We are committed to protecting your privacy and personal information through responsible information management practices. We collect, use, retain, disclose and dispose of personal information in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPPA), other applicable legislation and our corporate privacy management practices.
Definition of personal information
Personal information is recorded information about an identifiable person, not including business contact information. Personal information includes such things as a person’s name, address, birth date, personal email address and personal phone number. When we collect personal information, we must identify:
The purpose for collecting that information
The legal authority for collecting it
The name, title, address, phone number and email of an employee who can answer any questions about the collection of that information
ISO Certification (ISO/IEC 27001:2022)
Consumer Protection BC is internationally certified by Prescient Security for Information Security Management Systems, ISO/IEC 27001:2022, or more commonly known as ISO 27001. To achieve this standard, our team worked with a private security firm for more than 3 years to develop a robust framework and strengthen our defences against all types of cyber attacks.
We gather important and private information in the work we do. Keeping it safe is a priority for Consumer Protection BC. This certification reflects our commitment to make security a core focus of the culture of our organization. The ISO 27001 designation is for 3 years and includes annual surveillance audits to ensure we remain consistent with cyber security standards.
We are legislatively obligated to protect your personal information by making reasonable security arrangements against such risks as: unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure or disposal. Our ISO/IEC:27001:2022 Certification ensures that we follow globally recognized best practices when designing and implementing our privacy management program. If your privacy is breached, you will be immediately notified and will be offered information about how to best mitigate any personal harm.
When you visit our website, collected information includes:
The type of web browser and operating system you are using
Your general geographical location
The date and time of your visit
The webpages or services you accessed
The volume of data transferred to or from our website
The IP domain name of your internet service provider and IP address of your computer
The address of the website that referred you to our website
The address of the first website referred by our website, if applicable.
Information collected automatically is used for such purposes as assessing system performance, improving online services and overall website content and navigation management. We use Google Analytics, a third-party service, to assist with the analysis of non-identifiable web usage and traffic. We do not use cookies.
The use, retention and disclosure of all personal information collected directly from you are done so under the authority of the FOIPPA or other applicable legislation. Personal information will only be used by our authorized employees for the purpose for which it was originally collected, or for a use consistent with that purpose unless you consent otherwise. The methods for directly collecting information may include, but are not limited, to online forms, paper forms, audio/video recording, email marketing, contests and surveys.
The length of retention of personal information will vary in relation to the specific personal information collected. All personal information collected is maintained in accordance with the Government of British Columbia records retention schedule, as documented in our Administrative Agreement with the Attorney General.
In connection with certain tasks that we are authorized to complete by legislation, we may disclose some or all of your personal information to other organizations. Disclosure of this nature is deemed to be a permitted use of personal information and will be clearly described during the collection of that information.
Information collected automatically may be aggregated and disclosed in our reports, publications or communications. Disclosure of this nature will be in aggregate for and will not include any identifiable personal information (e.g., the total number of visitors to our website in a calendar year may be disclosed).
We may disclose personal information if required to do so by law or in the good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with our legal requirements or with legal process served on us; to protect and defend our rights or property; or in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of any person.
You can review any personal information collected about you by submitting a Freedom of Information request. You may request changes to your personal information if you believe it to be inaccurate by submitting a written request to us describing the error.
Our website includes links to external websites. Once you leave our website, this privacy statement does not apply. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites.
If you have any questions about this privacy statement or would like to request access to your personal information, please contact us:
Information and Privacy Officer Consumer Protection BC PO Box 9244 Victoria BC V8W 9J2 Phone: 1.888.564.9963 (toll-free) Email: privacy@consumerprotectionbc.ca
If you wish to learn more about the FOIPPA, including the process to request access to the records of public bodies, please contact:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for BC PO Box 9038 Stn. Prov. Govt. Victoria BC V8W 9A4 Phone: 250.387.5629 Email: info@oipc.bc.ca Website: www.oipc.bc.ca
We’re required to share a Directory of Personal Information Bank (PIB) that explains how we collect, share and use your personal information. Download our PIB.
