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Privacy Policy

½ñÈÕ³Ô¹Ï51 Operational Application of Person Information and Privacy Policy

1) – Overview of Policy

The is a Canadian non‑profit organization, incorporated in 1984, whose mission is to enable people with significant physical disabilities to achieve greater independence through the development, adaptation and use of innovative services and technology for the home and workplace.

Our mandate is to research, develop and deliver appropriate innovative services and technology to meet the needs of our participants. Traditionally we have dealt with individuals most marginalized from society, particularly those who have had very long term detachment from the labour force. To this end, we have been delivering a full range of programs and services in four provinces.

The B.C. provincial government has instituted the (PIPA) to protect the confidentiality of personal information that is provided to us. However, we will use this policy in all our regions where we deliver services. Personal information is collected by our organization trough many channels:

  1. Our employees and contractors
  2. Volunteers to our programming
  3. Board members
  4. Members of our organization
  5. Donors to our organization
  6. Participants in our various programs

We have a responsibility to inform all individuals providing information to our organization why we are collecting that information; how we store that information; who has access to the information and what information will be shared and for what purposes. We only collect information required by law and that required to provide our services under our operational mandate.

We will inform our clients and members 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.

All information is stored in secure files and any electronic client information in inaccessible from the internet and is only readable by appropriate personnel.

We maintain information for periods of time specified by law and at the end of that time, shred any documentation.

  • 2) – What Is Personal Information?

    Under the Act, personal information includes, but is not limited to:

    • name, home address and phone number
    • age
    • nationality, spoken languages, citizenship, race, ethnic origin
    • social insurance number, photo identification
    • marital status
    • income sources (employment, CPP, WCB, ICBC, other insurance)
    • medical information: disability information; health care history; current and   previous formal or informal medical/ vocational/ psychological/ interest inventory assessments; barriers to employment; blood type; vision issues; hearing issues; pain issues; medications
    • assistance needs – transit; attendant care
    • educational history; volunteer history
    • information for a criminal records check
    • employment history; awards; milestones
    • hobbies; likes; dislikes
    • emergency contact information
    • legal documents; custody orders; restraining orders; powers of attorney

    3) – Who We Collect Personal Information From

    1. Employees

      All information is collected in accordance with provincial and federal laws and our benefits plan in operation at that time. All personnel files are maintained securely and access granted to The Executive Director, National Operations Manager, Director of Finance, regional Managers and/or other management teams responsible for the operations of the organization. The organization reserves the right to secure a police record check and results of that check are maintained in the personnel file.

    2. Volunteers

      All information is collected in accordance with provincial and federal laws in order for volunteers to facilitate the operations at that time. All personnel files are maintained securely and access granted to management teams responsible for the volunteers and can include the Executive Director, National Operations Manager, Director of Finance, Regional Managers and other management teams responsible for ongoing operations of the organization. The organization reserves the right to secure a police record check and results of that check are maintained in the personnel file.

    3. Board members

      Board members provide contact information; photos; demographic information and bibliographical information prior to becoming a Board member. When elected to the Board, the organization will utilize bibliographical information supplied to provide to members and for general publicity usage.

    4. Members

      Members provide demographic data in accordance with membership requirements. Any data provided to our organization is for our use only and we do not distribute/sell/loan or share our membership list with any other organization. When a member ceases to maintain membership, data is maintained in a secure file in accordance with federal and provincial laws. We use mailing addresses to provide members our newsletter or other information pertaining to our organization (fund-raising events/news, etc).

    5. Donors

      In accordance with federal and provincial laws, we collect demographic information to issue federal tax receipts. Donors are mailed our newsletters and kept apprised of events /news etc. that is happening at the organization. Donors names also appear in our Annual Report and our Donors list. We utilize our donors to help our organization grow and to assist us with establishing new linkages to prospective new donors. If a donor does not want his/her name to appear, he/she may request to be anonymous. We do not distribute/sell/loan or share our donor list with any other organization.

    6. Participants

      We collect demographic/health/familial/educational and other important and related data (dependent on which program a participant is enrolled) from participants in order to provide optimal, informed services. No information is collected without a participant’s consent and ensuring our participants understand this policy. All participants are ensured their files are secured, are not available from the internet and are explained who will have access to their information.

    This is an overview of our PIPA policy. We have a complete version in all our Regional Offices. We value your privacy and comments. If you have questions regarding our PIPA policy, please contact our Personal Information Privacy (PIP) Officer (note – requests for privacy information must be made in writing):

    pipofficer@neilsquire.ca

    or call:
    T 604.473.9363
    F 604.473.9364
    Toll Free 1.877.673.4636

    or write:
    PIP OFFICER
    400 – 3999 Henning Drive
    Burnaby, BC V5C 6P9