Privacy Policy

The Kitchener Horticultural Society (KHS) is not-for-profit charitable organization with a volunteer Executive and Board of Directors whose purpose is to provide leadership and assist in the promotion of education and interest in all areas of horticulture and related environmental issues.

This page summarizes KHS’s privacy policies and procedures that have been developed to comply with Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). PIPEDA sets out rules for the collection, use and disclosure of a member's or volunteer's personal information, as well as safeguarding that information in the course of its activity as defined in the legislation.

What is personal information?

Under PIPEDA, Personal Information means any information that is identifiable to an individual, including name, address, telephone number, Social Insurance Number, and date of birth. It also includes, but is not limited to, other information relating to identity, such as, nationality, gender, marital status, financial information and credit history.

Purposes for personal information

We collect only the personal information required to effectively communicate with and serve you as a member, and to assess your eligibility to receive the benefits and programs offered by the KHS and its partners.

Consent

At the time of completing a membership application, your consent will be sought for the collection, use, retention and disclosure of their personal information for the purposes set out in the KHS privacy policy.

You may choose not to provide some or all of the personal information requested, but if we are unable to collect sufficient information to validate a membership and its benefits, your application may be turned down.

Accuracy

We endeavour to ensure that all personal information in active files is accurate, current and complete. When you notify us that your personal information requires correction or updating, the necessary changes will be made. Information contained in closed files is not updated.

Limiting use, retention & disclosure

We use and retain personal information for only those purposes to which you have consented. Personal information will be disclosed to only those KHS Executive, Directors and committees, and/or Board of Directors that need to know the information for the purposes set out in the KHS Privacy Policy.

Occasionally, we will share your information with 3rd party partners but only if you have consented to sharing this information.

Web browsing, online contests, questions or surveys

When you ask a question, participate in a survey, or enter a contest (sponsored by KHS), through our websites, we may collect your name, address, phone number, email address, commodity type and company name. We use this information to administer your participation.

This site uses “cookies” and collects technical and navigational information that is not personally identifiable to any particular user. For example, computer browser type, Internet protocol address, pages visited and time spent on our website. This information may be used or analyzed by KHS to improve our web design and functionality and our ability to service you and your accounts. Our cookies cannot profile your system or collect information from your hard drive.

Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies, but you can set your browsers to refuse cookies.

Safeguards

To protect your personal information, KHS maintains physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards in keeping with industry standards and practices, all of which are regularly updated in response to changes in technology. We strictly limit access to information about you to those who need to know the information in order to perform their duties. The KHS executive, directors, volunteers are prohibited from accessing our files and databases without proper authorization.

Personal information contained on the KHS computers and the electronic databases are password protected. As well, the Internet server or router has firewall protection to protect against virus attacks and hacking into the database.

Notwithstanding the technological safeguards implemented by the KHS, all Internet transmissions are susceptible to possible loss, misrouting, interception and misuse. For this reason, as part of the application that individuals sign consenting to their personal information being collected, used, retained, and disclosed, the KHS will assume that it has the individual’s consent to communicate via the Internet unless notified to the contrary.

You should always safeguard your own personal information by protecting passwords used to access websites and by safely disposing of records no longer needed.

Individual access

An individual who wishes to review or verify what personal information is held by the KHS, may do so by making a request, in writing to the KHS’s Chief Privacy Officer. Upon verification of the individual’s identity, the Chief Privacy Office will provide a written report within 60 days. Alternatively, you can review and update your profile here.

Investigating complaints

Any concern or issue about the KHS’s personal information handling practices may be made, in writing, to the Chief Privacy Officer. Upon verification of the individual's identity, the Chief Privacy Officer will act promptly to investigate the complaint and provide a written report to the individual. If the individual is dissatisfied with the report provided by the Chief Privacy Officer, or feels that the corrective action taken by the KHS is insufficient, the individual may direct a complaint to the Federal Privacy Commissioner in writing. The address of the Federal Privacy Commissioner is provided in this Privacy Statement for your convenience.

Amendments to our privacy policy

The KHS Privacy Policy and this Privacy Statement may be updated from time to time to reflect amendments in applicable Federal and Provincial laws. Any changes to this Privacy Policy will be posted on the KHS website and will apply to personal information collected from the date of the posting of the revised Privacy Policy.

Contact Information

If you have any questions regarding the Kitchener Horticultural Society’s Privacy Policy, Information Security, Retention and Destruction Policy, and/or this Privacy Statement, or you wish to make an access to personal information request, please contact:

Chief Privacy Officer
Kitchener Horticultural Society
7 Floral Cres.
Kitchener, ON
N2G 4N9
519 745-4669

admin@kitchenerhs.ca