APPIC PRIVACY POLICY
Effective date: 13 September 2024
Introduction
APPIC Canada (Association of Pakistani Physicians in Canada) is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). This document informs you of our policies regarding the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information we receive from our members, service users, and collaborators. We use your Personal Information only for providing and improving our services. By using our services, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.
WHAT IS CONSIDERED PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Personal information refers to data about an identifiable individual. This includes information such as your name, address, email address, geographic location, gender, date of birth, credit card details, and any other information that can be used to identify you directly or indirectly.
WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?
We collect personal information in the following ways:
Registration and Program Enrollment: When you register for our membership or programs, or engage in collaborative projects, we may collect your name, age, gender, email address, residential address, phone number, and financial information such as credit card details.
Online Interactions: We collect data when you interact with our website, respond to surveys, communicate via email, or participate in other site features. This may include your name, email address, phone number, and details related to your site usage.
Cookies and Tracking Technologies: Like many websites, we use cookies to collect data about your browsing activity. This helps us understand your preferences and improve our website's functionality. You can manage your cookie preferences in your browser settings.
WE PROCESS YOUR DATA FOR FOLLOWING PURPOSE:
We process your personal data for the following purposes, in accordance with the legal bases outlined under PIPEDA:
· Communication Data that includes any communication that you send to us whether that be through the contact form on our website, through email, text, social media messaging, social media posting or any other communication that you send us. We use this data to communicate with you, maintain records, and manage legal claims. Our lawful basis for this processing is our legitimate interest in responding to inquiries and maintaining accurate records.
· User Data Covers data about how you use our website and online services, including any content you post. This information is processed to operate our website, deliver relevant content, enhance security, and manage backups. Our lawful basis is our legitimate interest in effectively administering our website and services.
· Technical Data Includes data about your interactions with our website, such as IP address, browser details, time spent on pages, navigation paths, time zone settings and other technology on the devices you use to access our website. This data is used for analytics, improving site functionality, protecting our systems, and refining our advertising strategies. Our lawful basis for processing this data is our legitimate interest in optimizing our website and services.
· Members Data that includes data relating to any purchases of memberships and/or services such as your name, title, phone number, contact details, professional background, billing address, email address, phone number, contact details, purchase details and your card details. We process this data to provide the services and to keep records. Our lawful ground for this processing is the performance of a contract between you and us and/or taking steps at your request to enter into such a contract.
· Usage Data that includes data about how you use our services together with any data that you share through our services. Our lawful ground for this processing is our legitimate interests which in this case are to enable us to properly administer our services.
· Marketing Data Encompasses data about your marketing preferences and communication choices. We use this information to engage you in our campaigns, deliver targeted content, and evaluate the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns. Our lawful basis for this processing is either your consent or our legitimate interest in growing our community.
SENSITIVE DATA
We do not collect any Sensitive Data about you. Sensitive data refers to data that includes details about your religious or philosophical beliefs, sex life, sexual orientation, political opinions, trade union membership, health, or genetic, or biometric data. We do not collect any information about criminal convictions and offences.
COOKIES
Cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer's hard drive through your web browser (if you allow) that enables the site's or service provider's systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information. We use cookies to understand and save your preferences for future visits, keep track of advertisements, and compile aggregate data about site traffic and site interaction so that we can offer better site experiences and tools in the future. You can opt out of cookies by adjusting your browser settings to refuse cookies or alert you when cookies are being sent. Find and select the settings tab of your internet browser and click “block third party cookies and site data” or de-select the “accept cookies” box.
DISCLOSURE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA:
We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below:
· Service providers who provide IT and system administration services.
· Professional advisers including lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers.
· Government bodies that require us to report processing activities.
· 3rd party technology platforms and advertisers that support our operations, marketing, and community growth efforts.
We require all third parties to whom we transfer your data to respect the security and confidentiality of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We only allow such third parties to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
HOW DO WE USE YOUR INFORMATION?
We use the information collected from you in the following ways:
· To personalize your site experience and provide content and offerings that are most relevant to your interests.
· To respond to your service requests and support needs more efficiently.
· To quickly process your transactions.
· To administer a survey or other site feature.
· To send marketing communications if you have opted in to receive them. You can opt out of these communications at any time.
DATA SECURITY
We have implemented security measures to protect your personal data from unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Personal data is stored on secure servers and access is restricted to authorized personnel only. All transactions involving sensitive information (such as credit card details) are encrypted using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology.
We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach if we are legally required to.
DATA RETENTION
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
When deciding what the correct time is to keep the data for, we look at its amount, nature and sensitivity, potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure, the processing purposes, if these can be achieved by other means and legal requirements.
For tax purposes the law requires us to keep basic information about our service users (including Contact, Identity, Financial and Transaction Data) for seven years after they stop being service users. (APPIC is tax exempt I believe)
YOUR ACCESS TO AND CONTROL OVER INFORMATION
You have rights regarding your personal data, including the right to:
Access the personal information we hold about you.
Request corrections to any inaccuracies in your data.
Request the deletion of your data.
Express any concerns you have about our use of your personal information.
You can exercise these rights at any time by contacting us through the details provided on our website.
CHANGES TO OUR POLICY
We may update this privacy policy periodically to reflect changes in our practices or regulatory requirements. Any updates will be posted on this page, and the revised policy will apply to personal data collected after the date of the change. The current policy was last updated on September 13th, 2024.
SCOPE OF PRIVACY POLICY
This policy applies to personal information collected through our services, contracts, and online platforms. It does not cover data collected in person, at events, or through social media.
YOUR CONSENT
By using our services, accessing our content, or engaging with us, you consent to this privacy policy and the processing of your personal data as outlined herein.