Privacy of personal information is an important principle to Brampton Massage By Pure Essence. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the services we provide. This document describes our privacy policies.
WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. This includes information that relates to their characteristics (e.g. gender, age, home address or phone number), their health (e.g. gender, health history, health conditions, health services received by them). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (e.g. an individual's business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.
This site is not intended for children under 13 and we do not collect identifiable information from children who we know are under 13.
WHO WE ARE:
Our service, Brampton Massage By Pure Essence, is presently providing services through The Yoga Loft And Holistic Centre. We use a number of consultants and agencies that may, in the course of their duties, have limited access to information we hold. These include computer support technicians and website consultants, accountants, bookkeepers or lawyers. Brampton Massage By Pure Essence restricts their access to any personal information we hold as much as is reasonably possible. We also have their assurance that they follow appropriate privacy principles.
PRIMARY PURPOSES FOR COLLECTING INFORMATION:
Like all Massage Therapists and Practitioners, we collect and use information in order to serve our clients.
ABOUT CLIENTS:
For our clients, the primary purposes for collecting identifiable information is to provide massage therapy or reiki treatments. For example, we collect information about a client's home address, phone numbers, gender, date of birth and email address. As well we collect information about a client's health history, including their family history, physical condition and function in order to help us assess what their health needs are, to advise them of their options and then to provide the massage or reiki care they choose to have. It would be rare for us to collect such information without the client's express consent, but this might occur in an emergency (e.g. the client is unconscious).
The information may also be used to provide notice of special events such as workshops or holistic events or to make you aware of massage therapy services in general. Typically these notifications will be via email newsletters but may also be be sent via regular mail to your address on file. We try to obtain consent before using any such information, but where this is not, for any reason, possible, we will upon request immediately remove any of your information from our distribution list.
On our website we only collect the information you provide and only use that information for the purpose you gave it to us (e.g. to respond to your email message, to register for a workshop, to subscribe to our newsletter).
SECONDARY PURPOSES FOR COLLECTING INFORMATION:
Like most organizations, we also collect and use information for purposes related to, or secondary to, our primary purposes. The most common examples of our related and secondary purposes are as follows:
Recall Visits - To advise clients that their product or service should be reviewed (e.g. to ensure a service is appropriate for their needs and to consider modifications).
Special Events and Opportunities - To advise clients and others of special events and opportunities (e.g. a workshop or holistic event) that we are hosting.
External Regulation - Brampton Massage By Pure Essence believes that we should report information suggesting serious illegal behavior to the authorities. External regulators have their own strict privacy obligations. Like all organizations, various government agencies (e.g. Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, Information and Privacy Commissioner, Human Rights Commission, etc.) have the authority to review our files and interview our staff as a part of their mandates. In these circumstances, we may consult with professionals (e.g. lawyer, accountants) who will investigate the matter and report back to us.
Responding to Questions - Clients or other individuals we deal with may have questions about our services after they have been received. We also provide ongoing services for our clients over a period of months or years for which previous records are helpful. Brampton Massage By Pure Essence retains client information for a minimum of seven years after the last contact to enable us to respond to those questions and provide these services. Brampton Massage By Pure Essence destroys information seven years after the last entry at the first reasonable opportunity in order to reduce the risk of accidental or inadvertent disclosure.
Sale of Business - If the organization or its assets were to be sold, the purchaser would want to conduct a "due diligence" review of the organization's records to ensure that it is a viable business that has been honestly portrayed to the purchaser. The purchaser would not be able to remove or record personal information. Before being provided access to the files, the purchaser must provide a written promise to keep all personal information confidential. Only reputable purchasers who have already agreed to buy the organization's business or its asset would be provided access to information we hold, and only for the purpose of completing their due diligence search prior to closing the purchase.
You can choose not to be part of some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g. by declining special offers). Brampton Massage By Pure Essence does not, however, have much choice about some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g. external regulation).
PROTECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Brampton Massage By Pure Essence understands the importance of protecting personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:
Paper information is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area.
Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured in a locked or restricted area at all times. In addition, passwords are used on computers.
Electronic information is transmitted through email or internet communication with the consent of the person to whom the personal information relates.
External consultants and agencies with access to our information must enter into privacy agreements with us.
RETENTION AND DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Brampton Massage By Pure Essence needs to retain collected information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions you might have about the services provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. However, we do not want to keep the information too long in order to protect your privacy. We keep client files for about seven years. If you ask, we will remove such contact information right away. Brampton Massage By Pure Essence also keeps any personal information relating to our general correspondence with people who are not our clients, newsletters, seminars and marketing activities for seven years after the newsletter, seminar or marketing activity is over. We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding them. Brampton Massage By Pure Essence ( pure-essence-massage.com ) destroys electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically destroyed by a reputable Information Technology firm with specialized knowledge of electronic storage media. Alternatively, we may send some or the entire client file to our client.
YOU CAN LOOK AT YOUR INFORMATION:
With only a few exceptions, you have the right to see what information we hold about you. Often all you have to do is ask. We can help you identify what records we might have about you. Brampton Massage By Pure Essence will also try to help you understand any information you do not understand (e.g. short forms, technical language, etc.) Brampton Massage By Pure Essence will need to confirm your identity, if we do not know you, before providing you with this access.
If there is a problem, we may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within 30 days of at all possible and tell you the reason, as best we can, as to why we cannot give you access.
If you believe there is a mistake in the information, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual information and not to professional opinions we may have formed. Brampton Massage By Pure Essence may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong. Where we agree that we made a mistake, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information (e.g. a government review agency). If we do not agree that we have made a mistake, we will still agree to include in our file a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information.
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?
If any of the aforementioned text is unclear to you, and you think it may affect you, you may call us at 416-999-6582 or email us at
for clarification.
This Policy is made under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. The Act is complex and provides some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to the commitments set out above.
For more general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Canada oversees the administration of the privacy disputes. The Information and Privacy Commissioner can be reached at:
Privacy Commission, 112 KENT STREET, OTTAWA, ONTARIO, K1A 1H3
PHONE: (613) 995-8210
TOLL-FREE: (800) 282-1376
FAX: (613) 947-6850