Privacy Statement

 

 

Privacy Policy

The following privacy policy includes all Alberta Chambers of Commerce projects. For privacy concerns pertaining to the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction, please refer to the section titled "Events."

Alberta Chambers of Commerce privacy policy

Introduction

The protection of personal information is important to the Alberta Chambers of Commerce and we have a policy and procedures dealing with the protection of privacy.  Any questions about this policy can be directed to our Privacy Officer, Ken Kobly, CEO at kkobly@abchamber.ca or (780) 425-4180, ext. 6.

Our employees play an important role in protecting personal information.  Our employees are required to adhere to this policy and take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is protected from unauthorized access.

The ACC is registered under the Alberta Societies Act and therefore this policy is written to reflect an organization that is described as a “non-profit” under the provincial Personal Information Privacy Act (PIPA).

Collection, use and disclosure of personal information

The ACC does not collect personal information of individuals for commercial purposes. The contact information that the ACC has access to falls into a number of categories including the following: membership, program provider lists, events, and human resources including executive committee members, staff/contract employees and prospects (résumés).  The contact information collected by the ACC is business contact information, with the exception of human resource information. 

All ACC contact information (with the exception of staff) is kept in Maximizer databases (electronically) or in an Excel spreadsheet, with a printed copy to provide as back-up should something happen to the ACC database. All staff information is locked in the office of the Director, Chamber Services and Administration.

In addition, contact information on members is kept under an administrative function on its website (i.e. only accessible by staff) for the purpose of providing members only value-added features such as discussion forums, polls/surveys, information on value-added programs such as merchant discounts, newsletters and other pertinent members only features the ACC provides to its membership.

Membership

1. The ACC has two types of members including community Chambers of Commerce and corporate members. Corporate members can include other industry associations, small and medium sized businesses, or large publicly traded companies.

2. The information collected on these two types of members is collected for the purpose of providing value in terms of newsletters, information on advocacy initiatives, information on upcoming events and general information that may be of interest to our membership.

3. The information collected on these two types of members is generally information that would be found on an individual’s business card including the following:

1. name;
2. title;
3. organization/company name;
4. mailing and physical address;
5. telephone number,
6. facsimile number,
7. pager or cellular phone number;
8. e-mail address;
9. website address.

The only exception to this would be if a member provides another method that they prefer to have the ACC be in contact with them. For example, a corporate member who provides a personal mailing, e-mail or telephone/fax number or in many instances where a community Chamber of Commerce does not have staff or an office and they provide a board/executive members’ personal and/or business information.

4. The ACC does not share this information with outside sources. The only exception to this would be when the ACC is contacted by a government department or government organization that would like to be in contact with Chambers of Commerce offices for a specific reason. For example, to provide information on a new initiative, to seek feedback, or to aid with establishing a relationship between government and business. In these instances, the ACC has provided a list including contact information on all community Chambers of Commerce to the respective government organization or department. This list is maintained in Excel format, so that it only includes certain fields (contact name, title, mailing address, telephone, facsimile, e-mail, website). Information on corporate membership contact information is never shared with outside sources.

5. Information on members is kept in ACC databases as long as the member remains a member in good standing with the ACC. If/when a member chooses to terminate their membership with ACC, the information is kept in a database for a two year period, and then deleted after that time, should they not rejoin.

Program provider lists

1. Through an ACC membership, community Chambers of Commerce can offer the value-added programs negotiated by ACC to its membership. In order to ensure only members in good standing take part in the programs, the ACC is often sent a program user list, which will include company name, date they joined the program, location and program number (i.e. merchant number/membership number). Membership  information is verified with the local Chamber of Commerce, then the list is destroyed.

Events

1. In addition to providing information on events to the ACC membership, the ACC will at times target other non-member organizations and/or corporations for attendance and/or sponsorship of its events. As such, the same contact information as referenced in number 3 of the membership category (i.e. business card contact information) is collected for the purposes of promotion of events both in terms of attendance and sponsorship.

2. In addition to attendee and sponsor information, the ACC does collect and retain information on its finalists and recipients of the Alberta Business Awards of Distinction (ABAD). As the awards are business related awards, the information collected is limited to business contact information (as referenced in number 3 of the membership category), in addition to a submission for the awards, which include a business description. . This information can be shared with a number of sources including the judges of a category (including government and industry) and media. The ACC does not provide this contact information to sources seeking to advertise or solicit business from these finalists and recipients.

Executive Committee members

1. The ACC collects and retains both personal and business information on its current and past Executive Committee members for historical purposes. These individuals may be called upon for attendance at our events, interviewed for historical purposes, and to be discussed in the context of the ACC’s history. For these reasons, the personal and/or business information of ACC’s current and past Executive Committee will be kept on file indefinitely. This information includes the following:

1. contact information (personal and/or business);
2. spouse and children’s names;
3. biographical information including accomplishments and experience;
4. if the individual is deceased.

2. Current Executive Committee biographical information and photos are also provided on our website for interested parties including media, government and the like.

3. Photos of past Presidents of the ACC are also displayed on the walls of the ACC office.

Staff and contract employees

“Personal employee information” is personal information collected, used or disclosed for the purposes of establishing, managing or terminating an employment relationship.  We can collect, use and disclose this information without consent but we will only collect, use and disclose the personal information that is necessary for the purpose of administering the employment relationship.  “Personal employee information” may include the following:
1. name;
2. home address and phone number;
3. employment history;
4. disciplinary record;
5. medical information or disability;
6. social insurance number;
7. age;
8. bank account;
9. wage or salary paid;
10. sex;
11. family status;
12. marital status.

In administering the employment relationship we may use this information to perform tasks such as providing benefits, paying wages and generally managing the workplace.

Some personal employee information will be disclosed to the following third parties:

1. name of benefit provider;
2. name of payroll company;

We will not disclose personal employee information to any other third party unless we provide our employees with prior notification. 

Our personal employee information is safeguarded to prevent unauthorized access, use and disclosure.  Particularly sensitive information such as medical information is stored separately and is only accessed by those with a need to do so.

It is important that we keep our personal employee information as up to date as possible.  Please notify us as soon as possible of any changes to employee contact information or beneficiary / dependent information.

Résumés

1. Résumés of both current employees and applicants for positions with the ACC are kept on file for six (6) months in paper/electronic format. These résumés are not provided to anyone outside of ACC staff and management for review. They are kept on file strictly for purposes of future opportunities within the ACC office.

Concerns and inquiries

Any concerns or inquiries must be made in writing to the following address:

Alberta Chambers of Commerce
1808, 10025 – 102A Avenue
EDMONTON, AB T5J 2Z2

ACC’s privacy officer contact information is as follows:
Ken Kobly, CEO
1808, 10025 – 102 A Avenue
EDMONTON, AB T5J 2Z2
(780) 425-4180, ext. 6
(780) 429-1061
kkobly@abchamber.ca