Privacy Policy
Westward recognizes the importance of safeguarding the personal information provided to us. We are subject to British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which sets out rules for how organizations collect, use and disclose personal information, and to similar legislation in other provinces. A summary of what is covered by PIPA can be found here.
We inform our clients, employees and contractors via our website about our Privacy Policy, and the purposes for which their personal information may be collected, used or disclosed, and we provide contact information for the Privacy Officer at Westward. The provisions of this Policy apply to our employees and contractors as a condition of their employment or contract.
Collection of Personal Information
In order to provide high quality financial planning services, we need to collect a broad range of personal information about our clients and prospective clients.
We collect personal information from our clients and prospective clients directly. We also collect personal information from other parties involved with our clients and prospective clients, such as from accountants, lawyers, employers, hospitals, doctors and other relevant advisors.
We also collect personal information from, and about, employees and potential employees, for various purposes including determining appropriate levels of compensation, evaluating performance and administering payroll and benefits.
The personal information we collect may include sensitive financial or health-related information.
We collect personal information in a variety of ways: in writing, in person, on the telephone, through our website, and by other electronic communication.
Use and Disclosure of Personal Information
The personal information we collect is used for the purpose of advancing our clients’ financial planning interests. We will only use or disclose clients’ personal information for this purpose, unless the client has provided additional consent or the use or disclosure is otherwise permitted by law.
We disclose personal information to the suppliers of financial products that we broker.
We may disclose personal information to clients’ trusted financial advisors whom the client has previously authorised to disclose personal information to us, such as accountants, in certain circumstances to properly assess and enhance a client’s financial situation and determine the best insurance solution for the client.
Disclosure of personal information may take place in situations permitted under British Columbia or Federal legislation. The disclosure may be required by law or by order of a Court or tribunal.
In the case of our employees, we disclose personal information to payroll administrators and third party benefit suppliers when necessary for the administration of payroll and benefits. We take reasonable contractual steps to ensure that third parties to whom we may disclose personal information provide a comparable level of personal information protection.
Consent
Within reasonable legal limits, we collect, use and disclose personal information only with the consent of the person involved. In certain circumstances, privacy legislation authorizes the collection, use or disclosure of personal information without the consent of the individual such as to respond to emergencies or where obtaining consent would be similarly unnecessary or inappropriate.
We may offer links from our website to other websites. Westward is not responsible for, nor do we accept liability for, the personal information collection, use and disclosure practices of other entities to which our website may link. You should consult the privacy policy of these other organizations before providing personal information on their websites.
Westward operates a website. Our internet service provider may make a record of the individuals who visit our site and log the following information for statistical purposes: internet address, domain name, date and time of visit to the website, pages and documents downloaded, previous website visited and type of browser used. This information is only used for statistical and website development purposes. If you visit our website, you do so voluntarily and are deemed to consent to our collection of your personal information as specified in this paragraph.
Subject to reasonable and lawful conditions, an individual may withdraw or vary consent for our collection, use, and disclosure of his or her personal information at any time with prior written notice to us.
Our Employees
Personal employee information is information relating to an individual who is an employee (including those who work under contract, students and volunteers) or a potential employee and which is collected, used, or disclosed for the purposes of establishing, managing or terminating an employment relationship. Under provincial privacy legislation, organizations have broader rights to collect, use, and disclose personal employee information without the consent of the individual.
Nevertheless, Westward, in its sole discretion, may seek the consent of its employees for the collection, use, and disclosure of sensitive personal employee information.
Security of Personal Information
Our employees and contractors are trained to appreciate the importance of privacy and confidentiality of personal information.
In order to provide reasonable security for personal information which is in electronic form, we implement administrative and technological safeguards to prevent unauthorized access to the firm’s network and data storage systems.
Retention of Personal Information
Privacy legislation stipulates that personal information need not be retained longer than is reasonably necessary.
Westward will retain the personal information of former clients and prospective clients for at least one year and destroy it when it is no longer reasonably necessary to support decisions affecting the individual or no longer relevant for the purpose of advancing the individual’s financial planning interests, or no longer relevant for other legal or business purposes.
We will retain our employees’ personal information for at least seven (7) years after they leave our employment.
Access
Under privacy legislation, individuals have a right of access to records containing their personal information (subject to certain restrictions). Access requests for personal information are to be directed to the firm’s Privacy Officer, Grant Twitchett. Contact information for the Privacy Officer is provided below.
All access requests are to be in writing and shall set out in sufficient detail the scope of the request.
If there is an error or omission in personal information in our custody or under our control for which a request for correction has been received, we will, subject to legal limitations, correct the information as soon as reasonably possible or annotate it with the correction that was requested but not made.
The Privacy Officer will assist the individual with the access request and respond in a timely manner, advising whether access to the requested records will be granted, and explaining the reasons for the refusal, if any part of the access request is refused. The Privacy Officer will also inform the applicant that he or she may ask the Information and Privacy Commissioner to review the decision and provide their contact information.
Changes to Policy
We reserve the right to change this policy at any time. Please review this policy statement from time to time to ensure that you are aware of and accept any changes that have been made.
More Information
Persons wishing to obtain further information about our Privacy Policy, please contact:
Grant Twitchett, Privacy Officer
Westward Advisors Ltd.
#300 – 1090 Homer Street
Vancouver, BC V6B 2W9
Tel: 604-687-1507
Fax: 604-687-0826
Email: [email protected]