Privacy Policy
Thank you for using HAL. The privacy of our users is important to us. Here we outline how we collect data from our website users and the security measures we are taking to ensure that data is secure.
Your consent
By using our site, you consent to our privacy policy, terms of use, and submission guidelines.
Personal information we collect and how we use it
We collect information about our users in these ways: directly from the user, from our web server logs, and through cookies and similar technologies. We use the information primarily to provide a personalized Internet experience that delivers the information, resources, and services that are most relevant and helpful to you. We don’t share any of the information you provide with others, unless you request us to (such as when you ask us to help you find a lawyer) or we believe in good faith that the law requires it.
Information supplied by users
When you register for our services or communicate with us via our site, we ask you to provide some personal information: for example, your name, address, phone number, email address, and/or certain additional categories of information resulting from use of our websites and services, such as requests to connect with a lawyer. We may keep this information in a contact database for future reference, as needed.
We may use certain information you provide to offer you products and services that we believe may be of interest to you. You may choose not to receive such offers and communications or opt out (unsubscribe) as described below.
User generated content, online communities, blog comments, profiles, surveys, reviews and ratings
You may choose to publicly disclose personal information about yourself and others in the course of:
(i) contributing user generated content (for instance scholarship essays, articles, blogs, surveys, reviews, ratings, or accident stories),
(ii) communicating with others in our online community such as commenting on blog posts
(iii) creating user profiles for public view, or
(iv) submitting images, photos, or videos.
Be aware, information that you voluntarily disclose in any of these areas of our sites or services is unencrypted, public information and, therefore, there can be no expectation of privacy or confidentiality, except if the terms and conditions of the site or service specifically limit use of the content (for example, we may let you know how such survey and rating responses will be used and if anonymity is an option).
Any personal information you submit in the course of interacting in these public activities can be read, collected, or used by other users. We are not responsible for the personal information you choose to make public in any of these areas and strongly recommend against sharing any personal health or other sensitive information that could directly or indirectly be traced to any individual, including yourself.
If you contact us for customer support, we may ask you to provide information about your computer or about the issues you are trying to resolve. This information is necessary to help us answer your questions. We may record your requests and our responses for quality control purposes.
Pages and sections of our website may allow you to contact and submit information to our law firm and attorney customers via a contact form or online chat. Any information that you voluntarily submit through the site may be shared with and stored by HAL so that HAL may provide services to the law firm or attorney. Please do not submit any Sensitive Information through the website contact form or online chat.
Additionally, HAL offers legal professionals the ability to provide personal information for inclusion in our directory. If you submit your information, know that it must meet these submission requirements. It must be accurate, complete, and current
Non-personal information
In some cases, we may collect information about you that is not personally identifiable. We use this information, which does not identify individual users, to analyze trends, to administer the site, to understand users’ movements around the site and to gather information about our user base as a whole. The information collected is used solely for internal review and not shared with other organizations for commercial purposes.
Web server logs
When you visit our website, we may track information about your visit and store that information in web server logs, which are records of the activities on our site. Our servers automatically capture and save the information electronically. Examples of the information we may collect include:
- Your unique Internet protocol address
- The name of your unique Internet service provider
- The city, state, and country from which you access our website
- The kind of browser or computer you use
- The number of links you click within the site
- The date and time of your visit
- The web page from which you arrived to our site and/or other web pages you have visited
- The pages you viewed on the site
- Certain searches/queries that you conducted via our website(s)
The information we collect in web server logs helps us administer the site, analyze its usage, protect the website and its content from inappropriate use, and improve the user’s experience.
You may change your location permissions in your own device/browser settings at any time.
Cookies and similar technologies
In order to offer and provide a customized and personal service, we may use cookies and similar technologies to store and help track information about you. Cookies are simply small pieces of data that are sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer or device’s hard drive. We use cookies to help remind us who you are and to help you navigate our sites during your visits. Cookies allow us to save passwords and preferences for you so you won’t have to reenter them each time you visit.
How can you control cookies?
The use of cookies and similar technologies is relatively standard. Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You may refuse to accept cookies at any time by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse cookies. Further information about the procedure to follow in order to disable cookies can be found on your Internet browser provider’s website via your help screen.
Please note that by disabling or blocking any or all cookies, some features of the website may not operate as intended, or you may not have access to features or personalization available through the website.
You can opt out of Google’s use of cookies by visiting Google’s Ad Settings.
By visiting this website, you consent to the use of cookies and similar technologies in accordance with this privacy policy.
Children and minors
Our services are not intended for use by children under the age of 13, and such use is prohibited by our Terms of use. We do not knowingly collect Personal Information from children under 13. If you become aware that a child has provided us with Personal Information, please contact us as set forth in this policy.
If you reside in California and are a minor (you are under 18 years of age) and you are using a site or service that collects your age as a registration requirement, you can request the removal of content or information you have posted. To do this on HAL, please email us with “California Minor Content Removal Request” in the subject line and details in the body of your message.
Please specify in your request the page(s) or service(s) to which your request relates, including any URLs where the content or information is posted, and the specific content or information you posted for which you are requesting removal. Please note that this removal does not ensure complete or comprehensive removal of the content or information posted on our sites and services if the content you posted has been shared or reposted. We are only obligated to remove content that you post, where you posted it.
There are certain circumstances in which we do not have to remove your content, including if any other state or federal law requires us to maintain the information, we anonymize the content by removing identifying characteristics, the content was stored, republished or reposted, you do not follow the instructions in this section or we paid you or you were otherwise compensated for the content you posted. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, our services may allow users above the age of 18 (such as caregivers, parents and guardians) to submit personal information about others, including minors. Such users assume full responsibility over their submission, use and transmission of such information.
Security
The security of your Personal Information is important to us, but remember that no method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
How we protect the personal information we collect
We have implemented certain appropriate security measures to help protect your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. For example, our website is protected with Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. Also, we use a variety of technical security measures to secure your data. However, please note that we cannot guarantee that unauthorized persons will always be unable to defeat our security measures.
Also, please note that we may store and process your personal information in systems located outside of your home country. However, regardless of where storage and processing may occur, we take appropriate steps to ensure that your information is protected, consistent with the principles set forth under this statement.
Who may access personal information
We will not sell, rent, or lease mailing lists or other customer data to others, and we will not make your personal information available to any unaffiliated parties, except as follows:
- Information that you have submitted through a form on the website and consented to us sharing with lawyers or law firms or for advertising purposes.
- Information that is submitted through a contact form or online chat may be shared with or referred to an unaffiliated attorney if that law firm or attorney may be able to assist with your matter.
- We also rely on our affiliates for support of the products and services we offer, and we share some of our back-office functions with SEO Advantage companies. Our affiliates are all required to preserve the confidentiality of any personal information they may access.
Transactional or relationship communications
Communications may be “real time” or triggered automatically upon the occurrence of certain events or dates, such as reminders of a directory listing renewal transaction. Email communications received from users and our administrative announcements are often transactional or relationship messages. You may not be able to opt out of receiving certain messages of this nature as they are necessary to provide the service and maintain the relationship.
Questions?
If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact us via our contact page.
