Private-sector organizations that collect, use or disclose personal information in the course of commercial activities are subject to Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and to provincial privacy statutes, where applicable. The Western Canadian Geo Association (WCGeo) is committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality and security of personal information about its member representatives and customers and has therefore established this Privacy Policy.

 

This Privacy Policy sets out the practices and procedures of WCGEO in connection with the personal information that WCGEO collects, uses and discloses about its member representatives and its customers. "Member representatives", for the purposes of this policy, are employees or representatives of WCGEO member companies. "Customers", for the purposes of this policy, are individuals who purchase products or services from WCGEO, including training and certification programs. By applying for membership or renewing membership, the company member delegate confirms that it has obtained consent from any individual in respect of whom the company member delegate discloses personal information to WCGEO for the collection, use and disclosure of such personal information by WCGEO in accordance with this policy. By requesting WCGEO products and services, a customer consents to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information in accordance with this policy.

 

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information does not include business information (i.e. information about corporations, partnerships or other organizations) or the name, title, business address or business phone number of an employee of an organization.

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Information Collection, Use and Disclosure

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WCGEO collects, uses and may disclose personal information about member representatives and customers who request information from WCGEO for the following purposes:

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• To process membership, course and event applications;

• To provide products and services to member representatives and customers;

• To make publicly available and to Government Ministries, a list of certified individuals;

• To communicate with member representatives and customers, including communications regarding goods and services offered by WCGEO and selected service providers;

• For payment of products or services;

• For accounting and billing purposes;

• For internal management and audit purposes; and

• To meet legal and regulatory requirements.

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Personal information collected about member representatives and customers may include:

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• Home address and home telephone numbers;

• Survey opinions, consumer opinions/complaints; and

• Conference/training registrations that may include food and hotel preferences, etc.

 

In addition to collecting personal information directly from member representatives and customers, WCGEO may obtain information from other sources including:

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• Financial institutions or other lenders;

• Credit bureaus; and

• Other third parties that represent they have the right to disclose such personal information.

 

INFORMATION WE MAY COLLECT AUTOMATICALLY

We also may use, collect, track, and store certain data automatically when you visit the Sites, including:

 

Your IP address;

The website that referred you to the Sites;

The search terms you used to find the Sites;

Your device information, such as operating system, browser type, and device type, used to access the Sites;

Session information, including how you use the Sites; and

Cookies and other technologies, such as pixel tags, described in more detail below, see “Cookies and Online Advertising.”

We might use this information, for example, to better understand visitor behavior, to improve services and advertising, or to provide our members with more useful information about our Sites.

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WCGEO does not sell or rent any of the personal data we collect or maintain. WCGEO does not maintain or use any payment information beyond the immediate need to process a transaction.

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In the course of meeting our members’ needs and in improving our services, we may share certain data, including personal information, with service providers, vendors, marketing agencies and services, data management and analytics services, affiliates, and contract workers. If you tell us that you do not want your personal information used for further marketing contact, please contact us and we will respect your wishes.

 

Additionally, we may store certain data, including personal information, on servers located at third-party data centers. In addition, we may obtain data, including personal information, from outside sources.

 

WCGEO may disclose your personal information in connection with a business transaction, such as a sale of all or a portion of our business or assets. In that case, your information may be shared with the prospective purchaser or investor and transferred as part of the transaction.

 

Other than as described above, WCGEO discloses your personal information only when permitted to do so by law, or when WCGEO believes in good faith that disclosure is reasonably necessary to protect the property, rights or safety of WCGEO, third parties or the public at large. This may include providing or using personal information to comply with any valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order or to assist in any legal investigation or other proceeding when we deem necessary or appropriate.

Website

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The WCGEO website may contain links to other websites, which are not governed by this Privacy Policy. WCGEO's internet service provider (ISP) may automatically record some general information about your visit. This information would be used for statistical analysis, to help us make our site more useful to visitors. If you do not wish to provide this information, please do not use the WCGEO website. The collection of this information is secured by WCGEO password access only.

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Consent to Information Collection, Use and Disclosure

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By applying for membership or renewing membership, the company member delegate confirms that it has obtained consent from any individual in respect of whom the company member delegate discloses personal information to WCGEO for the collection, use and disclosure of such personal information by WCGEO in accordance with this policy. By requesting WCGEO products and services, a customer consents to the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information in accordance with this policy.

You may inform WCGEO that you are withdrawing your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. However, should you withdraw your consent for some or all purposes, WCGEO may not be able to serve you effectively.

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SECURITY

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WCGEO maintains administrative, technical and physical safeguards to protect against unauthorized disclosure, use, alteration or destruction of the personal information in its possession appropriate to the sensitivity and nature of the information. WCGEO is committed to providing appropriate security controls to protect personal information that it holds.

Retention Policies

WCGEO retains personal information about its member representatives and customers for a sufficient time for the purposes for which it is collected and for a reasonable period thereafter. WCGEO has adopted minimum and maximum retention periods for personal information.

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Keeping Information Accurate

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WCGEO will update or amend any personal information that it holds if it is provided with updated or amended information by a member representative or customer. WCGEO will use its reasonable efforts to maintain accurate information as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

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DO NOT TRACK

 

We may also use data we collect, including personal information, to track visits to the Sites and improve the user experience of the Sites. If you have enabled the Do Not Track feature in your browser, our technology observes that signal and does not utilize information collected through the Sites to further track you. However, we may track clicks from data obtained through other means, including newsletters, promotional offers, and the like. WCGEO does not authorize third parties to collect your information or to conduct their own online tracking of you while you are on the Sites.

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COOKIES AND ONLINE ADVERTISING

 

As true of most websites, we use cookies or similar tracking technology to collect information about your use of the Sites, which may be used to provide you with advertising or other services that are tailored to you and your interests. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, and you can generally adjust your browser settings in order to delete or block certain cookies.

CHILDREN

 

 

The Sites are not directed to children and we do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children. If a parent or guardian becomes aware that his or her child has provided us with information without their consent, he or she should contact us at info@WCGeo.org. We will delete such data from our files upon request.

CHOICE AND OPT-OUT

We only send permission-based email for notification of membership or certification expiration data, for industry updates, and for marketing purposes. In addition, users always have the opportunity to opt-out or change preferences via a link in the footer of all non-transactional email messages. These options are made available when you sign-up for our email lists and in email messages delivered from our company. Alternatively, you may contact us. If you believe that you have received an unsolicited commercial email from WCGEO on behalf of any of our customers, you may report it to us.

 

Some communications (e.g. important account notifications and billing information) are considered transactional and are necessary for members and certified individuals. Please note that unsubscribing from e-mail messages will also remove notification of membership and certification expiration dates. It will be your responsibility to contact us for renewal of membership or certification if you have opted out of e-mail messages.

 

UPDATES TO PRIVACY POLICY

 

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time, and in our sole discretion. When we do so, you will see the changes on this page, and we will update the effective date of the Privacy Policy on the Sites. In all cases, WCGEO’s use of the information we collect is subject to the Privacy Policy in effect at the time such information is collected.

How to Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or WCGEO's collection, use and disclosure of your personal information, or to make an access request or for further information about WCGEO's privacy practices, please contact the WCGEO Privacy Officer by e-mail.

Changes to the Privacy Policy

WCGEO reserves the right to revise this Privacy Policy. The date this Privacy Policy was last revised was September 23, 2023