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1. The Privacy Code of The Canadian Real
Estate Association
This office is a member of The Canadian
Real Estate Association (CREA) and adheres to and abides by the principles
set out in the CREA Privacy Code. All employees and sales representatives
associated with this office must sign an acknowledgement that they will
comply with the requirements of the Code.
2. The Policy Statement
This office only collects personal information
necessary to effectively market and sell the property of sellers, to locate,
assess and qualify properties for buyers and to otherwise provide professional
and competent real estate services to clients and customers.
3. The Person In Charge
Lil Wilkinson - Broker of Record, is the privacy compliance officer
responsible for privacy compliance in this office. Her name shall
be made available to consumers. The responsibilities of the privacy
compliance officer shall include:
- establish and update information protection policies;
- ensure policies are implemented by other organizations
to which data-processing functions are outsourced;
- establish criteria for classification of information;
- evaluate the accessibility of sensitive information
and take corrective action where necessary;
- provide education to employees on the importance
of information protection;
- attempt to resolve consumer privacy complaints
to the satisfaction of the consumer.
4. The Collection, Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
- Only the information necessary to
facilitate the real estate transaction or otherwise provide professional
and competent service to clients and customers will be collected;
- No personal information shall be collected
from an individual without first obtaining the consent of the individual
to the collection, use and dissemination of that information;
- Express consent (whether oral or written) must
always be obtained except in the following situation. Consent may be implied
where the information is not sensitive and where it can be reasonably
assumed that the individual would expect the information to be disclosed
in this fashion;
- Once information is collected, it will be used
and disclosed only for the purposes disclosed to the individual;
- All representation agreements must include
the approved privacy clauses.
5. Disclosure for New Purpose
- Anyone using personal information for some new purpose that extends beyond the consent already provided must obtain the express consent of the person for that use;
- Requests for information by law enforcement
officials, lawyers, private investigators or other agents or subpoenas
for documents issued by the court must be referred to the (privacy officer/office
manager or broker/agent as appropriate).
6. Protecting Information
Information must be protected in a manner
commensurate with its sensitivity, value and criticality. This policy
applies regardless of the media on which information is stored, the locations
where the information is stored, the systems used to process the information,
or the processes by which information is handled.
- Collection and Disclosure (i) Meetings
with customers and clients on these premises must take place in a place
and manner to ensure confidentiality; (ii) Mail and faxes must be routed
directly to the intended recipient; (iii) Information should be available
to other persons in the office only on a need to know basis.
- Storage (i) Filing cabinets designated
by the office manager to contain personal, including sensitive, information
are to be kept secured at all times; (ii) All personnel have computer
passwords. These passwords are confidential and are not to be shared with
any unauthorized persons.
- Destruction (i) This office has in
place a record retention and destruction policy. Refer to that portion
of the policy manual for details.
7. Accuracy of Personal Information
To ensure the quality of the information
collected:
- insofar as possible, personal information
should be collected directly from the consumer;
- public property information (taxes, assessment
data etc.) should be verified;
- disclaimers of accuracy in the form approved
by the office should always be attached to any disclosure of information.
8. Access to Personal Information
- Copies of any privacy brochure approved
by this office should always be available to the public in the reception
area of the office;
- The individual set out in Section 3 as being
responsible for privacy compliance is the person responsible for
responding to access requests and all such requests will be referred
to her. All staff and salespersons will co-operate fully with
the privacy compliance officer in responding to requests;
- On written request and appropriate identification
satisfactory to the organization, an individual will be advised of personal
information about him/her retained in the firm's records;
- Where information cannot be disclosed (for
example the information contains reference to other individuals or is
subject to solicitor-client privilege) the individual will be given reasons
for non-disclosure;
- An individual may have appended to a record,
any alternative information where the office is of the view that the appended
information is, in fact, correct;
- A minimal administrative fee may be charged
to supply the information.
9. Compliance
- Any complaints from an individual
concerning the collection, use or disclosure of their personal information
or concerning the individual's ability to access their personal information
must be referred to the privacy compliance officer, who will attempt to
resolve the complaint to the individual's satisfaction;
- In the event the complaint cannot be resolved
internally to the individual's satisfaction, he or she will be advised
of where to direct the complaint.
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