EDMONTON LIFELONG LEARNERS ASSOCIATION (ELLA) PRIVACY POLICY
ELLA is committed to safeguarding the information entrusted to us by our members. ELLA’s protection of personal information is consistent with the principles and practices of the Government of Alberta,s Protection of Personal Information Act (PIPA).
This means the following:
- We safeguard the personal information we have, by only using it for the purposes intended and understood by members.
- We do not share personal information outside of ELLA, except where we have the consent of the individual involved. This applies to information on identifiable individuals such as names, addresses, email addresses and photographs.
- We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is not misused or disclosed, and to ensure that there is no unauthorized access.
Background
Legislation
As an organization incorporated under the Alberta’s Societies Act, ELLA must operate under best practices that are consistent with PIPA (www.pipa.alberta.ca).
What is Personal Information?
Personal information refers to all information about an identifiable individual such as name, address, email address, gender, age, and photographs.
What Personal Information does ELLA collect and for what purpose?
ELLA collects personal information on members to communicate with them (distribution of newsletters and course guides), to involve them as volunteers, and in partnership with the U of A, Faculty of Extension to enrol them in Spring Session courses and to enroll them in online courses. We have personal information on instructors to contract with them in partnership with the U of A, Faculty of Extension. We also collect information to hire instructors for online courses.
Photographs of members and instructors are used to create a sense of community and to promote ELLA and Spring Session and members may opt out to having photos taken at registration for Spring Session if required.
Consent
Principles and procedures on the use of photographs should be consistent with those of the U of A (available at http://www.ipo.ualberta.ca/index.aspx?p=627). Specifically, members have the option of opting out of having their photographs from Spring Session that are used on our website, newsletters or promotional materials.
How do we safeguard personal information?
Board members, volunteers and members need to be aware and informed of ELLA’s privacy policy and procedures. The Administration Committee Handbook has detailed information on the safeguarding of personal information maintained in the ELLA Office. This includes the use of locked filing cabinets, passwords for computers, and having Administration Committee volunteers sign a confidentiality form.
ELLA collects only information needed for the service of its members. Personal information that ELLA no longer needs must be securely destroyed (shredded) after a reasonable period of time. Financial and tax records should be kept for seven (7) years. Each committee chair should periodically review and destroy personal information no longer needed for the operation of the committee.
Privacy Contact Person for ELLA
A designated position on the ELLA Board of Directors, such as the Administration Committee Chair, should be the designated privacy contact person who is able to answer questions on privacy issues for ELLA. This individual will be responsible for consulting, as needed, with the U of A and other sources on personal privacy information.
References:
- Alberta Community Development, “Sample Privacy Policy for Not-for-Profits www.AlbertaCommunityDevelopment
