Privacy Policy

Canadian Institute of Natural and Integrative Medicine

Privacy Policy

The Canadian Institute of Natural and Integrative Medicine (?CINIM?, ?we?, ?us? or ?our?) takes steps to meet privacy principles and requirements with respect to personal information under applicable Canadian privacy legislation. The purpose of this privacy policy is to inform persons who have registered to use our website and other individuals we deal with (?you? or ?your?) about how we collect, use, disclose and protect your personal information. Personal information is information about an identifiable individual, as described under applicable privacy legislation. This statement applies to our collection, use and disclosure of personal information in Canada. This statement does not apply to information about our employees or to information that is not personal information.

Personal Information We Collect

CINIM and its agents and representatives collect personal information in a number of circumstances in the course of operating its website regarding BreathingRoom? and its associated materials and resources (collectively the “Website”). We only collect personal information about you after you have provided us with your consent to collect that information. By voluntarily providing this information to us, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information as set out in this privacy policy. Personal information we collect includes:

  • technical details of a user’s computer or access device, location of access, and time and date of Website access;
  • your gender, age, occupation, organization, and first three(3) digits of postal code; and
  • the email address you choose to provide, which is stored in a separate location from other account information
  • you have submitted; such other information we may collect with your consent or as permitted or required by law.

We normally collect personal information directly from you. However, we may collect personal information about you from such other persons or entities with your consent, or as otherwise permitted or authorized by law. We will inform you either before or at the time of collecting your personal information of the purposes for which we are collecting that information. The only time we do not provide this notification is when you volunteer your personal information for an obvious purpose (for example, if you provide biographical information in response to a study).

Use of Personal Information

CINIM generally uses personal information we have collected for the following purposes:

  • creating, administering, and managing Users’ Website membership accounts;
  • performing research and analysis to improve our programs, services and technologies;
  • displaying content customized to meet the interests and preference of its Users;
  • operating interactive areas of the Website, such as online resources;
  • communicating information about program related issues, such as notifications or reminders, to Users;
  • maintaining business records for reasonable periods, and generally managing and administering our business
  • including defending and bringing legal actions;
  • meeting legal, regulatory, insurance, security and processing requirements; and
  • otherwise with consent or as permitted or required by law.

CINIM uses personal information it has collected about you only for the purposes for which the information was originally collected, except with your consent or as otherwise permitted or authorized by law.

Disclosure of Your Personal Information

CINIM may disclose the personal information it has collected to its affiliates (including those outside of Canada) for internal audit, management, billing or administrative purposes including defending and bringing legal actions. In addition, personal information may be disclosed as set out below. Service Providers. CINIM may transfer your personal information to outside agents or service providers (including affiliates of CINIM acting in this capacity) that perform services on our behalf, e.g. statistical analysis, information technology and/or data hosting or processing services or similar services, or otherwise to collect, use, disclose, store or process personal information on our behalf for the purposes described in this privacy policy. Some of these agents or service providers may be located outside of Canada. Reasonable measures we may take to protect your personal information while processed or handled by these service providers are subject to legal requirements in Canada and the United States and other foreign countries applicable to our affiliates, agents and service providers, for example lawful requirements to disclose personal information to government authorities in those countries. In such a situation, the personal information may be subject to the laws of the applicable jurisdiction and may be accessible by courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of that jurisdiction. If you wish to access written information about our policies and practices with respect to service providers outside Canada, please consult our privacy policy. If you have any questions about the collection, use, disclosure of personal information by a service provider outside Canada, please contact our Privacy Officer. Legal, Regulatory, etc. CINIM may disclose your personal information as necessary to meet legal, regulatory, insurance, audit, and security requirements, and as otherwise with your consent or as permitted or required by law. The Website. As noted above, CINIM collects Users’ personal information in connection with the Website and a User’s access of the Website may result in the disclosure of his or her personal information, such as through the use of “cookies”. CINIM uses “cookies” to enable users to sign in to the Website and to help personalize your online experience. A cookie is a small text file that is placed on your hard drive. Cookies contain information that can later be read by a web server in the domain that issued the cookie to you. The information that cookies collect includes the date and time of your visit, your registration information, session identification number and your navigational history and preferences. Cookies offer you many conveniences, including eliminating the need to repeatedly enter the same information. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies. If you choose to decline cookies, you may not be able to sign in or use other interactive features of our sites and services that depend on cookies but you will be able to perform basic navigation through the site. Links on this site may lead to other websites that are maintained by organizations other than CINIM. We are not responsible for, nor can we ensure, the data collection practices and privacy policies of these other websites. We urge you to read the privacy and security policies of any external sites you may access.

Your Consent

Consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information may be given in various ways. Consent can be expressed (for example, orally, electronically or on a form you may sign describing the intended uses and disclosures of personal information) or implied (for example, when you provide information necessary for a service you have requested). You may provide your consent in some circumstances where notice has been provided to you about our intentions with respect to your personal information and you have not withdrawn your consent for an identified purpose, such as by using an ?opt out? option provided, if any. Consent may be given by your authorized representative (such as a legal guardian or a person having a power of attorney). By providing us with personalinformation, we will assume that you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of such information for the purposes identified or described in this privacy policy, if applicable, or otherwise at the time of collection. You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of personal information at any time, subject to contractual and legal restrictions and reasonable notice. Note that if you withdraw your consent to certain uses of your personal information, we may no longer be able to provide certain of our products or services. Note also that where we have provided or are providing services to you, your consent will be valid for so long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this privacy policy or otherwise at the time of collection, and you may not be permitted to withdraw consent to certain necessary uses and disclosures (for example, but not limited to, maintaining reasonable business and transaction records, disclosures to Canadian and foreign government entities as required to comply with laws). CINIM collects, uses and discloses your personal information with your consent, except as permitted or required by law. We may be required or permitted under statute or regulation to collect, use or disclose personal information without your consent, for example to comply with a court order, to comply with local or federal regulations or a legally permitted inquiry by a government agency, or to collect a debt owed to us.

Reasonable Security Arrangements

We make every reasonable effort to ensure that personal information is accurate and complete. We rely on you to notify us if there is a change to your personal information that may affect your relationship with our organization. If you are aware of an error in your personal information, please let us know and we will correct it on request wherever possible. In some cases we may ask for a written request for correction. We protect personal information in a manner appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. We make every reasonable effort to prevent any loss, misuse, disclosure or modification of personal information, as well as any unauthorized access to personal information. We use industry-standard management practices, technologies and security to protect the integrity, safety and security of our client’s data in both physical and electronic form, and utilize only hosting partners who do the same. We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information using physical, electronic or procedural security measures appropriate to the sensitivity of the information in our custody or control, which may include safeguards to protect against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. Authorized employees, agents and affiliates of CINIM who require access to your personal information in order to fulfil their job requirements will have access to your personal information. We use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records. We retain personal information only as long as is reasonable to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected or for legal or business purposes.

Personal Information Access and Correction Requests

If you have provided personal information to us, you may make a request for access and/or correction to that personal information by writing to our Privacy Officer. You must provide sufficient time to allow us to identify the information you are seeking. If you have provided personal information to us, you may also request information about our use of that personal information and any disclosure of that information to persons outside our organization. You may also request a correction of an error or omission in your personal information. We will respond to such requests within the applicable time period pursuant to applicable privacy laws, unless an extension is granted. We may charge you a reasonable fee to provide information, but not to make a correction. We will advise you of any fees that may apply before beginning to process any request you may make. Your right to access or correct personal information is subject to applicable legal restrictions. We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections.

Questions and Complaints

If you have a question or concern about any collection, use or disclosure of personal information by CINIM, or about a request for access to collected personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer at breathingroom@cinim.org.

Privacy Policy Changes

This privacy policy may be revised from time to time. If we intend to use or disclose personal information for purposes materially different than those described in this statement, we will make reasonable efforts to notify affected individuals, if necessary, including by revising this privacy policy. If you are concerned about how your personal information is used, you should contact us as described above to obtain a current copy of this statement. We urge you to request and review this privacy policy frequently to obtain the current version. Your continued provision of personal information or use of our services following any changes to this privacy policy constitutes your acceptance of any such changes. This privacy policy is effective as of September 1, 2013.