THE
FAMILY CENTRE
PRIVACY
POLICY
The
Family Centre respects the privacy of clients and
donors by protecting personal information and
adhering to legislative requirements with respect
to protecting privacy. The Family Centre
values the trust of all individuals with which it
relates and recognizes that maintaining this trust
requires that The Family Centre be accountable in
how it collects, uses and discloses personal
information. Disclosure is also governed by
the Agency’s Client Confidentiality policy.
Personal
information is information about an identifiable
individual. It does not include business
contact information and publicly available
information.
The
Family Centre follows the 10 principles of fair
information practices set out in the Personal
Information Protection and Electronic Documents
Act.
1.
Accountability
Staff,
volunteers and independent contractors are
responsible for the collection, processing and
safeguarding of personal information under their
control and will follow established privacy
protection practices.
2.
Identifying
Purpose
The
Family Centre needs to collect, use and disclose
information about its clients in order to provide
service and deliver its programs. The
purposes for collecting information are:
- To
manage, develop and enhance Family Centre
operations, programs and services.
- To
assess, process and collect applicable fees
for service.
- To
assess client needs and determine an
appropriate service plan.
- To
determine program or service eligibility.
- To
provide safe and secure work environments.
- To
collect data for statistical and research
purposes.
- To
understand the changing needs of the
communities we serve.
- To
meet legal, regulatory and contractual
requirements.
Staff
shall make reasonable efforts to explain the
identified purposes for collecting information and
shall not use or disclose personal information for
any new purpose without the consent of the
individual.
The
Family Centre needs to collect information about
its donors in order to acknowledge gifts, issue
tax receipts, develop donor relationship and meet
legal requirements. The Family Centre does
not sell, share, trade or rent out donor
information.
3.
Consent
The
knowledge and consent of an individual is required
for the collection, use or disclosure of personal
information, except where the use or disclosure is
required by law.
The
following actions by an individual constitute
implied consent for The Family Centre to collect,
use and disclose personal information:
·
Application for
services in writing or by telephone.
·
Completion of a donor
pledge form or submission of a donation.
Express
consent is required for an individual to disclose
any information to anyone who is not a staff
member, volunteer or independent contractor of The
Family Centre.
4.
Limiting
Collection
The
collection of personal information shall be
limited to that which is necessary for the
purposes identified by The Family Centre.
Information
will usually be collected directly from the
individual about whom the personal information
pertains. Personal information may be
collected from referral sources with the prior
consent of the individual.
5.
Limiting, Use,
Disclosure and Retention
The
Family Centre will not use or disclose personal
information for purposes other than those for
which it was collected except with the consent of
the individual.
Personal
information shall be retained for the duration of
the service and for five years thereafter or as
required by law or contract with a funder.
6.
Accuracy
Personal
information shall be as accurate, complete and up
to date as necessary to fulfill the purposes for
which it is to be used.
7.
Safeguards
Personal
information is kept in strict confidence.
All client and service information is governed by
the Client Confidentiality policy. This
policy authorizes staff access to personal
information on a need to know basis. It also
provides for the secure storage and handling of
personal information.
8.
Individual
Access
The
Family Centre shall, upon request, inform an
individual of the existence, use and disclosure of
his or her personal information and shall be given
access to that information according to the Client
Confidentiality policy.
9.
Openness
The
Family Centre shall make available to individuals
information about its procedures, practices and
policies relating to the management of personal
information.
10.
Comments and
Feedback
To
show The Family Center’s commitment to Privacy,
a privacy officer has been appointed. You
may contact the privacy officer by:
e-mail
privacyofficer@familycentre.mb.ca,
by
fax 204-947-2128 or
by
mail Attn: Privacy Officer,
401 - 393 Portage Avenue
,
Winnipeg
,
MB
R3B 3H6
The
Family Centre regularly reviews and updates its
policies to reflect operational, regulatory and
legal changes.
