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The
United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada
Grand
River Branch
Policy
and Procedure on the Protection of Personal Information
Policy
1.
Definitions
In this
Policy and Procedure, unless the context otherwise requires, the
following terms shall have the following meanings respectively:
"Association"
means The United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada.
"Association
Officers" means the Dominion President, the Immediate Past
President, the Sr. Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the
Regional Vice-Presidents and the Regional Councillors of the
Association.
"Branch"
means any Branch of the Association.
"Branch
Officers" means the President, Secretary, Treasurer, Genealogist,
Newsletter Editor and any other position designated as an Officer of
the Branch.
"contact
information" means any information permitting a person to be
contacted, including, without limitation, his name, title or position,
postal or electronic addresses and telephone or fax numbers.
"Dominion
Office" means the head office of the Association.
"member
of the Association" means any person who belongs to the
Association, whether as a Regular, Affiliate, Associate, Honorary or
Life Member.
"person"
means a living individual.
"personal
information" means any information held by the Association
concerning a person, including, without limitation, personal contact
information and any information concerning the person's name, age,
citizenship, education, profession or occupation, marital status,
religion or political affiliation, Loyalist ancestry, Association or
Branch membership and activities outside the Association.
"Personal
contact information" means the personal information provided in
the section marked "applicant" of the certificate
application, and includes, name, contact information and names of
immediate relations.
"Publish"
means to make available to the public at large by means of traditional
forms of media, the member's gazette or through internet access but
does not include internet access by means of a password.
"Standing
Committee Chairs" means the Chairs of the Standing Committees of
the Association.
2.
General Provisions
2.1
This Policy and Procedure and any amendment thereto shall constitute the
policy and procedure contemplated by Article 29 of the By-Laws of the
Association.
2.2
The object of this Policy and Procedure is to ensure, as far as
possible, the confidentiality of personal information held by the
Association concerning living individuals, in accordance with their
right to privacy.(1)
The Association will provides copies of this Policy and Procedure
and related information on the practices of the Branch concerning the
protection or personal information, on request, to any person.
2.3
This Policy and Procedure shall apply primarily to Association
Officers, Standing Committee Chairs, employees and agents of the
Branch in the performance of their duties.
2.4
Responsibility for securing the implementation of this Policy and
Procedure shall rest primarily with the President of the Branch.
The President may seek the advice of the executive of the Branch, as
required, interpreting and applying this Policy and Procedure.
The President shall ensure that all employees and agents of the Branch
whose duties involve the handling of personal information at the
Dominion Office are properly trained and supervised in the
implementation of this Policy and Procedure and the practices of the
Association regarding the protection of such information.
2.4.1
Branch Officers and Standing Committee Chairs shall be responsible
for ensuring the handling of personal information held by them in a
manner conforming to this Policy and Procedure, under the general
direction of the Branch President.
2.5
The Executive of the Branch may amend this Policy and Procedure from
time to time, in order to better secure the attainment of its object.
2.6
The Branch President shall be primarily responsible for the
protection of personal information held by the Branch concerned,
unless the Branch designates some other person to exercise that
responsibility.
2.6
In this Policy
and Procedure, unless the context otherwise requires, the masculine
shall include the feminine and the singular shall include the plural.
2.7
In this Policy
and Procedure, references and publications shall include publishing
and publications in both print and electronic form.
3.
Specific Provisions
3.1
The Branch shall endeavour to identify the purposes for which it
collects personal information at or before the time of its collection
and shall not use the information so collected for any other purpose
without the prior consent of the person to whom the information
relates or as required by law. The personal information so
collected shall be limited to what is reasonably required by the
Branch for purposes of its effective operation and shall be retained
only as long as it is so required, except with the consent of the
persons concerned or as required by law.
3.2
The Association and its Branches shall not disclose or publish personal
information without the prior written consent of that person.
3.3
Any consent for disclosure or publication of personal contact
information shall be only for a specified purpose or as required
by law.
3.4
The Branch will continue to publish Member names, the Loyalist
ancestor name and Branch names, as it may have done from time to time
in the Branch's newsletter and may do so on the internet.
3.5
The Branch may provide secure access to personal information excluding
personal contact information by means of internet or otherwise to
scholars and institutions, individually approved by the Branch
executive.
3.6
Prior written consent for publication of personal information other
than personal contact information shall be solicited on the
Association's or Branch's membership application forms or any other
document including email.
3.7
If both an opt-out option and an opt-in option are provided for
requesting consent, a blank response will constitute permission to
publish personal information other than personal contact
information.
3.8
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Branch may disclose and publish
personal contact information concerning Officers, Standing Committee
Chairs and Branch Officers, in order to permit such persons to be
contacted, in the performance of their duties, on matters pertaining
to the operations and activities of the Association or its Branches.
3.9
The Association and Branch shall not knowingly disclose any list or
similar document containing personal contact information concerning
any members or prospective members of the Association, to any
individual or organization, for commercial, charitable, political or
any other purposes not directly related to the operations or
activities of the Association.
3.10
The Association and Branch shall ensure, by appropriate contractual
provisions, that personal contact information contained in any
list or other document which it provides to a third party for
processing for purposes directly related to the operations or
activities of the Association, is handled and safeguarded in
accordance with all applicable laws concerning the protection of
personal information.
3.11
Notwithstanding anything in this Policy and Procedure, the Branch may
disclose personal contact information, if required to do so by any
applicable law but will first seek legal remedy or advise the
concerned member, wherever possible.
3.13
The Branch shall endeavour to keep the personal information which it
holds reasonably accurate, complete and up-to-date for the purposes
for which it is to be used, taking account of the interests of the
persons it concerns, without, however, providing any warranty in that
regard. Any person to whom such personal information relates
may, by writing to the Branch President, requests copies of such
information or its correction or updating, as required.
3.14
The Branch, on written request, shall advise a person of whether or
not it holds personal information concerning him and the source of
such information and shall assist the person, if so requested, to
prepare a request for access to that information. The Branch
shall amend, correct or delete any personal information which is
challenged and is shown to be incomplete or inaccurate, and shall not
dispose of or destroy the information until all legal recourses of the
person making the request have been exhausted. Where the
challenge to such information is not resolved to the satisfaction of
the person requesting such modification, that fact shall be recorded
by the Branch, and third parties having access to that information
shall be advised accordingly. The Branch shall respond to such
requests within thirty (30) days in writing or such extended period as
may be permitted by law. Where access to the personal
information requested is refused, the Branch shall provide reasons for
the refusal and advise the applicant the applicant of his legal
recourses.
3.15
The Branch shall not, in responding to such requests for personal
information, disclose information that concerns any other person,
unless such information is severable or unless the other person
consents to the disclosure of that information. the Branch shall
not be required to disclose information which would be prohibitively
costly to provide or information which may not be disclosed for any
legal reason. Upon request, the Branch shall specify, to the
extent possible, the third parties (if any) to which personal
information about the person concerned has or may have been disclosed.
3.16
The Branch may refuse to respond, or may delay responding, to any
request for personal information where such response would necessitate
a disproportionate allocation of time or effort or would otherwise
interfere with the efficient functioning of the Branch. In such
cases, the Branch shall explain the situation to the applicant for the
information and shall endeavour to find some mutually satisfactory
solution.
Branch
Officers, Standing Committee Chairs, employees and agents of the
Branch or others who have occasion to consult or to use personal
information in the performance of their duties shall respect its
confidentiality and exercise due diligence to preserve its
confidentiality at all times when such information is in their custody
or control. The President may give advice or direction to such
users, as required, concerning the consultation, use, handling,
storage and disposal or destruction of such personal information, in
order to protect its confidentiality as far as is reasonably
possible. Methods of protection may include the use of locked
filing cabinets, restricted access to offices, organizational and/or
technological measures, adapted to the sensitivity, amount,
distribution and format of the information and the method of storage.
Procedure
The
following is a suggested procedure for processing requests for
personal information concerning a person (the "person
concerned") other than the person making the request (the
"applicant").
4.1
On receiving a request for personal information concerning a person
other than the applicant, the Branch shall:
a) advise the applicant of the requirement to obtain the prior
consent of the person concerned before the information requested may
be disclosed;
b) ask the applicant whether he consents to the disclosure of
his name and personal contact information to the person concerned and
of the reasons for his request.
4.2
The Branch shall then attempt to contact the person concerned, either
in person, or by letter, telephone, fax or e-mail, at his last known
number and/or address, as the case may be. On reaching him, the
Branch shall advise the person concerned of the request received and,
if so authorized, of the name of the applicant and his personal
contact information, as well as the reasons provided by the applicant
for his request or, where applicable, of the applicant's failure or
refusal to provide reasons. The person concerned shall also be
asked whether he prefers to respond to the request directly to the
applicant or through the Branch.
4.3
If the person concerned prefers to respond directly to he applicant,
no further action by the Branch shall be required with respect to the
request.
4.4
If the person prefers to respond to the request through the Branch, he
shall advise the Branch in writing whether he consents to the
disclosure, in whole or in part, of the personal information
requested, and, in the case of partial disclosure, what specific part
of the information he consents to have disclosed. Following the
receipt of such written consent, the Branch, as soon as is reasonably
possible, shall disclose the personal information, in whole or in
part, as authorized by the person concerned, withholding any such
information the disclosure of which has not been so authorized.
4.5.1.
Where the Branch has made two unsuccessful attempts to contact the
person concerned, in accordance with Article 4.2, it shall not be
obliged to make any further such attempts, in such a case, the person
concerned shall be deemed to have refused to consent to the disclosure
of the personal information requested.
4.6
Complaints or inquiries concerning this Policy and Procedure and/or he
practices of the Branch respecting the protection of personal
information shall be directed to the Branch President, who shall
investigate all complaints and respond thereto in writing within
thirty (30) days. Should the complainant be dissatisfied with
the response of the Branch President, that complainant may appeal to
the executive of the Branch within thirty (30) days of receiving the
response of the President, and the Executive's decision shall be
communicated to the complainant in writing within thirty (30) days of
its rendering. If any such complaint is determined to be
well-founded, the Branch shall take appropriate measures, including,
if necessary amending this Policy and Procedure and/or the practices
concerned. The complainant may also exercise such other
recourses as are by law provided in respect of the Branch on such a
complaint.
(1)
Personal information about deceased persons may legally be released
after twenty years have elapsed following their deaths. Prior to
that time, it would appear that such disclosure could be authorized by
the legal representatives of the deceased persons concerned.
Updated
as of 22 October 2004
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