Tourism Victoria Privacy Policy

Scope of this Policy
Protecting your privacy is important to Tourism Victoria.This Personal Information Protection Policy sets out the principles which The Greater Victoria Convention and Visitors Bureau (“Tourism Victoria”) observes regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information about any identifiable person, including Tourism Victoria’s members, and members of the public who use Tourism Victoria’s services and facilities, but excluding Tourism Victoria’s employees and volunteers.

If personal information is made anonymous by removing details so that an individual is not identifiable to the user or recipient of that information, it is not governed by this Policy but will still be treated with appropriate safeguards.

This Personal Information Protection Policy explains how we collect, use, and disclose the personal information you may provide while using Tourism Victoria's Web site.

By using the Web Site, you signify your consent to our collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Personal Information Protection Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, you may not use this web site.

Policy Definitions
This Policy is governed by the following terms and definitions
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Tourism Victoria is responsible for all personal information under its control.

What personal information do we collect?

How do we use your information?

Who do we share your information with?

Security of your information

Accessing your information
You may request access to your personal information and information about our collection, use and disclosure of that information by contacting us.
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Definitions
For the purposes of this Personal Information Protection Policy:

“Contact information” means information to enable an individual at a place of business to be contacted and includes the name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax number of the individual.

“Customers” and “members” includes current, past and prospective customers and members. This Policy is subject to all applicable laws; and

“Personal information” means any information about an identifiable individual, whether it was collected before or after this Policy was first published, including but not limited to the individual’s name, address, age, gender, identification numbers, income, employment, assets, liabilities, credit card numbers, credit ratings, financial plans and other finance-related information. “Personal information” may also include a physical description, habits, personality, character, marital history, immigration status, travel or movement details, lifestyle, leisure activities, professional or trade union memberships, and licenses and permits held. Personal information does not include contact information. With respect to any specific individual, Tourism Victoria may or may not have personal information within these enumerated categories.
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Principle 1 - Tourism Victoria’s Accountability
Tourism Victoria is responsible for all personal information under its control. The Tourism Victoria Privacy Officer (the “Privacy Officer”) is accountable for Tourism Victoria’s compliance with the principles described in this Policy, and may be contacted at:

The Privacy Officer
Tourism Victoria
4^th Floor, 31 Bastion Square
Victoria, BC V8W 1J1
Telephone: 250-414-6999

Tourism Victoria has established and implemented: (a) procedures to protect personal information; (b) procedures to receive and respond to complaints and inquiries; (c) employee and volunteer training and information programs to explain this Policy and related personal information protection procedures and practices; and (d) practices to ensure that clients and other individuals who contact Tourism Victoria have access to this Policy and to other literature explaining Tourism Victoria’s related personal information protection practices and procedures.
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Principle 2 - The Purposes for (and the Manner in Which) Tourism Victoria May Collect, Use or Disclose Personal Information
Subject to applicable law, Tourism Victoria will identify the purposes for which personal information is collected, used or disclosed before that information is collected, used or disclosed, as the case may be.

General Purposes
The general purposes for which Tourism Victoria may collect, use or disclose information concerning customers and members include the following: (a) to manage and promote Tourism Victoria’s operations; (b) to better understand the needs of Tourism Victoria’s customers and members, to provide promotional and other information about Tourism Victoria and the Greater Victoria area, and to respond to specific requests; (c) to fulfill requests for reservations, bookings or other arrangements with third parties; (d) to operate and fulfill contests; and; (e) to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

Disclosure to Affiliates, Agencies and Service Providers
Tourism Victoria may transfer personal information to a third party for processing or to provide services, including third parties for whom Tourism Victoria acts as a booking or reservations agent, such as DigitalRez Inc., but uses contractual or other means to provide a comparable level of protection while the information is in the custody of that third party.

Other Web sites
The Tourism Victoria Web Site may contain links to other web sites or Internet resources, including web sites operated by Tourism Victoria members and trading partners. When you click on one of those links you are contacting another web site. Tourism Victoria has no responsibility or liability for or control over those other web sites or their collection, use and disclosure of your personal information.

Changed Purposes
From time to time, Tourism Victoria may wish to use or disclose personal information for a purpose other than that for which it was initially collected. Tourism Victoria will ensure that personal information is not used or disclosed for that new purpose unless the individual is informed of the new purpose and gives his or her consent.
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Principle 3 - Consent
Subject to applicable legal exceptions, Tourism Victoria will make a reasonable effort to ensure that the individual is advised in advance of the purposes for which his or her personal information will be collected, used or disclosed, and that his or her consent to those activities is obtained. As required by applicable law, consent may be express or implied.

Tourism Victoria does not, as a condition of the supply of products or services require an individual to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information beyond that required to fulfill Tourism Victoria’s explicitly specified, and legitimate purposes.

An individual may withdraw his or her consent to collection, use or disclosure at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and the provision of reasonable notice to Tourism Victoria. If an individual withdraws his or her consent to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information, he or she may be unable to access Tourism Victoria’s products or services.

From time to time, Tourism Victoria may also collect information from external sources such as credit reporting agencies, credit grantors and income sources and personal references identified to Tourism Victoria for this purpose.
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Principle 4 - Information Automatically Collected
Non-Identifiable Information — As is typical with many Web sites, the Web Site automatically collects certain non-identifiable information regarding Web Site users, such as the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your computer, the IP address of your Internet Service Provider, the date and time you access the Web Site, the Internet address of the Web site from which you linked directly to the Web Site, the operating system you are using, the sections of the Web Site you visit, the Web Site pages read and images viewed, and any content you download. We use this non-identifiable information for Web Site and system administration purposes and to improve the Web Site. We may disclose the non-identifiable information to others and permanently archive it for future use.

Cookies — The Web Site uses "cookies", a technology that installs information on a Web Site user's computer to permit the Web Site to recognize future visits by that computer. Cookies enhance the convenience and use of the Web Site. For example, we use the information provided through cookies to recognize you as a previous user of the Web Site (so you do not have to enter your personal information every time), offer personalized Web page content and information for your use, track your activity at the Web Site to respond to your needs, and otherwise facilitate your Web Site experience. Advertisements displayed on the Web Site may also contain cookies. Those advertisements may be provided by third party advertising companies, and we do not have any control over, or any responsibility or liability for, the cookies used in the advertisements or for the use and disclosure of information collected through advertisement cookies. You may choose to decline "cookies" if your browser permits, but doing so may affect your use of the Web Site and your ability to access certain features of the Web Site.
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Principle 5 - Limiting Collection
Tourism Victoria limits the amount and type of personal information collected to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by Tourism Victoria.
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Principle 6 - Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Tourism Victoria does not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law. Personal information is retained only as long as necessary for the fulfillment of those purposes.

Personal information that has been used by Tourism Victoria to make a decision about an individual will be retained long enough to allow the individual access to the information after the decision has been made.
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Principle 7 - Accuracy
Tourism Victoria aims to keep personal information as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used. However, Tourism Victoria does not routinely update personal information, unless such updating is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected.

Tourism Victoria generally relies upon individual customers and members to provide up-dated information, such as changes to addresses and other contact information, and changed financial information.

If an individual successfully demonstrates to Tourism Victoria that personal information is inaccurate, incomplete, out of date, or irrelevant, Tourism Victoria will revise the personal information. If necessary, Tourism Victoria will disclose the revised personal information to third parties which were provided with the wrong information to permit them to revise their records as well.
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Principle 8 - Safeguards
Tourism Victoria has implemented appropriate security safeguards to protect personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification. The nature of the safeguards vary depending on the sensitivity of the personal information that has been collected, the amount, distribution, and format of the information, and the method of storage. The more sensitive personal information is safeguarded at a higher level of protection.

The methods of protection employed by Tourism Victoria include: (a) physical measures, including locked filing cabinets and restricted access to offices; (b) organizational measures, such as security clearances and limiting access on a “need to know” basis; and (c) technological measures, such as the use of passwords and encryption.

Tourism Victoria takes care to inform employees and volunteers about Tourism Victoria’s policies and procedures for protecting personal information and emphasizes the importance of complying with them. Employees and volunteers are required to conform to Tourism Victoria’s policies and procedures concerning the security of personal information.

Tourism Victoria uses care in the disposal or destruction of personal information, to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to the information.
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Principle 9 - Openness
Tourism Victoria strives to be open about its policies and procedures with respect to management of personal information. Tourism Victoria makes this information available in a form that is generally understandable. Copies of this Personal Information Protection Policy are by contacting the Privacy Officer.
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Principle 10 - Individual Access
Upon an individual’s request in writing, Tourism Victoria will inform that individual of the existence, use, and disclosure of his or her personal information and the individual will be given access to that information, except where the law requires or permits Tourism Victoria to deny access. Tourism Victoria may require the individual to provide sufficient information to permit Tourism Victoria to provide an account of the existence, use, and disclosure of personal information.

Tourism Victoria will respond diligently to a proper request and in any case not later than 30 days after receipt of the request, unless that time is extended according to applicable law. As permitted by applicable law, certain charges may be applicable in respect of certain requests.
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Principle 11 - Challenging Compliance
Any individual may direct a challenge concerning compliance with this Personal Information Protection Policy to the Tourism Victoria Privacy Officer. Tourism Victoria has established procedures to receive and to respond to complaints or inquiries about Tourism Victoria’s policies and practices relating to the handling of personal information.

Tourism Victoria investigates all complaints. If Tourism Victoria finds that a complaint is justified, Tourism Victoria will take appropriate measures, including, if necessary, amending its policies and practices.

The Web Site User Agreement governing your use of the Web Site contains important provisions, including provisions disclaiming, limiting or excluding Tourism Victoria's liability for your use of the Web Site and provisions determining the applicable law and exclusive jurisdiction for the resolution of any disputes regarding your use of the Web Site. Each of those provisions applies to any disputes that may arise in relation to this Personal Information Protection Policy or our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information, and are of the same force and effect as if they had been reproduced directly in this Personal Information Protection Policy.
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Principle 12 - Policy Changes
This Personal Information Protection Policy may be changed from time to time in our sole discretion and without any prior notice. Revised Personal Information Protection Policies will be posted here. Your continued use of the Web Site subsequent to any changes to this policy will signify that you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with the changed policy. Accordingly, when you use the Web Site, you should check the date of this policy and review any changes since the last version. We suggest that you bookmark this page and periodically review this policy to ensure that you are familiar with the most current version.
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Your Comments
If you have any comments or questions about this Personal Information Protection Policy or your personal information, please contact us at: