Personal Information Protection Policy
The Association of Tax & Accounting Professionals (“ATAP”) is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by our members. We manage your personal information in accordance with Ontario’s Personal Information Protection Act and other applicable laws. This policy outlines the principles and practices we follow in protecting your personal information.
This policy applies to the ATAP and to any person providing services on our behalf. A copy of this policy is provided to any member on request.
What is personal information?
Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This includes an individual’s name, address and phone number.
What personal information do we collect?
We collect only the personal information that we need for the purposes of providing services to our members, including personal information needed to:
- deliver requested products and services
- enrol a member in a program
- send out association membership information
We only collect member’s personal information directly from our members. We may collect your information from other persons with your consent or as authorized by law.
We inform our members, before or at the time of collecting personal information, of the purposes for which we are collecting the information.
Consent
We ask for consent to collect, use or disclose member personal information (as outlined above), except in specific circumstances where collection, use or disclosure without consent is authorized or required by law. We may assume your consent in cases where you volunteer information for an obvious purpose.
We assume your consent to continue to use and, where applicable, disclose personal information that we have already collected, for the purpose for which the information was collected.
We ask for your express consent for some purposes and may not be able to provide certain services if you are unwilling to provide consent to the collection, use or disclosure of certain personal information. Where express consent is needed, we will normally ask members to provide their consent orally (in person, by telephone), or in writing by email to email to admin@atapcanada.org.
In cases that do not involve sensitive personal information, we may rely on “opt-out” consent. For example, we may disclose your contact information to other organizations that we are doing business with on behalf of the association for benefits of the member and that may be of interest to you, unless you request that we do not disclose your information. You can do this emailing your “opt out” decision to admin@atapcanada.org.
A member may withdraw consent to the use and disclosure of personal information at any time, unless the personal information is necessary for us to fulfil our legal obligations. We will respect your decision, but we may not be able to provide you with certain products and services if we do not have the necessary personal information.
We may collect, use or disclose member personal information without consent only as authorized by law. For example, we may not request consent when the collection, use or disclosure is to determine suitability for an honour or award, or in an emergency that threatens life, health or safety.
How do we use and disclose personal information?
We use and disclose member personal information only for the purpose for which the information was collected, except as authorized by law. For example, we may use member contact information to deliver offers extended to members from outside services (i.e., insurance program, discount programs, etc.).
If we wish to use or disclose your personal information for any new business purpose, we will ask for your consent. We may not seek consent if the law allows this (e.g. the law allows organizations to use personal information without consent for the purpose of collecting a debt).
How do we safeguard personal information?
We make every reasonable effort to ensure that personal information is accurate and complete. We rely on individual members to notify us if there is a change to their personal information that may affect their relationship with our organization. If you are aware of an error in our information about you, please let us know and we will correct it on request wherever possible. In some cases we may ask for a written request for correction.
We protect personal information in a manner appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. We make every reasonable effort to prevent any loss, misuse, disclosure or modification of personal information, as well as any unauthorized access to personal information.
We use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records.
We retain personal information only as long as the individual is a member and to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected or for legal or business purposes.
Access to records containing personal information
Individuals have a right to access their own personal information in a record that is in the custody or under the control of ATAP, subject to some exceptions. For example, organizations are required under the Personal Information Protection Act to refuse to provide access to information that would reveal personal information about another individual.
If we refuse a request in whole or in part, we will provide the reasons for the refusal. In some cases where exceptions to access apply, we may withhold that information and provide you with the remainder of the record.
You may make a request for access to your personal information by writing to: Administration, ATAP, PO Box 915, ON K0G 1J0 or email to admin@atapcanada.org. You must provide sufficient information in your request to allow us to identify the information you are seeking.
You may also request information about our use of your personal information and any disclosure of that information to persons outside our organization. In addition, you may request a correction of an error or omission in your personal information.
Questions and complaints
If you have a question or concern about any collection, use or disclosure of personal information by the ATAP, or about a request for access to your own personal information, please contact: Administration, ATAP, PO Box 915, ON K0G 1J0 or email to admin@atapcanada.org.