Your privacy is important to us.

The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) is largely a virtual organization. We depend on email and our web site for communication. We take privacy issues seriously and maintain our web site in accordance with the Canadian Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), and the basic privacy policy model of the Canadian Standards Association.

Personal information is defined as any information about a specific, identifiable individual such as name, address, phone number and e-mail address. Some personal information is publicly available through such sources as telephone directories or public databases, however there is still a responsibility to apply the principles of the legislation to the collection, use and disclosure of this information.

Personal information will only be used for purposes that are defined and explained in advance. Use or disclosure for any other purposes requires further knowledge and consent from the individual.

To ensure compliance with the legislation and respect and proper care of personal information, we adhere to the 10 Privacy Principles.

10 PRIVACY PRINCIPLES

1. Accountability The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) is responsible for the protection of your personal information collected by us in conjunction with organization activities or information provided while joining CAPA. This responsibility extends should personal information be transferred to or collected by third parties on our behalf. Questions may be directed to: contact@arthritispatient.ca.

2. Identifying purposes Before we collect any information the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) will identify the purpose for collection of that information. Most personal information collected is provided by individuals at the time that they join CAPA. We collect name and contact information to enable us to send out CAPA materials and information, and establish eligibility for special local or regional opportunities. We collect type of disease and medications taken to ensure relevance of our activities to member needs. We collect career, speaking and advocacy experience to help us identify individuals who might consent to contribute specific knowledge or skills. Only basic contact information is required information.

3. Consent No information is collected without an individual’s knowledge and consent, except in very limited situations permitted by law. For instance, when you provide information on a form for purposes you understand and agree to, or by not opting out of an opportunity to provide personal information we are collecting.

The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance uses opt-in consent in most instances, e.g. you must voluntarily provide or consent to provide personal information, such as when you join CAPA. Opt-out consent will only be used for non-sensitive information with low privacy impacts, for which you will be provided with information and have the right and opportunity to opt-out of such information uses.

4. Limiting information collection Only information relevant to the purposes that are identified is collected. We collect information fairly and lawfully, and directly from individuals wherever possible. You have the right to provide only as much, or as little, information as you choose to share.

5. Limiting use, disclosure, and retention The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance will always request your permission to share any of your information with a third party. For instance, should there be an opportunity for someone with your type of arthritis to be a consumer collaborator or adviser to a research project about that type of arthritis, we would contact you to determine your interest and to obtain your permission to provide your contact information to the researchers engaged in the project. When information is no longer necessary it will be destroyed by appropriate means.

6. Accuracy of your information Wherever possible information is collected directly from individuals, for instance when joining CAPA. We assume this is accurate information, unless we are told otherwise. To ensure that information is up to date, we rely on individuals to update their information from time to time and provide a convenient link on our web site for this purpose.

7. Safeguards to your personal information The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) uses appropriate safeguards to protect all personal information in its custody and control. Only those with a ‘need to know’ have access to your personal information.

8. Openness about our privacy policy The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance (CAPA) is a virtual organization, and we post our policies on our website. We make reasonable efforts to inform individuals about our policies and procedures, the reasons why we collect the information we collect, use or disclose personal information, and how to access your personal information. Should you have a question about our privacy policy, contact: contact@arthritispatient.ca.

9. Access to your personal information Individuals who provide personal information to CAPA while joining our organization will be able to access their personal information to keep it current. On request, we will also tell you for what purpose information was collected and any use of that information. For questions, please contact: contact@arthritispatient.ca.

10. Challenging compliance If, for any reason, you are concerned about our compliance with our privacy policy, please contact: contact@arthritispatient.ca.