BC Healthy Communities Society, through its programs including PlanH, works towards the vision of healthy communities for all. To achieve this, it is vital that we are able to communicate with you.
We are committed to respecting your privacy. These policies allow us to protect your information with a maximum of respect and responsibility, while still enabling us to communicate with you in a timely, professional and cost-effective manner. The policy below explains how and why we collect your personal information.
Information we collect and how we use it
When visiting our websites: Cookies and Audit Logs
BC Healthy Communities Society’s websites automatically collect information about your visit, including personal information, through the use of audit logs and cookies. A cookie is a small file stored on your computer by your web browser when using some websites. A cookie may remain on your computer after the Internet session finishes (until the cookie expires or is deleted by you).
The information collected is: The web browser and operating system you are using (e.g. Vista, XP, Safari); the date and time of the visit; the pages or services accessed; the URL (web address) of a previous website if it referred you to our website; the URL (web address) of the first website you visit next, if you were referred to that website by the our website; the Internet Protocol network domain name and address of the computer you are using.
When visiting our websites, signing up for our newsletters, downloading a resource, registering and attending a webinar or other program, applying for a grant, or taking a survey: Personal information
“Personal Information” is any information that can be used to identify a specific person, including your name, address, region, birth date, and gender.
We may ask you for personal information in a variety of ways, including email newsletter signups, resource downloads, webinar or other program registration, and surveys. We may collect this information online, via mail, phone, or in person.
We collect this information for a variety of reasons, including: to use your feedback to improve our program offerings, to understand who is using our resources, to fulfill your e-newsletter subscription request, to invite you to events and granting opportunities, or to send you information about BC Healthy Communities projects and other related projects that may interest you.
It is always your choice as to whether you provide your personal information to us, and you may elect to withhold information. In some instances, such as grant applications, we may require your personal information in order to process your grant application.
We do not sell or exchange email addresses with other organizations.
When signing up for or reading our email newsletters, applying for a grant, or taking a survey: Use of third parties and storage of personal information
In some instances, we use a third party to collect and store personal information. Examples of this are our email newsletter, which is hosted through Campaign Monitor, and our evaluation surveys and grant applications, which are hosted through SurveyGizmo. These services have resources dedicated to maintaining security and confidentiality and have written policies about never sharing your information with anyone outside of BC Healthy Communities Society.
In the case of our survey software, your information is stored on Canadian servers.
When signing up for or reading our email newsletters: Use of third parties and storage of personal information on servers outside Canada
In the case of our email newsletter, your information is stored on US servers. We do this in accordance with the narrow provisions outlined in Section 33.1(b) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA). As a result, this information may be subject to disclosure to governments, courts or law enforcement agencies in those areas, according to their laws, without notice to us or you. The personal information stored on US servers is limited to the information you choose to provide when signing up for our newsletter, including your name (if you provide it), your business affiliation, your region and your email address.
Links to other websites
Our websites and other resources may contain links to websites owned and operated by other organizations. These organizations may have their own privacy policies and we cannot be held responsible for them. Please carefully review the privacy policies of these websites before providing them with your personal information.
On consent
By providing personal information to us, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your information in accordance with this policy.
We respect your right to control your personal information. Please contact us at operations@bchealthycommunities.ca if you would like us to remove, stop using, update, correct, or otherwise modify your information.
Retention of Information
Some cookies will remain on your computer for only as long as your browser remains open, or until you delete them off your computer. Other cookies will remain on your computer so that you may be recognized when you return to the website. These cookies will expire no later than 18 months from when they are first placed on your computer. Information collected as a part of a cookie or a security audit log is retained for 2 years. Information collected or created by BC Healthy Communities Society is stored indefinitely unless otherwise indicated in your participation agreement.
Policy updates and changes
We may change this policy from time to time without notice. Changes will be reflected on this page.
For more information
For further information, please contact our Privacy Officer by email at operations@bchealthycommunities.ca.