Privacy policy.
How we handle personal information you give us through this website, and what you can ask us to do about it.
Who we are
Mahal Law is the trading name of Mahal Law Limited, a New Zealand incorporated law firm (NZBN 9429053540805). In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Mahal Law Limited.
We comply with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 when dealing with personal information.
What personal information means
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual (a natural person), and includes personal data, personally identifiable information and equivalent information under applicable privacy and data protection laws.
This policy and our website terms
Use of the mahal.co.nz website is subject to our website terms. If there is any conflict between this privacy policy and the website terms, the website terms will prevail.
What we collect
Information collected through this website may include personal information about you. It may be:
- provided by you through the enquiry form on this website — your name, email address, telephone number, the area of law your enquiry relates to and whatever you tell us about your matter;
- provided to us by you by any other method, such as by email, by telephone or in a meeting;
- collected by us through log files or cookies, as set out below; or
- collected by us as identifiers when you visit the site, as set out below.
Failure to provide necessary personal information when requested may mean we are unable to deal with your enquiry or act for you.
We also collect aggregated information generated by our systems, which tracks traffic to the website but does not relate to you personally.
Identifiers
Information about your device and about your visits to and use of the website — such as your IP address, approximate location and browser type — may be recorded when you visit. We may use this information to identify you and we will treat it as personal information.
We do not intend to collect personal information from children aged under 16. If you have reason to believe that a child under 16 has provided personal information to us through this website, contact us using the contact details below.
Log files
We may use log files to analyse trends and to administer and operate the website. Log files gather information such as which URL you came from, which URL you visit next, the browser you are using and your IP address. An IP address can be used to identify a user, and we will treat that information as personal information.
Cookies
This website may use cookies and similar technologies to make the site work, to keep it secure, and to gather statistics about how it is used. Where they are used, cookies help us recognise returning visitors and understand the route users take through the site. We cannot access information stored elsewhere on your device, and we cannot read cookies set by other websites.
This website is hosted on the Squarespace platform, which sets the cookies necessary to serve and secure the site. Our enquiry form uses Google reCAPTCHA to tell genuine enquiries from automated ones; reCAPTCHA loads scripts from Google and collects device and interaction information for that purpose, subject to Google’s own privacy policy. If analytics or advertising cookies are added in future, this clause will be updated before they are set.
Most browsers allow you to refuse or delete cookies. Some parts of the site may not work as intended if you do.
Accounts, a client portal and secure file sharing
We may in future offer a client portal, secure file sharing or an account you can register for, so that you can send us documents safely and follow the progress of your matter. If we do, we will collect the information needed to create and administer your account, including a username, a password held in encrypted form, and a record of your activity in the portal.
You are responsible for keeping your login details secure and for any activity carried out using them. Tell us promptly if you believe your account has been used without your authority. We may suspend or close an account where we reasonably believe it is being misused, where the matter it relates to has ended, or where we are required to do so.
We may also record whether emails we send you have been opened and whether links in them have been clicked, so that we know a time-sensitive message has reached you and so that we can tell which of our updates are useful. Where we do, that information is used for those purposes and is not sold or shared for advertising.
Other information
We may use other information, such as number of users, traffic patterns and demand, to monitor server and software performance and for our own internal purposes. This information is owned by us and may be used to verify actions taken by a user or to better understand how the website is used so that we can improve it.
How we use it
We, and our employees, contractors and professional advisers, may use the personal information you provide:
- to respond to your enquiry and to assess whether we are able to act for you;
- to verify your identity and to carry out the conflict, client due diligence and customer due diligence checks we are required to perform;
- to provide legal services to you if you become a client, and to invoice and account for that work;
- to run our practice and perform administrative and operational tasks, including training staff, risk management, planning, record keeping and systems development and testing;
- to keep the website relevant and of interest to the people who use it;
- to send you legal updates, newsletters, invitations and information about our services, where you have made an enquiry, become a client, or asked to hear from us — every message includes a way to unsubscribe, and doing so does not affect any work we are doing for you;
- to administer, and to measure the usefulness of, the communications described above, including whether an email has been opened or a link clicked;
- to promote the practice, including in seminars, articles and marketing material, using examples of the work we do — never in a way that identifies you or your matter without your agreement in writing;
- to assess creditworthiness and to carry out a credit check where we are asked to provide services other than on prepayment, and to recover fees that remain unpaid;
- to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including under the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act 2006 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009;
- to detect fraud, crime, money laundering or the financing of terrorism, in connection with any law, rule or regulation in New Zealand or overseas; and
- for any other purpose stated to you at the time of collection or that you otherwise authorise.
We do not sell your information, and we do not pass it to third parties for their own advertising.
You can tell us at any time that you would rather not receive our updates, either by using the unsubscribe link in any message or by emailing office@mahal.co.nz, and we will stop.
Enquiries are not confidential communications
An enquiry sent through this website is not a privileged or confidential communication, and sending one does not create a solicitor-client relationship. Please do not send us confidential material, documents or sensitive personal details until we have confirmed in writing that we are able to act for you.
Once we act for you, the information you give us is subject to the duty of confidentiality set out in the Lawyers and Conveyancers Act (Lawyers: Conduct and Client Care) Rules 2008.
How we look after it
We take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or unauthorised access to or alteration of your personal information. We may store information in cloud or other networked or electronic storage.
Because of the nature of email and the internet, we cannot guarantee the privacy or confidentiality of information in transit. Where a matter is genuinely sensitive, a telephone call or a meeting is the better first step.
Information held overseas
When you provide us with personal information, it may be collected, stored and processed on servers located outside New Zealand. Because networked storage can be reached from many countries over an internet connection, it is not always practicable to know in which country your information is held or accessed at a given moment.
Where personal information is held overseas we take reasonable steps to satisfy ourselves that comparable safeguards to those in the Privacy Act 2020 apply to it. If you would prefer your information not be handled this way, contact us by telephone or post instead of using the enquiry form.
How long we keep it
Where an enquiry does not proceed, we keep the information only as long as we need it to deal with the enquiry and to record why we did not act. Where you become a client, we retain your file for the period required by our professional obligations and by law.
We are required to keep information for as long as is needed for our business operations or by applicable law.
Your rights
Without limitation, you have the following rights:
- to be provided with full information about the personal information we hold about you;
- to require that we correct any incorrect information we hold about you;
- to ask that we delete or destroy your personal information, subject to conditions that may apply;
- to ask that we restrict the use of your personal information, subject to conditions that may apply;
- to object to the use of your personal information by us, subject to conditions that may apply; and
- to receive your personal information in a structured and commonly used format, subject to conditions that may apply.
To exercise your rights, or for more information about how your personal information is used, contact us at office@mahal.co.nz or write to PO Box 85, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240. We may need to verify your identity before we release information.
We will respond to your request, where required by law, within one calendar month of receiving it. We will tell you if that timeframe is not achievable and extend it as applicable law permits.
If we do not agree to give you access to your personal information, or to amend or erase it, we will tell you and, where appropriate, give our reasons and explain how you can complain about the decision. If we decline a request to change information, you may make a statement about the requested change and we will attach it to your record.
Some information may be withheld where the Privacy Act 2020 permits it, for example where it is subject to legal professional privilege or would disclose information about another person.
Opting in and opting out
If our intended collection, use or disclosure of your personal information falls outside what is set out in this policy, we will give you the option to opt in or to opt out.
You can withdraw your consent, or object to further processing of your personal information, in the circumstances the law allows. If we decline a request of that kind we will write to you to explain why and how you can complain about the decision. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing you had already consented to.
Business transitions
If the ownership of all or part of Mahal Law Limited or this website changes, your information may be transferred to the new owner so that the practice and the website can continue to operate. Your information will remain subject to this policy.
Users outside New Zealand
The information we collect may be processed in and transferred between your location and New Zealand. New Zealand may not have information protection laws equivalent to those in force where you are.
Links to other sites
This website may contain links to third party websites. Some of those sites may request or record information from you, or use cookies or other methods to collect information. We have no control over the content or the privacy practices of those sites and we encourage you to review their privacy policies before you engage with them.
Changes to this policy
We may make changes to this policy from time to time, or alter how the website works. The version published on this page is the current one and the date it was last updated is shown alongside it. We encourage you to review it from time to time.
Complaints
If you are concerned about how we have handled your personal information, please raise it with us first at office@mahal.co.nz so we have the chance to put it right.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, or to the data protection authority where you are located:
- Online: privacy.org.nz
- Phone: +64 4 474 7590 or +64 9 302 8680
- Email: investigations@privacy.org.nz
Contact details
If you have any questions about this policy, or any other matter including a complaint, you can reach us by email at office@mahal.co.nz, by telephone on +64 27 509 0099 between 9am and 5:30pm New Zealand time Monday to Friday, or by post to PO Box 85, Waikato Mail Centre, Hamilton 3240.