Member Consent
By completing the membership application and/or providing your information to us, you are expressly consenting to the use
and disclosure of your information by us in accordance with the privacy policy of our organization. A copy
of our privacy policy can be found at www.organiccouncil.ca or by contacting the Organic Council of Ontario
directly. For more information on our privacy policy or our use and disclosure of information, please
contact our Executive Director, Jodi Koberinski at (519) 827-1221 or jodi@organiccouncil.ca.
Organic Council of Ontario Membership dues are billed annually. Your membership will expire one year
from the end of the quarter in which you joined. The Organic Council of Ontario will notify you in advance
of this date.
PRIVACY POLICY
Organic Council of Ontario
Your privacy is important to the Organic Council of Ontario (referred to as “we” or “us” in this policy) and the purpose of this policy is to tell you what personal information we collect about you, how we use it, whether we disclose it to anybody else, how long we keep it, and how you can request access to your personal information or obtain more information about the Organic Council of Ontario’s privacy policies.
Personal Information: Personal information means any information about you except your name, business title, business address, business e‑mail address, business telephone number or business facsimile number. It also does not include your home address and telephone number if these are published in a telephone or other directory.
Accountability
We are responsible for the personal information under our control and we have designated a Privacy Coordinator who is responsible for our compliance with this policy and with privacy legislation. If you wish to contact the Privacy Coordinator, you can do so using one of the following methods:
- Telephone ‑ (519) 827-1221
- Fax‑ (519) 827-0721
- Email – privacy@organiccouncil.ca
- Mail – 5420 Highway 6, Unit 232, Guelph, ON N1H 6J2
What Personal Information might we Collect?
The Organic Council of Ontario only collects Personal Information that is relevant to Organic Council of Ontario activities, and only with your knowledge and consent. When you purchase a membership, service or product from us, or if you participate in one of our surveys or promotions, collection may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- your name, address and telephone number
- e‑mail address and facsimile number
- your occupation
- similar information about other members of your family
- your language preference
- your date of birth and/or the date of birth of other members of your family
- date of initial membership
- credit card information
- organic sector statistics and data
- WebPages visited
Online Membership Directory
The Organic Council of Ontario has compiled an online Directory as a service to OCO members, to identify the members of OCO to one another, and to provide other organic sector business contact information to members. This Directory is accessible only to OCO members. OCO does not undertake to verify the accuracy or completeness of the information in the directory and makes no representation or warranty concerning the accuracy of the information included in the directory. The Organic Council of Ontario makes no representation or warranty concerning the inclusion or omission of any individual from this directory
By default, each member’s business name, city, and province are included in the Directory. Other business or personal details are optional, and may be updated by contacting our office at any time. Members can remove personal information from the Membership Directory or add information by sending a request to OCO.
The Directory should not be used for the unsolicited promotion of products and/or services.
OCO Website
This policy applies to the “www.organiccouncil.ca” Website maintained by OCO.
Our website server tracks web activity during a visitor’s session. This gives us an idea of which parts of our site users are visiting, providing us with information about how the site is of value to our users. Other than in the members-only portions of our website, we do not link activity to anything personally identifiable. This means that a user’s session will be tracked, but the user will be anonymous. Cookies are only set when users visit members-only portions of our website.
On some pages of our site we allow individuals to submit information for the purposes of joining OCO, renewing or updating their membership, ordering products and services; or registering for a conference, promotion, or other activity. Information collected on these pages will be used according to the Organic Council of Ontario’s Privacy Policy.
The Security of your Personal Information is Important to Us
Your personal information is used by us only for the purposes identified below and access to your personal information is limited to those employees of the Organic Council of Ontario who need to have access to it.
How do we use your Personal Information?
Your personal information may be used by us to provide products and services to you such as:
- to maintain and update your membership
- to distribute our newsletter
- to provide you with updates and information regarding products, programs and services that may be of interest
- to communicate with our membership and respond to inquiries
- to provide members with access to an organic sector database
The personal information we ask for will depend on which services you may obtain.
Sometimes we have to Share your Personal Information with Others
We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We may share some or all of your
information with third parties such as other members, affiliated organizations, the providers of products or services relating to your purchase, credit reporting agencies, financial institutions or financing companies,. We may also disclose your personal information where we are required or permitted by law to do so.
How Long do we keep your Personal Information?
We retain your personal information as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected. Member records are maintained as long as an individual is an OCO member and for two years following a membership lapse. Purchases and credit card transactions are retained for as long as appropriate to meet contractual, tax, or auditing needs. Directory information will be retained in the directory unless a member updates or requests removal of their information from the directory. If the information relates to a particular service we provide, we retain the personal information for as long as is reasonably necessary to address any issues arising from the service or as may be required by law. If there are legal requirements relating to the period of time which we must retain your personal information, we comply with those requirements.
What can you do if you want to limit the use to which we Put Your Personal Information?
Most of the personal information which we collect is necessary for us to sell or supply to you, to provide products and services, and we cannot do this without that personal information. Similarly, we must disclose your personal information as described above in order to sell or supply you with a product, or to provide programs and services. If you do not want us to use or disclose your personal information in a particular way, please contact our Privacy Coordinator as described above and we will be pleased to discuss with you how we can limit collection, use or disclosure of your personal information.
You can Request Access to Your Personal Information
You have a right to access the personal information which we have about you and to request that personal information which you believe to be inaccurate be corrected. If you wish to access your personal information you should contact our Privacy Coordinator who will be pleased to assist you.
Changes to This Policy
The Organic Council of Ontario reserves the right to change this policy as required. A revision notice is placed on this policy to indicate the latest date of changes to this policy.
Questions? Concerns?
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or about the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information by the Organic Council of Ontario please contact our Privacy Coordinator as set out at the beginning of this policy and we will try to address your concerns.
last updated November 23rd 2011.