Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Objective and Scope of Policy SongShop, the owner and operator of the www.songshop.ca web site (the “Site”) is dedicated to maintaining high standards of confidentiality with respect to protecting personal information that is provided to us.  This Privacy Policy has been prepared to affirm our commitment to maintaining the privacy of our clients and others and to inform you of our practices concerning the collection, use and disclosure of personal information collected by us. Our commitment We are governed by the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act, which imposes obligations regarding the way private sector organizations within British Columbia collect, use and disclose personal information. We will protect your privacy, and in particular your personal information, in accordance with the 10 Principles of Privacy which have been established by the Government of Canada and the Government of British Columbia, as follows:

1. Accountability: We are responsible for personal information under our control. 
2. Identifying purposes: We will identify the purposes for which personal information is collected at or before the time the information is collected.
3. Consent: Consent is required for our collection, use or disclosure of personal information, except where required or permitted by law.
4. Limiting collection: Personal information collected will be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by us.
5. Limiting use, disclosure and retention: We will not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which the information was collected, except with your consent or as required by law. We will retain personal information only for as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for collecting such information.
6. Accuracy: Personal information will be maintained by us in an accurate, complete and up-to-date form as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the personal information is to be used.
7. Safeguards: We will protect personal information with security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
8. Openness: We will make readily available its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.
9. Customer access: Upon request, we will inform you of the existence, use and disclosure of your personal information and you will be given access to your personal information, subject to any legal restrictions. You may verify the accuracy and completeness of your personal information, and may request that the information be corrected or updated, if appropriate.
10. Challenging compliance: You may direct any questions or inquiries concerning our compliance with this Privacy Policy to our staff (see below).

These obligations apply to all professionals, franchisees, employees, contractors and agents who provide services in connection with delivery of services to our clients. For the purposes of this Policy, personal information means any information, recorded in any form, about an identified individual, or an individual whose identity may be inferred or determined from the information. Personal information can include your name, address, telephone number (home and business), email address, date of birth, place of employment, and the nature, frequency and type of our services used by you. This policy does not cover any information, recorded in any form, about more than one individual where the identity of the individuals is not known and cannot be inferred from the information. We retain the right to use such information in any way that it determines appropriate. Using contractual or other arrangements, we shall ensure that franchisees, agents, or contractors, who may receive personal information in the course of providing services to our clients, protect that personal information in a manner consistent with the principles articulated in this Privacy Policy. Why we collect personal information and how your personal information is used We are committed to providing superior service. We collect your personal information so that we may maintain your client file and provide you with the services you have requested. Your personal information is used to understand your needs and preferences, determine whether our services meet your needs, develop or improve products and/or services, and to deliver services and products that you have requested. The collection, use and disclosure of personal information Your provision of personal information to us means that you agree and consent that we may collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with these terms, you are requested not to provide any personal information to us. Unfortunately, certain services can only be offered if you provide personal information to us. Consequently, if you choose not to provide us with any required personal information, we may not be able to offer you those services. We collect only such information from individuals or organizations as is required for the purposes of providing services or information to them. We do not sell, trade, barter or exchange for consideration any personal information it has obtained. Unless permitted by law, no personal information is collected about an individual without first obtaining the consent of the individual to the collection, use and dissemination of that information. Personal information will be collected, to the extent possible, directly from the individual concerned. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18 and does not use such information if it discovers that it has been provided by a minor. We may disclose personal information to franchise operators that perform services on its behalf. Personal information will only be provided to such operators if they agree to use such information solely for the purposes of providing services to our clients and under the instruction of us and, with respect to that information, to act in a manner consistent with the relevant principles articulated in this Privacy Policy.  Please note that there are circumstances where the use and/or disclosure of personal information may be justified or permitted or where we are obliged to disclose information without consent. Such circumstances may include where:

• required by law or by order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or other government tribunal;

• we believe, upon reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of an identifiable person or group;

 

• it is necessary to establish or collect money owing to us;

• it is necessary to permit us to pursue available remedies or limit any damages that we may sustain; or

• the information is public.

Where obliged or permitted to disclose information without consent, we will not disclose more information than is required. Accuracy We endeavor to ensure that any personal information provided and in its possession is as accurate, current and complete as necessary for the purposes for which we use that information. Retention We keep personal information only as long as it is required for the reasons it was collected. The length of time information is retained varies, depending on the product or service and the nature of the information. This period may extend beyond the end of a person’s relationship with us but it will only be for so long as it is necessary for us to have sufficient information to respond to any issues that may arise at a later date. When your personal information is no longer required for our purposes, we have procedures to destroy, delete, erase or convert it into anonymous form. Security We endeavor to maintain adequate physical, procedural and technical security with respect to its offices and information storage facilities so as to prevent any loss, misuse, unauthorized access, disclosure or modification of personal information.  We further protect personal information by restricting access to it to those franchisees and/or employees that our management has determined need to know that information in order that we may provide services. Our franchisees and employees are informed of the importance of protecting your privacy and are expected to maintain the confidentiality of client information at all times. In terms of communicating personal information to us, you may wish to note that there is no method of transmitting or storing data that is completely secure. While the physical characteristics of each are different, mail, telephone calls, faxes and transmissions over the internet are all susceptible to possible loss, misrouting, interception and misuse of the information being communicated or transmitted. As do many organizations, we attempt to strike a reasonable balance between security and convenience. In communicating with clients and others, we often request the right to use a method of communication that is less secure than some of its less convenient alternatives. An example of this is email. At this time, when we use email, it may be sent as unencrypted plain text. We do this because we believe that many of our clients and others cannot readily process encrypted email. This is done for the convenience of our clients but has the security concern that, if misrouted or intercepted, it could be read more easily than encrypted email. Website We provide clients and others with general access to the Site. When you visit the Site without registering or otherwise interacting with the website, your personal information and email address are not recorded. To access our services, we require you to identify yourself. During the course of an individual’s use of the internet, he or she will learn of the common use of cookies. Cookies are files or pieces of information that may be stored in a computer’s hard drive when an individual visits a website. Most internet browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you do not wish to accept cookies, you can set your browser to refuse cookies or to alert you when cookies are being sent. Our website presently uses cookies. When you leave the Site by linking to another website, you are subject to the privacy and security policies of the new website. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of all websites you visit, especially if you shared any personal information. Information collected to date We would like to have your consent to continue to collect, use and disclose your personal information for the purposes identified above. We are operating on the understanding that we have your consent to collect, use and disclose your personal information collected to date. You may refuse or withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and providing us with reasonable notice of the withdrawal of your consent. If you choose to withdraw consent or not provide certain personal information, your decision may limit the services we can offer. Requests for Access to personal information The law permits individuals to submit written requests to us to provide them with:

• their personal information under our custody or control;

• information about the purposes for which their personal information under our custody or control has been and is being used by us; and

• the names of persons to whom, and the circumstances in which, their personal information has been and is being disclosed by us.

We will make reasonable efforts to assist applicants and to respond as accurately and completely as will respond to requests in the time allowed by the Personal Information Protection Act and reasonably possible. All requests may be subject to any fees and disbursements the law permits us to charge. An individual’s ability to access his or her personal information under our control is not absolute. The law provides that we must not disclose personal information where the disclosure: 

• could reasonably be expected to threaten the safety or physical or mental health of an individual other than the individual who made the request;

• would reveal personal information about another information; or

• would reveal the identity of an individual who has in confidence provided us with an opinion about another individual and the individual providing the opinion does not consent to the disclosure of his or her identity.

The law further provides that we may choose not to disclose personal information where:

• the personal information is protected by any legal privilege;

• the disclosure of the information would reveal confidential commercial information and it is not unreasonable to withhold that information;

• the personal information was collected by us for an investigation or legal proceeding;

• the disclosure of the personal information might result in similar information no longer being provided to us when it is reasonable that it would be provided;

• the personal information was collected or created by a mediator or arbitrator in the conduct of a mediation or arbitration for which he or she was appointed to act under an agreement, under an enactment, or by a court; or

• the personal information relates to or may be used in the exercise of prosecutorial discretion.

The Personal Information Protection Act indicates that it is not to be applied so as to affect any legal privilege. We will not disclose information that is privileged where the applicant is not the client in whom the privilege is vested. Requests for Correction of personal information The law permits individuals to submit written requests to us to correct errors or omissions in their personal information that is in our custody or control. We will: 

• correct the personal information and, if reasonable to do so, send correction notifications to any other organizations to whom we disclosed the incorrect information; and

• decide not to correct the personal information but annotate the personal information that a correction was requested but not made.

Contacting or communicating with us If you have any questions with respect to our policies concerning the handling of your personal information, or if you wish to request access to, or correction of, your personal information under our care and control, please contact: members@songshop.ca