Privacy Policy Act
Our Privacy Code
There was a time when the collection of personal information was quite simple. In keeping with the most recent legislated requirements, Alberta Pork is committed to respecting the privacy of individuals and recognizes the need of people with whom we do business such as our hog producers, buyers, customers and suppliers for the appropriate management & protection of any personal information that you provide us with. Our Privacy Code includes our guidelines on the collection, storage, use and retention of your personal information. In order to keep up with legislation changes, our privacy policy code and our web site at www.albertapork.com may be updated periodically without notice.
Our Commitment
Alberta Pork is proud of its reputation in maintaining the confidentiality and security of personal information. You, as an individual, have a right to know how Alberta Pork collects, uses and discloses personal information. You have the right to expect that, to the best of our ability, your personal information held by us remains accurate, confidential and secure. We've provided this booklet as a simplified version of Alberta Pork's Privacy Code.
What Is Personal Information
Personal information is any information that can identify an individual. Personal information includes but is not limited to:
- Name, address, age, home phone, address, weight, height, gender, marital status
- Financial or credit history
- Identification numbers, place of birth, ethnic origin
- Opinions or comments about an individual
A record of information means a record in any form or in any medium, whether written, printed, photographic or electronic form or any other form, but does not include a computer program or other mechanism that can produce a record.
Business contact information normally found on a business card, such as position title, business telephone numbers (office, cell, fax,) business address and email are not considered personal information.
Why Do We Collect Personal Information
Trust comes with confidence, the more you know about our Privacy Code; the more confident you can feel about your business with Alberta Pork. Alberta Pork is authorized to collect the personal information that we need to carry out our regulatory purposes and duties under the Marketing of Agricultural Products Act ("the Act"), the Alberta Pork Producers Plan Regulation ("the Plan"), the Hog Registration, Licensing and Universal Service Charge Regulation ("the Regulation"), and other regulations made under the Act in respect to Alberta Pork.
These regulatory purposes and duties relate generally to the production and marketing of hogs and pork in Alberta and include the following:
- To register hog producers and farm units;
- To license hog assemblers, transporters and buyers;
- To impose and collect service charges from hog producers;
- To develop identification and traceability criteria necessary to deal with animal health issues;
- To establish a national database for all cloven hoofed animals;
- To reduce the economic, social and environmental impacts of a Foreign Animal Disease outbreak in Canada;
- To direct research as required into animal care activities;
- To proactively address animal care issues in a timely manner;
- To initiate and carry out projects or programs to commence, stimulate, increase or improve the production or marketing, or both, of hogs and pork;
- To support research into hog production, marketing and processing;
- To establish quality standards for hogs and pork;
- To generally represent hog producers and the hog industry;
- To work with marketing commissions and boards and other organizations having similar objectives;
- To meet regulatory requirements set under the Act, the Plan, the Hog Regulation and other regulations relating to Alberta Pork.
We may also collect some additional personal information that we need for the purposes of providing services or information to our producers, processors, customers, members of the public and employees needed to:
- Analyze the suitability of our products or services to you;
- Deliver requested products or services;
- Send out information to producers, processors, transporters, buyers, clients, or members of the public who have asked for the information;
- Notify individuals about upcoming events;
- Meet legal and regulatory requirements.
How Do We Collect Personal Information
We normally collect personal information directly from our producers, buyers, processors, transporters, assemblers, customers, clients, and employees, and members of the public who contact us. We may collect personal information from other persons with consent or as authorized by law pursuant to our regulatory purposes and duties. Under Hog Registration, each new producer, hog assembler, and hog buyer must make an application and must provide the information specified by the Corporation necessary for the purposes of the Plan, this regulation and any other regulation under the Act. The Hog Regulation also requires that producers, assemblers, hog buyers, and processors provide information concerning each hog that is marketed and all service charges that are collected. We may collect personal information without your consent or knowledge for regulatory purposes, or under the following conditions:
- It would compromise the information availability or accuracy;
- It is reasonable to investigate an contravention of the laws; and /or regulations;
- If the information is publicly available as specified in the Alberta Protection of Personal Information Act.
We ask for consent to collect, use and disclose personal information, except where the collection, use or disclosure without consent is part of the ongoing performance of the duties and purposes authorized for Alberta Pork by the Act, the Plan and the Hog Regulation. Where the collection of personal information is for other purposes we will require your consent, except where you volunteer information for an obvious purpose. In circumstances that do not relate to our statutory duties and functions, we may ask for your express consent for some purposes and may not be able to provide certain services if you are unwilling to provide consent to the collection, use or disclosure of certain personal information.
How Is This Information Used
We use personal information collected for our database, our producer registration system, our licensing system, our hog information reporting system, our collection of service charges system, our monthly newsletter and other mail outs by Alberta Pork to our producers. All Director/Delegate information that is collected is used for display on our website and for any other mail outs.
We use and disclose our producers', customers', clients', and employee's personal information only for the purposes, for which it was collected, except as authorized by law. The law also allows us to use that information for the purpose of collecting a debt owed to our organization, should that be necessary.
How Do We Ensure The Accuracy Of Your Personal Information
We will make every effort to ensure that the personal information collected and used is accurate and complete. Any individual has the right to review their personal information held by Alberta Pork. In addition, under the Hog Regulation any existing persons who are registered or licensed must update their information when it becomes necessary. We ask that you advise us in a timely manner should any of your information change by calling the office or in writing so that we can update your information.
How We Will Store Your Information
Alberta Pork will store personal information using hard copy and/or electronic means in such as way as to prevent unauthorized collection, use, access, disclosure, or disposal of the personal information you have provided us.
How Information Is Kept Secure
Physical safeguards include:
- Locked cabinets and storage areas;
- Limited access to areas where personal information is filed;
- The shredding of papers that contain personal information when disposal is required;
- Alarms and pass codes for all restricted areas.
Administrative safeguards include:
- Training staff on privacy policies and procedures;
- The requirement of all staff to sign our confidentiality agreement.
Technical safeguards include:
- Our information technology staff are responsible to provide adequate security of our systems through the installation of anti-virus programs, firewalls and other security measures such as the use of passwords.
How Long We Retain Information
Alberta Pork will retain information as long as it is required for our regulatory purposes and for such periods as may be required by law.
Disclosure Of Personal Information
Alberta Pork will not disclose personal information unnecessarily to employees or any other third party, unless the affected individual provides consent. Consent does not apply to the normal disclosure of personal information as part of our regulatory requirements or as authorized by law. Decisions on the disclosure are shared by management and the Privacy Officer.
Who Has Access To Personal Information
Alberta Pork promotes an individuals right to access their personal information. All employees and third party staff who in any way handle or manage personal information have acknowledged and agreed to adhere to our Privacy Code and the procedures that support that code. In addition to the care that Alberta Pork takes directly, we are also working with our partner organizations that may at some point handle personal information gathered by us in the course of their relationship with us, and service to, us.
Questions or Concerns
Any questions or concerns about the personal information held with Alberta Pork or about our compliance with the Alberta Personal Information & Protection Act can be easily answered at our head office by our Privacy Officer. Please direct any inquires to:
Alberta Pork
Privacy Officer
4828 - 89 St.
Edmonton , Alberta
T6E 5K1
Phone: (780) 474-8288
Fax: (780) 479-5128
External Inquires
If our Privacy Officer is not able to resolve your concern to your complete satisfaction, please speak directly to Mr. Ed Schultz, General Manager of Alberta Pork. If the Manager has been unable to resolve your concerns you may contact:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner
Suite 500 , 640 - 5 th Avenue S.W.
Calgary , Alberta
T2P 3G4
Phone: (403) 297-2728
Toll-free: 1-888-878-4044
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.oipc.ab.ca