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Privacy Policy

Effective [date to be confirmed]

Draft for review. This policy is a starting draft based on the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). Highlighted items must be confirmed, and the full text should be reviewed by Forte before launch.

We never sell your information

It is used only to respond to you, check conflicts, and act on your matter.

Confidential by duty

Client information is protected by the Law Society's rules as well as PIPEDA.

You stay in control

Ask to see, correct, or withdraw consent at any time.

Our commitment

Forte Family Law ("Forte", "we", "us") respects your privacy. As a law practice in Ontario, we are subject to PIPEDA in respect of personal information collected in the course of commercial activities, and to the Law Society of Ontario's Rules of Professional Conduct, which require us to hold client information in strict confidence.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, how we protect it, and the choices available to you.

Information we collect

We collect only the information reasonably needed for the purposes described below. This may include:

Contact details such as your name, phone number, email address, and mailing address.
Information you provide in an inquiry, including a brief description of your matter and the names of other parties (used for conflict checks).
For clients, information needed to provide legal services, such as family, financial, employment, and identity information, as required by the Law Society's client identification and verification rules.
Technical information collected automatically when you use this website, described in section 06.

How we use it

To respond to your inquiry and arrange a consultation.
To check for conflicts of interest before accepting a matter.
To provide legal advice and representation, and to administer the client relationship, including billing.
To meet our legal, regulatory, and professional obligations.
To maintain and improve this website.

We do not sell personal information. We do not use it for marketing without your consent.

Consent

By submitting an inquiry or retaining Forte, you consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information for the purposes described here. You may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. Withdrawing consent may limit our ability to act for you.

Please do not send confidential details through the website form until a conflict check is complete. Submitting an inquiry does not create a solicitor-client relationship.

Disclosure

We disclose personal information only as needed to carry out your instructions or as permitted or required by law. Depending on the matter, this may include:

Opposing counsel, courts, mediators, and arbitrators.
Experts and professionals retained on your behalf, such as Chartered Business Valuators and accountants.
Service providers who support our practice (for example, IT, document management, and payment processing), under obligations of confidentiality. List of providers and any storage outside Canada to be confirmed.
The Law Society of Ontario, where required for regulatory purposes.

Website, cookies & analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate properly and to understand how visitors use it. We use Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, and Microsoft Clarity to measure website traffic and improve the site. These tools collect information such as the pages visited, device and browser type, and approximate location; they do not identify you by name, and Microsoft Clarity masks what you type into forms. The website also sets a short-lived security cookie that protects the consultation form from spam. We do not use advertising or remarketing cookies.

You can control cookies through your browser settings. Embedded content such as maps is provided by third parties and governed by their own privacy policies.

Website form submissions are delivered to Forte by email through the website itself, and a copy is kept in the website's password-protected administration area. No third-party form service is used.

Safeguards & retention

We protect personal information with safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity, including physical, organisational, and technological measures. Access is limited to people who need it to do their work.

We keep personal information only as long as needed for the purposes described or as required by law and the Law Society's record-keeping requirements, and then destroy it securely. Confirm file retention period.

Access & correction

You may ask to see the personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct it if it is inaccurate. We will respond within the time required by law. In some cases, access may be limited, for example where information is protected by solicitor-client privilege or relates to another person.

Contact & complaints

Questions, requests, and concerns about privacy can be directed to our Privacy Officer:

Privacy Officer name
Forte Family Law, 80 Carlauren Road, 23-1A, Woodbridge, Ontario
tanya@fortefamilylaw.ca
(416) 970-6055

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The current version will always be posted on this page with its effective date.