1. Disclaimer
This website is intended for the use of persons interested in continuing education programs. Nothing in this website constitutes a representation or warranty of any such programs.
While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information on this website, the information is subject to change from time to time, without notice. Nothing in this website constitutes a representation or warranty of the programs, instructors, accreditation levels, program schedules, cancellation of programs, postponement of programs or any other matter. Participants are advised to check in advance with program providers to ensure the accuracy and schedule of presentation of programs. Complaints about the presentation of any program listed on this website should be directed to the course presenter and any regulatory body.
The website is not intended to be, and should not be considered a direct or indirect contract between any of the website users. In the event of any dispute in relation to any matter involving the website owner, the laws of Canada shall apply.
The Website Owner reserves the right to remove any material submitted or posted if it becomes aware and determines, in its sole and absolute discretion that there is the likelihood that the material may:
(a) defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the rights of other users or any third parties;
(b) contain any defamatory, obscene, indecent, untrue, misleading, or unlawful material or information;
(c) include files that contain viruses, corrupted files or any other similar software or programmes that may damage the operation of the website and/or a third party's computer system and/or network;
(d) violate any copyright, trade mark, other applicable laws or intellectual property rights of the website owner or any other third party; or
(e) for any other reasonable cause, not be in the best interests of the website and/or its users.
2. External Links and Resources
Some hypertext links on this website link to external websites and sources. The website owner provides these links as a courtesy reference and does not endorse and is not responsible for the delivery of content from external providers.
Users should also be aware that the privacy policy of this website only covers web pages located on this website. Users should take care and examine the privacy policies of external web sites.
3. Copyright Notice
The content on this website is the property of the website owner. It is not to be copied, reproduced, or transmitted in any form, by any means, in whole or in part, nor is it to be used for any purpose other than that for which it is expressly provided, without the written permission of the website owner.
4. Privacy Policy
Privacy of personal information is an important principle of rmtceu.ca. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the services we provide. We also try to be open and transparent as to how we handle personal information. This document describes our privacy policies.
WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes information that relates to personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, income, home address or phone number, ethnic background, family status), health (e.g., health history, health conditions, health services received) or activities and views (e.g., religion, politics, opinions expressed by an individual, an opinion or evaluation of an individual). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (e.g., an individual’s business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.
WHO WE ARE
Our organization, rmtceu.ca, is a website resource for information on continuing education. We use consultants and agencies that may, in the course of their duties, have limited access to personal information we hold. These include computer consultants, office security and maintenance, bookkeepers and accountants, temporary workers to cover holidays, credit card companies, website managers and lawyers. We restrict their access to any personal information we hold as much as is reasonably possible. We also have their assurance that they follow appropriate privacy principles.
WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION: PRIMARY PURPOSES
About Clients
We collect, use and disclose personal information only as is necessary in order to serve our clients. For our clients, the primary purpose for collecting personal information is to provide information on continuing education programs. A second primary purpose is to obtain a baseline of information so that in providing ongoing services we can identify changes that are occurring over time. It would be rare for us to collect such information without the client’s express consent.
About Members of the General Public
For members of the general public, our primary purposes for collecting personal information are to provide notice of special events or to make them aware of services provided by our business. For example, while we try to use work contact information where possible, we might collect home addresses, fax numbers and email addresses. We try to obtain consent before using any such personal information, but where this is not, for any reason, possible, we will upon request immediately remove any personal information from our records.
On our website we only collect, with the exception of cookies, the personal information you provide and only use that information for the purpose you gave it to us (e.g., to respond to your email message, to register for a course, to subscribe to our newsletter). Cookies are only used to help you navigate our website and are not used to monitor you.
About Contract Staff and Volunteers
For people who are contracted to do work for us (e.g., temporary workers), our primary purpose for collecting personal information is to ensure we can contact them in the future (e.g., for new assignments) and for necessary work-related communication (e.g., sending out paycheques, year-end tax receipts). Examples of the type of personal information we collect for those purposes include home addresses and telephone numbers. It is rare for us to collect such information without prior consent, but it might happen in the case of a health emergency or to investigate a possible breach of law (e.g., if a theft were to occur). If contract staff or volunteers wish a letter of reference or an evaluation, we will collect information about their work related performance and provide a report as authorized by them.
WE COLLECT PERSONAL INFORMATION: RELATED AND SECONDARY PURPOSES
Like most organizations, we also collect, use and disclose information for purposes related to or secondary to our primary purposes. The most common examples of our related and secondary purposes are as follows:
To invoice clients for services that were not paid for at the time, to process credit card payments or to collect unpaid accounts.
To advise clients that their service should be reviewed (e.g., to ensure a product is still functioning properly and appropriate for their then current needs and to consider modifications or replacement).
To advise clients and others of special events or opportunities (e.g., a seminar, development of a new service) that we have available.
We conduct reviews for the purpose of ensuring that we provide high quality services, including assessing the performance of our staff. In addition, external consultants (e.g., auditors, lawyers) may on our behalf do audits and continuing quality improvement reviews of our business, including reviewing client files and interviewing our staff.
Our organization believes that it should report information suggesting serious illegal behaviour to the authorities. External regulators have their own strict privacy obligations. Sometimes these reports include personal information about our clients, or other individuals, to support the concern (e.g., improper services). Also, like all organizations, various government agencies (e.g., Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, etc.) have the authority to review our files and interview our staff as a part of their mandates. In these circumstances, we may consult with professionals (e.g., lawyers, accountants) who will investigate the matter and report back to us.
If rmtceu.ca or its assets were to be sold, the purchaser would want to conduct a “due diligence” review of our business records to ensure that it is a viable business that has been honestly portrayed to the purchaser. This due diligence may involve some review of our accounting and service files. The purchaser would not be able to remove or record personal information. Before being provided access to the files, the purchaser must provide a written promise to keep all personal information confidential. Only reputable purchasers who have already agreed to buy the organization’s business or its assets would be provided access to personal information, and only for the purpose of completing their due diligence search prior to closing the purchase.
PROTECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION
We understand the importance of protecting personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:
Paper information is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area.
Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area at all times. In addition, passwords are used on computers.
Paper information is transmitted through sealed, addressed envelopes or boxes by reputable companies.
Electronic information is transmitted either through a direct line or is anonymized or encrypted.
Staff is trained to collect, use and disclose personal information only as necessary to fulfil their duties and in accordance with our privacy policy.
External consultants and agencies with access to personal information must enter into privacy agreements with us.
RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions you might have about the services provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. However, we do not want to keep personal information too long in order to protect your privacy.
We keep our completed files for about ten years. Our client and contact directories are much more difficult to systematically destroy, so we remove such information when we can if it does not appear that we will be contacting you again. However, if you ask, we will remove such contact information right away. We keep any personal information relating to our general correspondence (i.e., with people who are not clients) newsletters, seminars and marketing activities for about five years after the newsletter ceases publication or a seminar or marketing activity is over.
We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed. Alternatively, we may send some or the entire client file to our client.
YOU CAN LOOK AT YOUR INFORMATION
With only a few exceptions, you have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. Often all you have to do is ask. We can help you identify what records we might have about you. We will also try to help you understand any information you do not understand (e.g., short forms, technical language, etc.). We will need to confirm your identity, if we do not know you, before providing you with this access.
If there is a problem we may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within 30 days if at all possible and tell you the reason, as best we can, as to why we cannot give you access.
If you believe there is a mistake in the information, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions we may have formed. We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. Where we agree that we made a mistake, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not agree that we have made a mistake, we will still agree to include in our file a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.
If you wish to make a formal complaint about our privacy practices, you may make it in writing to our Information Officer. He will acknowledge receipt of your complaint; ensure that it is investigated promptly and that you are provided with a formal decision and reasons in writing.
If you have a concern about the professionalism or competence of our services or the mental or physical capacity of any of our professional staff we would ask you to discuss those concerns with us.
This policy is made under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. That is a complex Act and provides some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to the commitments set out above.
For more general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada oversees the administration of the privacy legislation in the private sector. The Commissioner also acts as a kind of ombudsman for privacy disputes. The Information and Privacy Commissioner can be reached at:
112 Kent Street | Ottawa, Ontario | K1A 1H3
PHONE 1-800-282-1376 | FAX (613) 947-6850 | TTY (613) 992-9190
www.privcom.gc.ca
