Privacy Policy

Unifor Local 2000
Private Sector Privacy Legislation
Personal Information Protection Policy

Unifor Local 2000: Personal Information Protection Policy

At Unifor Local 2000, we are committed to providing our members with exceptional service.  As providing this service involves the collection, use and disclosure of some personal information about our members, protecting their personal information is one of our highest priorities.

While we have always respected our members’ privacy and safeguarded their personal information, we have strengthened our commitment to protecting personal information as a result of British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).  PIPA, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, sets out the ground rules for how B.C. businesses and not-for-profit organizations may collect, use, and disclose personal information.

We will inform our members of why and how we collect, use, and disclose their personal information, obtain their consent where required, and only handle their personal information in a manner that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.

This Personal Information Protection Policy, in compliance with PIPA, outlines the principles and practices we will follow in protecting members’ personal information.  Our privacy commitment includes ensuring the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of our members’ personal information and allowing our members to request access to, and correction of, their personal information.

Scope of this Policy 

This Personal Information Protection Policy applies to all members of Local 2000, staff and servicing officers.

This policy also applies to any service providers or shop stewards collecting, using, or disclosing personal information on behalf of Unifor Local 2000.

Definitions

Personal Information –means information about an identifiable individual, including but not limited to name, age, home address and phone number, email address, social insurance number, income, or medical status if disclosed. Personal information does not include contact information (described below).

Contact information – means information that would enable an individual to be contacted at a place of business and includes name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax number. Contact information is not covered by this policy or PIPA.

Privacy Officer – means the individual designated responsibility for ensuring that Unifor Local 2000 complies with this policy and PIPA.

Policy 1 – Collecting Personal Information

1.1  Unless the purposes for collecting personal information are obvious and the member voluntarily provides his or her personal information for those purposes, we will communicate the purposes for which personal information is being collected, either orally or in writing, before or at the time of collection.

1.2  We will only collect member information that is necessary to fulfill the following purposes:

  • To verify identity
  • To collect and remit dues to Unifor National
  • To issue dues receipts for tax purposes
  • To represent members seeking services from Unifor Local 2000
  • To contact members about union events, news, or campaigns
  • To verify employment status
  • To administer benefits members may be entitled to

 

Policy 2 – Consent

2.1  We will obtain member consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).

2.2  Consent can be provided orally, in writing, or electronically, or it can be implied where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be considered obvious and the member voluntarily provides personal information for that purpose.

2.3  Consent may also be implied where a member is given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of his or her personal information being used for email newsletters and the member does not opt-out.

2.4  Subject to certain exceptions (e.g., the personal information is necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation), members can withhold or withdraw their consent for Unifor Local 2000 to use their personal information in certain ways.  A member’s decision to withhold or withdraw their consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our ability to provide service.  If so, we will explain the situation to assist the member in making the decision.

2.5  We may collect, use or disclose personal information without the member’s knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:

  • When the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law
  • In an emergency that threatens an individual’s life, health, or personal security
  • When the personal information is available from a public source (e.g., a telephone directory)
  • When we require legal advice from a lawyer
  • To investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law

Policy 3 – Using and Disclosing Personal Information

3.1  We will only use or disclose member personal information where necessary to fulfill the purposes identified at the time of collection or for a purpose reasonably related to those purposes such as:

  • To service union members’ needs and requests
  • To contact union members for union campaigns and/or news from Unifor National
  • To submit dues and remittance reports to Unifor National
  • To obtain services from legal counsel on members’ behalf

3.2  We will not use or disclose members’ personal information for any additional purpose unless we obtain consent to do so.

3.3  We will never sell members’ lists or personal information to other parties.

Policy 4 – Retaining Personal Information

4.1  If we use member personal information to make a decision that directly affects the member, we will retain that personal information for at least one year so that the member has a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.

4.2  Subject to policy 4.1, we will retain member personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or union purpose.

Policy 5 – Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Information

5.1  We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that members’ personal information is accurate and complete where it may be used to make a decision about the member or disclosed to another organization.

5.2  Members may request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness.  A request to correct personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought. A request to correct personal information should be forwarded to the Privacy Officer, Jennifer Moreau, [email protected].

5.3  If the personal information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, we will correct the information as required and send the corrected information to any organization to which we disclosed the personal information in the previous year.  If the correction is not made, we will note the members’ correction request in the file.

Policy 6 – Securing Personal Information

6.1  We are committed to ensuring the security of member personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.

6.2  The following security measures will be followed to ensure that member personal information is appropriately protected:

  • the use of locked filing cabinets
  • physically securing offices where personal information is held
  • the use of user IDs, passwords, encryption, firewalls
  • restricting employee access to personal information as appropriate (i.e., only those that need to know will have access)

6.3  We will use appropriate security measures when destroying member’s personal information such as shredding documents and/or deleting electronically stored information.

6.4  We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.

Policy 7 – Providing Members’ Access to Personal Information

7.1  Members have a right to access their personal information, subject to limited exceptions, ie: disclosure would reveal personal information about another individual.

7.2  A request to access personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information being sought. A request to access personal information should be forwarded to the Privacy Officer, Jennifer Moreau, [email protected].

7.3  Upon request, we will also tell members how we use their personal information and to whom it has been disclosed if applicable.

7.4  We will make the requested information available within 30 business days, or provide written notice of an extension where additional time is required to fulfill the request.

7.5  A minimal fee may be charged for providing access to personal information.  Where a fee may apply, we will inform the member of the cost and request further direction from the member on whether we should proceed with the request.

7.6  If a request is refused in full or in part, we will notify the member in writing, providing the reasons for refusal and the recourse available to the member.

Policy 8 – Questions and Complaints:  The Role of the Privacy Officer or designated individual

8.1  The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring Unifor Local 2000’s compliance with this policy and the Personal Information Protection Act.

8.2  Members should direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding Unifor Local 2000’s compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the member may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.

Contact information for Unifor Local 2000’s Privacy Officer:

Jennifer Moreau, Unifor Local 2000 Secretary-Treasurer

Email: [email protected]

WEBSITE POLICY: What personal data we collect and why we collect it

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

Media

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS) included. Visitors to the website can download and extract any location data from images on the website.

Contact forms

Our contact forms save your submitted data to our database. That content is secure and shared only with contact form recipients and website administrators. That content will be provided or deleted at the users request.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracing your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

Analytics

Who we share your data with

We do not share your data with anyone outside our organization. Your analytics data is only used so we may better configure our website for your usage.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

For users that register on our website (if any), we also store the personal information they provide in their user profile. All users can see, edit, or delete their personal information at any time (except they cannot change their username). Website administrators can also see and edit that information.

Users who submit contact forms will have their data saved indefinitely.

What rights you have over your data

If you have an account on this site, have submitted a contact form. or have left comments, you can request to receive an exported file of the personal data we hold about you, including any data you have provided to us. You can also request that we erase any personal data we hold about you. This does not include any data we are obliged to keep for administrative, legal, or security purposes.

Where we send your data

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Contact form submissions are sent to our administration staff.