Policies, Terms, and Conditions.

Effective 27 August 2026

1. About this policy

Fiszman (also carrying on business as Fiszman Tax Law) is the law practice of Alejandro Fiszman, a lawyer licensed by the Law Society of Ontario. In this policy “we”, “us” and “the firm” mean that practice.

This policy explains what personal information we collect, why, how we protect it, and the choices you have. It applies to our website at fiszman.ca and to enquiries we receive by email, telephone and text message, as well as to information we collect in the course of providing legal services.

We are subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). We are also bound by the duty of confidentiality in the Law Society of Ontario’s Rules of Professional Conduct. That professional duty is broader than privacy legislation: it covers all information about a client’s business and affairs however we acquire it, it applies to anyone who contacts us for legal assistance whether or not we are ultimately retained, and it continues indefinitely after a matter closes.

Nothing on this website is legal advice, and using this website does not make us your lawyers.

2. Information we collect

We collect only what we need for the purposes described below.

When you contact us. Your name, email address, telephone or mobile number, and what you choose to tell us about your situation.

When we act for you. What is necessary to advise and represent you. Depending on the matter this may include your Social Insurance Number or Business Number, CRA correspondence and assessments, tax returns and supporting records, financial and banking information, property and estate records, employment and income information, and information about family members or others where relevant. Some of this is sensitive, and we treat it accordingly.

Identity verification. Government-issued identification and related information, where the Law Society’s by-laws require us to identify and verify clients.

When you visit our website. Your IP address, browser and device type, pages viewed and referring page — used to keep the site secure and working properly.

When you text us. Your mobile number, the content and timestamps of the messages, and your consent and opt-out records. See section 8.

3. How we use your information

• To respond to your enquiry and assess whether we can act for you

• To check for conflicts of interest before accepting a matter

• To advise and represent you, including corresponding with the Canada Revenue Agency, the Tax Court of Canada and other parties on your instructions

• To communicate with you about your matter, including scheduling

• To render accounts and collect fees

• To meet our professional, regulatory and legal obligations

We do not use your personal information for any other purpose without your consent, unless the law requires or permits it. We do not send marketing or promotional messages.

4. Consent

We collect, use and disclose personal information with your knowledge and consent. Consent is often implied by the fact that you have asked us to act for you — we do not ask separately each time we need to file something with the CRA on your behalf. For sensitive uses, and for text messaging, we ask for your express consent.

You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal and professional limits. Withdrawing consent to a method of communication, such as text messaging, does not end your retainer. Withdrawing consent to our use of information we need in order to act for you may mean we can no longer represent you, and we will tell you if that is the case.

5. When we disclose personal information

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not rent, trade or share it with anyone for their marketing purposes. We do not share or sell personal information to third parties for the purpose of marketing.

We disclose personal information only as follows:

• On your instructions or with your consent — for example to the CRA, opposing counsel, your accountant, a court or tribunal, or another advisor you have asked us to deal with.

• To people who work on our behalf — administrative staff, law clerks, agents, other lawyers we retain with your consent, and service providers such as our practice management, document storage, email and telephony providers. They receive only what they need. We remain responsible for the information, we require them to protect it, and we impress upon them their obligation not to disclose or use it.

• Where required by law — where a statute, subpoena, or order of a court or tribunal of competent jurisdiction compels disclosure. We then disclose no more than is required, and we claim solicitor-client privilege where it applies.

• To the Law Society of Ontario — where the Law Society requires the information in the exercise of its regulatory functions.

• In the narrow circumstances the Rules of Professional Conduct permit — to prevent an imminent risk of death or serious bodily harm, to defend against allegations made against the firm, or to establish or collect our fees.

No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

6. Service providers and information outside Canada

Some of our service providers store or process information on servers outside Canada, including in the United States. Our telephone and text messaging service is provided by Dialpad, and messages you send to or receive from our business numbers pass through Dialpad’s systems and mobile carrier networks. While information is outside Canada it may be accessible to foreign courts, law enforcement and government authorities under the law of that country, regardless of the protections we have in place. If you would rather a particular communication not travel through those systems, tell us and we will use another channel.

7. Safeguards

We protect personal information with physical, administrative and technical safeguards appropriate to its sensitivity, including locked storage, access controls, encryption where appropriate, secure disposal, and confidentiality training for anyone who works with us.

No transmission over the internet or a mobile network is completely secure. Ordinary email and text messaging are not encrypted in transit and can be intercepted, misdirected, or read by anyone with access to the sending or receiving device. Section 8 explains what that means for text messaging.

8. Text messaging (SMS and MMS)

Our full SMS program terms appear below under SMS Terms & Conditions.

How we get your number. From you — when you give it to us on our consultation request form, tell it to us on the telephone or in a meeting, or text us first.

Consent. We text you only if you have expressly agreed to it, by ticking the SMS box on our contact form or by telling us in words that we may text you. Giving us your number alone is not consent to be texted. Consent is never a condition of retaining us or of obtaining any service, and you may decline text messaging and still work with us by telephone, email or letter.

What we text about. Brief replies to logistical questions you text us, consultation confirmations and reminders, scheduling changes, a note that we need a document or signature from you, and short administrative updates such as confirming that a filing has been made. Nothing else — we do not send marketing or promotional texts.

Security. Text messaging is convenient but it is not a secure channel. Messages travel unencrypted, they pass through carrier and vendor systems where copies may persist, they can be sent to the wrong number, and they can be read by anyone with access to either phone. By choosing to text with us you accept those risks for this channel. Where you are a client, we also record your agreement to use text messaging in your engagement letter, so the choice is documented.

Limits. We use text messaging for scheduling and logistics, not legal advice. If you text a question that needs a substantive answer, we will reply asking to continue by telephone or email. We do not send tax analysis, assessments, financial records or documents by text, and we do not accept documents, signatures, instructions or deadlines by text — where we need one, we say so in the text and send it another way. Do not rely on text messaging to reach us about anything urgent or time-sensitive: we do not monitor text messages continuously and a text may not be read promptly.

Texting us does not make us your lawyers. We do not treat ourselves as retained until we have completed a conflicts check and confirmed the retainer in writing. Until then, please do not send confidential details of your situation by text. Information you do send us is held in confidence.

Records. Text messages about a client matter form part of our record of that matter. Where a text is substantive we note or confirm its contents to the file, and we retain it with the client file under section 10.

Stopping messages. Reply STOP to any text from us, at no cost to you, and we will stop texting you — STOP, END, QUIT, CANCEL and UNSUBSCRIBE all work. You may also email legal@fiszman.ca or telephone 613-505-0877. We will send one confirmation message and then stop. Reply HELP and we will text back our name, contact details and how to opt out.

We do not sell your mobile number and we do not share it for anyone’s marketing. No mobile information will be shared with third parties/affiliates for marketing/promotional purposes. All the above categories exclude text messaging originator opt-in data and consent; this information will not be shared with any third parties.

9. Website, cookies and analytics

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to function properly and to understand how the site is used in aggregate. You can refuse or delete cookies through your browser settings; some parts of the site may not work as well if you do. We do not use our website for advertising or retargeting, and we do not sell website data. Aggregate site statistics are collected using Microsoft.

10. Retention

We keep personal information only as long as we need it for the purposes described here, or as long as our professional and legal obligations require. Client files, including communications forming part of a matter, are retained for 15 years after the file closes, after which they are destroyed securely. Records we must keep under the Law Society’s by-laws, including financial and client identification records, are kept for the periods those by-laws require. Text messaging consent and opt-out records are retained as long as necessary to demonstrate compliance with anti-spam and telecommunications requirements.

11. Access and correction

You may ask what personal information we hold about you, how we have used it and to whom we have disclosed it, and you may ask us to correct anything inaccurate. Write to us at the address in section 13. We will respond within 30 days, or tell you if we need more time and why.

We may withhold information where PIPEDA permits — for example where giving access would reveal personal information about another person, would reveal privileged information relating to another client’s matter, or where the information was generated in the course of a formal dispute resolution process. If we refuse we will tell you why and how you can challenge that decision. None of this restricts your right as a client to your own file.

12. Breach response

If personal information in our custody is lost or accessed without authorization and there is a real risk of significant harm to you, we will notify you and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada as PIPEDA requires, and tell you what happened and what you can do about it.

13. Questions and complaints

Alejandro Fiszman is responsible for our compliance with this policy and with privacy legislation.

Fiszman Tax Law
Attention: Alejandro Fiszman, Barrister & Solicitor
858 Bank Street, Suite 104
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 3W3
Canada
613-505-0877
legal@fiszman.ca

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (priv.gc.ca, 1-800-282-1376). Complaints about our conduct as a lawyer may be made to the Law Society of Ontario (lso.ca).

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The current version is always posted at fiszman.ca/privacy with its effective date. Material changes affecting how we use information we already hold will be brought to your attention.