Privacy Policy

Last Updated: May 24, 2007

Introduction
Protecting the personal, private and confidential information of our members, whether obtained electronically, over the telephone or through our offices, is a fundamental principle, and integral to the way we do business. We therefore operate on the basis of a Privacy Policy that guides the handling of any and all personal information that we collect. We have created this policy in order to demonstrate and communicate our commitment to protecting the privacy of our members, partners and potential website visitors. This policy is consistent with the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information (herein referred to as the "CSA Model Code") and applicable privacy legislation. The Chamber reserves the right to change this policy, and it may be updated periodically. These changes may affect our use of your personal information. Please check for changes regularly.

Privacy Statement
This policy deals only with personal information handled by The Calgary Chamber of Commerce. Personal information identifies a specific individual but excludes business contact information. The following explains how we handle your personal information.

Accountability
The Chamber is accountable for all personal information under its control. The Chamber's privacy officer is the Vice President, Public and Government Affairs, who is designated as responsible for the privacy policy.
The privacy officer is:

Geoffrey M. Pradella
ph: (403) 750-0406
fax: (403) 266-3413

The Calgary Chamber of Commerce
100 Sixth Avenue S.W.
Calgary, AB, T2P 0P5
privacy@calgarychamber.com

Any questions about our handling of personal information should be directed to our Privacy Officer. Please see below for more information about the process for referring questions regarding your personal information.

Purpose of Personal Information
The purpose for which The Chamber collects personal information will be identified at or before the time the information is collected. We may collect personal information for the purposes of:
 administering Chamber membership and providing member services, including business surveys;
 registering for Chamber events;
 purchasing various Chamber products or services including but not limited to document certification, room bookings, and food and beverage services, and;
 processing and administering the above, including contractual arrangements that The Calgary Chamber of Commerce has entered in to with third parties in pursuance of the above, as strictly necessary.
We will not use personal information for any purpose other than that identified at or before the time of collection.

Consent
The Chamber seeks consent for all personal information we collect, use and/or disclose prior to, or at the time of, collection. If you have voluntarily provided information, you have consented to the collection, use and/or limited disclosure of your personally identifiable information as described in this privacy policy. As required by law, we will not use your personal information for any purpose other than that for which you have consented. Should we require personal information for a new purpose, we will contact you to seek consent for that new use.

Limits for Collecting, Using, Disclosing and Keeping Personal Information
We do not collect, use or disclose personal information of individuals except when you give consent (explicit or implied) and provide the information on a voluntary basis. There may be occasions where more specific personal information is necessary for us to proceed with a request for information, or provide you with a product or service. In such cases, we will provide you with a description on the information we need. In all cases, the Chamber limits the amount and type of information collected to only that which is required to provide you with the requested information, product, or service. We collect only information that is voluntarily provided by you and undertake that such information will be kept strictly confidential.

We retain personal information only as long as is necessary to provide you with a requested product, service or information, and for the purposes of current and future membership renewals. We then delete or destroy this information as appropriate to do so. For example, personal information that is voluntarily provided to enable the renewal or maintenance of your membership, or registration for Chamber events, will be used only for the purposes of said renewal or registration, and will then be deleted or destroyed as required and appropriate to the circumstances. In general, information for these purposes will only be retained for a period of two (2) years.
In some cases, note that legal reporting and retention requirements require us to retain information for a specific amount of time. Under these limited circumstances, privacy-protected information will only be kept for the period required by law.

We will not sell or trade any personal information with third parties. Disclosures of information will be made in circumstances where The Chamber has entered in to a contractual arrangement with a third party, and the purpose of that contract is the provision of a product, service or benefit. In such circumstances, information disclosure will be limited to information strictly necessary for the provision of the contracted benefit or service. The Chamber may transfer information to service providers where information processing is outsourced in the course of certain administrative or contractual procedures or member services. Where personal information is transferred to a service provider for processing, we require that provider to respect this Privacy Policy and we restrict them from using or disclosing personal information transferred to them for any purpose other than the provision of services to us.

Any personal information that we keep is kept in such a manner as to ensure its security and confidentiality at all times.

Safeguarding Personal Information
We respect the privacy of our members, partners, website visitors and internet users, and will protect that privacy as vigorously as possible. We store personal information in electronic and physical files that are secure. Our security measures include:

• Secure locks on filing cabinets
• Secure locks on file boxes
• Computer system firewall protection
• Password protected files
• Virus protected software
• Locked file storage rooms

Unfortunately, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while we strive to protect your personal information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us or receive from us electronically. This is especially true for information you transmit to us via e-mail. We have no way of protecting that information until it reaches us. Once we receive your transmission, we make our best efforts to ensure its security on our servers.

"Cookies" and Password-protected "Members Only" Services
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce web site password system uses cookies. A "cookie" is a small file that our Web server places on your computer's hard drive when you log in to a member area of our web site. Cookies cannot damage files, nor can they read information from a user's hard drive. This cookie does not contain any personal information, but it allows our server to identify you as having successfully logged in so that you do not have to re-enter your password each time you access a password-protected page during that session. The Chamber does not use cookies to monitor which Web pages an individual visits.
Note: You may set your browser to warn you before you accept a cookie. You may also set your browser to refuse all cookies. In order to access password protected member areas on the Calgary Chamber of Commerce web site you must accept a cookie from our Web server.

Accuracy of and Access to Personal Information Collected
We make every effort to keep personal information as accurate, complete, current and relevant as necessary for the identified purposes. We do not routinely update personal information. Also on written request you may view or edit your personal information as collected and currently stored by the Chamber. The Chamber will inform you of what personal information we have, what it is being used for and, wherever possible, to whom it has been disclosed. There may be exceptional circumstances as provided by law under which the Chamber may not be able to give an individual access to the personal information about her or him held by the Chamber (see PIPA Section 24) In this case the Chamber will explain the reason for this lack of access. Any requests should be directed to our Privacy Officer. To make a request, please send a personally-signed letter to:

Privacy Officer
The Calgary Chamber of Commerce
100 Sixth Avenue S.W.
Calgary, AB, T2P 0P5

In your letter, please specify the following information: your name, complete contact information, membership number, business or organizational affiliation, and the nature of your request, including whether you wish to edit or simply view the information, or inquire as to its use and/or disclosure. We will reply to your request within sixty days after receipt of the request, or if we are not able to respond within this time period, we will send you a notice of extension. If we are not able to disclose all the personal information we hold on you, we will give you a reason for our inability to do so, unless prohibited by law.

Questions
Any questions or comments you may have about our handling of personal information should be directed to our Privacy Officer.