Privacy Policy

Approved by the Board of Directors, November 19, 2003

Introduction

Protecting your privacy and the confidentiality of your information — over the Internet, on the telephone, orthrough our offices — has always been fundamental to the way we do business at the St. Thomas & DistrictChamber of Commerce. We operate on the basis of a Privacy Policy and related procedures that guide thehandling of the personal information we collect. We have created this privacy statement in order todemonstrate our firm commitment to protecting the privacy of our members, partners and potential Web sitevisitors. This policy and related procedures are consistent with the Canadian Standards Association ModelCode for the Protection of Personal Information (herein “CSA Model Code“) and applicable privacylegislation.

Privacy Statement

This policy deals only with personal information handled by the St. Thomas & District Chamber ofCommerce. Personal information is information about an identifiable individual, excluding business contactinformation. The following explains how the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce handles personalinformation. The St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce reserves the right to change this policy and itmay be updated periodically. These changes may affect our use of your personal information. Accordingly,please check for changes regularly.

Accountability

The St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce (herein called “the Chamber”) is accountable for allpersonal information under its control. The Chamber’s privacy officer is the President & C.E.O. who isdesignated as responsible for the Chamber’s privacy policy.The privacy officer can be reached by: e-mail, at bob@stthomaschamber.on.ca

telephone, at 519-631-1981 ext. 24

fax, at 519-631-0466

mail, at 555 Talbot Street, St. Thomas ON N5P 1C5.

Any questions about the Chamber’s handling of personal information should be directed to the privacyofficer. Please see below for more information about the process for referring questions about theChamber’s handling of personal information.

Purpose of Personal Information

The purpose for which the Chamber collects personal information will be identified at or before the time theinformation is collected. The Chamber may collect personal information for the purposes of:

• administering Chamber membership and providing member services;
• registering for Chamber events, for example the annual Free Enterprise Awards Night;
• purchasing various Chamber products or services including document certification; and
• processing and administering the above or other purposes as necessary.

The Chamber will not use personal information for any other purpose than identified at or before the time ofcollection.

Consent

The Chamber seeks consent for all personal information we collect, use and disclose through informationprovided to individuals prior to collection, or at the time of collection.If you have voluntarily provided information, you have consented to the collection, use and disclosure of yourpersonally identifiable information as described in this privacy policy. As required by the CSA Model Code,the Chamber will not use personal information for any purpose other than that for which you consented.Should the Chamber require personal information for a new purpose, we will contact you to seek consent forthat new use.

Limits for Collecting, Using, Disclosing and Keeping Personal Information

The Chamber does not collect, use or disclose personal information of individuals except when individualsgive consent and provide the information on a voluntary basis. There may be occasions where more specificpersonal information is necessary for us to proceed with a request for information, or provide you with aproduct or service. In such cases, we will provide you with a description on the information we need. In allcases, the Chamber limits the amount and type of information collected to only the personal information thatis required to provide the individual with the requested information, product, or service. We collect onlyinformation that is voluntarily provided by you and undertake that such information will be kept strictlyconfidential.

We retain personal information only as long as is necessary to provide the individual with the requestedproduct, service or information and delete or destroy this information after that time, i.e. if personalinformation is given to enable you to register for an event, the personal information will only be used for thisevent and will then be deleted or destroyed. In some cases, however, legal reporting and retentionrequirements necessitate that the Chamber retain information for a specific amount of time. In general, theChamber retains information for a period not longer than two years.

The Chamber does not sell or trade any personal information with third parties. The Chamber may transferinformation to service providers where information processing is outsourced by the Chamber in the course ofits administrative procedures or member services in specific cases. Where personal information istransferred to a service provider for processing, we require the service provider to respect this Privacy Policyand we restrict them from using or disclosing personal information transferred to them for any purpose otherthan the provision of services to us. Any personal information that the Chamber retains is kept in such amanner as to ensure its security and confidentiality at all times.

Safeguarding Personal Information

The Chamber respects the privacy of our members, partners, potential website visitors and internet usersand will protect that privacy as vigorously as possible. We store personal information in electronic andphysical files that are secure. Our security measures include: secure locks on filing cabinets, and usingindustry standard techniques such as firewalls, encryption, intrusion detection and restricted access torecords and to equipment, including computers. Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can beguaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannotensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or receive from us electronically. This isespecially true for information you transmit to us via e-mail. We have no way of protecting that informationuntil it reaches us. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best efforts to ensure its security on our servers.

Accuracy of and Access to Personal Information Collected

The Chamber makes every effort to keep personal information as accurate, complete, current and relevantas necessary for the identified purposes. The Chamber does not routinely update personal information.The Chamber makes readily available to individuals our Privacy Policy and related procedures for managingpersonal information. We provide access to the Privacy Policy and related procedures to individuals on theChamber’s Web site and/or in written form. Any questions about the handling of personal information by theChamber can be raised with our privacy officer.

At the written request of an individual, he or she may view or edit their personal information as collected bythe Chamber. The Chamber will inform them of what personal information we have about the individual,what it is being used for and, in cases where it has been disclosed, to whom it has been disclosed.There may be exceptional circumstances as provided by the CSA Model Code under which the Chambermay not be able to give an individual access to the personal information about her or him held by theChamber. In this case the Chamber will explain the reason for this lack of access, as provided by the CSAModel Code.

To make a request, please: “send a letter, email or fax, addressed to our Privacy Officer at the addressindicated above”. In your request, please include the following information: “Name, contact details,membership number (where applicable), the nature of your request, including whether you wish to viewand/or edit information or inquire regarding use and/or disclosure”.

The Chamber will reply to your request in no later than thirty days after receipt of the request, or if we arenot able to respond within this time period, we will send you a notice of extension. If we are not able todisclose all the personal information we hold on you, we will give you a reason for our inability to do so,unless prohibited by law.

Questions

Any questions or comments about the St. Thomas & District Chamber of Commerce’s handling of personalinformation should be directed to our privacy officer.

"Business After 5" is a great opportunity for  Members to build relationships in the business community. No other event regularly brings together so many business and community people in one place, at one time. Members and invited guests are welcome to attend and pre-registration is not required.