How your information is handled.

Who is responsible

Steven J. Rombis is the organization accountable for personal information you provide for legal services. Minymata, Inc. operates the FileMyDefence website and portal as a service provider to the practice under a written processing agreement, and does not use your information for any other purpose.

What is collected

Contact and identification details required by Law Society of Ontario By-Law 7.1, the details of your matter, documents you upload, messages in the portal, and payment references. Card details are handled by the practice's payment provider and never stored here.

Where it is stored and who else sees it

Application data, documents and backups are stored with Amazon Web Services in its Canada (Central) region, which also sends the practice's email. Card payments are processed by Stripe in the United States; Stripe receives only your email address, the amount and a booking reference, never your documents or the details of your matter. If you ask to communicate in another language, translators or translation tools may see what you say or write, with your agreement. Video meetings use the service named in your appointment confirmation. No other provider receives your information.

Cookies and scanning

The site sets one cookie, which keeps you signed in; there are no advertising or tracking cookies. Every uploaded file is scanned for viruses before anyone can open it, and a file that fails the scan is deleted. No advertising pixels or session recording run on the inquiry form or inside the portal. Case information is never sold or used for insurance or dealer advertising.

Records of activity

Actions by the practice's staff and every document download are recorded, so the practice can show who saw what and when. Server logs are kept for 30 days. Messages that bounce or are reported as unwanted are logged so the practice stops sending to that address.

How long records are kept

Sign-in codes and sessions are removed as soon as they expire. Permission records for file uploads are removed 30 days after use. If a file you upload fails the safety check it is deleted immediately and the record of the attempt is removed after 90 days. An inquiry the practice declines is kept for 24 months in case you return or a question arises, then flagged for deletion and removed once the practice confirms. Inquiries the practice accepts become part of your client file, which the practice keeps for the period the Law Society of Ontario requires (By-Law 9 requires financial records to be kept for at least six years), and then disposes of securely.

Payment and booking records

Records of quotes, bookings and payments are kept for as long as the Law Society of Ontario's record-keeping rules require, which is longer than the periods above, because the practice must be able to account for every fee.

Your choices

You can ask the practice for access to your file, request corrections, or ask for personal information that is no longer needed to be deleted. Write to hello@filemydefence.com. Requests are answered within 30 days.