Privacy Policy

DIVERSEcity COMMUNITY RESOURCES SOCIETY PRIVACY PROTECTION PLEDGE

At DIVERSEcity COMMUNITY RESOURCES SOCIETY (DIVERSEcity) we respect your privacy. That is why we have developed The DIVERSEcity Privacy Code of which the objective is to specify DIVERSEcity’s guidelines for the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information.

The DIVERSEcity Privacy Code was developed to comply with the relevant sections of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada). We have drafted The DIVERSEcity Privacy Code to demonstrate:

  1. our compliance with this new legislation; and
  2. to demonstrate our commitment to protecting your personal information.

We have also developed The DIVERSEcity Privacy Protection Pledge. We want you to understand the purpose for which we collect personal information. We also want to ensure we have your consent to continue to collect, use and disclose your personal information for these purposes:

  • to provide services to our clients;
  • assess eligibility of obtaining the services;
  • administration of our programs;
  • accumulating aggregate data and information for our contract responsibilities;
  • and to identify client needs; and
  • to meet our legal and regulatory requirements.

All personal information collected by DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society is managed according to the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Personal Information Protection Act.

The following is a brief synopsis of our privacy practices:

Why do we need to collect your personal information?

If you are a DIVERSEcity client/customer, DIVERSEcity may have collected some basic information about you. We respect your privacy, which is why we collect personal information only for the above-noted purposes.

When do we disclose personal information?

There are a few circumstances where we may need to disclose some personal information to a third party about our clients/customers. Without being exhaustive, here are some examples of situations requiring disclosure:

  1. To a person who is an authorized agent of that individual. For example, we may provide information about an individual’s donations to that individual’s legal, accounting or financial advisors;
  2. To a public authority or agent of a public authority if, in our reasonable judgment, it appears that there is imminent danger to life or property which could be avoided or minimized by the disclosure of the information;
  3. To a third party where the individual has consented to such disclosure;
  4. To a third party where such disclosure is required or permitted by law;
  5. To our employees, funders, directors and volunteers on a limited need-to-know basis; and
  6. To our external auditors or legal counsel, on a limited need-to-know basis.

Any disclosure of an individual’s personal information that is contemplated in any of items 1 through 6 above, will be made on a “need to know” basis and, where possible, on a confidential basis. We use our Authorization for Release of Information and our Service Consent & Confidentiality Agreement as a means to protect the information and to make sure that the information is used only for the purpose(s) for which it was disclosed.

How do we protect your personal information?

In order to protect your personal information, DIVERSEcity:

  1. will not collect, use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than those identified above, except with your further consent;
  2. will protect your personal information with appropriate security safeguards;
  3. will protect the confidentiality of your personal information when dealing with other organizations;
  4. will strive to keep your personal information as accurate and up to date as is necessary for the purposes identified above; and
  5. will honour any request you may make for access to your personal information.

What are your choices?

We would like to have your consent to continue to collect, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes identified above. However, you do have choices and can refuse or withdraw your consent as follows:

  1. You may refuse to provide your personal information to us.
  2. You may also withdraw your consent at any time to use, collect or disclose your information, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice.

However, in either case, this may limit our ability to serve you.

If you have any questions or concerns about our personal information management system, please contact our Privacy Officer, Sonny Somani, Director of Operational Excellence, at (604) 547-2992 or ssomani@dcrs.ca. Otherwise, we will assume that we have your consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes identified above and in a manner consistent with The DIVERSEcity Privacy Code.

For more information, please visit the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s web site at www.privcom.gc.ca.