Privacy Policy

Personal Identification Info: Your name, date of birth, passport details, citizenship info, contact details (phone, email, address). Pretty standard stuff you'd expect when working with an immigration lawyer.

Immigration-Specific Data: Travel history, visa applications, work permits, study documents, family information, employment records, financial statements. Yeah, immigration cases require a lot of documentation - we know it's tedious.

Communication Records: Emails, phone call notes, meeting minutes, and any documents you send us. We keep these so we have a complete picture of your case and can refer back when needed.

Website Usage Data: When you visit our site, we collect basic stuff like your IP address, browser type, pages you visited, and how long you stayed. Nothing creepy, just standard analytics to improve the site.

Payment Information: If you're paying for our services, we'll need billing details. We use secure payment processors and don't store full credit card numbers on our systems.

We're not gonna sell your info to random companies or blast you with spam emails. Here's what we actually do with your data:

Providing Legal Services: This is the big one. We use your information to prepare visa applications, represent you in immigration matters, communicate with government agencies on your behalf, and generally do the job you hired us for.

Client Communication: Keeping you updated on your case, answering questions, scheduling meetings, sending important deadlines. We'll reach out through whatever method works best - email, phone, or in-person meetings.

Compliance & Legal Obligations: Sometimes we're required by law to maintain certain records or report specific information to regulatory bodies. It's not optional, it's part of operating as a licensed legal practice.

Improving Our Services: We analyze trends to understand what's working and what isn't. This helps us serve future clients better, but we use aggregated data that doesn't identify you personally.

Administrative Purposes: Billing, maintaining our files, internal record-keeping. The boring but necessary stuff that keeps a law office running.

We take security seriously. Your documents and personal info are stored using encrypted systems with restricted access. Only team members who need access to your file for legitimate reasons can view it.

Our digital systems are protected by firewalls, secure servers, and regular security audits. Physical documents are kept in locked cabinets in our office. We're not perfect - no system is 100% hack-proof - but we use industry-standard protections.

How Long We Keep Your Data: Immigration files often need to be maintained for years, even after your case is complete. We typically keep client files for 7-10 years after the file closes, which is standard practice in legal services. After that, files are securely destroyed.

If there's a data breach (knock on wood), we'll notify affected clients promptly and take immediate steps to address the situation. It's required by law, but we'd do it anyway because it's the right thing to do.

We don't just hand out your information willy-nilly. Here's who might see your data and why:

Government Agencies: Immigration departments, visa offices, border services - basically the folks who make decisions on your case. We can't help you without sharing relevant info with them.

Service Providers: Document translation services, courier companies, secure file storage providers. These are trusted third parties who help us serve you better and are bound by confidentiality agreements.

Professional Consultants: Sometimes we bring in specialists - maybe a tax advisor for business immigration or another lawyer with specific expertise. Only with your permission, though.

Legal Requirements: If we're legally required to disclose information (like a court order), we have to comply. We'll let you know if this happens unless we're prohibited from doing so.

We'll never sell your personal information to marketing companies or unrelated third parties. That's just not how we operate.

It's your information, and you've got rights. Here's what you can do:

Access Your Data: Want to see what info we have on file about you? Just ask. We'll provide copies of documents and records within a reasonable timeframe.

Correct Inaccuracies: If something in your file is wrong, let us know and we'll update it. Accurate information is crucial for immigration cases anyway.

Withdraw Consent: You can change your mind about how we use your data in certain situations. Keep in mind that for active cases, we need certain information to represent you properly.

Request Deletion: Once your case is closed and we've met our legal retention obligations, you can request that we delete your information. There might be circumstances where we need to keep certain records, but we'll explain why.

Opt-Out of Communications: Don't want our newsletter or marketing emails? No problem. You can unsubscribe anytime. We'll still need to contact you about your actual case matters, though.

To exercise any of these rights, just reach out to us at contact@hollowvaleodyssey.info or give us a call. We'll respond within 30 days.

Our website uses cookies - those little files that websites save to your browser. Nothing sinister, just helps the site function properly and gives us insights into how people use it.

Essential Cookies: These are necessary for the website to work. They remember your preferences during a browsing session and keep things running smoothly.

Analytics Cookies: We use tools like Google Analytics to understand traffic patterns, popular pages, and where visitors come from. This data is anonymized - we can't identify individual users.

Your Control: Most browsers let you block or delete cookies through their settings. Keep in mind that blocking certain cookies might affect how the website functions.

We don't use cookies for targeted advertising. We're a law firm, not an ad agency.

Immigration law is inherently international. Your information might need to be sent to other countries - whether that's submitting documents to a foreign embassy or coordinating with immigration authorities abroad.

When we transfer data internationally, we take appropriate safeguards. This might include using secure encrypted channels, ensuring recipients have adequate data protection measures, or getting your explicit consent when necessary.

Some of our service providers (like cloud storage companies) might store data on servers in different countries. We vet these providers carefully to ensure they meet privacy standards comparable to Canadian law.

Bottom line: your information might cross borders, but we're mindful of keeping it protected regardless of where it goes.

Our website isn't designed for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from kids. If we learn that we've accidentally collected data from a child without parental consent, we'll delete it promptly.

That said, we do handle immigration cases involving minors - family sponsorships, dependent children on visa applications, etc. In these situations, we work with parents or legal guardians and follow specific protocols for handling children's information.

If you're a parent or guardian with concerns about your child's information, please contact us directly.

Privacy laws evolve, our practices might change, and technology keeps advancing. We'll update this policy from time to time to reflect those changes.

When we make significant changes, we'll post the updated policy here and update the "Last Updated" date at the top. For major changes that affect how we handle your information, we'll notify active clients directly via email.

We encourage you to review this policy periodically, especially if you're a current client. If you keep using our services after we've posted changes, that means you're cool with the updated terms.

If you ever have questions about changes we've made, don't hesitate to reach out for clarification.

Got questions, concerns, or complaints about how we handle your personal information? We're here to address them. Seriously - we'd rather you reach out and get clarity than worry about it.

Email: contact@hollowvaleodyssey.info

Phone: (604) 872-3490

Mail:
Hollow Vale Odyssey Legal
Suite 1840, 1055 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC V6E 3P3
Canada

We'll respond to privacy inquiries within 30 days. If you're not satisfied with our response, you have the right to file a complaint with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this. We know it's a lot, but protecting your privacy isn't something we take lightly.