Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy sets out how we, Adam Bernard Attorneys P.C, collect, store and use information about you when you use or interact with our website, https://adambernards.com/ (our website) and where we otherwise obtain or collect information about you. This Privacy Policy is effective from 06 September 2024.
Contents
Summary
This section summarises how we obtain, store and use information about you. It is intended to provide a very general overview only. It is not complete in and of itself and it must be read in conjunction with the corresponding full sections of this Privacy Policy.
Your personal data may be processed by Adam Bernard Attorneys in the United States. Personal information shared between our offices will be subject to the contractual obligations imposed by the IDTA and/or EU SCCs (as applicable).
If you have any questions in relation to the transfer of your personal information please contact us.
Our details
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact the data controller.
The data controller in respect of our website is;
Adam Bernard Attorneys
9406 Beverlyhill St.
Houston, Texas 77063 USA
+1 346 3556 111
You can contact the data controller by writing to our data protection officer at the address above or by sending an email to info@adambernards.com.
When you visit our website
We collect and use information from website visitors in accordance with this section and the section entitled Disclosure and additional uses of your information.
Web server log information
Our website server automatically logs the IP address you use to access our website as well as other information about your visit such as the pages accessed, information requested, the date and time of the request, the source of your access to our website (e.g. the website or URL (link) which referred you to our website), and your browser version and operating system
Use of website server log information for IT security purposes
We collect and store server logs to ensure network and IT security and so that the server and website remain uncompromised. This includes analysing log files to help identify and prevent unauthorised access to our network, the distribution of malicious code, denial of services attacks and other cyber attacks, by detecting unusual or suspicious activity.
Unless we are investigating suspicious or potential criminal activity, we do not make, nor do we allow our hosting provider to make, any attempt to identify you from the information collected via server logs.
Legal basis for processing: In compliance with the Texas Data Privacy Laws (Texas Business and Commerce Code – Chapter 521: Identity Theft Enforcement and Protection Act) and Texas Cybersecurity Act (Texas Government Code – Chapter 2054: Information Resources), Texas Penal Code – Chapter 33: Computer Crimes particularly when it involves preventing unauthorized access or identifying cyberattacks. We also operate under the GDPR, Article 6(1)(c) further justifies such processing for compliance with legal obligations related to compliance.
Legal obligation: we have a legal obligation to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure a level of security appropriate to the risk of our processing of information about individuals. Recording access to our website using server log files is such a measure.
Legitimate interests: we have a legitimate interest in using your information for the purposes of ensuring network and information security.
Use of website server log information to analyse website use and improve our website
We use the information collected by our website server logs to analyse how our website users interact with our website and its features. For example, we analyse the number of visits and unique visitors we receive, the time and date of the visit, the location of the visit and the operating system and browser use.
We use the information gathered from the analysis of this information to improve our website. For example, we use the information gathered to change the information, content and structure of our website and individual pages based according to what users are engaging most with and the duration of time spent on particular pages on our website.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interest: improving our website for our website users and getting to know our website users’ preferences so our website can better meet their needs and desires.
Cookies
Cookies are data files which are sent from a website to a browser to record information about users for various purposes.
We use cookies on our website, including essential, functional, analytical and targeting cookies.
You can reject some or all of the cookies we use on or via our website by changing your browser settings or non-essential cookies by using a cookie control tool but doing so can impair your ability to use our website or some or all of its features. For further information about cookies, including how to change your browser settings, please visit www.allaboutcookies.org.
When you contact us
We collect and use information from individuals who contact us in accordance with this section and the section entitled Disclosure and additional uses of your information.
When you send an email to the email address displayed on our website we collect your email address and any other information you provide in that email (such as your name, telephone number and the information contained in any signature block in your email).
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interest(s): responding to enquiries and messages we receive and keeping records of correspondence.
Legal basis for processing: necessary to perform a contract or to take steps at your request to enter into a contract (Article 6(1)(b) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Reason why necessary to perform a contract: where your message relates to us providing you with goods or services or taking steps at your request prior to providing you with our goods and services (for example, providing you with information about such goods and services), we will process your information in order to do so).
Enquiry forms
When you contact us using an enquiry form, we collect your personal information and match it with any relevant data we may have on file. The personal information collected typically includes your name, contact details, and any other information you provide in the form. Additionally, we will record the time, date, and the specific form you completed for our records.
If you do not provide the mandatory information required by the contact form, you will be unable to submit the form, and we will not receive your enquiry.
Legal Basis for Processing:
Our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries, as well as in maintaining records of correspondence, forms the legal basis for processing this data.
Texas Law Compliance: Under Texas privacy laws (such as the Texas Business and Commerce Code), we ensure that all collected information is handled responsibly, securely, and in compliance with applicable data protection regulations.
For residents of Texas, your data will be protected under applicable state laws governing data privacy and protection.
Legitimate interest(s): responding to enquiries and messages we receive and keeping records of correspondence.
We may also use this information to tailor any follow up sales and marketing communications with you. For further information, see the section of this privacy policy titled ‘Marketing Communications’.
Messages you send to us via our contact form will be stored outside the European Economic Area on our contact form provider’s servers in the United States.
For further information about the safeguards used when your information is transferred outside the European Economic Area, see the section of this privacy policy below entitled Transfers of your information outside the European Economic Area.
Phone
When you contact us by phone, we collect your phone number and any information provide to us during your conversation with us.
We may record customer-facing phone calls for training and customer service purposes.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation)
Legitimate interest(s): responding to enquiries and messages we receive and keeping records of correspondence.
Legal basis for processing: necessary to perform a contract or to take steps at your request to enter into a contract (Article 6(1)(b) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Reason why necessary to perform a contract: where your message relates to us providing you with goods or services or taking steps at your request prior to providing you with our goods and services (for example, providing you with information about such goods and services), we will process your information in order to do so).
Post
If you contact us by post, we will collect any information you provide to us in any postal communications you send us.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation)
Legitimate interest(s): responding to enquiries and messages we receive and keeping records of correspondence.
Legal basis for processing: necessary to perform a contract or to take steps at your request to enter into a contract (Article 6(1)(b) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Reason why necessary to perform a contract: where your message relates to us providing you with goods or services or taking steps at your request prior to providing you with our goods and services (for example, providing you with information about such goods and services), we will process your information in order to do so).
When you use our website
We collect and use information from individuals who interact with particular features of our website in accordance with this section and the section entitled Disclosure and additional uses of your information.
Transfer and storage of your information
For further information about the safeguards used when your information is transferred outside the European Economic Area, see the section of this privacy policy below entitled Transfers of your information outside the European Economic Area.
Enquiry on our website
When you contact us on our website, we collect the following information: your name, email address, address, location. We will also record the time and date.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interest: registering and administering accounts on our website to provide access to content, allows you to buy goods and services and facilitates the running and operation of our business.
We will also use this information to tailor any follow up sales and marketing communications with you. For further information, see the section of this privacy policy titled ‘Marketing Communications’.
Transfer and storage of your information
Information you submit to us via the contact form on our website will be stored inside the European Economic Area on our third-party hosting provider’s servers located in the London.
Additional information
We can also collect additional information from you, such as your phone number, full name, address etc.
We use this information to manage and improve your customer experience with us.
We will also use this information to tailor any follow up sales and marketing communications with you. For further information, see the section of this privacy policy titled ‘Marketing Communications’.
If you do not supply the additional information requested at checkout, you will not be able to complete your order as we will not have the correct level of information to adequately manage your account.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interests: The ability to provide adequate customer service and management of your customer account.
Transfer and storage of your information
For further information about the safeguards used when your information is transferred outside the European Economic Area, see the section of this privacy policy below entitled Transfers of your information outside the European Economic Area.
Legal basis for processing: necessary to perform a contract (Article 6(1)(b) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Reason why necessary to perform a contract: to fulfil your contractual obligation to pay for the goods or services you have ordered from us.
Marketing communications
Our content and services
When using our website, we will use the information you provide in order to contact you regarding related content, products and services.
We may send you marketing communications in relation to similar goods and services if you do not opt out from receiving them.
You can opt-out from receiving marketing communications at any time by emailing info@adambernards.com
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interests: Sharing relevant, timely and industry-specific information on related business services, in order to assist your organisation grow, or to further develop you as a professional.
Transfer and storage of your information
Information for marketing campaigns will be stored outside the European Economic Area on our third-party provider’s servers in the United States.
For further information about the safeguards used when your information is transferred outside the European Economic Area, see the section of this privacy policy below entitled Transfers of your information outside the European Economic Area.
Information obtained from third parties
Information Received from Third Parties
We may receive information about you from third parties, such as partner events within the marketing industry, or from organizations with which we have a professional affiliation. Additionally, third parties with whom we have no prior contact may also provide us with information about you.
The types of information we may obtain from third parties typically include your name and contact details, but could also include any other relevant information they choose to provide us.
Legal Basis for Processing under Texas Law:
Performance of a Contract
In accordance with Texas law, we process personal information when necessary to perform a contract or to take steps at your request to enter into a contract. This is similar to the standard established under Article 6(1)(b) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), but adapted for compliance with Texas’s privacy requirements.
Reason for Processing: When a third party provides your information (e.g., name and email address) to enable us to deliver services to you, we will process your information as necessary to take steps towards performing a contract or providing services at your request.
Consent
If you request that a third party share information about you with us, and that information is not directly related to the performance of a contract or the provision of services, we will process your information based on your consent. Texas law, in line with common privacy principles, recognizes that consent must be clear and unambiguous.
Consent Basis: By asking the third party to share your information with us for purposes unrelated to the performance of a contract, you are giving consent for us to process your information.
Legitimate Interests
We may process your information where necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that such interests are not overridden by your rights under Texas law. This is aligned with the legitimate interests principle recognized under GDPR (Article 6(1)(f)) and compatible with the protections offered under Texas privacy laws.
In all cases, we are committed to safeguarding your personal information in compliance with the relevant state and federal privacy regulations. If required by law, you will be notified of any third-party data-sharing practices, and you retain your right to access, correct, or request deletion of your personal information.
Similarly, third parties may pass on information about you to us if you have infringed or potentially infringed any of our legal rights. In this case, we will have a legitimate interest in processing that information to investigate and pursue any such potential infringement.
Information obtained by us from third parties
In certain circumstances (for example, to verify the information we hold about you or obtain missing information we require to provide you with a service) we will obtain information about you from certain publicly accessible sources, both EU and non-EU, such as Companies House, online customer databases, business directories, media publications, social media, and websites (including your own website if you have one.
In certain circumstances may also obtain information about you from private sources, both EU and non-EU, such as marketing data services.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interests: Sharing relevant, timely and industry-specific information on related business services, in order to assist your organisation grow, or to further develop you as a professional.
Where we receive information about you in error
If we receive information about you from a third party in error and/or we do not have a legal basis for processing that information, we will delete your information.
Disclosure and additional uses of your information
This section sets out the circumstances in which will disclose information about you to third parties and any additional purposes for which we use your information.
Disclosure of your information to service providers
We use a number of third parties to provide us with services which are necessary to run our business or to assist us with running our business
These include the following: Internet services, IT service providers and web developers.
Our third party service providers are located both inside and outside of the European Economic Area.
Your information will be shared with these service providers where necessary to provide you with the service you have requested, whether that is accessing our website or ordering goods and services from us.
We do not display the identities of our service providers publicly by name for security and competitive reasons. If you would like further information about the identities of our service providers, however, please contact us directly by email and we will provide you with such information where you have a legitimate reason for requesting it (where we have shared your information with such service providers, for example).
Legal basis for processing: legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interest relied on: where we share your information with these third parties in a context other than where is necessary to perform a contract (or take steps at your request to do so), we will share your information with such third parties in order to allow us to run and manage our business efficiently.
Legal basis for processing: necessary to perform a contract and/or to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract (Article 6(1)(b) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Reason why necessary to perform a contract: we may need to share information with our service providers to enable us to perform our obligations under that contract or to take the steps you have requested before we enter into a contract with you.
Disclosure and use of your information for legal reasons
Indicating possible criminal acts or threats to public security to a competent authority
If we suspect that criminal or potential criminal conduct has been occurred, we will in certain circumstances need to contact an appropriate authority, such as the police. This could be the case, for instance, if we suspect that we fraud or a cyber crime has been committed or if we receive threats or malicious communications towards us or third parties.
We will generally only need to process your information for this purpose if you were involved or affected by such an incident in some way.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interests: preventing crime or suspected criminal activity (such as fraud).
In connection with the enforcement or potential enforcement our legal rights
We will use your information in connection with the enforcement or potential enforcement of our legal rights, including, for example, sharing information with debt collection agencies if you do not pay amounts owed to us when you are contractually obliged to do so. Our legal rights may be contractual (where we have entered into a contract with you) or non-contractual (such as legal rights that we have under copyright law or tort law).
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interest: enforcing our legal rights and taking steps to enforce our legal rights.
In connection with a legal or potential legal dispute or proceedings
We may need to use your information if we are involved in a dispute with you or a third party for example, either to resolve the dispute or as part of any mediation, arbitration or court resolution or similar process.
Legal basis for processing: our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) of the General Data Protection Regulation).
Legitimate interest(s): resolving disputes and potential disputes.
How long we retain your information
This section sets out how long we retain your information. We have set out specific retention periods where possible. Where that has not been possible, we have set out the criteria we use to determine the retention period.
Criteria for determining retention periods
In any other circumstances, we will retain your information for no longer than necessary, taking into account the following:
How we secure your information
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to secure your information and to protect it against unauthorised or unlawful use and accidental loss or destruction, including:
Transmission of information to us by email
Transmission of information over the internet is not entirely secure, and if you submit any information to us over the internet (whether by email, via our website or any other means), you do so entirely at your own risk.
We cannot be responsible for any costs, expenses, loss of profits, harm to reputation, damages, liabilities or any other form of loss or damage suffered by you as a result of your decision to transmit information to us by such means.
Transfers of your information outside the European Economic Area
Your information may be transferred and stored outside the European Economic Area (EEA) in the circumstances set out earlier in this policy.
We will also transfer your information outside the EEA or to an international organisation in order to comply with legal obligations to which we are subject (compliance with a court order, for example). Where we are required to do so, we will ensure appropriate safeguards and protections are in place.
Your rights in relation to your information
Subject to certain limitations on certain rights, you have the following rights in relation to your information, which you can exercise by writing to the data controller using the details provided at the top of this policy.
In accordance with Article 77 of the General Data Protection Regulation, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, in particular in the Member State of your habitual residence, place of work or of an alleged infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation.
Further information on your rights in relation to your personal data as an individual
You can find out further information about your rights, as well as information on any limitations which apply to those rights, by reading the underlying legislation contained in Articles 12 to 22 and 34 of the General Data Protection Regulation, which is available here:http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/reform/files/regulation_oj_en.pdf
Verifying your identity where you request access to your information
Where you request access to your information, we are required by law to use all reasonable measures to verify your identity before doing so.
These measures are designed to protect your information and to reduce the risk of identity fraud, identity theft or general unauthorised access to your information.
How we verify your identity
Where we possess appropriate information about you on file, we will attempt to verify your identity using that information.
If it is not possible to identity you from such information, or if we have insufficient information about you, we may require original or certified copies of certain documentation in order to be able to verify your identity before we are able to provide you with access to your information.
We will be able to confirm the precise information we require to verify your identity in your specific circumstances if and when you make such a request.
Your right to object
You have the following rights in relation to your information, which you may exercise in the same way as you may exercise by writing to the data controller using the details provided at the top of this policy.
Sensitive Personal Information
‘Sensitive personal information’ is information about an individual that reveals their racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, genetic information, biometric information for the purpose of uniquely identifying an individual, information concerning health or information concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.
We do not knowingly or intentionally collect sensitive personal information from individuals, and you must not submit sensitive personal information to us.
If, however, you inadvertently or intentionally transmit sensitive personal information to us, you will be considered to have explicitly consented to us processing that sensitive personal information under Article 9(2)(a) of the General Data Protection Regulation. We will use and process your sensitive personal information for the purposes of deleting it.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
We update and amend our Privacy Policy from time to time.
Minor changes to our Privacy Policy
Where we make minor changes to our Privacy Policy, we will update our Privacy Policy with a new effective date stated at the beginning of it. Our processing of your information will be governed by the practices set out in that new version of the Privacy Policy from its effective date onwards.
Major changes to our Privacy Policy or the purposes for which we process your information
Where we make major changes to our Privacy Policy or intend to use your information for a new purpose or a different purpose than the purposes for which we originally collected it, we will notify you by email (where possible) or by posting a notice on our website.
We will provide you with the information about the change in question and the purpose and any other relevant information before we use your information for that new purpose.
Wherever required, we will obtain your prior consent before using your information for a purpose that is different from the purposes for which we originally collected it.
Children’s Privacy
Because we care about the safety and privacy of children online, we comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA). COPPA and its accompanying regulations protect the privacy of children using the internet. We do not knowingly contact or collect information from persons under the age of 18. The website is not intended to solicit information of any kind from persons under the age of 18.
It is possible that we could receive information pertaining to persons under the age of 18 by the fraud or deception of a third party. If we are notified of this, as soon as we verify the information, we will, where required by law to do so, immediately obtain the appropriate parental consent to use that information or, if we are unable to obtain such parental consent, we will delete the information from our servers. If you would like to notify us of our receipt of information about persons under the age of 18, please do so by contacting us by using the details at the top of this policy.
1000-91, Houston TX 77056