OMSSA's Privacy Policy

Protecting your Privacy

The federal privacy law, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), applies within any province that has not passed "substantially similar" legislation. PIPEDA governs the flow of Personal Information in the course of commercial activities. This law requires the Ontario Municipal Social Services Association ("OMSSA") to obtain your consent to collect, use and share your Personal Information, including some or all of the information OMSSA currently has on record and has always collected, used and shared.

Some information you provide to OMSSA may be considered Personal Information. Personal Information is broadly defined as information about an identifiable individual. This does not include information that is business contact information, publicly available information - such as customer and member names, addresses, telephone numbers and electronic addresses when listed in a public directory or made available through directory assistance or other similar sources.

PIPEDA requires organizations, including the OMSSA, to adhere to 10 principles of privacy protection governing the collection, use and sharing of Personal Information. In the context of OMSSA’s relationship with you, the principles involve:

  1. Be accountable
  2. Identify the purpose of data collection
  3. Obtain consent
  4. Limit collection
  5. Limit use, disclosure and retention
  6. Be accurate
  7. Use appropriate safeguards
  8. Be open
  9. Give individuals access
  10. Provide recourse
OMSSA wants you to know it keeps your Personal Information secure and uses it only as necessary and as is authorized. In recognition of this goal, we make the following commitments to you, our members and customers.

Being Accountable

Each organization, including OMSSA, is responsible for the Personal Information under its control. Accordingly, OMSSA has designated a Privacy Officer to oversee OMSSA’s compliance with the principles of privacy protection. The Privacy Officer will receive and respond to any complaints about OMSSA’s information management practices. OMSSA trains staff and volunteers about privacy issues, and has privacy policies and procedures in place to protect your Personal Information.

The Purpose of Data Collection

With your consent, OMSSA may collect Personal Information from you in, but not limited to, the following ways: in person, over the telephone, by fax, by mail, through surveys, through online forms & activities, or through email. The type of Personal Information OMSSA collects and maintains may include your name, personal mailing address, email address, home telephone number, home fax number, date of birth, comments made through correspondence, and payment information including banking information and credit card details.

OMSSA will identify the purposes for which your Personal Information is collected, either before or at the time of collection. If OMSSA seeks to use Personal Information that has been collected for a new purpose that OMSSA has not previously identified, OMSSA will obtain your consent to the new purpose, unless the new purpose is permitted by law.

What are the Identified Purposes of collecting information?

To enable OMSSA to fulfill its mission, OMSSA generally collects, uses, and shares Personal Information for only the following purposes:

  • To review, renew or attempt establish membership;
  • To establish and maintain responsible professional and commercial relations with members and customers and to provide publications, ongoing services and offers;
  • To understand member and customer needs, your Personal Information may also be used to compile statistics about OMSSA’s business. These statistics include de-identified information that does not identify you personally;
  • To develop, enhance, market or provide services; including, but not limited to: information related to membership, benefits, products, services, professional development and employment opportunities;
  • To manage and develop OSLA’s business and operations;
  • To meet legal and regulatory requirements; and,
  • To facilitate commercial transactions.
If individuals, who are not OMSSA members, provide OMSSA with Personal Information (for example: contacting OMSSA to request information about OMSSA membership or services) OMSSA will use that information to respond to their inquiries, and for the purposes identified above.

Consent

Consent is the cornerstone to protecting your privacy. OMSSA collects Personal Information by fair and lawful means and obtains the individual’s consent for the collection, use or disclosure of his or her Personal Information, as required by the Act or by law.

Consent can be express or, in some circumstances, implied, given through an authorized representative, given in writing, by using a check-off box, electronically, orally (in person or by telephone), or by your conduct, such as use of a product or service.

In determining the type of consent to obtain, OMSSA will consider all relevant factors, including the sensitivity of the information and your reasonable expectations. You may withdraw your consent at any time, on reasonable notice, subject to legal or contractual restrictions. OMSSA will inform you of the implications of doing so.

Refusing or Withdrawing Consent

At any time you may refuse to provide consent or withdraw your consent for OMSSA to collect, use or share your Personal Information, subject to legal restrictions and reasonable notice. Simply inform OMSSA’s Privacy Officer of what Personal Information you no longer wish to use or share. (See “Contact Us” below.)

  • It is always your choice as to whether or not you provide OMSSA with your Personal Information. Depending on the nature of the Personal Information you do not wish to provide, OMSSA may not be able to provide you with OMSSA’s full scope of services, programs or publications.

Limiting Collection of Personal Information

OMSSA will only collect the data needed to fulfil the Identified Purposes.

Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

OMSSA keeps your Personal Information for as long as necessary for the Identified Purposes. The length of time OMSSA retains your Personal Information is also affected by any legal requirements OMSSA has to meet. This period may extend beyond your term as an OMSSA member.

OMSSA may disclose Personal Information to a person or organization involved directly or indirectly in supplying a product or service to OMSSA members or customers, including without limitation, sales and marketing, our invoice printing and mailing suppliers, our data processors, our website and database providers, and our product and service suppliers. This disclosure is only made to the extent the Personal Information is required and is used only for purposes such as the efficient supply of OMSSA services. Such disclosure requires the receiving person or entity to keep the Personal Information confidential.

If OMSSA wishes to use your Personal Information for a new purpose, unless the use is permitted or mandated by law, OMSSA will obtain your consent for that purpose.

Accuracy

OMSSA will maintain the Personal Information collected from you as accurate, complete and up-to-date as necessary to fulfill the Identified Purposes. OMSSA is committed to maintaining the accuracy of your Personal Information for as long as it is being used for the purposes set out in this Policy, and your input is essential in keeping OMSSA up-to-date. Please notify OMSSA promptly of any changes (e.g. address, telephone number) to assist OMSSA in providing you with the best possible service. As well, please advise OMSSA should you believe, upon review of your Personal Information, that amendments are required.

Safeguards

OSLA protects your Personal Information with safeguards against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, or modification that are appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. To ensure that the Personal Information you provide OMSSA is maintained confidential, OMSSA has developed processes and procedures to keep it safe and secure. The safeguards OMSSA has in place include:

Physical
Restricted access to files, appropriate disposal of Personal Information

Technological
Password-protected computers/files
Administrative
OMSSA employees and volunteers who deal with your Personal Information in the performance of their duties are aware of the importance of maintaining the confidentiality of your Personal Information and of ensuring that they destroy or otherwise dispose of Personal Information in a manner that prevents unauthorized access.

Contractual
OMSSA has contracts in place with independent third parties that restrict them to using Personal Information only for the purposes of providing OMSSA’s services, programs and publications to you.

OMSSA website
OMSSA’s website, www.osla.on.ca is hosted by ASI Technologies Inc. and powered by their Workbench software. Our online credit card payment processing is provided by Caledon Card Services.

Email
Sending an email is a quick and convenient way to conduct business. However, keep in mind that someone with a lot of skill, and a lot of time, may be able to intercept your email while it is transmitting. Bear in mind also that there is a possibility of you misspelling and thus sending your email to an email address other than OMSSA’s. We suggest you double check the email address before beginning the transmission, or use the email links provided on our website’s Contact OMSSA page. Feel free to contact us to confirm receipt of your transmission. When you send us an email, we may store your communication and any reply. Communications not retained will be responsibly disposed of. If your communication is retained by OMSSA, your Personal Information will be deemed to be collected and protected under the terms set out for Personal Information in this privacy policy. This means that if we do send you email, we will assume you will enjoy receiving them, and we will continue to do so until you ask us to stop (using the 'unsubscribe' instructions provided with each email).

Faxing OMSSA
Sending a fax still remains a convenient way to conduct business. However, keep in mind that someone with a lot of skill, and a lot of time, may be able to intercept your fax while it is transmitting. Bear in mind also that there is a possibility of you misdialing and thus sending your fax to a fax machine other than OMSSA’s. When in doubt, double check the number before beginning the transmission, and feel free to contact us to confirm receipt. When you send us a fax, we may store your communication and any reply. Communications not retained will be responsibly disposed of. If your communication is retained by OMSSA, your Personal Information will be deemed to be collected and protected under the terms set out for Personal Information in this privacy policy.

Openness

OMSSA makes information about OMSSA’s policies and practices relating to the management of Personal Information readily available to you, through our website at www.omssa.com and in written format, upon request.

Access

Individuals have a right to access their Personal Information as well as the opportunity to challenge its accuracy and completeness and to have it amended as necessary. Accordingly, upon your written request to the Privacy Officer, OMSSA will inform you in a timely manner and at minimal or no cost to you, of the nature of the Personal Information about you in OMSSA’s custody and control, of the use OMSSA has made of that information and of the parties to whom OMSSA has shared your Personal Information, and OMSSA will provide you access to that information except where such access is prohibited by law or OMSSA is permitted to provide access through a third party. Where an error or omission is discovered, OMSSA will correct the Personal Information and transmit the corrected information to independent third parties where appropriate. At the time of your request to the OMSSA’s Privacy Officer, the Privacy Officer will need specific information from you to verify your identity, in order to provide you with access to the Personal Information about you that OMSSA holds.

Recourse

You may contact OMSSA if you have any questions, complaints or suggestions with respect to the above-outlined principles. Our Privacy Officer will respond to your inquiries and assist you in resolving the situation in a timely manner. In cases where OMSSA’s privacy policies and procedures are found to be deficient in some measure, OMSSA will take immediate steps to correct these deficiencies.

Contact OMSSA

We value our relationship with you and welcome any questions or comments you might have about your privacy or your relationship with OMSSA. If you have any questions please contact our Executive Director at:

Kira Heineck
The Ontario Municipal Social Services Association
5720 Timberlea Blvd., Unit 100
Mississauga, Ontario L4W 4W2
Tel: (905) 629-3115
Fax: (905) 629-1633
Email: info@omssa.com

For more information visit:

The OMSSA web sitewww.omssa.com

The Privacy Commissioner of Canada http://www.privcom.gc.ca/index_e.asp

Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner http://www.ipc.on.ca/

Canadian Standards Association http://www.csa.ca/standards/privacy/Default.asp?language=english

Updates

Dated July, 2008. This Policy is subject to PIPEDA and/or any other applicable privacy laws and OMSSA has the right to change it at any time.






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