Our websites provide information about the legal
services that we offer, provide general information and resources, and allow
you to contact us.
All references to “Firm,†“we,â€
“us,†or “our†refer to Dog Bite Attorneys
of California and their affiliated and related entities. All references to “websitesâ€
include Firm websites that post a link to this Privacy Policy, including this
website, our other Firm-owned and/or operated websites that post this Privacy
Policy, and websites that post this Privacy Policy that are operated for the
Firm by service providers under agreement with the Firm.
This Privacy Policy governs your use of our
websites. This Privacy Policy describes what information the Firm may collect
about you on our websites, why we collect it, how we use it, and under what
circumstances we may share it with third parties. This Privacy Policy also
describes the choices you can make about how we collect and use your
information. This Privacy Policy does not apply to our data collection
activities offline, and does not govern the data practices of third parties
that may interact with our websites.
In addition, please review our TERMS OF USE , which governs your
use of the websites. By using our websites, you consent to our Privacy
Policy and Terms of Use and our collection, use and sharing of your information
and data, and other activities, as described below. If you do not
consent to our collecting and sharing your Personal Information (defined below)
as described in this Privacy Policy, do not use the websites.
1. What Information Do
We Collect?
(A) Information You Provide to Us
Personal Information and Demographic Information. We may ask you to
provide us with certain categories of information, or you may otherwise provide
us with information, through the websites such as: (1) personally identifiable
information, which is information that could reasonably be used to identify you
personally, such as your first and last name, e-mail address, home address and
phone number (“Personal Informationâ€); and (2) demographic
information, such as information like your gender, your occupation or
geographic information (“Demographic Informationâ€). We may
collect this information through various forms and in various places on the
websites, including, without limitation, the following places:
·
consultation request
forms, “contact us†forms, chat, or emails;
·
account registration
forms (if any); or
·
survey participation
interfaces or web blogs
Providing us with information about yourself is
voluntary, but if you choose not to provide certain information you may not be
able to take full advantage of all our websites’ features.
(B) Information We Collect and Store
as You Access and Use the Websites
In addition to any Personal Information, Demographic Information, or other
information that you choose to submit to us, we and our third-party service
providers may use a variety of technologies that automatically (or passively)
store or collect certain information whenever you visit or interact with the
websites (“Usage Informationâ€). This Usage Information may be
stored or accessed using a variety of technologies that may be downloaded to
your personal computer, browser, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or other device
(a “Deviceâ€) whenever you visit or interact with our websites.
Privacy law concepts are evolving - it is possible that some Usage Information
that we deem not to personally identify you and do not treat as Personal
Information will nonetheless be deemed “personally identifiable information†by
applicable law.
This Usage Information may include:
·
your IP address, UDID or
other unique device identifier (“Device Identifierâ€);
·
whether one user has
accessed the websites using multiple Devices;
·
your Device
functionality (including browser, operating system, hardware, mobile network
information, plug-ins);
·
the URL that referred
you to our websites, your website browsing history, and the areas within our
websites that you visit and your activities there, including remembering you and
your preferences;
·
your Device location and
characteristics; and
·
certain other Device
data, including time zone and the time of day
We may use various methods and technologies to
store or collect Usage Information (“Tracking Technologiesâ€).
Tracking Technologies may set, change, alter or modify settings or
configurations on your Device. A few of the Tracking Technologies include,
without limitation, the following (and subsequent technology and methods later
developed):
·
Cookies . A cookie is a data file placed on a Device when it is used to
visit the websites. A Flash cookie (or locally shared object) is a data file
placed on a Device via the Adobe Flash plug-in that may be built-in to or
downloaded by you to your Device. HTML5 cookies are similar to Flash cookies
but do not require a plug-in. Regular cookies may generally be disabled or
removed by tools that are available as part of most commercial browsers, and in
some but not all instances can be blocked in the future by selecting certain
settings. Each browser you use will need to be set separately and different
browsers offer different functionality and options in this regard. Also, these
tools may not be effective with regard to Flash cookies or HTML5 cookies. For
information on disabling Flash cookies go to www.adobe.com. Please be aware that if you disable or remove
cookies, Flash cookies, or HTML5 cookies on your Device, some parts of our
websites may not function properly, and that when you revisit our websites your
ability to limit cookies is subject to your browser settings and limitations.
·
Web
Beacons . Small graphic images or other web programming
code called web beacons (also known as “web beaconsâ€, “1x1 GIFs†or “clear
GIFsâ€) may be included in our websites’ pages and messages. Web beacons or
similar technologies may be used for a number of purposes, including, without
limitation, to count visitors to the websites, to monitor how users navigate
the websites, to count how many e-mails that were sent were actually opened or
to count how many particular articles or links were actually viewed.
·
Embedded
Scripts . An embedded script is programming code that is
designed to collect information about your interactions with the websites, such
as the links you click on. The code is temporarily downloaded onto your Device
from our web server or a third party service provider, is active only while you
are connected to our websites, and is deactivated or deleted thereafter.
·
ETag,
or entity tag . An ETag is a type of identifier assigned by a
web server to a specific version of a resource found at a URL. If the resource
content at that URL ever changes, a new and different ETag is assigned. Used in
this manner ETags are similar to fingerprints, and they can be quickly compared
to determine if two versions of a resource are the same or not. ETag tracking
may generate unique tracking values even where the consumer blocks HTTP, Flash
and/or HTML5 cookies.
We may use Tracking Technologies for a variety
of purposes, including:
·
Strictly
Necessary . We may use cookies or other Tracking
Technologies that we consider are strictly necessary to allow you to use and
access our websites, including cookies required to prevent fraudulent activity,
improve security or allow you to make use of certain functionality on our
websites.
·
Performance-Related . We may use cookies or other Tracking
Technologies that are useful in order to assess the performance of the
websites, including as part of our analytic practices or otherwise to improve
the content, products or services offered through the websites.
·
Functionality-Related . We may use cookies or other Tracking
Technologies that are required to offer you enhanced functionality when
accessing the websites, including identifying you when you signin to our
websites or keeping track of our specified preferences, including in terms of
the presentation of content on our websites.
·
Targeting-Related . We may use Tracking Technologies to deliver
content relevant to your interests on our websites based upon how you interact
with our content. This includes using Tracking Technologies to understand the
usefulness to you of the content that has been delivered to you.
There may be other Tracking Technologies now and
later devised and used by us in connection with the websites.
(C) Interactions with Third-Party
Sites
The websites may include functionality that allows certain kinds of
interactions between the websites and your account on a third-party site or
application. The use of this functionality may involve the third-party operator
providing certain information, including Personal Information, to us. If we
offer and you choose to use this functionality to access our websites, the
third-party site or application may send Personal Information about you to the
websites.
2. How Do We Use Your
Information?
We may use your Personal Information (this
includes your e-mail address, mailing address and telephone number),
Demographic Information or Usage Information that is subject to this Privacy
Policy for various purposes, including, but not limited to:
·
to evaluate whether to
represent you (and it may be shared with other law firms for this purpose) and
to provide you with legal services if you are or become a client of the Firm
·
to process transactions
or provide you with information such as to send you electronic newsletters, or
to provide you with special offers or promotional and marketing materials on
behalf of us or third parties, including to let you know about new products,
services or upcoming events;
·
to enable you to
participate in a variety of the websites’ features and to process your
registration with the websites, including verifying your information is active
and valid;
·
to improve the websites,
our marketing endeavors or our service offerings, and to customize your experience
on the websites (such as serve you specific content that is relevant to you);
·
to provide customer
support and to contact you with regard to your use of the websites and, in our
discretion, changes to the websites and/or websites’ policies;
·
for our business
purposes and the business purposes of third parties we share your information
with;
·
to contact you via
phone, email or hard-copy mail with information about our service offerings;
and
·
for purposes disclosed
at the time you provide your information or as otherwise set forth in this
Privacy Policy.
Please note that information submitted to the
websites via a “contact us†or other similar function may not receive a
response.
3. How and When Do We
Share Information With Third Parties?
We may from time to time elect to share certain
information about you collected by us on the websites, including Personal
Information, with third parties for those third parties’ direct marketing
purposes. Further, we may share or sell your Personal Information with or to third
parties such as our co-promotional partners and others with whom we have
marketing or other relationships for our or the third parties’ marketing and
other purposes. If you are a California resident, you have the right to request
additional information about this sharing as described in Section (3)(D) below.
We may share your Device Identifiers with third parties along with data related
to you and your activities. In addition, we may share the information we have
collected about you, including Personal Information, as disclosed at the time
you provide your information and as described below or otherwise in this
Privacy Policy. We also may share non-Personal Information, such as aggregated
user statistics, with third parties.
By way of examples, the Firm may disclose your
information as follows:
A.
Third
Parties Providing Services on Our Behalf . We may use third-party vendors to perform certain services on
behalf of us or some or all of the websites, such as: (a) manage a database of
client information; (b) hosting the websites; (c) designing and/or operating
the websites’ features; (d) tracking the websites’ activities and analytics;
(e) enabling us to send you information about our services or perform other
administrative services; and (f) other services designed to assist us in
maximizing our business potential. On some of our websites, we may provide
these vendors with access to user information, including Device Identifiers and
Personal Information, to carry out the services they are performing for you or for
us. Third-party analytics and other service providers for some of our websites
may set and access their own Tracking Technologies on your Device and they may
otherwise collect or have access to information about you, potentially
including Personal Information, about you. We are not responsible for those
third party technologies or activities arising out of them. However, some may
offer you certain choices regarding their practices, and information we have
been informed of regarding such choices for vendors and providers that we use
on some or all of our websites from time to time is in an opt-out list
available. We are not responsible for the completeness of the opt-out list
or the effectiveness of or compliance with any third parties’ opt-out options.
B.
To
Protect the Rights of the Firm and our Users . To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we may also
disclose your information if we believe in our sole and absolute discretion
that doing so is necessary or appropriate to: (i) protect or defend the rights,
safety or property (such as collecting debts) of the Firm or third parties
(including through the enforcement of this Privacy Policy, our Terms of Use,
and other applicable agreements and policies); or (ii) comply with legal and
regulatory obligations (e.g., pursuant to law enforcement inquiries, subpoenas
or court orders). To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we have
complete discretion in electing to make or not make such disclosures, and to
contest or not contest requests for such disclosures.
C.
Affiliates
and Business Transfer . We may share your information, including your
Device Identifiers and Personal Information, Demographic Information and Usage
Information with our subsidiaries, affiliates co-counsel, business partners,
and related entities. We also reserve the right to disclose and transfer all
such information: (i) to a subsequent owner, co-owner or operator of the
websites or applicable database; or (ii) in connection with a merger,
consolidation, restructuring, the sale of substantially all of our interests
and/or assets or other corporate change, including, during the course of any
due diligence process.
D.
Your
California Privacy Rights . California Civil Code
Section 1798.83 permits California residents who have supplied personal
information, as defined in the statute, to us, under certain circumstances, to
request and obtain certain information regarding our disclosure, if any, of
personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. If
this applies, you may obtain the categories of personal information shared and
the names and addresses of all third parties that received personal information
for their direct marketing purposes during the immediately prior calendar year
(e.g. requests made in 2013 will receive information about 2012 sharing
activities). To make such a request, please provide sufficient information for
us to determine if this applies to you, attest to the fact that you are a
California resident and provide a current California street address (not a post
office box) for our response. To make such a request (limit one request per
year), please send an e-mail to: info@lexconlaw.com, with “California Privacy
Rights†as the subject line or mail us a letter to: Lexcon Law 633 W. 5th
Street, Los Angeles CA 90071, Attn: Legal Dept. You must include your full
name, e-mail address, and street address in your request.
4. What About Information
I Disclose Publicly or to Others?
A.
User
Generated Content and Public Information . The websites may permit you to submit various types of content,
including images, text and Personal Information (collectively, “User
Generated Contentâ€), such as on blogs and message boards. We or others
may store, display, reproduce, publish, distribute or otherwise use User
Generated Content online or offline in any media or format (currently existing
or hereafter developed) and may or may not attribute it to you. Others may have
access to this User Generated Content and may have the ability to share it with
third parties. Please think carefully before deciding what information you
share, including Personal Information, in connection with your User Generated
Content. We are not responsible for the privacy or security of any information
that you make publicly available on the websites or what others do with
information you share with them on the websites.
B.
Name
and Likeness . We may also publish your name, voice, likeness
and other Personal Information that is part of your User Generated Content, and
we may use the content, or any portion of the content, for advertising,
marketing, publicity and promotional activities. For full terms and conditions
regarding User Generated Content you submit to the websites, please review our
Terms of Use.
5. Do Third-Party
Content and Links to Third-Party Sites Appear on the Websites?
The websites may contain content that is
supplied by a third party, and those third parties may collect Usage
Information and your Device Identifier when pages from the websites are served
to you. In addition, when you are on the websites you may be directed to other
services that are operated and controlled by third parties that we do not
control. We are not responsible for the data collection and privacy practices
employed by any of these third parties or their services and they may be
tracking you across multiple sites and may be sharing the results of that
tracking with us and/or others.
6. How Do I Change My Information?
You are responsible for maintaining the accuracy
of the information you submit to us, such as your contact information provided
if you choose to contact us for a case evaluation. You may correct or update
the Personal Information you have provided through the websites by contacting
us at: info@lexconlaw.com.
7. What About Transfer
of Information to the United States?
Our websites are operated in the United States
and intended for users located in the United States. If you are located outside
of the United States, please be aware that information we collect, including
Personal Information, will be transferred to, and processed, stored and used in
the United States. The data protection laws in the United States may differ
from those of the country in which you are located, and your Personal
Information may be shared with third parties for direct marketing purposes and
may be subject to access requests from governments, courts, or law enforcement
in the United States according to laws of the United States. By using the
websites or providing us with any information, you consent to the transfer to,
and processing, usage, sharing and storage of your information, including
Personal Information, in the United States as set forth in this Privacy Policy.
8. What Should Parents
Know About Children?
We understand the importance of protecting
children’s privacy in the interactive world. We do not use the websites to
knowingly collect Personal Information from children under the age of 13
without parental consent. If you are a child under 13 years of age, you are not
permitted to use the websites and should not send any information about
yourself to us through the websites. In the event that we become aware that we
have collected Personal Information from any child, we will dispose of that
information in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and
other applicable laws and regulations.
9. How Do We Protect
Personal Information You Provide to Us?
We make reasonable efforts to protect Personal Information
that you submit over the websites from loss, misuse, and unauthorized access,
disclosure, alteration and destruction, which may include the use of firewalls
and other security measures on our servers. However, the Firm does not warrant
or represent that its level of security meets or exceeds any particular
standard, and no server or internet transmission is ever 100% secure or
error-free. You should take this into account when submitting Personal or
confidential Information on any websites, including ours. Similarly, any
information that you send us through the websites is not confidential or
privileged, and may be subject to applicable disclosure and reporting
requirements, as required by law.
10. What About Changes
to This Privacy Policy?
The Firm reserves the right, in its sole
discretion, to modify, change or otherwise update this Privacy Policy at any
time. Any changes will be effective immediately upon the posting of the revised
Privacy Policy and your use of our websites indicates your consent to the
privacy policy posted at the time of use. To the extent any provision of this
Privacy Policy is found by a competent tribunal to be invalid or unenforceable,
such provision shall be severed to the extent necessary for the remainder to be
valid and enforceable.
11. How Can You Ask
Questions or Raise Concerns?
If you have any questions about the Privacy
Policy or practices described in it, you should contact us in the following
ways:
· By Email: info@lexconlaw.com
Effective Date: This Privacy Policy was last
revised on April 19, 2014.