We collect and use Personal Information only for the purposes of:

• the health care services we provide to our patients;
• the research activities we perform;
• the services we provide to other agencies; and
• other health care service delivery, research, program planning and evaluation or laboratory activities

as they relate to our mandate, and only as permitted under BC’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). A lot of the information we collect is personal health information, which we collect from our patients, other agencies and health care providers, or from study participants through interviews or surveys. For more detail on what Personal Information we collect or create, please click here.

We explain why we collect Personal Information prior to or at the time of collection when possible, using consent or notice as appropriate in the circumstances.

Our Staff take all reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the Personal Information we collect. Subject to applicable law, an individual can:

• request to see what information about them we hold; and
• if they believe that there is an error in their Personal Information in our control, may request that the error be corrected.

For more information about how to access, update or correct your personal information please contact privacy@bccfe.ca.

We employ administrative, physical and technical safeguards to ensure that Personal Information is at all times protected against unauthorized access, use, collection, disclosure, storage, retention, duplication, loss, theft and disposal. For example:

• Our Staff are only allowed to access and use the minimum amount of Personal Information they need to do their job. They must comply with our privacy and security policies at all times.
• We secure our premises with locks, alarms and video surveillance.
• We employ industry-standard technology to protect data, like firewalls, encryption and more.

We disclose Personal Information only in order to perform our mandate or when legally required.

We keep personal information for only as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected and as required by any other applicable legal requirements.

Personal Information used to make a decision that directly affects the individual the information is about is kept for a minimum of one year.

When we no longer need it, our Staff follow industry-standard guidelines and procedures to securely destroy Personal Information.

The BC-CfE has ethical, contractual and legal obligations to protect Personal Information. We comply with FIPPA when collecting, using, storing, and disclosing Personal Information.

Every Staff person that sign a Confidentiality Agreement is accountable for their own compliance with our Privacy Policy, supported by advice from the Privacy Office. 

All of our Staff are trained to immediately report any actual or suspected privacy incidents.

All of our Staff complete mandatory privacy training and sign the BC-CfE Confidentiality Agreement.