Privacy Policy
(Updated: July 27, 2023)
Waldrop and Colvin PLLC ( “we”, “our” or “us”), respects your privacy and is committed to protecting it through our compliance with this policy. This policy describes the types of information we may collect from you or that you may provide when you visit the website https://www.thelawdept.com (our “Website“) and our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, protecting, and disclosing that information.
This policy applies to information we collect:
- On this Website.
- In email, text, and other electronic messages between you and this Website.
Please carefully review this privacy policy to understand our policies and practices regarding your information and how we will treat it. By using this Website, you agree to this privacy policy. Any capitalized words are defined in our Terms of Use. This policy may change from time to time. If we do, we’ll let you know about any material changes, either by notifying you on the Website or by sending you an email. Your continued use after we make changes is deemed an acceptance of those changes, so please remember to check the policy for updates.
Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It
When you access our Website, create an account with us, or become a client of ours, we collect and process certain information. An attorney client relationship is not established between us and you unless and until an engagement letter is signed. The types of information collected depends upon your activity on the Website, but may include:
- Identifying information such as your name, postal address, email address, telephone number, social security number, username, password, and other identifiers by which you may be contacted online or offline.
- Information about your internet connection, the equipment you use to access the Website, and usage details.
We collect this information:
- Directly from you when you provide it to us by filling in forms on our Website or corresponding with us.
- Automatically as you navigate through the Website. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies.
- From third parties, for example, Vendors and other business partners.
You do not have to directly provide us, or third parties, with any information; however, we won’t be able to extend or offer any legal services to you without this information. You can take certain steps to avoid sharing information that is otherwise provided automatically as you navigate the Website by changing the security and cookies settings in your web browser.
Data Security
We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. All information you provide to us is stored on our secure servers behind firewalls.
The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.
How We Use Your Information
We use the information we collect for the following purposes:
- To keep your account secure.
- To verify the identities of clients and prevent fraud and abuse.
- To enable us to provide legal services.
- To enable us to improve the Website.
How this information is shared
We do not disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy, unless with your consent or required by valid service of process or court order.
Your Rights
You may also send us an email at [email protected] to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We cannot delete your personal information except by also deleting your user account (if applicable). We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect. We may also be required to retain certain information pursuant to an engagement for services, as required by rule, law, or regulation, or due to ethical duties imposed upon attorneys.
State consumer privacy laws may provide their residents with additional rights regarding our use of their personal information.
Privacy Notice for California Residents
If you are a California resident, California law requires us to provide you with some additional information regarding how we collect, use, and share your “personal information” (all terms as defined in the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”)). We have identified how we obtain and use personal information in this privacy policy. Under the CCPA, we are also required to provide you with the “categories” of personal information that we may collect.
In particular, our Website has collected the following categories of personal information from consumers within the last twelve (12) months:
| Category | Examples | Collected |
| A. Identifiers. | A real name, alias, postal address, unique personal identifier, online identifier, Internet Protocol address, email address, account name, Social Security number, driver’s license number, passport number, or other similar identifiers. | YES |
| B. Personal information categories listed in the California Customer Records statute (Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.80(e)). | A name, signature, Social Security number, physical characteristics or description, address, telephone number, passport number, driver’s license or state identification card number, insurance policy number, education, employment, employment history, bank account number, credit card number, debit card number, or any other financial information, medical information, or health insurance information.Some personal information included in this category may overlap with other categories. | NO |
| C. Protected classification characteristics under California or federal law. | Age (40 years or older), race, color, ancestry, national origin, citizenship, religion or creed, marital status, medical condition, physical or mental disability, sex (including gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or childbirth and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, veteran or military status, genetic information (including familial genetic information). | NO |
| D. Commercial information. | Records of personal property, products or services purchased, obtained, or considered, or other purchasing or consuming histories or tendencies. | NO |
| E. Biometric information. | Genetic, physiological, behavioral, and biological characteristics, or activity patterns used to extract a template or other identifier or identifying information, such as, fingerprints, faceprints, and voiceprints, iris or retina scans, keystroke, gait, or other physical patterns, and sleep, health, or exercise data. | NO |
| F. Internet or other similar network activity. | Browsing history, search history, information on a consumer’s interaction with a website, application, or advertisement. | NO |
| G. Geolocation data. | Physical location or movements. | NO |
| H. Sensory data. | Audio, electronic, visual, thermal, olfactory, or similar information. | NO |
| I. Professional or employment-related information. | Current or past job history or performance evaluations. | NO |
| J. Non-public education information (per the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (20 U.S.C. Section 1232g, 34 C.F.R. Part 99)). | Education records directly related to a student maintained by an educational institution or party acting on its behalf, such as grades, transcripts, class lists, student schedules, student identification codes, student financial information, or student disciplinary records. | NO |
| K. Inferences drawn from other personal information. | Profile reflecting a person’s preferences, characteristics, psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, and aptitudes. | NO |
We use and share the categories of personal information we collect about you consistent with the various business purposes we discuss in this privacy policy, as described in the “How We Use This Information” and “How We Share This Information” sections above.
Please note that the CCPA sets forth certain obligations for businesses that “sell” personal information to third parties. We do not, and have not, sold personal information to third parties.
Your Rights and choices
The CCPA provides consumers (California residents) with specific rights regarding their personal information. This section describes your CCPA rights and explains how to exercise those rights.
State consumer privacy laws may provide their residents with additional rights regarding our use of their personal information.
Right to know and data portability
You have the right to request that we disclose certain information to you about our collection and use of your personal information over the past 12 months (the “right to know”). Once we receive your request and confirm your identity, we will disclose to you:
- The categories of personal information we collected about you.
- The categories of sources for the personal information we collected about you.
- Our business or commercial purpose for collecting or selling that personal information.
- The categories of third parties with whom we share that personal information.
- If we sold or disclosed your personal information for a business purpose, two separate lists disclosing:
- Sales, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient purchased; and
- Disclosures for a business purpose, identifying the personal information categories that each category of recipient obtained.
- The specific pieces of personal information we collected about you (also called a data portability request).
Right to Delete
You have the right to request that we delete any of your personal information that we collected from you and retained, subject to certain exceptions (the “right to delete”). Once we receive your request and confirm your identity, we will review your request to see if an exception allowing us to retain the information applies. We may deny your deletion request if retaining the information is necessary for us or our service provider(s) to:
- Complete the transaction for which we collected the personal information, provide a good or service that you requested, take actions reasonably anticipated within the context of our ongoing business relationship with you, fulfill the terms of a written warranty or product recall conducted in accordance with federal law, or otherwise perform our contract with you.
- Detect security incidents, protect against malicious, deceptive, fraudulent, or illegal activity, or prosecute those responsible for such activities.
- Debug products to identify and repair errors that impair existing intended functionality.
- Exercise free speech, ensure the right of another consumer to exercise their free speech rights, or exercise another right provided for by law.
- Comply with the California Electronic Communications Privacy Act (Cal. Penal Code § 1546 et. seq.).
- Engage in public or peer-reviewed scientific, historical, or statistical research in the public interest that adheres to all other applicable ethics and privacy laws, when the information’s deletion may likely render impossible or seriously impair the research’s achievement, if you previously provided informed consent.
- Enable solely internal uses that are reasonably aligned with consumer expectations based on your relationship with us.
- Comply with a legal obligation.
- Make other internal and lawful uses of that information that are compatible with the context in which you provided it.
- We will delete or deidentify personal information not subject to one of these exceptions from our records and will direct our service providers to take similar action.
Exercising Your Rights to Know or Delete
To exercise your rights to know or delete described above, please email us at [email protected]. Only you, or someone legally authorized to act on your behalf, may make a request to know or delete related to your personal information. You may also make a request to know or delete on behalf of your child (children are not permitted to use our Website). You may only submit a request to know twice within a 12-month period. Your request to know or delete must:
Provide sufficient information that allows us to reasonably verify you are the person about whom we collected personal information or an authorized representative.
Describe your request with sufficient detail that allows us to properly understand, evaluate, and respond to it.
We cannot respond to your request or provide you with personal information if we cannot verify your identity or authority to make the request and confirm the personal information relates to you. You do not need to create an account with us to submit a request to know or delete.
Response timing and format
We will confirm receipt of your request within ten (10) business days. If you do not receive confirmation within the 10-day timeframe, please contact [email protected]. We do not charge a fee to process or respond to your verifiable consumer request unless it is excessive, repetitive, or manifestly unfounded. If we determine that the request warrants a fee, we will tell you why we made that decision and provide you with a cost estimate before completing your request.
Personal Information Sales Opt-Out and Opt-In Rights
We do not sell your personal information.
Non-Discrimination
We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of your CCPA rights. Unless permitted by the CCPA, we will not:
- Deny you goods or services.
- Charge you different prices or rates for goods or services, including through granting discounts or other benefits, or imposing penalties.
- Provide you a different level or quality of goods or services.
- Suggest that you may receive a different price or rate for goods or services or a different level or quality of goods or services.
- However, we may offer you certain financial incentives permitted by the CCPA that can result in different prices, rates, or quality levels. Any CCPA-permitted financial incentive we offer will reasonably relate to your personal information’s value and contain written terms that describe the program’s material aspects. Participation in a financial incentive program requires your prior opt-in consent, which you may revoke at any time.
Other California Privacy Rights
California’s “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits users of our Website that are California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. To make such a request, please send an email to [email protected].
Other States Privacy Rights
Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, and Utah each provide their state residents with rights to:
- Confirm whether we process their personal information.
- Access and delete certain personal information.
- Data portability.
- Opt-out of personal data processing for targeted advertising and sales.
Colorado, Connecticut, and Virginia also provide their state residents with rights to:
- Correct inaccuracies in their personal information, taking into account the information’s nature processing purpose.
- Opt-out of profiling in furtherance of decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.
To exercise any of these rights please submit a request to [email protected].
European Union Users
Data protection law in Europe requires a “lawful basis” for collecting and retaining personal information from citizens or residents of the European Economic Area. Our lawful bases include legal compliance and legitimate business interests.
Changes in our privacy policy
It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users’ personal information, we will notify you by email to the email address specified in your account or through a notice on the Website home page. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.
Contact Information
To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, or to make a complaint, contact us at:
Waldrop and Colvin PLLC
780 Lynnhaven Pkwy, Ste. 400
Virginia Beach, VA 23452
