Personal Information Protection Policy

TEAMSTERS’ NATIONAL BENEFIT PLAN | TEAMSTERS’ NATIONAL PENSION PLAN

The Teamsters’ National Benefit Plan and the Teamsters’ National Pension Plan (the “Plans”), their respective Trustees and employees are committed to providing our Members with exceptional service. As providing this service involves the collection, use and disclosure of some personal information about our Members, protecting their personal information is one of our highest priorities.

While the Plans have always respected their Members privacy and safeguarded their personal information, we have strengthened our commitment to protecting personal information as a result of British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). PIPA, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, and which in addition to the federal privacy legislation Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) set out the ground rules for how B.C. Businesses and not-for-profit organizations may collect, use and disclose personal information.

The Plans or either of them will inform their Members of why and how we collect, use and disclose their personal information, obtain their consent where required, and only handle their personal information in a manner that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.

Scope of this Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the Plans and either of them.

Personal Information – means information about an identifiable individual including, name, age, home address and phone number, social insurance number and medical information. Personal information does not include contact information (described below).

Contact Information – means information that would enable an individual to be contacted at a place of business and includes their name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax numbers. Contact information is not covered by this policy or PIPA/PIPEDA.

Privacy Officer – means the individual designated the responsibility for ensuring that the Plans comply with this policy, PIPA and PIPEDA.

Policy 1 – Collecting Personal Information

1.1 Unless the purposes for collecting personal information are obvious and the Member voluntarily provides his or her personal information for those purposes, the Plans or either of them will communicate the purposes for which personal information is being collected, either orally or in writing, before or at the time of collection.

1.2 The Plans or either of them will only collect Member information that is necessary to fulfill their Administrative duties, which include some of the following:

  • Establish your identification
  • Verify your eligibility for benefits
  • Verify your eligibility for pension
  • Processing and payment of claims
  • Processing and payment of pensions
  • Provide protection from fraud or error
  • Administrative purposes

Policy 2 – Consent

2.1 The Plans or either of them will obtain Member consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).

2.1 Consent can be provided orally, in writing, electronically, through an authorized representative or it can be implied where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be considered obvious and the Member voluntarily provides personal information for that purpose.

2.3 Consent may also be implied where a Member is given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of his or her personal information being used for mail-outs and the Member does not opt-out.

2.4 Subject to certain exceptions (e.g., the personal information is necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation), Members can withhold or withdraw their consent for the Plans or either of them to use their personal information in certain ways. A Members decision to withhold or withdraw their consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict the Plans ability to provide a particular service or product. If so, the Plans or either of them will explain the situation to assist the Member in making the decision.

2.5 The Plans or either of them may collect, use or disclose personal information without the Members knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:

  • When the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law
  • When the personal information is available from a public source (e.g. telephone directory)
  • When the Plans or either of them require legal advice from a lawyer
  • For the purposes of collecting a debt
  • To protect ourselves from fraud
  • To investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law
  • As is permitted by the Plans or either of their governing documents

Policy 3 -Using and Disclosing Personal Information

3.1 The Plans or either of them will only use or disclose Members personal information where necessary to fulfill the purposes identified at the time of collection.

3.2 The Plans or either of them will not use or disclose Members personal information for any additional purpose unless we obtain consent to do so.

3.3 The Plans or either of them will not sell Member lists or personal information to other parties

Policy 4 -Retaining Personal Information

4.1 If the Plans or either of them use Members personal information to make a decision that directly affects the Member, we will retain that personal information for a least one year so that the Member has a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.

4.2 Subject to policy 4.1, we will retain Members personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.

Policy 5 -Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Information

5.1 The Plans or either of them will make reasonable efforts to ensure that Members personal information is accurate and complete where it may be used to make a decision about the Member or disclosed to another organization.

5.2 Members may request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information is to be made in writing and is to provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.

5.3 If the personal information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, the Plans or either of them will correct the information as required and send the corrected information to any organization to which we disclosed the personal information to in the previous year. If the correction is not made, the Plans or either of them will note the Members correction request in the file.

Policy 6 – Securing Personal Information

6.1 The Plans are committed to ensuring the security of Members personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.

6.2 The following security measures will be followed to ensure that Members personal information is appropriately protected:

  • Securing offices where personal information is held
  • The use of user ID passwords Firewalls
  • Restricting employee access to personal information as appropriate

6.3 The Plans will use appropriate security measures when destroying Members personal information such as shredding documents.

6.4 The Plans will continually review and update their security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.

Policy 7 – Online Privacy

7.1 This policy outlines what you can expect from the Plans or either of them when you visit our Website.

7.2 We will not sell, rent or share any personally-identifiable information you provide to us during your visit to our Website without your consent.

7.3 No personally-identifiable information collected during your visit to our Website will ever be used to affect your existing benefits through the Plans or either of them.

7.4 Our Web servers automatically capture your IP address, domain name, the referring Web page from which you enter our site, the pages you visit on our site and the amount of time you spend on our Website. All websites are capable of capturing this information and most do. The Plans do not collect any information that can reveal your personal identity unless you voluntarily provide it when you register to use interactive features of the site or receive information from the Plans.

7.5 Any personally-identifiable information you give to the Plans will be used only to provide the product, service or information you have requested or for which you registered. Your personally-identifiable information, including your e-mail address, will not be sold, rented, licensed, or otherwise shared with third parties, unless you specifically consent to let us do so. The non-personally-identifiable information the Plans gather (e.g. browser statistics, etc.) may be used to improve the Website.

7.6 When you visit the Website, we may place a cookie on your computer that will allow us to customize and enhance your experience and improve the services we offer at the Website, or to report Website activity. Our cookies will never be used to track your activity on any third party websites or to send spam (e.g. unsolicited) e-mail to you.

7.7 Please also review the Terms and Conditions of the use of the Plans Website.

Policy 8 – Providing Member Access to Personal Information

8.1 Members have a right to access their personal information, subject to limited exceptions.

8.2 A request to access personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information being sought. A request to access personal information should be forwarded to the Privacy Officer.

8.3 Upon request, the Plans will also tell Members how we use their personal information and to whom it has been disclosed if applicable.

8.4 The Plans will make the requested information available within 30 business days, or provide written notice of an extension where additional time is required to fulfill the request.

8.5 A minimal fee may be charged for providing access to personal information. Where a fee may apply, the Plans will inform the Member of the cost and request further direction from the Member on whether or not we should proceed with the request.

8.6 If a request is refused in full or in part, the Plans will notify the Member in writing, providing the reasons for refusal and the recourse available to the Member.

Policy 9 – Question and Complaints: The Role of the Privacy Officer

9.1 The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring the Plans or either of their compliance with this policy and the Personal Information Protection Act and Personal Information and Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

9.2 Members should direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding the Plans or either of their compliance with this Policy in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the Member may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.

Contact Information for the Plans Privacy Officer:

Teamsters’ National Benefit Plan | Teamsters’ National Pension Plan Privacy Officer – Kelly Nicholson
1610 Kebet Way
Port Coquitlam, BC V3C 5W9

Phone: 604-552-2650
Fax: 604-552-2653
E-mail: benefits.pensions@teamsters31.ca