Your Privacy is Important to Us

We respect your right to privacy. At Vancouver’s Ronald McDonald House BC (RMHBC), all employees and volunteers are required to comply with Federal Privacy Legislation policies that became law on 1 January 2001.

These policies are designed to protect the confidentiality of your personal information. Authorization to access personal information is based only on the need to deal with the information for the reason(s) it was obtained. Ronald McDonald House BC safeguards your information, ensuring it is not disclosed or shared more widely than is necessary to achieve the purpose for which it was gathered.

RMHBC only collects and uses your personal information with your knowledge and consent and limits the purposes to the following:

Families and Visitors:

The purpose of collecting personal information about family members and their visitors is to:

Financial donors, Event Participants and Sponsors

The purpose for collecting personal information about financial donors, Event Participants and Sponsors it to:

Our Commitment to Your Right to Privacy

At RMHBC, we respect our guest and donor privacy. Although our ability to provide service requires that we collect personal information, from you as a guest family, donor or volunteer, we take measures to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of that information.

Our RMHBC Privacy Code sets out the principles that govern the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information, which governs the behavior of our employees and volunteers with regard to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information. We have a long-standing policy of protecting your privacy in all of our business operations. This Privacy Code reflects the federal privacy legislation that came into effect on January 1, 2001.

We Protect your Personal Information

In order to protect your personal information and your right to privacy, RMHBC

  1. Will not collect, use or disclose your personal information for any purpose other than those identified above, except with your consent.
  2. Will protect your personal information with appropriate security safeguards.
  3. Will protect the confidentiality of your personal information.
  4. Will strive to keep your personal information as accurate and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes identified above.
  5. Will honour any request you may make for access to your personal information.

Personal information collected by RMHBC will be stored at Ronald McDonald House BC. The information is protected with appropriate security safeguards, but may be available to government agencies under applicable law.

Why We Collect Personal Information

We’re providing this document to inform you about our privacy practices. We want you to understand the purposes for which we collect your personal information. And we want to be sure that we have your consent to continue to collect, use and disclose your personal information for those purposes. The following is a brief summary of our privacy practices.

If you are a RMHBC guest, volunteer or donor our organization has some information about you. We understand that some of this information is private, which is why we collect personal information only for the following purposes:

  1. To establish and maintain a responsible relationship with you and to provide ongoing services. We collect information that allows us to confirm your identity so that we can accurately bill and collect for the services that you receive from us. If you are a donor, this allows us to facilitate the gift giving process. We may collect credit card or bank account information if you prefer the convenience of pre-authorized payment for services.
  2. To understand your needs and preferences. We maintain a record of the services you receive from us, and/or donations we receive from you. We may ask for additional
  3. information so that we can serve you better. For example, we will ask for your e-mail address, if you wish to donate electronically.
  4. To develop, enhance, market or provide services. For example, we look at how our family guests use our services, so that we can understand how to improve them. From time to time, we may review and analyze your gift giving to help us create special events and donation options that we think may interest you.
  5. To manage and develop our business and operations. For example, we analyze usage of our facilities to help us manage them efficiently and plan for future growth.
  6. To meet legal and regulatory requirements. For example, we may collect information in response to a court order.

Disclosure Policy

There is a variety of circumstances where we may need to disclose some of your personal information. Here are some examples:
  1. We may disclose a customer’s personal information to a person who, in the reasonable judgment of RMHBC, is seeking the information as an agent of the customer. For example, we may provide information about you to your legal representative if we are satisfied that the individual is requesting the information on your behalf.
  2. We may disclose a customer’s personal information to:
    • An RMHBC employee or volunteer that performs functions on its behalf, such as research or data processing.
    • An agent used by RMHBC, such as accounting firms.

    Any such disclosure of a guest, donor or volunteer’s personal information outside of RMHBC is made on a confidential basis with the information to be used only for the purpose for which it was disclosed.

  3. We may disclose your personal information to a public authority or agent of a public authority, if in the reasonable judgment of RMHBC, it appears that there is imminent danger to life or property which could be avoided or minimized by disclosure of the information. If a customer calls 911, we will provide the customer’s name, address and telephone number to the emergency agency.
  4. We may disclose a customer’s personal information to meet legal or regulatory requirements. For example, we may disclose such information in response to a court order or to a government institution if required or authorized by law.