Privacy Policy

The Surrey Teachers’ Association (STA) is committed to protecting the privacy and confidentiality of its members’ personal information.

The STA is committed to complying with the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act, S.B.C. 2003, c. 63 (PIPA). This includes managing the collection, use, disclosure, storage, and ultimate disposition of its members’ personal information in ways that safeguard the privacy of its members.

Personal Information means information about identifiable individuals and includes employee personal information but does not include contact information, or work product information.

Privacy Officer―means the staff person designated responsibility for ensuring that the STA complies with this policy and PIPA.

The STA collects personal information to fulfill its obligations to members and in the course of providing a variety of services. The types of information collected include:

• name
• home address and telephone numbers
• birth date
• home email address(es)

Additional information may be collected to administer the collective agreement, to fulfill the STA’s duty of representation to you, or to provide you with specific services.

The STA collects, uses, and discloses personal information for the purposes of fulfilling our obligations to you as set out in the STA Policies & Procedures, to provide specific services as required, and to fulfill its role as the bargaining agent representing members. The purposes for which the STA collects, uses, and discloses personal information include, for example:

• to identify you
• to communicate with you
• to confirm your eligibility for services
• to comply with various professional legal and regulatory requirements
• to provide services related to grievances, and Employer School District #36 Surrey advocacy
• to provide Local Specialist Association memberships and associated services
• to conduct research.

The STA is committed to protecting your personal information from unauthorized use or disclosure. Its commitment means that:

• it will use your personal information only for the purposes it has identified.
• it will not disclose your personal information without your permission unless it is required or authorized by law to do so.
• it will employ appropriate security measures to ensure only authorized individuals have access to your personal information
• it will keep your personal information only as long as is reasonably necessary
• it will destroy your information using a confidential and secure method when your personal information is no longer required

Individuals have the right to request access to their personal information under the control of the STA. The Privacy Officer will assist them with their access requests.

Access requests must be submitted by completing the Personal Information Access Request Form. You may request a form by sending an email to the STA Privacy Officer, privacy@surreyteachers.org and returning the form by mail to the STA, #100 – 9030 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC, V3V 7Y3 Attention Privacy Officer; alternatively, the form can be submitted to the STA Privacy Officer electronically by sending it as an attachment in an email to privacy@surreyteachers.org. In certain situations, further to privacy legislation, the STA may not be able to provide access to certain personal information that it holds about an individual. Examples of where it may not provide access include, but are not limited to, situations where:

• the provision may reveal personal information about another individual.
• the information is subject to solicitor-client privilege.
• the information was collected in relation to an investigation or a contravention of a federal or provincial law.
• the provision could reasonably be expected to threaten the health or safety of an individual.

If access cannot be provided, the STA will notify the individual making the request, in writing, of the reasons for the refusal. Where access has been provided and where the information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, the STA will amend the information as required. Where the information needs to be provided in an alternative manner to ensure the health of safety of the individual, the STA will notify the individual making the request.

An individual may direct their general questions regarding privacy at the STA, as well as any questions or concerns regarding STA’s compliance with this policy, by mail to the STA at #100 – 9030 King George Blvd, Surrey, BC, V3V 7Y3, Attention Privacy Officer.

The STA will investigate any complaints received in writing. If a complaint is found to be justified, the STA will take appropriate measures to resolve the complaint including, if necessary, amending its policies and procedures. An individual will be informed in writing of the outcome of the investigation regarding their complaint.