Privacy and Communications Policy
Personal Information Protection
North Bay Pregnancy Help and Resource Centre (NBPHRC) is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by our clients and donors. Any personal information that we obtain and retain is kept in such a manner as to ensure its security and confidentiality. This privacy statement applies to North Bay Pregnancy Help and Resource Centre and to any person providing services on our behalf. A copy of this privacy statement is provided upon request.
What is personal information?
Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This includes an individual’s name, address, phone number, age date of birth, sex, marital or family status, etc.
What personal information do we collect?
To be able to provide service to our clients it is necessary for us to collect, use and (in some instances) disclose personal information. We collect only the personal information that we need for the purposes of providing services to our clients, including personal information needed to:
- Communicate with you.
- Book your appointment and reminder notification.
- Provide you with pregnancy tests and pregnancy options information
- Provide you with one-on-one support and community referral(s).
For our donors, we collect personal information in order to provide charitable tax receipts, our newsletter and events, information about the Centre, and thank you notes. At any time, a person can request to be removed our mailing/emailing list.
Consent
Consent will be obtained from the person whose information is collected, used and disclosed. Consent may be implied by virtue of one’s involvement or support with a client (such as a client inviting a person to be present at an appointment). When appropriate, written consent will be obtained from the client. Consent can be withdrawn at any time subject to legal or contractual restrictions and with reasonable notice. The person will be informed of reasonable implications of the withdrawal. Information may be disclosed without a person’s consent as required by law.
Accuracy
Personal information shall be maintained in an accurate, complete and up-to-date format as necessary in order to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected.
Safeguards
Personal information will be protected by security safeguards that are appropriate to the sensitivity of the personal information. Safeguarding includes locked filing cabinets, restricted access to files with personal information, technology measures, individual accounts, strong passwords, software security and premises secured with an alarm security system.
We use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records. Our website includes an SSL certificate that provides encryption for any data sent via web forms on our website.
Unfortunately, no data transmission over the internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us via email, as we have no way of protecting that information absolutely from outside access. We will make every effort to make your email communication with us secure, including deleting client messages as soon as they have been addressed and making regular security updates.
Questions or complaints?
If you have a question or concern about any collection, use or disclosure of personal information by North Bay Pregnancy Help and Resource Centre, or a request for access to your own personal information, please contact us.
Emailing and Texting Standards
The purpose of the email and texting functions is to assist you in requesting an appointment to personally visit this centre or to help you identify another service that may require for support. If you would like to make an appointment to visit our centre, please contact us. For your protection we strongly discourage you from sharing personal details about your situation over the internet. We prefer for you to visit North Bay Pregnancy Help and Resource Centre, where a client care worker will be available to personally discuss your situation in a confidential setting.
In granting us permission to reply to your email, text or request for a phone call, please consider the confidentiality of any reply that you may receive. If you are giving permission for us to call you, will there be anyone else who may be present to receive the phone call? Does anyone else have direct access to your email or text? Do you use a public computer? If there are special confidentiality concerns we need to be aware of in responding, please let us know in detail so we may be sensitive to your needs.