Version 1.0

Last updated on 16th May 2020

Privacy Policy

1. Introduction 

This Privacy Policy (“this Policy”) applies to the collection, storing, processing and transfer of your Personal  Data (as defined in Clause 3).  References in this Policy to “you” or “your” are references to individuals who use the Website. References in this notice to “C&Co.”, “we”, “us” or “our” are references to Counsel & Co.; a law firm with its principal office at 401, Madison, Central Avenue, Hiranandani Estate, Ghodbunder Road, Thane – 400 607, Maharashtra, INDIA.

2. Purpose of this Policy

We understand that the use and disclosure of Personal Data has important implications for the individuals whose Personal Data we process. This Policy aims to give you information about how we collect, store, process and transfer your Personal Data.

3. What Personal Data do we collect

Personal Data means and includes any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. Personal Data does not include any information that does not, and cannot be used to, identify an individual. We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of Personal Data. We have grouped together the following categories of Personal Data to explain how this type of information is used by us. These terms are used throughout this Policy:

• “Contact Data”: including your work address, email address and telephone numbers;
• “Identity Data”: including your first name, last name, username or similar identifier, title;
• “Communication Preferences”: your choice on whether or not receive and read communications from us (or a third party on our behalf), which information we may use to improve our communications with you, provide you with more relevant information and improve the quality of our communications.
• “Profile Data”: including information collected progressively when you visit our Website, pages you visit, actions you take, patterns of page visits and information from forms you fill in;
• “Technical Data”: includes information collected when you access our  Website (defined in Clause 4 below), your internet protocol (IP) address, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types   and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you are using; and
• “Usage Data”: information about how you use our Website.

We may collect, use and share aggregated data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated data may be derived from your Personal Data but is not considered personal data in law as this data does not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your usage data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific website feature. However, if we combine or connect aggregated data with your Personal Data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as Personal Data which will be used in accordance with this Policy.

4. How we collect Personal Data

We collect Personal Data (a) when you provide the same through the contact form on our website, www.counselco.com (“Website”) or in your interactions with us via email or other means; (b) when you use or view our Website via your browser’s cookies; or (c) indirectly when it is provided to us by a third party.

5. How we use Personal Data

We collect, store, use or transfer your Personal Data for the following purposes, including but not to:

• Enhancing your experience in using our Website and services;
• Responding to your enquiries and requests;
• Sending you communications that you may opt-in to receive or to fulfil our obligations under a contract with the organization that you represent; and
• Obtaining analytical or statistical information that help us make decisions concerning our services and operations.

The legal basis for our collection, storing, use or transfer of your Personal Data is either to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations or for our legitimate interests (or those of a third   party), except where your fundamental rights override such interests. We do not use your Personal Data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law.

6. Sharing or Disclosure of Personal Data

We may share your Personal Data with or disclose it to:

• any person or entity to whom we are required or requested to make such disclosure by any court of competent jurisdiction or by any governmental, taxation or other regulatory authority, law enforcement agency or similar body;
• our professional advisers or consultants, including lawyers, bankers, auditors, accountants and insurers providing consultancy, legal, banking, audit, accounting or other services to us;
• service providers who provide information technology or system administration services; and
• any entity or individual who may acquire our firm or assets or with whom we enter into an alliance for providing our services.

7. Opt-out

If you have consented to receiving communications from us, you may choose to opt-out by sending an email to dp@counselco.com clearly stating that you do not wish to receive such communications or by clicking/ choosing the unsubscribe option in any of our communications. We will then remove your name and details off our contact list for subsequent communications.

8. Data Retention

We will only retain your Personal Data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected. This includes the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, accounting, reporting requirements, to carry out legal work, for the establishment or defence of legal claims. To determine the appropriate retention period for Personal Data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your Personal Data, the purposes for which we process your Personal Data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements. Once this retention period is over, we will erase your Personal Data from our systems without notice to you.

In some circumstances we may anonymise your personal data (so that it  can  no longer be associated with you) for research or statistical purposes in which case we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

9. Your Data Protection Rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your Personal Data. We respect your rights and will act to protect your rights in accordance with any applicable law, rule or regulation relating to the processing of your Personal Data. Your rights with regard to your Personal Data are set our below:

• Right to access – You have the right to request us to provide copies of your Personal Data in our possession.
• Right to rectification – You have the right to request any inaccurate or incomplete Personal Data be rectified or completed respectively;
• Right to erasure – You have the right to request that we erase your Personal Data, under certain conditions;
• Right to restrict processing – You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your Personal Data, under certain conditions;
• Right to object to processing – You have the right to object to our processing of your Personal Data under certain conditions;
• Right to data portability – You have the right to request that we transfer your Personal Data that we have collected to another organization or to you directly, under certain conditions.

You may exercise any of the above rights at any time using the contact details set out in Clause 13 without having to pay a fee. However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in such circumstances. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.

We may need certain specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your Personal Data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that your Personal Data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

10. Cookies

What are cookies? – Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behavior information. When you visit our Website, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology. For further information, visit allaboutcookies.org.

How do we use cookies? – Our Company uses cookies in a range of ways to improve your experience on our website, including:

• Keeping you signed in;
• Letting you navigate between pages efficiently;
• Letting us analyse how well our website is performing, and improving your experience; and
• Understanding how you use our website

What types of cookies do we use?

There are a number of different types of cookies, however, our Website uses:

• Necessary cookies – these cookies help make a website usable by enabling basic functions like page navigation and access to secure areas of the website. The website may not function properly without these cookies.
• Preference cookies – these cookies enable a website to remember information that changes the way the website behaves or looks, like your preferred language or the region that you are in.
• Statistic cookies – these cookies help website owners to understand how visitors interact with websites by collecting and reporting information anonymously.

How to manage cookies

You can set your browser not to accept cookies, and the above website (allaboutcookies.org) tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases, some of our Website features may not function as a result.

Our Website may use an analytics tool to monitor and analyze data such as how many visitors come to our website, the pages that generate interest and the links that visitors most often click on (amongst other things). This means we may also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. The analytics tool may use cookies which will only be used for website analytics purposes will not enable any website visitor to be individually identified.

11. Third Party Websites

This Website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our Website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

12. Data Security

The security of your Personal Data is important. We adopt reasonable security practices and procedures to ensure that your Personal Data that we collect is secure. Access to your information is limited to our employees, agents, advisors and third-party associates, to the extent necessary. While we shall take all reasonable and appropriate measures to secure your Personal Data, this is not an absolute guarantee of your Personal Data’s security. To the widest extent permissible by applicable law, we disclaim all liability in relation to any possible breach of security or unintended loss or disclosure of your Personal Data.

13. Data Controller

A “controller” is a person or organisation who alone or jointly determines the  purposes for which, and the manner in which, any Personal Data is, or is likely to be, processed. This Policy is issued on behalf of Counsel & Co. as controller. Unless we notify you otherwise, Counsel & Co. is the controller for your Personal Data. If you have any questions about this Policy, including any requests to exercise your rights under applicable data privacy laws, please contact our Managing Partner using the contact details set out below:

Managing Partner, Counsel & Co.

401, Madison, Central Avenue, Hiranandani Estate, Ghodbunder Road, Thane – 400 607, Maharashtra, INDIA; Email: dp@counselco.com; Telephone: (+91) 9833559852

14. Complaints

If you have any concerns or would like to make a complaint about our processing of your Personal Data, please contact our Managing Partner at dp@counselco.com or using the other contact details provided in Clause 13. You may also raise your concerns with your local data protection authority directly. However, we would encourage you to contact us in the first instance as we aim to promptly, efficiently   and satisfactorily resolve any concerns or complaints you may have in relation to our processing of your Personal Data.

15. Miscellaneous 

• Where we need to collect Personal Data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with the organization that you represent (for example, to provide our services). In such case, we will not be deemed to be in breach of our obligations under such contract.
• This Policy is to be read along with the Terms of Use. Any undefined term in this Privacy Policy shall have the same meaning assigned to it under the Terms of Use. Clauses 8 and 10 to 19 of the Terms of Use shall apply mutatis mutandis to this Policy as well.