The Canadian Association of Physician Assistants (CAPA) is committed to respecting the personal privacy of its members and the individuals who visit its website. The following summarizes CAPA’s Privacy Policy and practices.
CAPA’s Privacy Policy (hereinafter referred to as “Policy”) applies to all personal information, excluding CAPA employee information and information in the public domain, which has been and will be collected, used, and disclosed by CAPA. Personal information is defined as any information that can be used to distinguish, identify or contact a specific individual. This Policy governs the use of all information collected by CAPA including that collected on this website. This Policy applies to personal information of members and prospective members, others who have expressed an interest in CAPA or have participated in an event sponsored or organized by CAPA.
The collection of personal information by CAPA is limited to the type and amount of information necessary for the given purpose. You will know of, and consent to, the collection, use and/or disclosure of your personal information. This information will not be used or disclosed for purposes other than that for which it was collected, except with your prior written consent. Safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information shall be implemented to protect personal information.
The personal information that CAPA generally collects and uses include: name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, banking or credit card information (card number, type and expiry date). From members, CAPA also collects information related to the member’s involvement in CAPA, such as specialty, certification, employer, medical school affiliation, as well as interest in serving CAPA in a volunteer capacity.
The Policy may be updated from time to time, with updates approved by the CAPA Board of Directors to reflect developments in its practices, new technology or the law. Updates will be made available in the same way(s) as the Policy. CAPA’s collection, use and disclosure of personal information will be governed by the version of this Policy in effect at the time.
Accountability
CAPA will comply with Canadian legislation of standards for the collection, use and disclosure of information pertaining to any member, staff or individual served by CAPA.
CAPA is responsible for all personal information under its custody or control, including information which it may transfer to a third party for processing. CAPA requires any such third parties to use the personal information only for the purposes for which it is provided to them, and to protect the privacy of the personal information in accordance with privacy laws and in a manner that is consistent with this Policy.
The Executive Director of CAPA has been appointed as Privacy Officer. The Privacy Officer may delegate day-to-day responsibility for administration of this Policy to other employees but the Privacy Officer remains accountable for CAPA’s handling of personal information. As Privacy Officer, the Executive Director is also responsible for training staff and volunteers regarding appropriate procedures for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. As Privacy Officer, the Executive Director is also responsible for receiving and responding to complaints and/or inquiries regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. To contact the Executive Director see the contact us page for email address, phone and/or mailing information.
Purpose
Purposes for Collecting, Using and Disclosing Personal Information:
Membership information
CAPA collects and uses personal information from members and individuals who are applying to become members of CAPA for the following purposes:
- to assess eligibility for membership and/or other offered services (e.g. certification examination);
- to process a membership application or renewal;
- to collect and process membership dues;
- to confirm that members have successfully registered;
- to provide members with information about benefits and services offered by CAPA as well as third party service providers;
- to keep members informed about the activities of CAPA by sending them monthly CAPA newsletter;
- to mail their monthly Journal of American Academy of Physician Assistants (JAAPA);
- to keep members informed about information, activities and events of other organizations on topics related to the aims of CAPA;
- to respond to members’ questions and communications;
- to advise members about meetings, conferences, workshops and seminars made available by other reputable organizations that may be of interest to members;
- to analyse the demographics of the membership for future planning purposes; and
- to contact members with respect to requesting their participation in the affairs of CAPA and the advocacy of the physician assistant profession.
Payments
To complete your e-commerce purchases and for billing and shipping of goods or services sold. We retain a record of your billing and shipping information for accounting and customer support purposes. For credit card information, we retain the cardholder name, the card issuer, the expiry date and the credit card number for the purposes of making available to you your purchase history over time and for protecting against fraud and wrongful use.
Other Uses
- to obtain statistical information for use by CAPA and external agencies (e.g. Canadian Institute for Health Information) for health human resource planning and other research relevant to the physician assistant profession;
- to provide contact information to third parties, with prior written permission of the individual, for dissemination of information and products relevant to the physician assistant profession and/or the work of CAPA.
Website
CAPA’s website does not automatically gather any personal information from you, such as your name, telephone number, email or address during your visit. This information may only be obtained if you supply it voluntarily, by sending us an email or by registering for a CAPA event, such as the annual conference.
If you choose to participate in our online polls or online comments section, your response will be recorded as anonymous statistics only.
When you send us an e-mail, we use your e-mail address to thank you for your comment and/or reply to your question, and we will store your communication and our reply in case we correspond further.
When you request information or other services, we use your e-mail address and any other information you give us to provide you with the information or other services you requested until you ask us to stop. We will not share it with or sell, rent or lease it to any third party for such use.
Security
CAPA protects personal information against such risks as loss or theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, modification and destruction by using appropriate security measures.
CAPA’s employees with access to personal information are required to respect the confidentiality of that information pursuant to their employment agreement with CAPA. CAPA implements methods of protecting personal information that include limiting access to the information, restricting access to offices where information is held and technological measures such as passwords.
CAPA seeks to ensure that the personal information it uses is accurate and up to date. Please assist the National Office by advising staff of any inaccuracies so that appropriate corrections can be made.
CAPA retains personal information as long as it is needed for the purpose for which it was collected and in order to meet legal and regulatory requirements.