CYFF Privacy Policy

CYFF PRIVACY POLICY

EFFECTIVE: SEPTEMBER 27, 2018

The Canadian Young Farmers’ Forum (CYFF) is committed to protecting the privacy of the personal information of its employees, volunteers, members, clients, donors and other stakeholders.

CYFF is a not-for-profit organization with a volunteer board of directors and professional staff whose purpose is to provide multi-faceted educational and development opportunities for young and beginning farmers from across Canada. During the course of our various projects, programs and activities, CYFF frequently gathers and uses personal information. Anyone from whom we collect such information should expect that it will be carefully protected and that any use of, or other dealing with, this information is subject to consent.

This Privacy Policy has been developed to comply with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) and the principles set out in the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information. PIPEDA (http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/P-8.6/) sets out rules for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information in the course of commercial activity as defined in PIPEDA.

Purposes of Collecting Personal Information

Personal information is any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact a specific individual. This information can include an individual’s opinions or beliefs, as well as facts about, or related to, the individual. Information in the public domain is not subject to privacy legislation and as such is not included in this Privacy Policy.

CYFF collects only the personal information that we need to:

deliver requested products and services;
enroll a client in a program;
register a client for an event or conference;
send out membership information;
send notifications about changes to our service;
provide client support;
maintain our newsletter distribution list;
provide news and information specific to young farmers in Canada; and
detect, prevent and address technical issues.

CYFF’s website uses persistent cookies within visiting browsers to enable the functions of the website and for tracking performance. Specifically, cookies are used to preserve and expire visitor sessions on the site, store preferences, and enable web analytic tools to track performance. Cookies are used anonymously and without storing personally identifiable Information. Visitors that wish to opt-out of cookies should review the help documentation for their browser software to decline or selectively decline them. Note that declining cookies may adversely impact site performance.

This Privacy Policy does not cover statistical data from which the identity of individuals cannot be determined. CYFF retains the right to use and disclose statistical data as it determines appropriate.

Consent

An individual’s express consent will be obtained before or at the time of collecting personal information, except as permitted under PIPEDA. The purposes for the collection, use or disclosure of the personal information will be provided to the individual at the time of seeking his or her consent.

Once consent is obtained from the individual to use his or her information for those purposes, CYFF has the individual’s implied consent to collect or receive any supplementary information that is necessary to fulfil the same purposes. Express consent will also be obtained if, or when, a new purpose is identified, unless the new purpose is required by law.

An individual may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. CYFF will inform the individual of the implications of such withdrawal.

Limiting Collection

Personal information collected will be limited to the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, CYFF applications, and/or other forms and to only that information necessary for the purposes that have been identified. Personal information will be collected by fair and lawful means.

Limiting Use and Disclosure

Personal information will be used for only those purposes to which the individual has consented except as permitted under PIPEDA.

CYFF may use personal information without the individual’s consent where:

the organization has reasonable grounds to believe the information could be useful when investigating a contravention of a federal, provincial or foreign law and the information is used for that investigation;
an emergency exists that threatens an individual’s life, health or security;
the information is for statistical study or research;
the information is publicly available;
the use is clearly in the individual’s interest, and consent is not available in a timely way;
knowledge and consent would compromise the availability or accuracy of the information;
collection is required to investigate a breach of an agreement; or
otherwise permitted under PIPEDA.

Personal information will be disclosed to those CYFF employees, CYFF contracted employees and members of CYFF Board of Directors that need to know the information for the purposes of their work.

Personal information will be disclosed to third parties only with the individual’s knowledge and consent, except as permitted by PIPEDA. Any personal information disclosed to a third party will be subject to this policy and CYFF will use appropriate contractual or other means to protect personal information at a level comparable to this policy.

CYFF may disclose personal information to third parties without an individual’s knowledge and consent if the disclosure is:

to a lawyer representing CYFF;
to collect a debt owed to CYFF by the individual or client;
to comply with a subpoena, a warrant or an order made by a court or other body with appropriate jurisdiction;
to a law enforcement agency in the process of a civil or criminal investigation;
to a government agency or department requesting the information;
required by law; or
otherwise permitted by PIPEDA.

Retention and Destruction

Personal information will be retained only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected. If personal information is used to make a decision about an individual, it will be retained long enough to allow the individual access to the information after the decision is made. Personal information that is no longer required to fulfil the identified purposes will be destroyed, erased or made anonymous. Notwithstanding the foregoing, personal information will be retained for such other periods of time as required by applicable laws and regulations.

Accuracy

CYFF endeavors to ensure that any personal information provided by the individual in his or her active file(s) is accurate, current and complete as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information has been collected, used, retained and disclosed. Individuals are requested to notify CYFF of any change in personal or business information. Information contained in inactive files is not updated.

Safeguards

CYFF will use physical, organizational and technological measures to safeguard personal information. CYFF employees, contracted employees and members of the Board of Directors are required to sign a confidentiality agreement binding them to maintaining the confidentiality of all personal information to which they have access.

Openness

CYFF will endeavor to make its privacy policies and procedures known to the individual via this Privacy Policy which will also be available on CYFF’s website www.cyff.ca. Since privacy-related issues and requirements are subject to periodic change, CYFF reserves the right to change this policy as needed. Changes to this Privacy Policy are effective as of the date indicated at the top of this document.

Individual Access

An individual who wishes to review or verify what personal information is held by CYFF, or to whom the information has been disclosed as permitted by PIPEDA, may make the request for access, in writing, to the CYFF’s General Manager. Upon verification of the individual’s identity, the General Manager will respond within 60 days. If the individual finds that the information held by CYFF is inaccurate or incomplete, upon the individual providing documentary evidence to verify the correct information, CYFF will make the required changes to the individual’s active file(s) promptly.

Concerns and Complaints

If you have a question, concern or complaint about any collection, use or disclosure of personal information by CYFF, or about a request for access to your own personal information, please contact:

General Manager
Canadian Young Farmers’ Forum
PO Box 24, Middle Lake, SK S0K 2X0
Toll Free: 1-888-416-2965
Phone: 1-306-367-4628
Facsimile: 1-306-367-2403
Email: info@cyff.ca

On receiving a complaint regarding the collection, use or disclosure of personal information by CYFF, CYFF’s General Manager will promptly investigate the complaint and notify you about the findings and corrective actions taken, if any. If a complaint is found to be justified, CYFF will take appropriate measures, including, if necessary, amending its policies and practices.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada:

Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
30, Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec K1A 1H3
Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376
Phone: (819) 994-5444
TTY: (819) 994-6591
www.priv.gc.ca