POLICY:

Inclusion BC respects and upholds an individual’s right to privacy and to protection of their personal information. Inclusion BC is committed to ensuring compliance with applicable employee privacy legislation.

BC Pesonal Information Protection Act

PROCEDURE:

Inclusion BC is accountable for donor, associate, employee, board, advocate and volunteer information under its control. The Executive Director will designate a person to be the Privacy Officer.

Definition

Private information is anything that gives information about an identifiable individual. It includes things like: age, weight, height, marital status, income, contents of personnel files, race, home address or home phone.

Private information is not: name, job title, business address or office telephone number of an employee.

Consent

Personal information cannot be collected without the prior consent of the individual it concerns. That individual must be informed of the reasons their information is required. Information cannot be used for a purpose other than the stated purpose (for example, if a donor’s name and address are acquired to mail out a tax receipt, this information cannot then be used to put that donor on a mailing list unless their permission is specifically obtained for this new purpose).

Disclosure of Information to Third Parties

The only circumstance under which personal information may be disclosed to third parties is for the fulfillment of any purposes identified above, or as required by law.

Safeguards

Inclusion BC protects personal information with appropriate security safeguards. Safeguards include physical, administrative, and electronic security measures. Some security measures used at Inclusion BC include:

  • Office computers are password protected and equipped with screen saver passwords to ensure that only the appropriate staff person may access information. Information exclusive to a particular computer is not placed on the shared drive. The Executive Director has access to all computers.
  • Employee files are kept in locked cabinets. The keys are held by the Executive Director and the Accreditation Coordinator.
  • Highly confidential files are kept in a locked cabinet. The keys are held by the Executive Director, and the Director of Finance and Administration.
  • Phone messages can only be accessed by pass code.

Access

You have the right to access your personal information under the control of Inclusion BC. The designated Privacy Officer will assist you with your access requests. In certain exceptional circumstances, Inclusion BC may not be able to provide access to certain personal information that it holds about you. If access cannot be provided, Inclusion BC will notify you in writing of the reasons for the refusal.

Accuracy

If you feel information about you is incorrect, please put your concern in writing and forward it to the Privacy Officer.

Retention

Financial files and employee files are kept for seven years after they are no longer active. Other records are kept at the discretion of the Executive Director.

When a file containing personal information is no longer being retained, it must be destroyed, for example by shredding or incinerating. Recycling is not considered destroying.

Concerns or Questions Regarding Inclusion BC’s Compliance

You may direct your questions regarding Inclusion BC’s compliance with this policy to the Privacy Officer.