Good privacy practices build consumer confidence, protect the integrity of your business’ brand, increase customer loyalty and are an integral part of accountability and corporate governance.

As technology advances and business systems and processes become increasingly complex, more and more personal information is being collected. Privacy is a growing concern to Ontario consumers and as such, has become a risk management issue for all businesses.

The Government of Canada enacted the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) which came into effect for most businesses on January 1, 2004. PIPEDA regulates the collection, use and disclosure of personal information by private sector organizations and others in the course of their commercial activities. Organizations, including corporations, individuals, associations, partnerships and trade unions, are generally subject to the provisions of this legislation if they collect, use or disclose personal information in the course of their commercial activities. Under PIPEDA, personal information must be:

• Collected for identifiable purposes and with consent;
• Used and disclosed for the limited purpose for which it was collected;
• Accurate;
• Accessible for inspection and correction; and
• Safeguarded.

As you know, the OCC does not sell any products or services. We engage in sponsorship, fundraising, merchant discount programs and membership activities. We do not share our mailing list or any personal information with other organizations.

Occasionally, we do take the information you provide us with and remove any identifying details (including your name, street address, phone number and email address), then combine the balance of this anonymous information with that of other OCC members. We do this in order to identify important trends or issues with respect to provincial business matters.

If you have any questions, you may contact the OCC by email.