Privacy policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all information collected or received in connection with your use of the LawZen website, including any content, services, and interactions available on lawzen.ca. It covers individuals who browse the site, lawyers whose profiles appear on LawZen, users who claim or manage a profile, submit a review, make an enquiry through a Featured profile, or purchase a Featured presence.

This policy also extends to our handling of publicly sourced professional information included in unclaimed listings, in accordance with applicable laws. Our privacy practices are designed to comply with PIPEDA and substantially similar provincial privacy laws, including Quebec Law 25, British Columbia’s PIPA, and Alberta’s PIPA.

We collect a range of information, either directly from you, automatically through your use of the website, or from publicly available sources for the purpose of compiling lawyer profiles. The information we collect includes:

1. Account details: When you create an account or claim a profile, we collect your name, workplace/organization, and business email address. Verification of your email address may be required.

2. Profile and claim submission data: Lawyers claiming or updating a profile may provide practice areas, detailed work experience, spoken languages, education, and similar professional details. We keep a record of the data you submit in your claim request.

3. Enquiry form submissions: If you use the enquiry form on a Featured profile, we collect any information you provide in that form (such as your name, contact information, and message) for delivery to the lawyer associated with the Featured profile.

4. Payment and transaction records: When a lawyer purchases a Featured presence, payment is processed securely through Stripe. LawZen never receives or stores your complete payment card information, but we do receive confirmation of payment and related transaction details necessary to complete your order.

5. Review submissions: When you submit a review on LawZen, we collect the content of your review, as well as usage and technical data detailed below. Published Google reviews displayed on profiles are imported as they appear on Google, and LawZen cannot edit or remove them.

6. Technical and usage data: To maintain and improve our services, we automatically collect technical data about your visit, including your IP address, browser type, pages viewed, time spent, and actions such as phone clicks or website clicks. Each click or action is counted once per visitor session.

7. Email delivery and account records: Email communications from LawZen, such as notifications and transactional emails, are logged for delivery status and troubleshooting purposes through Resend.

8. Publicly sourced professional information: For unclaimed lawyer profiles, information included is sourced from publicly available records, such as provincial law society directories, lawyer websites, and other legitimate publicly accessible sources. Typically, this includes name, practice location, professional designations, and contact details as permitted by law.

LawZen uses personal and professional information only for the purposes stated in this policy or as otherwise permitted or required by law. Specifically, we use the collected data to:

- Create, display, and manage lawyer profiles compiled from public sources;

- Enable lawyers to claim, verify, and update their profile;

- Deliver enquiry form submissions on Featured profiles to the corresponding lawyer;

- Facilitate payment processing for the Featured presence and confirm orders;

- Display reviews, both Google-sourced and user-submitted, in accordance with review policies;

- Improve website functionality, security, and user experience by analyzing technical and usage data;

- Communicate with users and lawyers about their accounts, profile activity, or security issues;

- Meet recordkeeping and legal compliance obligations; and

- Respond to court orders, legal processes, or requests from Canadian regulatory authorities, where required by law.

Under PIPEDA and substantially similar provincial laws, LawZen collects, uses, and discloses personal information based on:

- Your consent, where required, such as when you create an account, claim a profile, provide additional information, submit an enquiry, or write a review.

- Our legitimate interests in operating, maintaining, and improving the directory, providing related services, and safeguarding our site and users.

- Legal obligations, such as those arising from the requirements of law societies, privacy regulators, or to respond to valid legal process.

You may withdraw your consent or request deletion of your account or information at any time, subject to legal and contractual restrictions. Please see Your Rights below.

LawZen does not sell your personal information to any third party for marketing or commercial purposes.

We share information with service providers only to the extent necessary to operate and support the website, fulfill your requests, or comply with legal requirements. Service providers include:

- Stripe (payment processing): Receives payment details needed to process payments. LawZen never receives or stores your complete card data.

- Resend (transactional email delivery): Receives necessary details to deliver automated and account-related emails.

- Managed cloud infrastructure (hosting and storage): Stores website data, user accounts, profiles, and other content. These systems are secured with industry-standard controls and located in line with Canadian legal requirements.

- Analytics and security providers that assist us in understanding site usage, performance, and detecting prohibited activities.

All service providers are required to protect your information and use it only for the purposes for which it is provided.

LawZen never sells personal information, account data, professional data, or contact information to third parties for advertising, marketing, or commercial list-building purposes. Limited technical data may be disclosed for the lawful operation of website features or to ensure security and integrity of the platform, but always in accordance with this policy and applicable laws.

LawZen uses cookies and similar technologies to deliver essential website functionality, remember your preferences, support secure session management, and measure website performance. Cookies may be used to:

- Recognize returning users and maintain secure sessions;

- Record certain user actions, such as clicks or pageviews, to inform site improvement;

- Enable or support login and authentication.

You may set your browser to refuse some or all cookies, but necessary features of LawZen may not function correctly if cookies are disabled.

LawZen stores personal and professional information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, as required by law, or for ongoing legitimate business needs. Some specific practices include:

- Unpaid Featured presence requests that remain pending without payment are deleted after five days.

- Technical logs, enquiry form data, and email delivery records are retained only as long as necessary for technical troubleshooting and service integrity.

- Audit history and account activity logs are retained for a limited number of recent records to ensure transparency and security, and are periodically purged.

- Profile and directory records are maintained as long as the profile is listed and required by law or legitimate purposes.

- When a lawyer or user requests deletion of their information or account, and no legal retention reason exists, the LawZen Team will process the request within a reasonable period and confirm via the contact method provided.

LawZen implements physical, administrative, and technical safeguards to protect your information from loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Key security measures include:

- Secure HTTPS encryption for all website traffic;

- Encrypted data at rest within our hosting infrastructure;

- Robust authentication and access control to accounts and administrative functions;

- Role-based permissions for different types of user and LawZen Team access;

- Regular monitoring of systems for unauthorized activity or vulnerabilities; and

- Periodic reviews of our security practices to ensure ongoing protection.

Access to sensitive information is strictly controlled. Only authorized LawZen Team members are granted access to personal or professional information as needed to review claims, respond to contact requests, manage listings, moderate reviews, or provide technical support. Access is assigned based on defined roles and is subject to audit and review procedures.

You have rights regarding your personal information. These include:

- Requesting access to your personal data or lawyer profile information on LawZen;

- Requesting correction of inaccurate or outdated information;

- Withdrawing your consent for certain uses of your information, subject to legal or contractual requirements;

- Requesting deletion of your profile or account, subject to applicable obligations and retention requirements; and

- Receiving information on how LawZen has used or disclosed your personal information, as required by law.

Lawyers who wish to update, correct, or request removal of their listing can do so by using the contact page. LawZen will verify the request and provide a response as required by law.

All privacy-related requests submitted through the contact page will be processed promptly and in accordance with our legal obligations.

If you are a lawyer listed on LawZen and would like to request removal, correction, or update of your listing, please use the contact page. The LawZen Team will review your request, verify your identity as needed, and take the appropriate action, keeping you informed throughout the process.

LawZen does not knowingly collect or display personal information from children under the age of 18. The website and its services are intended exclusively for adults and professionals. Any profile, account, or activity believed to involve a child will be promptly reviewed and, where appropriate, removed upon notice.

Website data, including user and professional information, may be processed or stored on secure managed cloud infrastructure that could be located outside your territory but is configured to comply with Canadian privacy law requirements. LawZen ensures that any such data transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards as required by law.

In the unlikely event of a privacy breach involving your personal information, LawZen will assess the impact as required by applicable laws. If a breach is determined to present a real risk of significant harm, affected individuals and relevant regulatory authorities will be notified in accordance with statutory requirements. Breach response procedures include prompt containment, investigation, and corrective measures.

LawZen may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our privacy practices, technology, or legal requirements. When changes are made, the revised policy will be posted on this page with the date of last revision. We encourage you to review the policy regularly. Continued use of LawZen after such changes constitutes your acceptance of the new policy.

For questions, requests, concerns, or complaints regarding this Privacy Policy or LawZen's handling of your information, please use the contact page. The LawZen Team will respond to your message as promptly as possible and assist with any privacy or data protection matters.