What is BCASLPA?
BCASLPA is a non profit association which supports over 1000 speech-language pathologists, audiologists, and supportive personnel in BC.
Our main goals are:
Public Relations - promoting the value of speech-language pathology and audiology, and our members
Advocacy - helping the public, politicians, and other professionals understand the value we bring
Learning Community - improving professional skills through local education, annual conferences, interest groups, mentorship, website, and newsletter
While we have always respected individuals’ privacy rights and safeguarded personal information, we have strengthened our commitment to protecting personal information as a result of British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). PIPA, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, sets out the ground rules for how B.C. businesses and not-for-profit organizations may collect, use and disclose personal information.
We will inform our members and the public of why and how we collect, use and disclose their personal information, obtain their consent where required, and only handle their personal information in a manner that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
This Personal Information Protection Policy, in compliance with PIPA, outlines the principles and practices BCASLPA will follow in protecting personal information. Our privacy commitment includes ensuring the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of our personal information and allowing our individuals to request access to, and correction of, their personal information.
Definitions
Personal Information – means information about an identifiable individual, including name, age, home address and phone number, social insurance number.
Privacy Officer – means the individual designated responsibility for ensuring that BCASLPA complies with this policy and PIPA.
Policy 1 – Collecting Personal Information
1.1 Unless the purposes for collecting personal information are obvious and the individual voluntarily provides his or her personal information for those purposes, we will communicate the purposes for which personal information is being collected, either orally or in writing, before or at the time of collection.
1.2 We will only collect personal information that is necessary to fulfill the following purposes:
- Communicating with and determining the needs of our membership;
- Providing products, services and information to our Members;
- Permitting affiliated organizations and Preferred Suppliers to provide products, services and information to Members;
- Managing our relationship with Members;
- Meeting any legal or regulatory requirement; and
- Such other purposes consistent with the foregoing purposes.
Policy 2 – Consent
2.1 We will obtain consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).
2.2 Consent can be provided orally, in writing, electronically, through an authorized representative or it can be implied where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be considered obvious and the individual voluntarily provides personal information for that purpose.
2.3 Consent may also be implied where an individual is given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of his or her personal information being used for mail-outs, the marketing of new services or products, and the individual does not opt-out.
2.4 Subject to certain exceptions (e.g., the personal information is necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation), individual can withhold or withdraw their consent for BCASLPA to use their personal information in certain ways. An individual’s decision to withhold or withdraw their consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our ability to provide a particular service or product. If so, we will explain the situation to assist the individual in making the decision.
2.5 We may collect, use or disclose personal information without the individual’s knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:
- When the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law;
- In an emergency that threatens an individual's life, health, or personal security;
- When the personal information is available from a public source (e.g., a telephone directory);
- When we require legal advice from a lawyer;
- For the purposes of collecting a debt;
- To protect ourselves from fraud; and
- To investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law.
Policy 3 – Using and Disclosing Personal Information
3.1 We will only use or disclose individuals’ personal information where necessary to fulfill the purposes identified at the time of collection or for a purpose reasonably related to those purposes such as:
- To conduct client, customer, member surveys in order to enhance the provision of our services; and
- To contact our members directly about products and services that may be of interest.
3.2 We will not use or disclose individuals’ personal information for any additional purpose unless we obtain consent to do so.
3.3 There are circumstances where the use and/or disclosure of personal information may be justified or permitted or where BCASLPA is obliged to disclose information without consent. Such circumstances may include:
- Where required by law or by order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or other governmental tribunal;
- Where BCASLPA believes, upon reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of an identifiable person or group;
- Where it is necessary to establish or collect fees;
- Where it is necessary to permit BCASLPA to pursue available remedies or limit any damages that BCASLPA may sustain; or
- Where the information is public.
3.4 We will not sell personal information such as membership lists to other parties unless we have consent to do so.
Policy 4 – Retaining Personal Information
4.1 If we use and individual’s personal information to make a decision that directly affects the individual we will retain that personal information for at least one year so that the individual has a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.
4.2 Subject to policy 4.1, we will retain an individual’s personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.
Policy 5 – Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Information
5.1 We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that personal information is accurate and complete where it may be used to make a decision about an individual or disclosed to another organization.
5.2 Individuals may request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
A request to correct personal information should be forwarded to the Privacy Officer.
5.3 If the personal information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, we will correct the information as required and send the corrected information to any organization to which we disclosed the personal information in the previous year. If the correction is not made, we will note the individual’s correction request in the file.
Policy 6 – Securing Personal Information
6.1 We are committed to ensuring the security of individual’s personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.
6.2 The following security measures will be followed to ensure that individual’s personal information is appropriately protected:
- The use of locked filing cabinets;
- Physically securing offices where personal information is held;
- The use of user IDs; and
- Passwords.
6.3 We will use appropriate security measures when destroying individual’s personal information such as shredding documents, deleting electronically stored information.
6.4 We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.
Policy 7 – Providing Individuals Access to Personal Information
7.1 Individuals have a right to access their personal information, subject to limited exceptions.
7.2 A request to access personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information being sought. A request to access personal information should be forwarded to the Privacy Officer.
7.3 Upon request, we will also tell individuals how we use their personal information and to whom it has been disclosed if applicable.
7.4 We will make the requested information available within 30 business days, or provide written notice of an extension where additional time is required to fulfill the request.
7.5 A minimal fee may be charged for providing access to personal information. Where a fee may apply, we will inform the individual of the cost and request further direction from the individual on whether or not we should proceed with the request.
7.6 If a request is refused in full or in part, we will notify the individual in writing, providing the reasons for refusal and the recourse available to the individual.
Policy 8 – Questions and Complaints: The Role of the Privacy Officer
8.1 The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring BCASLPA’s compliance with this policy and the Personal Information Protection Act.
8.2 Individuals should direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding BCASLPA’s compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the individual may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.
Contact information for BCASLPA’s Privacy Officer:
Contact information for BCASLPA’s Privacy Officer:
Janet Campbell
(604) 420-2222