Personal Information and Privacy Protection Policy
Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association (operating as School Sport Alberta (“SSA”)) is committed to safeguarding the personal information entrusted to us by our member schools, affiliates, students, guardians, coaches, and others (“you” or “participants”) involved in high school sporting activities organized and/or managed by the SSA.
This policy applies to SSA and to any person providing services on its behalf. A copy of this policy is provided to any participant or interested party on request.
What is personal information?
Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This includes an individual’s name, email address(es), home address(es), phone numbers, age, sex, marital or family status, an identifying number, such as a Student ID Number, financial information, educational history, etc.
What personal information do we collect?
We collect only the personal information that we need for the purposes of providing services to our participants, including personal information needed to:
- organize, administer, and manage SSA activities;
- register, communicate with, inform, and advise participants;
- publish SSA information, and;
- comply with SSA’s bylaws and policies and to comply with any applicable laws and/or regulations.
We normally collect personal information directly from our participants, which can include pictures and videos of participants, names, ages, grades, schools, guardianship information, school registration details, and other similar information. We may collect your information from other persons with your consent or as authorized by law.
We inform our participants, before or at the time of collecting personal information, of the purposes for which we are collecting the information. The only time we don’t provide this notification is when you volunteer information for an obvious purpose (for example, producing a credit card to pay a registration fee when the information will be used only to process the payment).
Consent
We ask for consent to collect, use, or disclose your personal information, except in circumstances where collection, use, or disclosure without consent is authorized or required by law. We may assume your consent in cases where you volunteer information for an obvious purpose.
We assume your consent to continue to use and, where applicable, disclose personal information that we have already collected, for the purposes for which the information was collected.
We ask for your express consent for some purposes and may not be able to provide certain services if you are unwilling to provide consent to the collection, use, or disclosure of certain personal information. Where express consent is needed, we normally ask you to provide your consent orally (in person, by telephone), or in writing (by signing a consent form).
In cases that do not involve sensitive personal information, we may rely on “opt-out” consent. For example, we may disclose your contact information to other organizations that we believe may be of interest to you, unless you request that we do not disclose your information. You can do this by checking the appropriate box on our application form or by telephoning our number listed at the bottom of this form.
A participant may withdraw consent to the use and disclosure of personal information at any time, unless the personal information is necessary for us to fulfil our legal obligations. We will respect your decision, but we may not be able to provide you with certain products and services if we do not have the necessary personal information.
We may collect, use, or disclose your information without consent only as authorized by law. For example, we may not request consent when the collection, use, or disclosure is to determine suitability for an honour or award, or in an emergency that threatens life, health, or safety.
How do we use and disclose personal information?
We use and disclose your personal information only for the purpose for which the information was collected, except as authorized by law. For example, we may use your contact information to provide you with updates about the SSA.
SSA uses and discloses the information we collect to facilitate and promote athletic activities for students in Alberta, including by:
- posting information, pictures, and videos to websites and social media pages;
- creating signage and displays at events;
- creating online presentations and videos;
- live-streaming and broadcasting events;
- publishing brochures, program booklets, newsletters, and other printed publications;
- engaging in other sponsorships, merchandising, promotions, marketing, and commercial dissemination of events.
If we wish to use or disclose your personal information for any new purpose, we will ask for your consent. We may not seek consent if the law allows this (e.g. the law allows organizations to use personal information without consent for the purpose of collecting a debt).
Third-party sharing and cross-border collection, use, and disclosure of information
To support, fund, and promote athletic events and programs, SSA may rely on sponsors and partners in Canada and the United States to assist in funding, promoting, and advertising. Accordingly, SSA shares collected information with these sponsors and partners, who may use it for similar promotional and operational purposes as outlined above.
What is personal employee information?
Personal employee information is personal information about an employee or volunteer which is collected, used, or disclosed solely for the purposes of establishing, managing, or terminating an employment relationship or a volunteer work relationship. Personal employee information may, in some circumstances, include a Social Insurance Number, a performance review, etc.
If you are an SSA employee or volunteer, we can collect, use, and disclose your personal employee information without your consent only for the purposes of establishing, managing, or ending the employment or volunteer relationship. We will provide current employees and volunteers with prior notice about what information we collect, use, or disclose and our purpose for doing so.
What personal employee information do we collect, use, and disclose?
We collect, use, and disclose personal employee and/or volunteer information to meet the following purposes:
- Complying with requirements of funding bodies (e.g. government grants);
- Complying with applicable laws (e.g. Canada Income Tax Act, Alberta Employment Standards Code)
We only collect, use, and disclose the amount and type of personal employee and/or volunteer information that is reasonable to meet the above purposes. The following is a list of personal employee and/or volunteer information that we may collect, use, and disclose to meet those purposes.
- Contact information such as your name, home address, telephone number, etc.;
- Criminal background checks, if applicable;
- Sport activity and history;
- Medical information;
We will inform participants of any new purposes for which we will collect, use, or disclose personal information, or we will obtain your consent, before or at the time the information is collected.
We will obtain your consent to collect, use, and disclose your personal information for any purpose unrelated to the SSA activities for which you are or may become registered or involved with.
How do we safeguard personal information?
We make every reasonable effort to ensure that personal information is accurate and complete. We rely on individuals to notify us if there is a change to their personal information that may affect their relationship with our organization. If you are aware of an error in our information about you, please let us know and we will correct it on request wherever possible. In some cases, we may ask for a written request for correction.
We protect personal information in a manner appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. We make every reasonable effort to prevent any loss, misuse, disclosure, or modification of personal information, as well as any unauthorized access to personal information.
We use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records.
We retain personal information only as long as it is reasonable to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected or for legal or business purposes.
Access to records containing personal information
Individuals have a right to access their own personal information in a record that is in the custody or under the control of SSA, subject to some exceptions. For example, organizations are required under the Personal Information Protection Act to refuse to provide access to information that would reveal personal information about another individual.
If we refuse in whole or in part, we will provide the reasons for the refusal. In some cases, where exceptions to access apply, we may withhold that information and provide you with the remainder of the record.
You may make a request for access to your personal information by contacting Brad Van
Raalte, who can be reached by email at brad@schoolsportalberta.ca or by phone at
(780)427-8182. You must provide sufficient information in your request to allow us to identify the information you are seeking.
You may also request information about our use of your personal information and any disclosure of that information to persons outside our organization. In addition, you may request a correction of an error or omission in your personal information.
We will respond to your request within 45 calendar days, unless an extension is granted. We may charge a reasonable fee to provide information, but not to make a correction. We do not charge fees when the request is for personal employee information. We will advise you of any fees that may apply before beginning to process your request.
Questions and complaints
If you have any questions or concerns about any collection, use, or disclosure of personal information by SSA, or about a request for access to your own personal information, please contact Brad Van Raalte, who can be reached by email at brad@schoolsportalberta.ca or by phone at (780)427-8182.
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you should contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta:
Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta
Suite 2460, 801 – 6 Avenue, SW
Calgary, Alberta, T2P 3W2
Phone: 403-297-2778
Toll Free: 1-888-878-4044
Email: generalinfo@oipc.ab.ca
Website: www.oipc.ca