Privacy Policy
Hope Story is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted by our donors, staff
members and other individuals affiliated with Hope Story. Hope Story manages personal
information in accordance with Ontario’s Personal Information Protection Act and other
applicable laws. This policy outlines the principles and practices Hope Story follows in protecting
an individual’s personal information.
Personal information is information “about” an identifiable individual. “About” means that the
information is not just the subject of something but also relates to or concerns the individual. This
information can include, but is not limited to: an individual’s name, home address and phone
number, age, sex, marital or family status, an identifying number, financial information,
educational history, etc. Exceptions to this application include business contact information and
certain publicly available information, such as names, addresses and telephone numbers as
published in telephone directories, are not considered personal information.
COLLECTION OF INFORMATION
- Hope Story collects only the personal information that it needs for the purposes of facilitating donations and providing meaningful communication to its donors.
- Personal information is collected directly from Hope Story’s donor base and/or other persons acting on behalf of a donor (provided consent is given) or as authorized by law through one of the following:
- Participation in Hope Story sanctioned events
- Direct Donations
- Email/ Newsletter sign up via website
CONSENT
- An individual’s consent is required regarding the collection and proposed use of personal information when information is collected. Consent can be either expressed or implied and can be provided directly by the individual or by an authorized representative.
- Expressed consent can be given orally, electronically or in writing.
- Implied consent is consent that can reasonably be inferred from an
individual’s action or inaction. - An individual’s consent is required before confidential information is released to outside parties.
- As a non-profit organization, Hope Story does not engage in the course of commercial activities, and thus is not subject to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
- Collecting membership fees, organizing club activities, compiling a list of members' names and addresses, and mailing out newsletters for fundraising purposes are not considered commercial activities and thus consent is not needed for these activities.
- Hope Story is to provide their members, donors or supporters with an opportunity to decline to receive further communications when possible.
- Please see Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation Policy for more information on specific consent guidelines.
- In cases where employment/volunteer references are requested, Hope Story will not disclose personal information about its employees and volunteers to other organizations who request references without consent. Once consent is received, the following personal information may be provided:
- Confirmation that an individual was an employee or volunteer, including the position, and date range of the employment or volunteering.
- General information about an individual’s job duties and information about the employee or volunteer’s ability to perform job duties and success in the employment or volunteer relationship.
STORING AND DOCUMENTING CONSENT
- Please see procedures referred to under Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) Policy
CONFIDENTIALITY
- Donors who request that their name and/or the amount of the gift not be publicly released shall remain anonymous.
SAFEGUARDS
- Hope Story will protect personal information in a manner appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. This safeguarding could include physical measures such as locked filing cabinets and premises security, organizational measures such as restricted access to files with personal information or technological measures such as security software.
- Hope Story will use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records.
- Hope Story will retain personal information only as long as is reasonable to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected or for legal or business purposes.
OPENNESS
- Information regarding the privacy policy of Hope Story, as well as the personal information management, shall be available as requested. The information will include:
- Means of gaining access to personal information held by Hope Story
- Copy of any document that explains Hope Story’s policies, standards orcodes
ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION
- Access to personal information will be granted, where Hope Story is legally required to release the information and provided that the disclosure does not violate any applicable statutes or contracts, to the person to whom the information pertains where there is an appropriate written request. The existence, use and disclosure of the personal information will be granted within a reasonable
period of time. Any inaccuracy or incompleteness of personal information will be amended as required.