British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) sets rules for how organizations collect, use and disclose personal information. Personal information is defined as any information that can be used to identify someone – either by itself or in combination with other information.

PrivacyOffice.ca (we/our) is committed to being accountable for complying with PIPA and protecting the personal information we collect from individuals under appropriate and reasonable business purposes.

Consent: At or before the point of personal information collection, we will communicate our business purpose for the collection and how the information will be used and disclosed. With an understanding of what we will do with the information you provide to us, you can provide express, implied or “opt-in” consent orally, in writing or electronically.

Collection: For business purposes, we collect client and student contact information to respond to emails and phone calls, and to provide services. 

Types of personal information we collect: We only collect the minimum amount of personal information required for business purposes. Examples include:

• • • Emails sent to PrivacyOffice.ca: Name, email address
    • Phone messages: Name, phone number
    • Course students: First name, last name, email address and credit card information (number, expiry and card security code). We do not keep credit card information on file. 

Use and Disclosure: We only collect personal information for identified purposes of collection and do not share, rent, sell or trade any personal information collected from you with any third parties without your consent, unless we are required by law or authorized by PIPA to disclose the information you have submitted.

How we protect and store personal information: PrivacyOffice.ca uses a combination of administrative, physical and technical safeguards to reduce the risk of loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure and alteration of your personal information. All personal information is processed and stored in Canada.

Retention: We retain personal information based on legal and business requirements first. Then we consider if the PIPA requirement – to retain personal information used to make a decision about individuals for at least one year, after it is no longer necessary to fulfill the collected purpose – applies. After the appropriate time periods have passed, we securely destroy personal information.

Your privacy rights* and how we support them: 
By submitting a written request to our privacy officer, you can:

• • • withdraw consent with reasonable notice;
    • access the personal information that we hold about you;
    • update your personal information for accuracy and completeness; and, 
    • ask us to process your personal information using an alternative method.

*Please note: We require proof of identity to fulfill privacy rights requests and you cannot withdraw consent retroactively.

Third-party service providers: For the fulfillment of business purposes, we use third-party service providers. If personal information is disclosed to these third parties, we ensure that appropriate security undertakings, such as confidentiality clauses in contractual agreements, are employed to protect the transfer and use of personal information. Current third-party services include:

• • • Thinkific: https://www.thinkific.com

Our website, website links and cookies: Our website collects personal information only if you provide it to us. Throughout the site there are links to third-party websites, including interactive links. These sites use their own cookies to collect user information.

Cookies are small files that websites send to your device to store information about you, within your own website browser. They typically contain information about your browsing activity and personalize your experience for authentication and certification purposes.

We are not responsible for, and do not have any control over, the privacy practices or the content of third parties. We encourage users to read the privacy policies of any website visited.

Questions & Complaints: If you wish to make a privacy rights request, have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Statement, or would like to make a privacy complaint to PrivacyOffice.ca, you can:

• • • email: privacy@privacyoffice.ca; or
    • write to: PrivacyOffice.ca Privacy Officer
      Unit 10- 909 Carolwood Dr., Victoria BC V8X 3T9

Not satisfied with our response and wish to challenge our compliance?

Under PIPA, within 30 days of receiving your privacy request, question, concern or complaint, we are obligated to respond. If you haven’t heard back from us during this timeframe or you are unsatisfied with our response within 30 days of receiving it, you may contact the Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) to make a complaint. Information on the OIPC complaint process: https://www.oipc.bc.ca/for-the-public/how-do-i-make-a-complaint/

You can contact them through https://www.oipc.bc.ca/about/contact-us/ or mail them at: Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, PO Box 9038 Stn. Prov. Govt., Victoria BC V8W 9A4