Introduction

The Association
The Engineers and Geoscientists Act (the Act) authorizes the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of British Columbia (APEGBC) to regulate the practice of both professional engineering and professional geoscience in this Province, and to regulate the professional conduct of  members of the Association.

The principal reason for the Provincial Government giving this authority to the Association is to protect the safety, health and welfare of the public and of the environment and to promote health and safety within the workplace.

In order to fulfill its mandate under the Act APEGBC has established academic and experience standards to be met by applicants for membership, has established a practice review program to audit the professional practice of individual members and investigates complaints against members, which may result in disciplinary action being taken, all in accordance with provisions of the Act.

In order to carry out these activities APEGBC must collect personal information about applicants, members, licensees and, on occasion, non-members or companies, that may be involved in providing professional services that are governed by the Act.

In 1992 the Provincial Government passed the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the FOI Act) to regulate the collection and dissemination of information by what are identified in the FOI Act as “public bodies”.   APEGBC is one of fifty-three organizations covered by the FOI Act and designated as “local public bodies” for purposes of that act.

The FOI Act is intended to make public bodies more accountable to the public by giving the public a right of access to records held by a public body, and to protect personal privacy giving individuals a right of access to, and correction of, personal information about themselves collected by a public body.

The FOI Act specifies limited exceptions to those rights of access, prevents the unauthorized collection, use or disclosure of personal information by public bodies and provides for an independent review of decisions made under the FOI Act by public bodies.
The Information and Privacy Commissioner, appointed under the FOI Act, is authorized to review any decisions of a public body, upon receipt of a request from an applicant who is dissatisfied with the decision of a public body, in relation to the applicant’s request for information.

Personal Information
The FOI Act includes the following definition:

 “personal information” means any recorded information that uniquely identifies an individual, such as name, address, telephone number, age, sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, fingerprints, or blood type.  Personal information also includes health care, educational, financial, criminal, or employment history and anyone else’s opinions about you or your own views or opinions.

 “non-personal information” means any recorded information that does not uniquely identify an individual, such as industry or expertise, or in the case of internet use, IP address (the location of the computer on the internet), pages accessed and files downloaded. This information doesn't tell us anything about who you are or where you live; it simply allows us to keep demographic statistics in the interest of improving our member services and website.

APEGBC recognizes its obligation to keep all personal information collected for our records secure, in accordance with the requirements of both our Act and the FOI Act, and has developed this policy statement to explain the privacy policies and practices of APEGBC to the public, to applicants and to members. 

The FOI Act and other legislation may require or authorize the disclosure of personal information.  Types of personal information that may be disclosed include name, work address and work telephone numbers of members (where disclosure is not for the purpose of solicitations), details of member licenses, the position, functions and remuneration of APEGBC officers and members and other types of personal information for the purpose of law enforcement and other purposes authorized by law.

This policy statement describes the information that is collected by APEGBC, the purposes for which the information is used and how the information is stored and accessed. The personal information that is collected by APEGBC will only be used in ways that are consistent with the requirements of the law, including our Act, the FOI Act and compatible with the following policies and practices

Information Collected
The following information on an individual is collected and/or recorded by APEGBC:

• Name
• Date of birth, gender, languages spoken
• Citizenship
• Application References
• Home Address, Telephone Number, and E-mail Address
• Employment Information, including employer’s name and job title
• Work Address, Telephone Number, and E-mail Address
• Work E-mail Address
• Cellular Telephone Number
• Academic Information, including: degrees, diplomas and certificates held; school attended; year of graduation; discipline of study; examinations assigned by APEGBC, candidate performance and other information pertinent to the registration and licensing process.
• Work experience and history
• Grade of membership
• Licence number
• APEGBC Database Identification Number
• Complaint investigation record
• Disciplinary action record, including: penalty imposed; conditions on membership; fines imposed; costs assessed
• Court Orders granted
• Practice Review record
• Discipline of evaluation for registration and licensing purposes
• Demographics provided by the applicant on a voluntary basis:  Languages spoken, Industry and Area of Expertise.
  

In addition, the following information on a corporation or other legal entity may be collected and/or recorded by APEGBC:

• Corporate name
• Corporate address, telephone and fax numbers, and E-mail and website addresses
• Corporate officer’s names
• Corporate employee’s names
• Enforcement investigation record
• Court Orders granted

Use of Information
The information collected by APEGBC is used to:

• Assess an individual's eligibility to be granted and to maintain membership
• Disclose to the public the name and identifying information of a member
• Keep current the contact information in the APEGBC database
• Develop and improve our member benefits and services;
• Conduct surveys of the engineers and geoscientists in BC for statistical and research purposes
• Develop and improve the policies and operations of the Association

Use of Personal Information
All information collected by APEGBC is used only for purposes allowed or required under law, including our Act and the FOI Act. Although the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act (the PIPA) does not apply to APEGBC, your personal information will not be sold, rented, or shared* without your written permission, except where required by law, as provided for in the PIPA.

From time to time APEGBC may send the members an E-mail message on news items of general interest or announcing new member services. *We may also disclose limited personal information (e.g. name, mailing or E-mail addresses, etc.) to our affinity benefit partners. These are select and trusted companies that may contact you to offer goods or services at a special, discounted APEGBC member rate. Each affinity provider has entered into a contract that prohibits the selling, transferal, sharing, or disclosure of any personal information provided to them by APEGBC. As a member, you may choose not to receive this information.  To opt out of the mailings and other information from these affinity partners, please contact us at privacy@apeg.bc.ca.

Ten Privacy Principles
APEGBC follows the Canadian Standards Association guidelines for collection, use, security, and disclosure of personal information.

Accountability
APEGBC is responsible for the personal information under its control. We have designated a Privacy Coordinator to be accountable for our compliance with this policy.

APEGBC's Privacy Coordinator is the Assistant to the Director of Registration and can be contacted by email at privacy@apeg.bc.ca or by calling the APEGBC office at 604.430.8035.

Identifying Purposes
APEGBC identifies the purposes for which personal information is collected at or before the time the information is collected.

Consent
The knowledge and consent of the individual are required for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information, except where authorized by law.

Members or licensees who no longer wish to receive our newsletter, promotional materials, or affinity programs may opt out of receiving these communications by sending an email to privacy@apeg.bc.ca.

Limiting Collection
The collection of personal information is limited to that which is necessary for its identified purposes. APEGBC collects personal information by fair and lawful means.

Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention
Personal information is not used or disclosed by APEGBC for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. APEGBC retains information only as long as necessary to fulfill its purposes. When personal information is no longer needed for the identified purposes, it is safely and securely destroyed.

Accuracy
Personal information collected and held by APEGBC is as accurate, complete, and as current as necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.

If personally identifiable information changes (such as your email or mailing addresses), we encourage you to contact us with the new details. Please email information to privacy@apeg.bc.ca.

Safeguards
APEGBC protects personal information using safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information. This includes limiting access to APEGBC staff and/or appointed volunteers on a need-to-know basis.

Openness
APEGBC makes readily available to individuals specific information about its personal information management policies and practices. You are always welcome to contact us if you have any questions about our privacy policies and practices.

Individual Access
APEGBC informs individuals of the existence, use, and disclosure of their personal information upon written request and gives them access to that information as required by law. Individuals may challenge the accuracy and completeness of their information and have it amended as appropriate.

Challenging Compliance
An individual is able to address a challenge concerning compliance with the principles in this policy to APEGBC's Privacy Coordinator at privacy@apeg.bc.ca.

Website Privacy
APEGBC recognizes the importance of the security of your personal information. You have the choice to provide us with your personal information. Please read this website privacy policy closely. By using the APEGBC site, you agree to the terms of this privacy statement.

How APEGBC Collects Information
Every computer connected to the Internet is given a domain name and a set of numbers that serve as that computer's 'Internet Protocol' IP address. When a user visits our website, our web servers automatically recognize that visitor's domain name and IP address. The domain name and IP address reveal nothing personal about you other than the IP address of the computer from which you have accessed our site. We use this information to examine our traffic, but do not collect and evaluate this information for individuals. Our web servers do not record the e-mail addresses of the visitors.

Certain parts of the APEGBC website are reserved for our members and licensees. If you choose to login to one of our online services, we may ask personal information such as your APEGBC System ID number, password, email address, or birth date. By requesting information such as your ID number and password, we can confirm your identity to grant you access to these protected pages. Should you choose not to provide us with this personal information, you will not be able to access this part of our website.

Use of Cookies
APEGBC's website uses 'cookie' technology to aid in monitoring traffic and website function. A cookie is a small piece of data that is sent to your browser from a web server and stored on your computer's hard drive. A cookie can't read data off your hard disk or read cookie files created by other sites. Cookies do not damage your system and are commonly used in website design. APEGBC uses cookies to identify which areas of our website you have visited, so the next time you visit, those pages are more readily accessible. We may use this information to better personalize the content that you see on our site and to measure traffic in certain parts of our site.
You can choose whether to accept cookies by changing the settings of your browser. You can reset your browser to refuse all cookies, or allow your browser to show you when a cookie is being sent. If you choose not to accept these cookies, your experience at our site and other web sites may be limited and some features may not work as intended.

Other Sites
Please remember that when you use a link to go from APEGBC's pages to another website, this privacy policy is no longer in effect. This privacy policy applies only to the APEGBC website. Please read the privacy policy of any site that you visit to determine what information that site may be collecting about you.

Contact Us
We always respect your privacy preferences. If you have any questions about APEGBC's privacy policies or practices, you are welcome to contact us by email at privacy@apeg.bc.ca or by phone at 604-430-8035.