Privacy Policy

Your privacy is important to us
TOURISM RICHMOND
PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION POLICY
(PARTNERS, MEMBERS AND PUBLIC)
SCOPE OF THIS POLICY
 
Tourism Richmond offers this website and periodic campaign websites that are designed to help people find information about travel and vacation experiences in Richmond, BC.
We at Tourism Richmond are committed to protecting the privacy of our customers. Any personal information provided to us through our website is subject to all applicable laws.
This Personal Information Protection Policy sets out the principles which The Richmond Tourism Association ("Tourism Richmond") observes regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information about any identifiable person, including Tourism Richmond's partners, members, and members of the public who use Tourism Richmond's services and facilities, but excluding Tourism Richmond's employees and volunteers.
If personal information is made anonymous by removing details so that an individual is not identifiable to the user or recipient of that information, it is not governed by this Policy but will still be treated with appropriate safeguards.

DEFINITIONS
For the purposes of this Personal Information Protection Policy:
"Contact information" means information to enable an individual at a place of business to be contacted and includes the name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax number of the individual.
“Partners”, "customers" and "members" includes current, past and prospective customers and members. This Policy is subject to all applicable laws; and
"Personal information" means any information about an identifiable individual, whether it was collected before or after this Policy was first published, including but not limited to the individual's name, address, age, gender, identification numbers, income, employment, assets, liabilities, credit card numbers, credit ratings, financial plans and other finance-related information. "Personal information" may also include a physical description, habits, personality, character, marital history, immigration status, travel or movement details, lifestyle, leisure activities, professional or trade union memberships, and licences and permits held. Personal information does not include contact information. With respect to any specific individual,
Tourism Richmond may or may not have personal information within these enumerated categories.

TOURISM RICHMOND'S ACCOUNTABILITY
Tourism Richmond is responsible for all personal information under its control. The Tourism Richmond Privacy Officer (the "Privacy Officer") is accountable for Tourism Richmond's compliance with the principles described in this Policy, and may be contacted at:

The Privacy Officer
Tourism Richmond
Suite 205-5811 Cooney Rd
Richmond, BC V6X 3M1
Telephone : 604-821-5474
Email: privacy@tourismrichmond.com

Tourism Richmond has established and implemented: (a) procedures to protect personal information; (b) procedures to receive and respond to complaints and inquiries; (c) employee and volunteer training and information programs to explain this Policy and related personal information protection procedures and practices; and (d) practices to ensure that clients and other individuals who contact Tourism Richmond have access to this Policy and to other literature explaining Tourism Richmond's related personal information protection practices and procedures.

THE PURPOSES FOR (AND THE MANNER IN WHICH) TOURISM RICHMOND MAY COLLECT, USE OR DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION
Subject to applicable law, Tourism Richmond will identify the purposes for which personal information is collected, used or disclosed before that information is collected, used or disclosed, as the case may be.

General Purposes
The general purposes for which Tourism Richmond may collect, use or disclose information concerning customers and members include the following: (a) to manage and promote Tourism Richmond's operations; (b) to better understand the needs of Tourism Richmond's customers and members, to provide promotional and other information about Tourism Richmond and Metro Vancouver, and to respond to specific requests; (c) to fulfill requests for reservations, bookings or other arrangements with third parties; (d) to operate and fulfill contests; and; (e) to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

Disclosure to Affiliates, Agencies and Service Providers
Tourism Richmond may transfer personal information to a third party for processing or to provide services, including third parties for whom Tourism Richmond acts as a booking or reservations agent, but uses contractual or other means to provide a comparable level of protection while the information is in the custody of that third party.

Changed Purposes
From time to time, Tourism Richmond may wish to use or disclose personal information for a purpose other than that for which it was initially collected. Tourism Richmond will ensure that personal information is not used or disclosed for that new purpose unless the individual is informed of the new purpose and gives his or her consent.

CONSENT
Subject to applicable legal exceptions, Tourism Richmond will make a reasonable effort to ensure that the individual is advised in advance of the purposes for which his or her personal information will be collected, used or disclosed, and that his or her consent to those activities is obtained. As required by applicable law, consent may be express or implied.
Tourism Richmond does not, as a condition of the supply of products or services require an individual to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information beyond that required to fulfill Tourism Richmond's explicitly specified and legitimate purposes.
An individual may withdraw his or her consent to collection, use or disclosure at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and the provision of reasonable notice to Tourism Richmond. If an individual withdraws his or her consent to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information, he or she may be unable to access Tourism Richmond's products or services.
From time to time, Tourism Richmond may also collect information from external sources such as credit reporting agencies, credit grantors and income sources and personal references identified to Tourism Richmond for this purpose.

LIMITING COLLECTION
Tourism Richmond limits the amount and type of personal information collected to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by Tourism Richmond.

LIMITING USE, DISCLOSURE AND RETENTION
Tourism Richmond does not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law. Personal information is retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.
Personal information that has been used by Tourism Richmond to make a decision about an individual will be retained long enough to allow the individual access to the information after the decision has been made.

ACCURACY
Tourism Richmond aims to keep personal information as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used. However, Tourism Richmond does not routinely update personal information, unless such updating is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected.
Tourism Richmond generally relies upon individual customers and members to provide up-dated information, such as changes to addresses and other contact information, and changed financial information.
If an individual successfully demonstrates to Tourism Richmond that personal information is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, or irrelevant, Tourism Richmond will revise the personal information. If necessary, Tourism Richmond will disclose the revised personal information to third parties which were provided with the wrong information to permit them to revise their records as well.

SAFEGUARDS
Tourism Richmond has implemented appropriate security safeguards to protect personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. The nature of the safeguards vary depending on the sensitivity of the personal information that has been collected, the amount, distribution, and format of the information, and the method of storage. The more sensitive personal information is safeguarded at a higher level of protection.
The methods of protection employed by Tourism Richmond include: (a) physical measures, including locked filing cabinets and restricted access to offices; (b) organizational measures, such as security clearances and limiting access on a "need to know" basis; and (c) technological measures, such as the use of passwords and encryption.
Tourism Richmond takes care to inform employees and volunteers about Tourism Richmond's policies and procedures for protecting personal information and emphasizes the importance of complying with them. Employees and volunteers are required to conform to Tourism Richmond's policies and procedures concerning the security of personal information.
Tourism Richmond uses care in the disposal or destruction of personal information, to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to the information.

OPENNESS
Tourism Richmond strives to be open about its policies and procedures with respect to management of personal information. Tourism Richmond makes this information available in a form that is generally understandable. Copies of this Personal Information Protection Policy are by contacting the Privacy Officer.

INDIVIDUAL ACCESS
Upon an individual's request in writing, Tourism Richmond will inform that individual of the existence, use, and disclosure of his or her personal information and the individual will be given access to that information, except where the law requires or permits Tourism Richmond to deny access. Tourism Richmond may require the individual to provide sufficient information to permit Tourism Richmond to provide an account of the existence, use, and disclosure of personal information.
Tourism Richmond will respond diligently to a proper request and in any case not later than 30 days after receipt of the request, unless that time is extended according to applicable law. As permitted by applicable law, certain charges may be applicable in respect of certain requests.

CHALLENGING COMPLIANCE
Any individual may direct a challenge concerning compliance with this Personal Information Protection Policy to the Tourism Richmond Privacy Officer. Tourism Richmond has established procedures to receive and to respond to complaints or inquiries about Tourism Richmond's policies and practices relating to the handling of personal information.
Tourism Richmond investigates all complaints. If Tourism Richmond finds that a complaint is justified, Tourism Richmond will take appropriate measures, including, if necessary, amending its policies and practices.

CONTESTS
Tourism Richmond runs a variety of contests on campaign websites that our online visitors can optionally enter. We use online contest entry forms to collect personal information deemed necessary for your participation in a contest. While certain information is mandatory for participation, most information is optional. Contest entry forms differentiate between the two so that you are aware of what information is needed, and what information you need not provide in order to participate. As part of the contest entry process, we may provide an opportunity for you to give Tourism Richmond permission to contact you in the future. Giving your permission for future contact is completely optional, and does not impact your ability to participate in a contest.
When you provide us with your personal information to enter a contest, we retain and use it in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Your information is only used for the purpose for which it was collected (e.g. to support your participation in a contest), or for a use consistent with that purpose (e.g. to allow us to conduct tourism-related research or surveys, or provide you with information on other contests or tourism opportunities with your consent). Our objective is to measure the success of our tourism marketing campaigns, and help us better understand the characteristics and travel preferences of our consumers in order to serve them to the best of our ability.
We work closely with our agencies to ensure the contest entry data we receive is securely stored and may only be accessed by authorized staff and approved contest service providers. Any service provider that we engage for a given contest must agree to and comply with the BC Government’s terms and conditions for protecting personal information in order to do business with us. Effectively safeguarding all personal information in our custody is of paramount importance to Tourism Richmond.