication, as well as to assess your level of satisfaction and your needs in connection with our services.

6. 6. WHAT ABOUT CONSENT?

As much as possible within the scope of its activities, and except in cases provided for or permitted by law, Affilia obtains your consent before collecting, using, or disclosing your Personal Information.

In the event that you transmit to Affilia Personal Information concerning a third party, you acknowledge that you have obtained the consent or authorizations required for Affilia to collect, use or disclose such Personal Information in accordance with this Policy or that such collection, use or disclosure is authorized by applicable legislative measures.

7. 7. HOW CAN I OPT OUT OF THE COLLECTION OF INFORMATION AND WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES?

You may refuse to disclose certain Personal Information to Affilia, subject to applicable legal obligations.

For example, you can refuse non-essential cookies when you visit our website, or refrain from disclosing Personal Information to us when we request it.

Consequently, you understand that it is possible that Affilia may not be able to provide the requested services if you refuse to provide the required Personal Information, as these services may depend on the transmitted Personal Information.

8. 8. WHO CAN ACCESS YOUR INFORMATION?

Affilia will not disclose your Personal Information other than for the purposes for which it was collected, except in cases where we have obtained your prior consent, or in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

In order to fulfill the purposes for which your Personal Information was collected, certain categories of individuals within or on behalf of Affilia may have access to your relevant Personal Information, on a need-to-know basis.

Professionals at Affilia are subject to ethical and professional obligations. As such, no Personal Information protected by solicitor-client privilege will be disclosed unless the client waives this privilege, or Affilia is legally authorized or obligated to do so. In particular, Affilia may communicate your Personal Information to your mandatary.

Affilia’s administrative staff members may have access to your Personal Information in order to manage the relationship and the progress of services, if necessary, particularly for billing purposes.

Affilia uses the services of certain third-party service providers for the storage or processing of Personal Information on our behalf, including for cloud computing, data hosting or application services. Under no circumstances does Affilia sell or trade your Personal Information for payment.

Depending on the nature of the services provided by Affilia, it is possible that your Personal Information may be communicated outside of Quebec.

9. 9. WHAT STEPS ARE BEING TAKEN TO ENSURE THE SECURITY OF YOUR INFORMATION?

Affilia ensures the security of the Personal Information it holds throughout its lifecycle. As such, the reasonable security measures taken by Affilia include physical, technological, and administrative measures.

Affilia ensures the security of Personal Information accessible at its premises, particularly through locks and access mechanisms using smart cards. Individual workstations are secured with passwords. Affilia also uses a server located in Canada, protected by antivirus software, to store its digital files. Additionally, remote access to this server requires a VPN.

Any member of the Affilia team who needs access to Personal Information is subject to our internal privacy policy. When we communicate Personal Information to third parties, in particular to service providers, we ensure by contractual means that we have a sufficient guarantee that the level of protection of Personal Information will be at least equivalent to that offered by Affilia. These third parties are not authorized to disclose your Personal Information to others.

When Affilia transmits Personal Information outside of Quebec, we ensure in advance that the Personal Information will benefit from adequate protection, particularly with regard to the generally recognized principles of the protection of Personal Information. We therefore take into consideration the protection measures, including contractual ones, from which Personal Information would benefit, in addition to considering the legal regime applicable in the State where this Personal Information would be communicated.

10. 10. WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?

Any individual whose Personal Information is held by Affilia has the right to access this Personal Information, have it corrected or updated, and file a complaint.

You can also withdraw or modify your consent to the use or disclosure of your Personal Information, subject to Affilia’s legal and contractual obligations. Except where prohibited by law, Affilia will provide you with reasonable access to your Personal Information to exercise your rights.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights regarding your Personal Information, or for any request or complaint related to Affilia’s policies and handling of Personal Information, we invite you to contact the person responsible for the protection of Personal Information at the following coordinates:

• • Telephone : (514) 288-2726 extension 221

• • Email: communication@affilia.legal

In the event of a confidentiality incident related to your Personal Information that poses a risk of harm to you, we will contact you in accordance with legal provisions.

We also encourage you to promptly inform us of any changes to your Personal Information so that Affilia can make necessary updates as soon as they occur (e.g., change of address or phone number).

11. 11. POLICY UPDATE

To comply with the latest legislative measures regarding the protection of Personal Information, Affilia may update this Policy from time to time at its sole discretion, without prior notice and without Affilia’s responsibility being engaged towards you or any other person. Therefore, we encourage you to review this Policy each time you visit our website to stay informed about how your Personal Information is handled.

This Policy was last updated on 2024/05/28.