CAG Privacy Policy

The Canadian Association on Gerontology (CAG) is committed to protecting the privacy of its members and others and to safeguarding their personal information. All personal information collected by CAG via the website (www.cagacg.ca) or otherwise is collected, used and disclosed by CAG in compliance with relevant privacy laws, including, where applicable, the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). If you have any concerns about the privacy of your information and/or database(s) simply contact us by phone at (613) 271-1083 or by e-mail and we will gladly address your concerns.

Protecting Personal Information

All personal information collected from members and non-members such as addresses, e-mails, and telephone and fax numbers, as well as age, occupation, etc., is stored in the CAG database. Personal information collected is used by CAG for the purposes outlined in this Policy.

This database can only be accessed by CAG staff and is secured by a firewall. The CAG only collects personal information that individuals choose to provide. This information is deemed confidential. Personal information collected by CAG may also be used for statistical purposes in an unattributed form . For example, CAG may distribute aggregate numbers i.e. membership statistics to members of the Board for analysis of trends and to plan recruitment and retention strategies.

The CAG website is used to collect some personal information through the "Membership Form," "Donations Form," "Conference Abstract Form", the "Call for Experts Form" etc. CAG does not collect personal information about an individual unless he/she chooses to provide that information. Any personally identifiable data about members or website visitors is stored securely and used only for the purpose for which it was provided to us. The purposes for collecting and using the information are described in the section below, "Purposes for using Personal Information".

Payment Data Collected

All credit card information as well as cheques submitted to the CAG are stored in a secure place in the CAG offices. After processing a credit card payment, CAG retains the credit card information in its original format for one year, and then it is shredded. The one-year timeline is in the event that verification of consent and/or payment is required by the payee or the auditor.

All credit card information is sent to our payment partner for use in payment approval and processing only. For further information on the payment partner's privacy policy, please contact the CAG Office.

Purposes for using Personal Information

The personal information provided to CAG – such as name, address, etc. – allows CAG to process the application or other form; to contact members and non-members in order to inform them about events, activities or special offers which may be of interest, to send out newsletters, to solicit donations and membership renewals, and to provide information to third parties as described in the next section. By becoming a member, requesting information, or by registering for events or conferences offered by CAG, members and non-members are giving CAG permission to use their information and to contact them for these purposes by way of the information provided. You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting the CAG Office. The CAG will explain the consequences of your withdrawal of consent.

Disclosures to Third Parties

From time to time, educational institutions and professional associations ask to purchase the CAG membership list in order to send advertisements or information that may be of interest. All requests are vetted by the CAG prior to sending out the membership labels. Members have the option of not consenting to receive information from third parties or from the CAG by checking off the "opting out clause" on the membership application and renewal forms, or by contacting the CAG directly at (613) 271-1083 .

CAG may disclose personal information to third party service providers who process information on CAG's behalf. CAG requires all such service providers to agree to handle personal information in accordance with applicable laws.

CAG may share aggregate information about its members – not individual data – with sponsors, potential sponsors and other parties to help them better understand CAG and the interests of members. Aggregate information is also used to provide CAG with demographic data about its members in order to improve the organization and the programs and services provided.

Except as set out in this Policy, or as otherwise permitted or required by law, CAG does not disclose personal information that it collects to third parties.

CAG Website

By using the website, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Policy. The CAG does not currently collect payment on-line via the CAG web site. All forms, with the exception of the Conference Abstract and the Call for Experts submissions, may be completed on-line then sent to the CAG Office by fax or post. The Abstract and Call for Experts are submitted electronically via the CAG web site to a specified CAG e-mail, which is secured by a firewall. The operating system for the CAG website (www.cagacg.ca) may automatically record some general information about your visit, such as:

• The Internet domain for the visitor's Internet service provider, such as "company.com" or "service.ca" and the IP address of the computer accessing the website, such as "ppp-55";
• The type of browser (such as "Netscape version x" or "Internet Explorer version x") used;
• The type of operating system used (such as Macintosh, Unix, or Windows);
• The date and time our site was visited and the web pages visited on our site, along with the address of the previous website visited, if linked to CAG from another website.

The CAG website may use "cookies" that identify you as a return visitor. A cookie is a piece of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then store the cookie on your hard drive. So, when you come back to visit CAG's website again, information can be tailored to suit your individual preferences. The goal is to save you time and provide you with a more meaningful visit and to measure website activity. Browsers such as Netscape allow you to disable cookie collection if you wish, or inform you when a cookie is being stored on your hard drive.

If you would like to browse the CAG site, you may do so without accepting cookies. However, you should understand that if you choose not to accept cookies, certain aspects of the site may not function properly and you may not have access to certain areas of the site, such as the membership, awards, call for abstract forms.

CAG uses this information to help us make our site more useful to visitors. We may disclose this information, in aggregate form only, to third parties such as university organizations, advertisers, or sponsors and/or use it for auditing purposes.

When Leaving The CAG Website

This policy discloses the privacy practices for the CAG website. However, the CAG website contains links to other sites. Once a link is made to another site, the privacy and security policies of the new site are invoked. CAG encourages members to read the privacy policies of all websites visited, especially if any personal information is sent to the site.

Further information on privacy issues may be found on the website of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at www.privcom.gc.ca/

Access to Personal Information

At the request of the individual, CAG will inform an individual of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information. Requests may be made by contacting the Privacy Officer at the address below. CAG will disclose whether or not it holds personal information about the individual, the source of the information and an account of third parties to whom the information has been disclosed. CAG will also allow the individual to receive copies of or view the information. In circumstances where information cannot be disclosed, CAG will explain its inability to provide access. There may be a reasonable administrative fee to cover the costs of providing access.

CAG will correct or amend any personal information that is shown to be inaccurate or incomplete.

Further Information

The CAG Privacy Officer is appointed by the CAG Board of Directors and is accountable for CAG's compliance with privacy laws. For more information about CAG's privacy policies or to make a complaint, please contact:

The CAG Privacy Officer

December 2003