Hintze Law PLLC
Privacy Statement

Last Updated: April 2018

Your privacy is important to us. This privacy statement explains our collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. This privacy statement applies to Hintze Law PLLC and services we offer, including the HintzeLaw.com website and the Privacy Law Matters blog. It does not apply to any products or services that display, reference, or link to a different privacy statement.

PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT

We collect and process personal information about you with your consent and/or as necessary to provide the services you use, operate our business, meet our contractual and legal obligations, protect the security of our systems and our customers, or fulfil other legitimate interests. We collect information about you in various ways when you use our services, including information you provide directly, information collected automatically, and third-party data sources.

Information you provide directly. We collect personal information you provide to us. For example, when you communicate with us, we collect your name, email address, and other personal information you provide. If you sign an engagement letter with Hintze Law, we collect additional information needed for billing and payment. If you apply for a job with us, we collect the information contained on your resume or CV, along with other information you provide in the course of the application process.

Information collected automatically. As further described in the Cookies and Similar Technologies section below, when you use our online services some information is collected automatically. For example, when you visit our websites, our web servers automatically log your computer's operating system, Internet Protocol (IP) address, access times, browser type and language, the website you visited before our site, and your activity on our websites.

Third-party sources. We occasionally obtain information from third parties. These third-party sources include:

  • Applications and services, such as social networks, that make users’ information available to others;

  • Partners with which we jointly provide services; and

  • Publicly-available sources, such as open government databases or other data in the public domain.

We protect information obtained from third parties according to the practices described in this statement, plus any additional restrictions imposed by the source of the information.

When you are asked to provide personal information, you may decline. But if you choose not to provide information that is necessary for us to provide our services, we may not be able to provide those services to you.

COOKIES AND SIMILAR TECHNOLOGIES

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate our websites and online services and to help collect data.  Cookies are small text files placed on your device to store data that can be recalled by a web server in the same domain that placed the cookie. The text in a cookie often consists of a string of numbers and letters that uniquely identifies your device, but it can contain other information as well.

We use cookies to operate and improve our website and enhance your experience, such as determining which areas and features are popular, and to counting visits to our website. and fulfilling other legitimate purposes.

Our web pages may also contain electronic images known as web beacons (also called single-pixel gifs) that we use to help deliver cookies, count users, and gather usage and performance data. We may also include web beacons in our email messages or newsletters to determine whether you open and act on them.

Our websites may include web beacons and cookies from third-party service providers. In some cases, that is because we have hired the third party to provide services on our behalf, such as web hosting, site functionality, or site analytics. Because your browser connects to those third parties' web servers to retrieve that content, those third parties are able to set or read their own cookies on your device and may collect information about your online activities across websites or online services.

You can use browser controls can limit how the websites you visit are able to use cookies. Instructions for blocking or deleting cookies may be available in each browser's privacy or help documentation. Please be aware that if you choose to block cookies, certain website features that depend on cookies may no longer function. If you choose to delete cookies, settings and preferences controlled by those cookies may be deleted and may need to be recreated.

OUR USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We use personal information collected through our services for purposes described in this privacy statement or otherwise disclosed to you. For example, we use personal information to:

  • provide and deliver our services, provide customer support, and respond to your questions;

  • operate our business, including accounting and business analytics;

  • send you information, such as confirmations, invoices, updates, and support and administrative messages; and

  • communicate with you about new developments in the law, upcoming events, and other non-essential or promotional information (see the Choice and Control section of this privacy statement for how to change your preferences for these types of communications); and

In carrying out these purposes, we combine data we collect from different sources to give you a more seamless, consistent, and personalized experience.

OUR SHARING OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We share personal information with your consent or as necessary to complete your transactions or provide the services you have requested or authorized. For example, when you provide information in the course of making a payment, we will share that information with banks and other entities as necessary for payment processing, fraud prevention, credit risk reduction, or other related financial services.

We share personal information with vendors or agents working on our behalf for the purposes described in this statement. For example, companies we've hired to provide accounting services, website hosting, and cloud-based office productivity services may need access to personal information to provide those functions. In such cases, these companies must abide by data privacy and security requirements and are not allowed to use personal information they receive from us for any other purpose. We may also disclose personal information as part of a corporate transaction such as a merger, transfer, divestiture, or sale of all or a portion of our business or assets.

Finally, we will access, transfer, disclose, and preserve personal information when we have a good faith belief that doing so is necessary to:

  • comply with applicable law or respond to valid legal process, including from law enforcement or other government agencies;

  • protect our clients or to help prevent the loss of life or serious injury of anyone;

  • operate and maintain the security of our services and operations, including to prevent fraud or stop an attack on our computer systems or networks; or

  • protect our rights or property, including enforcing the terms of our agreements.

Please note that our websites, communications, or other services may include references or links to products or services provided by third parties whose privacy practices differ from ours. If you provide personal information to any of those third parties, or consent to our sharing personal information with them, that data is governed by their privacy statements.

CHOICE AND CONTROL OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

Access, correction, and deletion. If you wish to request access to, or correction or deletion of, personal information about you that we hold, you can do so by contacting us as described at the bottom of this privacy statement. However, to the extent permitted by applicable law, we reserve the right to charge a fee or decline requests that are unreasonable, excessive, or prohibited by law, could adversely affect the privacy or other rights of another person, or where we are unable to authenticate you as the person to whom the data relates. 

Communications preferences. You can choose whether you wish to receive promotional communications from us by email, SMS, physical mail, and telephone. If you receive promotional email or SMS messages from us and would like to stop, you can do so by following the directions in that message, or by contacting us as described at the bottom of this privacy statement. These choices do not apply to mandatory service communications such as billing statements or communications that are part of our ongoing engagement.

Cookie controls. Most web browsers are set to accept cookies by default. If you prefer, you can set your browser to delete or reject cookies.  If you choose to delete or reject cookies, this could affect certain features or services of our website. See the Cookies section of this privacy statement for more details.

Do Not Track. Some browsers have incorporated "Do Not Track" (DNT) features that can send a signal to the websites you visit indicating you do not wish to be tracked. Because there is not a common understanding of how to interpret the DNT signal, our websites do not currently respond to browser DNT signals. Instead, you can use the range of other tools to control data collection and use, including the cookie controls and advertising controls described above.

EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION RIGHTS

If the processing of personal information about you is subject to European Union data protection law, you have certain rights with respect to that data:

  • You can request access to, and rectification or erasure of, personal information;

  • If any automated processing of personal information is based on your consent or a contract with you, you have a right to transfer or receive a copy of your personal information in a usable and portable format;

  • If the processing of personal information is based on your consent, you can withdraw consent at any time for future processing;

  • You can to object to, or obtain a restriction of, the processing of personal information under certain circumstances; and

  • For residents of France, you can send us specific instructions regarding the use of your data after your death.

To make such requests, contact us at the address provided at the bottom of this statement.  When we are processing data on behalf of another party that is the “data controller,” you should direct your request to that party.  You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, but we encourage you to first contact us with any questions or concerns.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the services and fulfill the transactions you have requested, or for other essential purposes such as complying with our legal obligations, resolving disputes, and enforcing our agreements. Because these needs can vary in the context of different services and engagements, actual retention periods can vary significantly based on criteria including the types of data, the nature of the engagement and relationship, and our legal or contractual obligations.

LOCATION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

The personal information we collect may be stored and processed in your country or region, or in any other country where we or our affiliates, subsidiaries, or service providers maintain facilities. Currently, we store data primarily in the United States. We take steps designed to ensure that the data we collect under this statement is processed according to the provisions of this statement and applicable law wherever the data is located.

We transfer personal information from the European Economic Area and Switzerland to other countries, some of which have not been determined by the European Commission to have an adequate level of data protection. When we do so, we use a variety of legal mechanisms, including contracts, to help ensure your rights and protections. To learn more about the European Commission’s decisions on the adequacy of personal information protections, please visit: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/data-transfers-outside-eu/adequacy-protection-personal-data-non-eu-countries_en.

SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We take reasonable and appropriate steps to help protect personal information from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, and destruction.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY STATEMENT

We will update this privacy statement when necessary to reflect changes in applicable law or in how we process personal information. When we post changes to the statement, we will change the "Last Updated" date at the top of the statement.  If we make material changes to the statement, we will provide notice or obtain consent regarding such changes as may be required by law.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have a privacy concern, complaint, or a question for Hintze Law, please contact us at susan@hintzelaw.com.

Our address is: Hintze Law, PLLC - 518 Yale Avenue North - Seattle, WA 98109 - USA