KMS Tools & Equipment Ltd.
Personal Information Protection Policy
At KMS Tools &
Equipment Ltd. (KMS Tools), we are committed to providing our customers with
exceptional service. As providing this
service involves the collection, use and disclosure of some personal
information about our customers protecting their personal information is one of
our highest priorities.
While we have always
respected our customers’ privacy and safeguarded their personal information, we
have strengthened our commitment to protecting personal information as a result
of British Columbia’s Personal
Information Protection Act (PIPA). PIPA, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, sets out the
ground rules for how B.C. businesses and not-for-profit organizations may
collect, use and disclose personal information.
We will inform our
customers of why and how we collect, use and disclose their personal
information, obtain their consent where required, and only handle their
personal information in a manner that a reasonable person would consider
appropriate in the circumstances.
This Personal Information
Protection Policy, in compliance with PIPA, outlines the principles and
practices we will follow in protecting customers’ personal information. Our privacy commitment includes ensuring the
accuracy, confidentiality, and security of our customers’ personal information
and allowing our customers to request access to, and correction of, their
personal information.
Definitions
Personal Information –means information about an identifiable
individual
Business Contact information – means information that would enable
an individual to be contacted at a place of business and includes name,
position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business
email or business fax number. Contact
information is not covered by this policy or PIPA.
Privacy Officer – means the individual designated responsibility for ensuring that KMS Tools complies with this policy and PIPA.
Policy 1 – Collecting Personal Information
1.1
Unless the purposes for
collecting personal information are obvious and the customer voluntarily
provides his or her personal information for those purposes, we will
communicate the purposes for which personal information is being collected,
either orally or in writing, before or at the time of collection.
1.2
We will only collect
customer information that is necessary name, home address, home
telephone number, email address;
to fulfill some or all of the following
purposes:
·
To
verify identity at Point of Sale;
·
To
process a flyer/and or email subscription;
·
To
verify creditworthiness;
·
To
identify customer preferences;
·
To
open and manage an account;
·
To
deliver requested products and services
·
To
send out association membership information;
·
To
ensure a high standard of service to our customers;
·
To
meet regulatory requirements;
Policy
2 – Consent
2.1
We will obtain
customer consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except
where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).
2.2
Consent can
be provided orally, in writing,
electronically, through an authorized representative or it can be implied
where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information
would be considered obvious and the customer voluntarily provides personal
information for that purpose.
2.3
Consent may
also be implied where a customer is given notice and a reasonable opportunity
to opt-out of his or her personal information being used for mail-outs or the
marketing of new services and the customer does not opt-out.
2.4
Subject to
certain exceptions (e.g., the personal information is necessary to provide the
service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the
performance of a legal obligation), customers can withhold or withdraw their
consent for KMS Tools to use their personal information in certain ways. A customer’s decision to withhold or withdraw
their consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our ability
to provide a particular service or product.
If so, we will explain the situation to assist the customer in making
the decision.
2.5
We may collect, use
or disclose personal information without the customer’s knowledge or consent in
the following limited circumstances:
·
When
the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or
required by law;
·
When
we require legal advice from a lawyer;
·
For
the purposes of collecting a debt;
·
To
protect ourselves from fraud;
·
To
investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law
Policy 3 –
Using and Disclosing Personal Information
3.1
We will only use or
disclose customer personal information where necessary to fulfill the purposes
identified at the time of collection
·
To
conduct customer surveys in order to enhance the provision of our services;
·
To
distribute monthly Flyer and Email promotional material
·
To
contact our customers directly about products and services that may be of
interest
3.2
We will not use or
disclose customer personal information for any additional purpose unless we
obtain consent to do so.
3.3
We will not sell
customer lists or personal information to other parties [unless we have consent to do so].
Policy 4 – Retaining Personal
Information
4.1
If we use customer
personal information to make a decision that directly affects the customer we
will retain that personal information for at least one year so that the
customer has a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.
4.2
Subject to
policy 4.1, we will retain customer personal information only as long as
necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.
Policy 5 – Ensuring Accuracy of
Personal Information
5.1
We will make
reasonable efforts to ensure that customer personal information is accurate and
complete where it may be used to make a decision about the customer or
disclosed to another organization.
5.2
Customers may
request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its
accuracy and completeness. A request to
correct personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail
to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
A request to correct personal information
should be forwarded to the KMS Coquitlam Branch
Email coquitlam@kmstools.com or
fax 1-800-567-3799 toll free Phone: 1-800-567-8979 toll free
5.3
If the personal
information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, we will correct the
information as required and send the corrected information to any organization
to which we disclosed the personal information in the previous year. If the correction is not made, we will note
the customers’ request in the file.
Policy 6 – Securing Personal
Information
6.1
We are committed to
ensuring the security of customer personal information in order to protect it
from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or
disposal or similar risks.
6.2
The following
security measures will be followed to ensure that customer personal information
is appropriately protected:
[The use of locked filing cabinets; physically
securing offices where personal information is held; the use of user IDs,
passwords, encryption, firewalls; restricting employee access to personal
information as appropriate (i.e., only those that need to know will have
access; contractually requiring any
service providers to provide comparable security measures].
6.3
We will use
appropriate security measures when destroying customer’s personal information
such as [Including: Verified Document Shredding Service and
deleting electronically stored information].
6.4
We will continually
review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to
ensure ongoing personal information security.
Policy 7 – Providing Customers Access
to Personal Information
7.1 Customers have a right to access their
personal information
7.2 A request to access personal information must be made in
writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information
being sought. A request to access personal
information should be forwarded to: Email
coquitlam@kmstools.com or
fax 1-800-567-3799 toll free Phone: 1-800-567-8979 toll free
7.3
Upon request, we will
also tell customers how we use their personal information and to whom it has
been disclosed if applicable.
7.4
We will make the
requested information available within 30 business days, or provide written
notice of an extension where additional time is required to fulfill the
request.
7.5
No fee will be
charged
7.6
If a request is
refused in full or in part, we will notify the customer in writing, providing
the reasons for refusal and the recourse available to the customer.
Policy 8 – Questions and
Complaints: The Role of the Privacy
Officer or designated individual
8.1
The Privacy Officer
is responsible for ensuring KMS Tools & Equipment Ltd. compliance with this
policy and the Personal Information
Protection Act.
8.2
Customers
should direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding KMS Tools &
Equipment Ltd. compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy
Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the customer may also write to the
Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.
Contact
information for KMS Tools & Equipment’s
Privacy Officer:
Ryan Hare
110 Woolridge Street
Coquitlam, BC V3K 5V4
T: 1-800-567-8979
F: 1-800-567-3799
ryanh@kmstools.com
www.kmstools.com
