Your privacy is important to us. At BC Doctors of Optometry, we are dedicated to maintaining the confidentiality of your personal information. This policy will explain how information collected from you, by us, is handled. The Personal Information Protection Act (the “Act”) regulates the way private sector organizations within Province of British Columbia collect, use, keep, secure, and disclose personal information. “Personal information” means all information about an identifiable individual. When is Personal Information Collected? In order for us to properly assist you, we will be required to obtain personal information from you at various points of our relationship. This may include, but is not limited to, the following interactions:
- Making a submission through our website’s contact form;
- Contacting our office with an inquiry;
- Registering for an event hosted by BC Doctors of Optometry;
By providing personal information to BC Doctors of Optometry, including submitting personal information through our website’s contact form, you are consenting to our collection, use, and disclosure of that information to contact you or for any other purpose reasonably connected to your provision of that information. Whenever possible, we will try to collect personal information directly from you. When this is not possible, we may collect personal information from other sources available to us. In doing so, we will make reasonable efforts to ensure that the information collected by us is accurate and complete. How Do We Handle Personal Information? The terms of this policy shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the Province of British Columbia and the laws of Canada applicable therein, without regard to principles of conflicts of laws. The parties irrevocably and unconditionally submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of the Province of British Columbia with respect to any dispute or claim arising out of or in connection with this policy. Specifically modified and amended in this policy, all of the terms, provisions and requirements contained in the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect and govern this Policy. If any provision of the Policy is held illegal or unenforceable in a judicial proceeding, such provision shall be severed and shall be inoperative, and the remainder of this policy shall remain operative and binding on the parties. In certain instances, the Act permits us to collect, use, or disclose your personal information without your consent. Some instances would include, but is not limited to, when:
- the collection, use, or disclosure is clearly in your interests and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way;
- the collection, use, or disclosure is required or authorized by law;
- the information is required for an investigation or proceeding, and it is reasonable to expect that obtaining consent would compromise the availability or accuracy of the information;
- it is reasonable to expect that obtaining consent would compromise an investigation or proceeding; and
- the information is available to the public.
Security of Personal Information Our office has implemented physical, administrative, and electronic procedures to secure against unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or destruction of personal information. However, we would still recommend that you take appropriate precautions, such as encryption, when sending confidential or sensitive information to us by electronic means. Access to Personal Information Subject to some restrictions as set out by law, we will provide you with access to any of your personal information that we have collected, used, or disclosed upon written request. We will also advise you of whom that personal information has been disclosed to, unless we are otherwise restricted from doing so by law. Such requests may be subject to fees and disbursements which will be charged to you. Collection of Standard Information When you access our website, we may collect standard information from you and disclose such information to another organization whom we have a commercial relationship with for the purpose of measuring and improving the effectiveness, functionality, and content of our website. Information that may be collected including, but is not limited to, the type of internet browser and operating system used, the average time spent on the website, pages viewed, date and time of visit, referring internet sites, search data, and pages visited. Contact Us If you have any questions or concerns about our privacy policy or wish to request access to or correction of your personal information under our care and control, please contact our Privacy Officer at: BC Doctors of Optometry 121–10551 Shellbridge Way Richmond, BC. V6X 2W8 info@optometrists.bc.ca Amendments to Privacy Policy BC Doctors of Optometry reserves the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at its sole discretion at any time without notice to you. Last Revised Dec 11, 2020