The BETTER Institute Privacy Policy

Last revised: Oct 21, 2021

We respect your privacy. When you visit our website, contact us, or receive any of our services, we are committed to protecting your privacy rights and your personal information.

This privacy policy is based upon the 10 Privacy Principles contained within the Canadian Standards Association Model Code and reflects the requirements of applicable legislation.

Definition of “personal information”

Personal information is any information recorded in any form about a specific, identifiable individual, including such commonly available details as name, gender, address, date of birth, and telephone number.

Personal information does not include anonymous or aggregate information that cannot be tracked back to you personally.

Our 10 Privacy Principles

  1. Our responsibility to protect your personal information The BETTER Institute is responsible for the protection of your personal information collected through its program activities. This responsibility extends when personal information is transferred to or collected by third parties on our behalf.
  2. Our obligation to identify the purposes for collecting personal information Before we collect any personal information from you, we will identify the purpose for the collection. A statement of purposes will be communicated wherever possible.
  3. The requirement for knowledge and consent We will only collect personal information with your knowledge and consent, except in limited situations as permitted by law. This may be with your express consent (for example, where you voluntarily provide information on a form for purposes you clearly understand and agree to) or by declining an opportunity to opt-out of our collection or use of your personal information. Opt-out consent will be used only for non-sensitive information where we believe that the privacy impacts are low and you will be provided with sufficient notice of your right to opt-out of such uses. Further, you can withdraw your consent to the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information at any time, subject to any legal requirements and reasonable notice*.

    *A decision to withhold some personal information may influence the ability of The BETTER Institute to provide you with services.
  4. Limiting information collection We only collect personal information relevant to the purposes that have been identified. We collect information fairly and lawfully, and directly from individuals wherever possible. You have the right to provide as much, or as little personal information as you choose to share.
  5. Limiting use, disclosure and retention of your information We only use or disclose your personal information for the purposes we have identified to you.
  6. Our responsibility to ensure the accuracy of your personal information All of the personal information that we collect comes directly from individuals themselves, for example on our contact or service application forms. We generally assume this information to be accurate and complete, unless we are informed otherwise.
  7. Our responsibility to safeguard your personal information The BETTER Institute uses appropriate safeguards to protect all personal information in its custody and control.
  8. Our obligation to be open about our privacy policy and practices We are open about our policies and procedures. We make reasonable efforts to inform individuals about our policies and procedures, the purposes for which we collect, use or disclose personal information, and how to access your personal information.
  9. Your right to access your personal information Upon request, we will inform you if we hold any personal information about you and provide you with access to this information. If we have any personal information about you, we will also tell you for what purposes it is used or disclosed.

    You have a right to update any personal information that we hold on you. Should you wish to see the full contents of an information file, you must make a formal written request to info@better-program.
  10. Your right to challenge our compliance with our privacy policy If, for any reason, you are concerned about our compliance with our privacy policy please contact us at the e-mail address above.

Website practices

The BETTER Program website may collect personal information when you voluntarily complete any online application, request form, or survey. Personal information collected will only be used for the stated purposes.

Any information collected such as the visitor’s Internet Protocol address, web browser, and pages accessed is used internally by us in an aggregate form, to help us manage and improve the content and to diagnose technical problems of our website to better serve you.

External links

The BETTER Program website provides links to other websites which we believe may be of interest to you. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every website that requests personal information from you.

Third party social media

The BETTER Institute’s use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the internet. Social media account(s) are public and are not hosted on The BETTER Institute’s servers. Users who choose to interact with The BETTER Institute via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications used to access them.

If you have any questions about our privacy policies and practices, please email us at info@better-program.ca