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Privacy Policy

ShelterBox Canada is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy

Privacy Policy


We respect your privacy.

When you visit our website, contact us, participate in one of our programs, become a member of ShelterBox Canada, or make a donation to support our activities, we are committed to protecting your privacy rights and your personal information. Any and all personal information collected at this site is kept strictly confidential and is only used for the purposes specified at the time of collection to which you consent. The objective of the Privacy Policy is to outline for you your rights and our obligations when you provide your personal information to ShelterBox Canada.

Information we may collect from you

We may collect and process the following data about you:

  • Information that you provide by filling in forms on our site www.shelterboxcanada.org (our
    site). This includes information provided at the time you sign up for our newsletter. We may
    also ask you for information when you report a problem with our site;
  • If you contact us, we may keep a record of that correspondence; and
  • Details of your visits to our site and the resources that you access.

IP addresses and cookies

We may collect information about your computer, including where available your IP address, operating system and browser type, for system administration. This is statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns, and does not identify any individual.

For the same reason, we may obtain information about your general internet usage by using a cookie file which is stored on the hard drive of your computer. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive. They help us to improve our site and to deliver a better and more personalised service. They enable us:

  • to estimate our audience size and usage pattern.
  • to store information about your preferences, and so allow us to customise our site according
  • to your individual interests; and
  • to recognise you when you return to our site.

You may refuse to accept cookies by activating the setting on your browser which allows you to refuse the setting of cookies. However, if you select this setting you may be unable to access certain parts of our site. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies when you log on to our site.

Privacy Policies of Other Sites

The website provides links to many other sites. Some of these sites may use cookies to collect personal information or commercial data. ShelterBox Canada is not responsible for the privacy practices of sites to which it links, and advises you to review the privacy policies of those sites when visiting such sites.

Security

All information provided to ShelterBox Canada is transmitted using SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption. SSL is a proven coding system that lets your browser automatically encrypt, or scramble, data before you send it to us. Unfortunately, however, no data transmission over the Internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot ensure or warrant the security of such information.

Definition of “Personal Information”

Personal information is any information about a specific, identifiable individual, including such commonly available details as name, address, and telephone number.

However, business contact information, such as your business card details, is not “personal information” under federal or provincial privacy statutes.

This privacy policy is based upon the Canadian Standards Association (“CSA”) Model Code and reflects the requirements of applicable Canadian legislation.  The CSA Code incorporates the principle that every element of personal information should only be used for purposes that are defined and explained in advance to the individual, and that use or disclosure for any other purposes requires further knowledge and consent.

We have adopted the 10 Privacy Principles contained within the CSA Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information, which is a national standard of Canada. Additionally, we have implemented any steps required to become compliant with applicable laws in Canada that protect personal information.

Our 10 Privacy Principles

1. Our responsibility to protect your personal information 

We are responsible for the protection of your personal information collected from donors through our fundraising and program activities, those who choose to become members of ShelterBox Canada, and those who assist us by volunteering their time and efforts. This responsibility extends when personal information is transferred to or collected by third parties on our behalf.

2. Our obligation to identify the purposes for collecting personal information 

Before we collect any personal information from you, we will identify the purpose for the collection, such as in our donation form, membership application or a volunteer application. A statement of such purposes will be communicated wherever possible.

3. The requirement for knowledge and consent 

We will only collect personal information with your knowledge and consent. This may be with your express consent, for example, where you voluntarily provide information on a form for purposes you clearly understand and accept, such as completion of a donation form.

4. Limiting information collection 

We only collect personal information relevant to the purposes that have been identified. Typically, and depending on the type of communication or transaction, the personal information we collect may include but is not limited to, your name, postal address, telephone number, e-mail address, and credit card or bank information or billing information if you are making a donation or paying for your membership.

Please note that we do NOT retain credit card or banking information beyond the processing of the transaction, unless you have agreed to a monthly or other continuing donation program.  We collect information fairly and lawfully, and directly from individuals wherever possible. You have the right to provide as much, or as little personal information as you choose to share.

5. Limiting use, disclosure and retention of your information

We will use your personal information to send you our newsletters or other updates about our Canadian programs from time to time.

You can withdraw your consent to use of your personal information from receipt of marketing or any other contact from us at any time at:

ShelterBox Canada at 200-2010 Winston Park Drive, Oakville, ON L6H 5R7
Attention:  Privacy Officer

or by phone at:  1-855-875-4661

or by email at:  [email protected]

In addition, we may disclose your personal information to our third party service agents, such as the credit card company processing your payment to complete your donation, the mailing house or electronic service provider to send you information about our programs, and like administration purposes. We require our service agents to provide agreements to us to keep your personal information securely and only for the purposes for which we gave them your information.

From time to time, we may also disclose your personal information to third parties upon the happening of certain events such as the following:

  • If ShelterBox Canada ceases to be licenced by Shelter Box Trust, and ShelterBox Trust licences a new entity to carry on the same charitable work in Canada; or
  • In the event that we merge with another charity; or
  • If we are obliged to fulfill legal requirements or as otherwise permitted by law.

6. Our responsibility to ensure the accuracy of your personal information 

Virtually all of the personal information that we collect comes directly from our individual members, donors and volunteers as they complete one of our forms. If any of your information has changed, we would be pleased to work with you to update the accuracy of our records about you.  You may contact us at any time for this purpose at the ShelterBox Canada contact details set out above.

7. Our responsibility to safeguard your personal information 

We use safeguards to keep your electronic records securely.  Paper records are kept in secure cabinets.  In all cases, your personal information is restricted to only those of our employees with a “need to know” to process your donation, membership or volunteer relationship with us, or to forward information about our programs to you.

8. Our obligation to be open about our privacy policy and practices 

We are open about our policies and procedures. We make reasonable efforts to inform individuals about our policies and procedures, the purposes for which we collect, use or disclose personal information, and how to access your personal information.

9. Your right to access your personal information 

Upon request, we will inform you if we hold any personal information about you and provide you with access to this information. If we have any personal information about you, we will also tell you for what purposes it is used or disclosed.

You have a right to update any personal information that we hold about you. Should you wish to see the full contents of your personal  information file, you must make a formal written request and mail it to:  ShelterBox Canada, 200-2020 Winston Park Drive, Oakville ON L6H 5R7  Attention:  Privacy Officer.  We will respond to you within thirty days, or let you know why there might be a delay.

10. Your right to challenge our compliance with our privacy policy

If, for any reason, you are concerned about our compliance with our privacy policy, please contact our Executive Director at the address listed above, by phone at 1-855-875-4661 or email at: [email protected]

Changes to our privacy policy

Any changes we may make to our privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page and, where appropriate, notified to you by e-mail.