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Our Privacy Policies

 

Website Privacy Policy

What personal data we collect and why we collect it

YWCA Cambridge respects your privacy and adheres to all legislative requirements with respect to protecting privacy. Personal information collected by YWCA Cambridge from donors, participants and other visitors to our website is used to process and receipt donations, to process program registration and wait list requests, including child care registrations, and to keep you informed about YWCA Cambridge programs and events and to ask for support of our mission to improve the lives of cis and trans women and girls, non-binary and two-spirit individuals.

We also acknowledge the support of donors, volunteers and sponsors in publications such as our Annual Report and, with permission, in our marketing materials.

We protect your personal information through staff and volunteer training about privacy issues, the signing of confidentiality agreements by those who access personal information in order to perform their duties, the use of locked files, a secure computer system and the shredding of discarded personal information.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site we collect the data shown in the comments form, and also the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string to help spam detection.

An anonymized string created from your email address (also called a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to see if you are using it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available here: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval of your comment, your profile picture is visible to the public in the context of your comment.

Imagery

All images of program participants, staff, volunteers and supporters included on our website have been posted with approval.

Contact forms and email sign up

Information collected in our contact and registration forms will be used to process registration requests, and to gain a better understanding of the needs of the community we serve with our programming. We protect your privacy to the strictest legal standards and do not sell, trade or rent your information.

We will only send you emails should you give us express consent. We do not sell, trade or rent our email lists.

Cookies

If you leave a comment on our site you may opt-in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies will last for one year.

If you have an account and you log in to this site, we will set a temporary cookie to determine if your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we will also set up several cookies to save your login information and your screen display choices. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for a year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. If you log out of your account, the login cookies will be removed.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie includes no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you just edited. It expires after 1 day.

Embedded content from other websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (e.g. videos, images, articles, etc.). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the exact same way as if the visitor has visited the other website.

These websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with that embedded content, including tracking your interaction with the embedded content if you have an account and are logged in to that website.

How long we retain your data

If you leave a comment, the comment and its metadata are retained indefinitely. This is so we can recognize and approve any follow-up comments automatically instead of holding them in a moderation queue.

Payment/donation processing

All payments and donations made to YWCA Cambridge will be processed through a secure third party website. No banking or payment information is collected on ywcacambridge.ca at any time.

 

Organizational Privacy Policy

PRIVACY POLICY

Intent

Protecting the privacy and confidentiality of personal information is an important aspect of the way YWCA Cambridge conducts its business. Collecting, using and disclosing personal information appropriately, responsibly and ethically is fundamental to the organization’s daily operations.

The organization strives to protect and respect personal information of its clients, participants, volunteers, donors, customers, employees, business partners and so on in accordance with all applicable statutory requirements. All employees must abide by the procedures and practices set out below while handling personal information.

Guidelines

This policy outlines the company’s commitment to privacy and establishes the methods by which privacy is ensured. This policy applies to all employee personal information in the company’s care, custody and control.

  • Personal information is any factual or subjective identifying information about an individual or group of individuals. This can include name, date of birth, address, income, e-mail address, social insurance number, gender, evaluations, credit records and so forth.
  • Business information is confidential information related to a specific business that is not readily available to the public, such as names of executive officers, business registration numbers, proprietary information and financial status. Business information is treated and handled with the same level of confidentiality, privacy and respect as personal information.
  • Consent occurs and is considered obtained by YWCA Cambridge when an individual provides express consent orally, in writing, or through an applicable online action. Before being asked to provide consent, individuals will be provided with the reasons their personal information is being collected, how it will be used and stored, and any disclosure or possible disclosure of the information.
  • Implied consent is granted by the individual where consent may reasonably be inferred from the action or inaction of the individual.
  • Where possible, this should always be followed up by a YWCA Cambridge representative to obtain express consent.

Appropriate Use

YWCA Cambridge collects and uses personal information solely for the purpose of conducting business and developing an understanding of its clients, participants, donors, customers and other stakeholders. The organization hereby asserts that personal information may only be used for the following purposes:

  1. To provide individuals with information about YWCA Cambridge;
  2. To acknowledge gifts, issue receipts and other administrative requirements including information requests;
  3. With an individual’s consent, recognize them publicly for their donation;
  4. To manage, develop and enhance YWCA operations, programs and services;
  5. To process and collect fees for service;
  6. To assess participant needs;
  7. To collect data for statistical purposes;
  8. To better understand the changing needs of the communities we serve;
  9. To communicate a range of programs, services and philanthropic opportunities that benefit the people we serve;
  10. To meet legal, regulatory and contractual requirements.

Policy Statements

  • YWCA Cambridge assumes full accountability for the personal information within its possession and control. The company has appointed the CEO as custodian of all privacy matters and legal compliance with privacy laws.
  • In the course of conducting its business, the company may have to obtain personal information directly from the individual to whom the information belongs. 
  • Individuals whose personal information is being collected are at all times entitled to know how the company uses their personal information and that the use of any personal information collected is limited to only what is needed for those stated purposes. 
  • If necessary, YWCA Cambridge will obtain individual consent if personal information is to be used for any other purpose.
  • The company will not use that information without the consent of the individual.
  • Under no circumstances will the company sell, distribute or otherwise disclose personal information, including personal contact information or employee lists, to third parties, unless required to do so by law. This may include consultants, suppliers or stakeholders of the organization, but only with the understanding that these parties obey and abide by this policy, to the extent necessary of fulfilling their own business duties and day-to-day operations.
  • The company will retain personal information only for the duration it is needed for conducting its business and ensuring statutory compliance. 
  • Once personal information is no longer required, it will be destroyed promptly, safely and securely. However, certain laws may require that certain personal information be kept for a specified amount of time. Where this is the case, the law will supersede this policy.
  • The company will take every reasonable precaution to protect personal information with appropriate security measures, physical safeguards and electronic precautions. 
  • The company maintains personal information through a combination of paper and electronic files. Where required by legislation or disaster recovery or business continuity policies, older records may be stored in a secure, offsite location.

YWCA Cambridge will ensure:

  • Access to personal information is authorized only for the employees of the company who require the information to perform their job duties, and to those otherwise authorized by law;
  • The company’s computer network systems and databases are secured by complex passwords and firewalls which only authorized individuals may access;
  • Active physical files are kept in locked filing cabinets;
  • Routers and servers connected to the Internet are protected by a firewall, and are further protected against virus attacks or “snooping” by sufficient software solutions;
  • Personal information is not transferred to employees, volunteers, summer students or any other person in the company unless authorized.
  • The YWCA Cambridge website will include our privacy policy and disclose our personal information practices. Individuals adding data into the website will be notified about:
  • Personally identifiable information about the individual that is collected from the website or through affiliate sites;
  • Information about the organization collecting the data;
  • How the data will be used;
  • To whom the data may or may not be disclosed;
  • What options are available to the individual regarding the collection, use and disclosure of personal information;
  • The information technology security procedures in place that protect against the destruction, loss, theft, alteration or misuse of personal information under the company’s possession and control; and
  • How the individual may access and correct any inaccuracies in their personal information.
  • YWCA Cambridge will explain that the company may share compiled demographic information with its staff or stakeholders, but no personal information that can identify any individual person will be disclosed. 
  • While IP addresses will be logged in order to administer the site, track visitor movement, and gather demographic information, they will not be linked to any personally identifiable information.
  • Any registration or order form asking site visitors to enter personal or financial information will be protected by SSL encryption. 
  • Site visitors may opt out of having their personal information used at the point where the information is gathered.
  • In most instances, YWCA Cambridge will grant individuals access to personal information in the care custody, and control of the organization upon presentation of a written request and satisfactory identification. 
  • If an individual finds errors of fact with their personal information, they should notify the organization as soon as possible to make the appropriate corrections.
  • If the organization denies an individual’s request for access to their personal information, the organization will advise in writing of the reason for such a refusal. The individual may then challenge the decision.
  • YWCA Cambridge may use personal information without the individual’s consent under particular circumstances. These situations include, but are not limited to:
  • The collection is clearly in the interests of the individual and consent cannot be obtained in a timely way;
  • The personal information was produced by the individual in the course of their employment, business, or profession, and the collection is consistent with the purposes for which the information was provided;
  • The collection is made for the purpose of making a disclosure required by law; or
  • Any other reason as defined in applicable legislation

Any questions or concerns regarding this policy can be addressed by contacting YWCA Cambridge by phone at 519-267-6444 or by email at info@ywcacambridge.ca

The company will investigate and respond to concerns about any aspect of the handling of personal information. YWCA Cambridge will address concerns to the best of its abilities.