On January 1, 2004 the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act was extended to every organization that collects, uses or discloses personal information in the course of a commercial activity within a province. On the same date Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act came into effect. The purpose of the (Alberta) Act is to “govern the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by organizations” (see www.psp.gov.ab.ca/faq.html). In light of these events, we outline Economica’s privacy policy:
- We do not reveal any information concerning the specifics of any case, including the names and personal circumstances of the litigants, to any party other than the law firm that has retained us – unless that firm has specifically requested that we do so. We will not, for example, provide copies of our reports to the plaintiff or defendant, to any other expert who has been retained in the litigation at hand, or to any other law firm that is involved in the litigation without a specific request by the firm that has retained us.
- All of the documents that we receive concerning the specifics of a case are kept in secure areas and/or in secure computer files. All such documents will be maintained in such a manner that they are not accessible to casual observation by visitors to our offices.
- We will not discuss a case with any party other than the firm that has retained us, without previously having received the permission of that firm. We will not, for example, request personal information from the plaintiff, the plaintiff’s family, or the plaintiff’s employer, or from other experts without first informing the firm that retained us.
- When speaking with third parties, such as employers, we will not reveal the name or circumstances of the plaintiff unless it is necessary to do so. If, for example, it is possible to obtain details concerning the plaintiff’s pension plan from his/her employer without revealing the plaintiff’s name, we will do so.
- When disposing of confidential files concerning any litigant, we will have those files shredded by a professional firm.
