Updated: September 28, 2024
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About this Policy
Your privacy is important to us. The BC SPCA is committed to protecting and ensuring the confidentiality of any Personal Information you provide to us.
This Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) addresses how The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (the “BC SPCA,” “we,” “our,” “us”) handles the information we gather from third parties including, but not limited to, visitors to BC SPCA managed websites, including spca.bc.ca (the “websites”), donors and users of the BC SPCA’s Services (collectively “You”, “Your”, etc.). This Privacy Policy describes the ways in which we collect, use and share Personal Information. Our Privacy Policy applies whenever you visit the website or use the Services.
Please read this Privacy Policy carefully. By using our websites, or otherwise providing us with your Personal Information, you are hereby consenting to the BC SPCA’s collection, use, and disclosure of your Personal Information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy, you may not continue to use our websites or Services.
For the purposes of this Privacy Policy,
“Personal Information” means any information that relates to you and either identifies you directly or could be used to identify you with other information available. It includes your name, age, marital status, email address, phone number, mailing address and banking or credit card information. It does not include data where the information that identifies you has been removed, such as pseudonymised or anonymous data.
Contact Information
“Services” means the BC SPCA’s activities, events, programs and services, including but not limited to the animal protection services, animal care services (including adoption, emergency boarding, spay/neuter applications and fostering), veterinary services, revenue generation programs, volunteer programs, animal helpline, community services and engagement.
Questions, concerns or complaints relating to the BC SPCA’s policy on the treatment of Personal Information should be emailed to the BC SPCA Privacy Officer at privacy@spca.bc.ca. Further information on privacy and your rights in regard to your Personal Information may be found on the website of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/ or the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia at https://www.oipc.bc.ca/.
Changes to this Policy
This Privacy Policy may change from time to time, as reflected in the revision date above, to reflect changing legal, regulatory or operational requirements. If we are required by applicable laws to obtain your consent to any material changes to this Privacy Policy, then we will do so before such changes take effect.
Your continued use of these websites or Services after we make changes constitutes deemed consent to have your Personal Information processed in accordance with this policy.
Third Party Links
To provide you with more information on various issues, we may provide links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share Personal Information about you. We do not control these third-party websites, plug-ins and applications and are not responsible for their privacy statements, practices and viewpoints. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.
How we collect and use your personal information
We will limit our collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information to purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances. We will not collect, use, or disclose Personal Information except for the identified purposes for collection, unless you have provided your consent (implied or express) or the processing is legally authorized without consent.
Depending on the kind of Personal Information you are providing, you may be asked to consent orally, in writing or electronically. The consent we seek from you may be implied or express, depending on the nature and sensitivity of the Personal Information.
When your consent is not required by law
The BC SPCA will obtain your consent to collect, use, or disclose Personal Information, except where we are legally authorized or required by law to do so without consent. For example, we may collect, use or disclose Personal Information without your knowledge if the collection, use or disclosure is clearly in your interest and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way, or in response to a lawful request such as a subpoena, warrant or court order.
Withdrawing your consent
You may withdraw consent at any time by giving us reasonable notice, unless withdrawing consent would frustrate our performance of a legal obligation. To be removed from our fundraising or communications, mail, phone, email or SMS messaging lists or to discuss your communication preferences and options, please contact us at donations@spca.bc.ca or at 604-681-7271 or 1-800-665-1868 and we will be happy to oblige your requests.
You may unsubscribe from our digital communications at any time using the unsubscribe feature in any of the emails we send. You may also update your email subscriptions by clicking ‘Update subscription’ in the footer of our website (spca.bc.ca).
For all other concerns regarding withdrawing your consent, you may email our Privacy Officer at privacy@spca.bc.ca.
- Registration subscription and log-in information. You may provide us with your contact information such as your name, mailing address and email address when you subscribe to receive notifications of events, news, bulletins, updates, and solicitation or register for an event or fundraising activity. Registration information may be used to facilitate the specific Services requested, share updates regarding the Services and for news, bulletins and other service communications. In order to register for certain events, or when making donations, you may also be required to create a username and password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your username and password.
- Payment Information. When you make a donation or purchase, or pay membership fees to us, you may provide us with your contact information such as name, mailing address, email address, phone number and, when applicable, billing information such as billing address and a credit card number, or bank account number, and order form information. This information is used to process your donation, purchase or payment, and comply with legal requirements (e.g., tax or recordkeeping laws). Your contact information may also be used for future communications for marketing and similar activities with your consent (express or implied) in accordance with applicable laws. We do not collect debit card information. However, you may use debit cards through our point-of-sale (POS) systems and MobilePay terminals, in which case your debit card data is processed and stored by our payment processors but not handled or stored by us.
- Members. If you apply to become a member of the BC SPCA, we may collect various Personal Information from you as part of the application process. This information includes your full name, address, phone number, email address and confirmation that you are 19 years or older. This information will be used to assess your application, verify your eligibility, process membership fees and assign you to a specific governance region in accordance with our Bylaws and deliver membership communications.
- Donors. If you donate or participate in fundraising activities for the BC SPCA, we may collect various Personal Information from you. This information may include name, age, sex, mailing address, email address, phone number, payment information as defined above. It also includes records of correspondence and conversations, donation and purchase records. You may also choose to provide us with additional information such as information about assets or future estate distributions and information about family members, (e.g., spouse, or children registered for Kids Club, camps or workshops). We may augment our information with additional information from publicly available sources (e.g., online searched), where permitted by law. This information will be used to send you fundraising, communications, events and related material. It may also be used for charitable analysis.
- Volunteers. If you apply as a volunteer with BC SPCA, we may collect your full name, address, phone number, email address, whether you are over or under 19 years of age, information about your household and who lives there (in the event that you are approved to foster SPCA animals), and some additional information about your skills/experience in order to screen and onboard you as a volunteer, communicate about your placement, share important updates via email and newsletters, and recognize your volunteer contributions. We may also invite accepted volunteers to share demographic information on an optional basis to provide us with data to measure our efforts around equity and diversity initiatives.
- Foster volunteers may be asked to provide details on household and environment for the purposes of making the best match between animal and foster.
- Transport volunteers will be asked to provide their driver’s license and a driver’s abstract for the purposes of screening to assess suitability for the role.
- Any volunteers working with vulnerable people such as children, will be required to have a vulnerable sector criminal record check completed as part of the screening requirements for these roles.
- Information Obtained in Connection with BC SPCA Services.
In order to provide our Services, we may require additional information from individuals depending on the nature of the Service: - Animal Protection Services. When providing animal protection services, we may collect your name, date of birth, identification number (e.g. driver’s licence number), address, contact information and details related to treatment of animals in your care. This information is used as required under the law for the purposes of investigating cruelty complaints and potential offences under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act and Criminal Code.
- Animal Services. When providing animal services, we may various types of personal information depending on the specific service involved, as set out below.
Our Animal Services include:
- Emergency boarding/emergency animal evacuation. When you request emergency boarding or evacuation, we collect information such as name, contact information, location information and pet information, in order to ensure safe housing and care for pets during emergencies, to contact owners about their pets’ status, and to manage logistics for evacuation and boarding.
- Request for humane euthanasia of animals. We may collect name, contact information, veterinary history, pet information, and reason for request in order to assess the request, ensure compliance with legal and ethical standards, and maintain records of the procedure.
- Trap/Neuter/Return (TNR) activities. When you request TNR services, we may collect name, contact information, location details, and information about the animal that is the subject of the request in order to coordinate trapping, neutering, and returning activities, and to monitor and control animal populations.
- Animal control/kenneling services. When you request animal control or kenneling services for wild animals, we may collect your name and contact information and identifying information about the animal(s) referred to in the report in order to provide temporary shelter and manage animal control cases. This information is handled on behalf of the relevant municipality in accordance with British Columbia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Any requests related to this information should be addresses to the relevant municipality.
- Owner surrender information. When you surrender a pet to us, we collect name, contact information, reasons for surrender, and detailed pet history in order to process the surrender, evaluate the pet’s needs, and facilitate rehoming.
- Return of animals. When you apply for the return of a lost pet, we collect name, contact information, and proof of ownership in order to verify ownership and ensure the safe return of animals to their rightful owners.
- Wildlife interactions. When you report a wildlife interaction, we may collect your contact information, details of the interaction, and location in order to manage wildlife cases, provide appropriate care or intervention, and keep records for tracking and reporting.
- Adoption services. When you apply to adopt an animal, we may collect information about you and your spouse or other members of your household, including legal name, contact information, lifestyle information, allergy information, information about your spouse, pet history, and proof of income in order to assess the suitability of adopters, match pets to appropriate homes, and manage the adoption process
- Veterinary services. When you request veterinary services, we collect name, contact information, detailed pet history, proof of income in order to assess eligibility for discounted services. This information is used to provide veterinary services offered by the BC SPCA.
- Community Outreach. When engaging in community education and advocacy initiatives we may collect names, physical addresses, email, and phone number. Contact data may be used for follow-up surveys and evaluations with opportunities to subscribe to email newsletters or other BC SPCA solicitations. For teachers, we collect name, school name, school address, teacher email and teacher phone number in order to contact you regarding outreach programming.
- Youth Education. For youth education programs, we collect parent/legal guardian name(s), physical and mailing address(s), phone number, email(s), and emergency contact information. For each child under the age of 19 attending programming we also collect their name, address, child’s email, date of birth, plus (if appropriate to the program) dietary restrictions, allergy information, special physical and/or behavioural information or learning support information, and relevant medical issue information to ensure participant needs can be met in programs. Parents have the option to include their child’s gender identity, preferred pronouns and whether they have Indigenous ancestry (per UNDRIP guidelines) to measure our efforts around equity, diversity and inclusion goals. None of this data collected is shared beyond the BC SPCA’s needs to maintain a safe, inclusive environment for families. Contact data may be used for participant followup surveys and evaluations. For paid programs we collect credit card information, billing address, email and name on card. We may also provide an opt in for parents if their child can be included in media releases.
- BC Pet Registry. In order to operate and maintain the BC Pet Registry, we collect name, address, phone number, email address(s), name and age of pet, and microchip/tattoo/dog license number. Clients have the option to add additional descriptive information about their pets. This Personal Information may be used to coordinate and administer animal services as requested. It may also be used for follow-up surveys, evaluations or to opt to receive BC SPCA e-newsletters or other BC SPCA promotions.
- Animal Helpline Services. When providing services through our Animal Helpline we may collect name, address, phone number and email address. Depending on the nature of the assistance required we may collect additional information as set out at “Animal Centre Services” above.
- Website Browser Data.
We collect certain browser or device information automatically from website visitors in order to provide and improve the website. This information may include internet protocol (IP) addresses and associated geolocation data, browser types, referring domains, timestamps (time a page was accessed as well as time spent on each web page), as well as the specific pages the visitor has requested. - Other. We also collect and use certain aggregated data, which has been anonymized, such as statistical data regarding use of our Services, for lawful purposes. For example, we may aggregate data to calculate the percentage of people accessing specific website features or social media platforms. As noted above, this type of data is not considered “Personal Information” subject to privacy laws because it cannot be used to identify a particular person.
In addition to the specific purposes described above, the BC SPCA may use any Personal Information to resolve problems or support issues, or to comply with applicable laws. For example, we use your Personal Information to file our taxes, to fulfill our business obligations, and as otherwise required by law. Without using your Personal Information for such purposes, we could not perform the Services in accordance with our legal and regulatory requirements.
How we share your personal information
The BC SPCA will not sell, rent, copy, distribute, or otherwise share any of your Personal Information except as set out in this Privacy Policy. When we must share your Personal Information, we will ensure that there is an agreement in place ensuring that the other organization understands and follows the same PIPA obligations. The BC SPCA may share Personal Information in the following ways:
Other parties as required or permitted by law. We may share your Personal Information with other parties as required or permitted by law. For example, we may be required in certain circumstances to disclose Personal Information in response to a lawful request by public authorities, courts, law enforcement, or to comply with national security requirements, or as otherwise required by the applicable data protection law.
Credit or Debit Card Processing. For the purposes of donations or purchases, the BC SPCA uses a third-party service provider to manage credit or debit card payment processing. This service provider is not permitted to store, retain, or use billing information except for the sole purpose of payment card processing on the BC SPCA’s behalf. Credit card transactions processed offline are processed through Level 1 PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) service providers and payment gateways. Our credit card processing service providers and payment gateways are reviewed annually, or whenever a provider is changed. We register with Sysnet PCI Compliance Manager annually (Merchant ID: 8029147322).
Third Party Service Providers. We may partner with other parties that provide us or you with specific services. These third parties include:
Corporate partners or sponsors. We may disclose additional personal information to corporate partners or sponsors (e.g., Hills, Petsecure, Telus) with your informed consent, in order to enable you to access to benefits provided by such partners/sponsors.
Social media platforms. When you communicate with us or make a donation through a social media platform the platform will have access to information in connection with such communication or donation (e.g., payment and contact information you share with the platform). The social media platform is responsible for the handling of this information. We may also share donor email addresses with social media platforms in order to define our audiences for advertising purposes, and in order to advertise to donors on social media channels. You may contact us at the information provided below for more information about this practice or to optout of this practice.
Your Personal Information may be transferred to our service providers and partners, some of which may be located outside of Canada. Therefore, your Personal Information may be processed in, countries outside of Canada. Accordingly, this information may be accessible to courts, law enforcement and national security authorities of those countries.
How we protect and manage your personal information
The BC SPCA takes reasonable steps, including administrative, technical, organizational, and physical security measures to protect Personal Information against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, and alteration, and against unauthorized disclosure and access.
We use standard industry practices to protect Personal Information, including but not limited to network firewalls, encryption, multifactor authentication and access control. BC SPCA complies with the PCI standards when processing financial information and selects only the compliant third-party providers. For example, credit card transactions processed online through our website are passed through a secure third-party provided SSL verified connection to adhere to industry privacy and security standards. We restrict access to Personal Information to personnel with a need to know the information in order to carry out their responsibilities Our IT environment is monitored 24/7/365 for anomalies with certain degree on automation for self-remediation. However, no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure. While we aim to protect your Personal Information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
We retain Personal Information where we have an ongoing legitimate business need to do so (for example, to provide you with the Services you have requested, to comply with applicable legal, contractual, tax or accounting requirements, or to defend ourselves from possible legal actions). In line with PIPA, if we use your Personal Information to make a decision that directly affects you, then we will keep the Personal Information for at least one year after that decision is made to give you an opportunity to request access to it. After that time period has passed and when we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your Personal Information, we will destroy it or anonymize it.
We will make reasonable arrangements to ensure that the Personal Information of individuals will be as accurate, complete and up to date as is necessary for the purpose for which it is to be used. If your Personal Information changes, please contact us to have it corrected.
Your choices to control your personal information
You can exercise any one of the following data protection rights as may be available to you under applicable law by contacting us at privacy@spca.bc.ca. We will acknowledge and respond to your requests promptly and in all cases no later than within 30 days unless required to respond sooner under applicable law. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.
In British Columbia, you have the following data protection rights:
If we have collected and processed your Personal Information with your consent, then you can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us through one of the methods below – see the heading “Contact”.
You may have the right to access, correct, or update the Personal Information we hold about you. Should you wish to do so, you may contact us through one of the methods below – see the heading “Contact”.
You have the right to opt out of marketing communications, even if you have previously consented to receiving them. You may opt out at any time.
Your rights to anonymity upon request, or as appropriate, will be documented and respected. This includes but is not limited to donors’ rights to anonymity upon request.
Donors will not be publicly recognized without express consent from them or those acting on their behalf such as a guardian or executor, unless the BC SPCA is required by law to disclose their contributions.
In order to exercise your data protection rights or should you have any questions, concerns or complaints regarding our Privacy Policy or the processing of your Personal Information, you may email our Privacy Officer at privacy@spca.bc.ca.