PRIVACY POLICY

Introduction

As of January 1, 2004, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba has adopted The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) as the standard by which it enforces protection of personal information.

Personal information is defined as information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title, business address, or telephone number of an employee of an organization.

The Association shall not retain or disclose personal information of an individual without the consent of that individual. The privacy policy of Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba is under ongoing review and is subject to revision at any time.

Retention of Personal Information

The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act requires the Association to keep a Register.

"register" means the written, printed or computer readable document recording the name, status, and disciplinary history of every current and former member, temporary licensee, holder of a certificate of authorization, specified scope of practice licensee, engineering intern, and geoscience intern

Such information will be retained indefinitely either as a hard copy and/or in an electronic database, and will be released only on the basis of an appropriate request.

Any individual has the right to request in writing that some or all of their personal information or documentation not subject to the requirements of the Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act be retained for a different amount of time than what is allowed by the Association's minimum and maximum retention policies. Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba will make all efforts to accommodate those requests, but may be limited due to staff resources.

Individuals who request application forms may be required to submit personal information to Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba in order to facilitate the Association's sending and processing of the application. Therefore, the Association considers that consent to retain this information is implied. Individuals who do not wish to have this information retained may explicitly withdraw their consent from the Association.

If consent is not given, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba will be unable to send an application to the individual. In this instance, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba will retain this individual's name and the fact that the individual did not give consent to the Association to retain the information. One other identifying piece of information, such as date of birth, may also be required to differentiate one individual from another, e.g. in the instance of a common name. Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba will not release to outside parties any of the personal information provided in applications to the Association, or the appended documentation, without the consent of the applicant. If consent had been given in the past, the applicant has the right to withdraw consent in writing.

Retention Policy

There is a need to maintain documents with identifying information on all persons in all stages and categories of registration with Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, starting when one makes a request for an application and, in some circumstances, continuing past the time when one is deceased. Subject to the requirements of The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba has a schedule of retention periods for such documents and information.

For those individuals who have resigned or who have been deregistered, whether as members, students, interns, or academic assessment applicants, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba will not retain documentation past the retention period, but will retain the date of resignation or date of "write off", status of the Professional Practice Test and Professional Practice Exam, and any discipline history and/or record of criminal convictions. The purpose of retention of this information is to facilitate the individual's reinstatement should they wish to reinstate at a future date.

In the case of individuals who are deceased, the executor of the Will (estate) of the member, intern, academic assessment applicant or student, may request modification of the retention times or release of the personal information of that individual.

Document Retention Schedule

Request for Application If an application is requested, an email address or mailing address may be required to send applications One day after registration Thirty days after registration If no application is received, the request is kept indefinitely

Application Forms Required Stored in the member file and kept in accordance with the member file Stored in the member file and kept in accordance with the member file

Progress Reports Requirement of the Intern Program One day after registration Thirty days after registration Candidates are encouraged to keep their own copies of submitted reports

Supervisor Reports Requirement of the Intern Program Stored in the member file and kept in accordance with the member file Stored in the member file and kept in accordance with the member file

Academic Assessment Exams Academic Assessment Program Thirty days after the results are given to the candidate One year after the results are given to the candidate

Original or Notarized Copies of Degrees, Transcripts, Theses Academic Assessment Program One year Indefinitely Best efforts are made to return these documents to the candidate. If they cannot be contacted to arrange return, best efforts are made to retain them, based on available storage space.

Applications to write Technical Exams Academic Assessment Program One day after the exam Thirty days after the exam Retention period applies whether or not the candidate has actually written the exam

Volunteer Information Forms One year Indefinitely

Member File Indefinitely Indefinitely Retained according to The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act

Release of Personal Information

Individual Requests

Documents containing personal information retained by Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba, on a member, intern, or applicant for assessment of academic qualifications, will be provided on request to that individual only, by mail or in-person only, unless otherwise agreed by both Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba and the individual. The member, intern, or applicant does not have the right to access supervisor reports, references, reviewer notes, or staff notes without the express consent of the individual who provided the information.

Any individual requesting personal information about themselves will be asked to confirm their identity. The individual will be asked one or more authentication questions, or be asked to present a form of identification, to ensure that staff can reasonably confirm that person's identity. If the person is requesting personal information about another individual, the requesting person will be asked to obtain written permission from that individual prior to Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba releasing the information. Written permission may be submitted to the Association by fax, mail, or by email (the latter is acceptable only if the request comes from the email address of the person about whom the personal information is sought). The request should contain a concise description of the information requested and, if sent via fax or mail, the signature of the person about whom the information is requested.

Public Requests

Information required by The Engineering and Geoscientific Professions Act or that a member has authorized for publication in Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba's membership directory will be supplied on request, or the enquiring individual will be referred to the website's Membership Directory.

Third-Party Requests

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba will not release personal information to any third parties (including but not limited to universities, other Associations, the general public, family members, employers, or potential employers), without the consent of the individual. If consent has been given in the past, the individual has the right to withdraw or modify their consent, in writing. In the case of consent being withdrawn, the Association will provide a list of organizations to whom the individual's personal information may have been provided, and it will be the responsibility of the individual to contact those organizations directly.

An individual has the right to request that documentation or personal information collected by the Association be released to other individuals or organizations. In this case, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba is not responsible for the ongoing privacy or confidentiality of the information released to third parties at the individual's request. Where the documentation is physically released to a third party, at the individual's request, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba will take reasonable steps to safeguard the information while in transit, but is not responsible for the safety or confidentiality of the information once it leaves the possession of the Association.

Event Attendance Listings

Any personal information provided upon registration for attendance at professional development events, or other Association events, is provided directly to the Association office and will not be distributed outside the Association offices. In order to facilitate these events, lists of names (without addresses or other personal information) may be provided to staff and/or committee members responsible for the event.

Accuracy of Information

In order to implement its legislated mandate, Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba requires individuals and companies to keep the Association up to date with changes in address, changes in email addresses, name changes, and other personal/corporate information. In order to do so, we urge practitioners to inform the Association immediately of any changes, so that Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba can continue to provide timely information to all stakeholders.

Please contact the Association's Administrative Assistant to update information. Information updates may be sent by fax or mail (with a signature), by telephone or email (the latter will be accepted only if Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba is able to reasonably confirm your identity by matching the email address from where the request is sent). If updating information via the telephone, one or more authentication questions will be asked, in order to reasonably confirm your identity.

Privacy Declarations

Persons serving on Association committees, staff members, Council members, third party contractors, and contract employees will be requested to sign a declaration that they will keep any personal information in their possession private and confidential, and will retain it in accordance with the provisions of PIPEDA and Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba's privacy policy. The declarations will be customized to reflect the type and sensitivity of the information that is being handled by the committee or other groups mentioned above.

For privacy reasons, all committee members have the right to request that Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba publications will not indicate the committee(s) on which they serve.

Storage and Transport

The following table outlines how the Association stores and transports some of the personal information in its possession:

Credit Card Information Original receipt retained for 24 months in a locked cabinet, in accordance with banking regulations.

Practitioner and Applicant Files Unless under direct supervision of a staff member or authorized individual, all practitioner files will be locked in a secure location.

Computer Backups Computer files are backed up regularly and encrypted, and stored securely either on or off site.

Documents for Destruction Organizations which provide removal and destruction of documents have signed a third party consent agreement under PIPEDA.

Items Sent by Courier Any files containing personal information that are sent by courier will be marked "Private and Confidential"

Privacy Officer

Engineers Geoscientists Manitoba nominates a Privacy Officer to respond to privacy related matters. The Privacy Officer is responsible for reviewing and refining the Privacy Policy procedures, and ensuring that Association staff are aware of and utilizing the Privacy Policy. All privacy related enquiries shall be directed to the Privacy Officer.

Last Modified: FEBRUARY 6, 2019