Privacy policy

Scope

This privacy policy describes the information the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) collect’s via the APPA web site, the purpose of the collection, and how the information may be used or disclosed.

Personal Information

Personal information is recorded information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes things such as an individual’s name, address, birth date, email address and phone number.

Collection

When you visit this website, the web server collects a small amount of information to facilitate its operation. For example, IP addresses are collected to identify unauthorized attempts to change information or damage our systems. We do not capture or store personal information such as your name or home address while you visit and use our website.

Web Analytics

The OIPC uses Matomo, a third party service to analyze non-identifiable web traffic data with the purpose of improving the services we offer. The OIPC owns and stores the data that is generated on its secure web server. The collected data will not be shared with any other party for any other purpose.

The OIPC may collect the following information to assist us with improving the website:

  • The pages accessed on our site and links you clicked on
  • The date and time you visited the site
  • If you use our advanced search tool, the search terms you used
  • The referring site (if any) through which you arrived at this site
  • Your operating system (e.g. Windows XP, Mac OS X)
  • The type of web browser you use (e.g. Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox)

IP addresses are anonymized so that they cannot be used to identify individuals. Our web analytics will also respect any “do not track” setting you might have set on your browser.

Our website may use session cookies which are stored in temporary memory and are not retained after you sign out or close the browser session.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file containing certain pieces of information that a website creates when you visit the site. It can track how and when you use a site, which site you visited immediately before, and it can store that information about you. Cookies cannot be used to run programs or deliver viruses to your computer. There are two types of cookies, session cookies and persistent cookies. Our website may use session cookies which are stored in temporary memory and are not retained after you sign out or close the browser session.

Use

The OIPC only uses the personal information collected from the Web site for the same purpose that it was collected. The OIPC will not use your personal information for another purpose without your consent.

Sharing

The OIPC may only disclose your personal information if it is done for the same purpose that it was collected. The OIPC will not share your personal information for another purpose unless the OIPC has your consent to do so. In limited circumstances that are outlined in section 33 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, the OIPC may be required, or authorized, by law to disclose your personal information to another party.

Links

The APPA website contains links to other sites. When clicking on a link, we encourage you to examine the site’s privacy policy and make your own decision regarding the information provided.

How to contact us

If you have questions about this privacy policy, you can contact the Deputy Commissioner at 250-387-5629 or toll free via Enquiry BC at 1-800-663-7867. You can also email us at info@oipc.bc.ca or write to us at:

Office of the Information & Privacy Commissioner for BC
P.O. Box 9038, Stn. Prov. Govt.
Victoria, BC  V8W 9A4