BCTF Privacy Policy
The British Columbia
Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) is committed to protecting the privacy and
confidentiality of its members’ personal information.
The BCTF is committed to
complying with the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act,
S.B.C. 2003, c. 63 (PIPA). This includes managing the collection, use,
disclosure, storage, and ultimate disposition of its members’ personal
information in ways that safeguard the privacy of its members.
Definitions
Personal Information means
information about identifiable individuals and includes employee personal
information but does not include contact information, or work product
information.
Privacy Officer―means the
staff person designated responsibility for ensuring that the BCTF complies with
this policy and PIPA.
Personal information
collected
The BCTF collects
personal information to fulfill its obligations to members and in the course of
providing a variety of services. The types of information collected include:
- name
- home address and telephone number
- birth date
- home email address.
Additional information
may be collected to administer the collective agreement, to fulfill the BCTF’s
duty of representation to you, or to provide you with specific services.
Purposes for collection,
use, and disclosure
The BCTF collects, uses,
and discloses personal information for the purposes of fulfilling our
obligations to you as set out in the BCTF Members’ Guide, to provide
specific services as required, and to fulfill its role as the bargaining agent
representing members. The purposes for which the BCTF collects, uses, and
discloses personal information include, for example:
- to identify you
- to communicate with you
- to confirm your eligibility for services
- to comply with various professional legal and regulatory
requirements
- to provide services related to the Salary Indemnity Plan,
legal services, grievances, Workers’ Compensation Board (WorkSafe BC) advocacy,
Ministry of Education Professional Conduct Unit (formerly Teacher Regulation
Branch) advocacy, and pension plan advocacy and assistance
- to provide Provincial Specialist Association memberships and
associated services
- to conduct research.
Protection of personal
information
The BCTF is committed to
protecting your personal information from unauthorized use or disclosure. Its
commitment means that:
- it will use your personal information only for
the purposes it has identified.
- it will not disclose your personal information
without your permission unless it is required or authorized by law to do so.
- it will employ appropriate security measures to
ensure only authorized individuals have access to your personal information
- it will keep your personal information only as
long as is reasonably necessary
- it will destroy your information using a
confidential and secure method when your personal information is no longer
required
Individual access
Individuals have the
right to request access to their personal information under the control of the
BCTF. The Privacy Officer will assist them with their access requests.
Access
requests must be submitted by completing the BCTF Access Request Form. You may request a form by
sending an email to the BCTF
Privacy Officer and returning the form by mail to the BCTF,
100 – 550 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4P2, Attention Privacy Officer;
alternatively, the form can be submitted to the BCTF Privacy Officer
electronically by sending it as an attachment in an email to privacy@bctf.ca. In certain situations,
further to privacy legislation, the BCTF may not be able to provide access to
certain personal information that it holds about an individual. Examples of
where it may not provide access include, but are not limited to, situations
where:
- the provision may reveal personal information
about another individual.
- the information is subject to solicitor-client
privilege.
- the information was collected in relation to an
investigation or a contravention of a federal or provincial law.
- the provision could reasonably be expected to
threaten the health or safety of an individual.
If access cannot be
provided, the BCTF will notify the individual making the request, in writing,
of the reasons for the refusal. Where access has been provided and where the
information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, the BCTF will amend
the information as required. Where the information needs to be provided in an alternative
manner to ensure the health of safety of the individual, the BCTF will notify
the individual making the request.
Questions or concerns
regarding BCTF’s privacy procedures
An individual may direct
their general questions regarding privacy at the BCTF, as well as any questions
or concerns regarding BCTF’s compliance with this policy, by mail to the BCTF
at 100 – 550 West 6th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, V5Z 4P2, Attention Privacy
Officer.
The BCTF will
investigate any complaints received in writing. If a complaint is found to be
justified, the BCTF will take appropriate measures to resolve the complaint
including, if necessary, amending its policies and procedures. An individual
will be informed in writing of the outcome of the investigation regarding their
complaint.
(May 04 Ex, p. 9)
(June 09 Ex, pp.
10–13)