Privacy notice
Collection, use, disclosure and retention of personal information is subject to, and must comply with, the provisions of the BC Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA).
The purpose of this privacy notice is to describe our practices regarding personal information use and collection through any of PHSA's websites. Please note that we do not disclose, give, sell or transfer any personal information about our website visitors unless required for law enforcement or otherwise provided for by law.
We reserve the right to update this policy at any time. Users are responsible for reviewing this document periodically for changes.
Personal information is recorded information about an identifiable individual other than business contact information and would include, but is not limited to, such things as an individual's name, address, birth date, email address, phone number and Care Card number.
PHSA is authorized to collect personal information via this website under section 26 (c ) of FIPPA for the purposes described below. Information is collected from our websites, either directly from you or automatically.
Personal information is collected through our websites in certain circumstances, such as when you send an email message to us or complete a questionnaire, form or other online survey found on our websites.
We only use the personal information you provide to us through our websites for purposes consistent with its collection.
You should also be aware that information provided by you becomes a record of the organization and is subject to the access and privacy protection requirements set out in FIPPA.
This information may be further collected, used and disclosed in accordance with that Act or as otherwise required by law. Under this legislation you are also entitled to access and correct any of your personal information that is within our custody and control. You may make such requests by contacting the privacy representative listed on this page.
Some of our web pages use "cookies," which are small amounts of information stored by your web browser software on your work station.
Cookies are designed to track browsing history on a website generally for the convenience of the user. They help websites "remember" what areas of a website a browser has accessed or used previously. Cookies can, however, be misused, and have become a privacy concern for some because they can be used to record and analyze an individual's broader browsing history.
The cookies we use on our websites and what we use them for are described below.
This site operates on "implied consent," which means that by visiting and clicking through the site, we assume you agree with this usage. If you do not agree, then you should not use our sites, or you can delete the cookies after visiting
our sites, or use your browser's anonymous usage setting (called "Incognito" in Chrome, "In Private" in Internet Explorer, "Private Browsing" in Firefox and Safari).
More information on cookies, what they are used for and how to delete cookies after visiting this site can be found at
http://www.allaboutcookies.org/cookies/session-cookies-used-for.html.
It's important to know that cookies are plain text files and cannot execute files or make copies of themselves. They do not carry or deliver viruses and cannot scan or retrieve your personal information.
There are two types of cookie – Session and Persistent.
Session cookie information is deleted as soon as you leave our websites. The use of temporary session cookies is solely for the purpose of allowing the user to interact with our websites in an effective manner.
In a few cases our website may use persistent cookies to store information for longer periods than the current session.
PHSA uses Google Analytics (GA4), a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (Google).
Google Analytics uses first-party cookies to track visitor interactions. The information generated by the cookie about your use of this website will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States. Google will use this information so that we may evaluate your use of this website, compile reports on website activity for the website operators and provide other services relating to website activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf. Your IP address is anonymized by GA4.
You may refuse the use of cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser - however please note that if you do this you may not be able to use the full functionality of this website.
Website visitors who do not want to be tracked by Google Analytics can download the
Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on. The add-on communicates with the Google Analytics JavaScript (ga.js) to indicate that information about the website visit should not be sent to Google Analytics. The Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on does not prevent information from being sent to the website itself or to other web analytics services.
PHSA is obligated to protect your personal information by making reasonable security arrangements against such risks as unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure or disposal. Security measures have been integrated into the design, implementation and day-to-day operating practices as part of PHSA's continuing commitment to the protection of personal information it holds.
Information sent to our websites over the Internet is not secure. This means that if the visitor uses the Contact Us page, or other email addresses published on our websites, to send an email, the information provided may be intercepted as it travels to our websites. We will not be responsible for any damages suffered by individuals as a result of the transmission and information that is sent to us or for any errors or changes made to transmitted information.
You might see "social media buttons" on some PHSA websites.
Social media buttons let visitors share or bookmark web pages, and are often identifiable by the + sign with Share beside it. There may be buttons for: Twitter, Facebook 'Like', LinkedIn 'Share', StumbleUpon, Digg and others.
In order to connect social buttons to the relevant external sites, there are scripts from those domains, which are outside of this site. Those sites could be collecting information about what you are doing all around the internet, including this site. To be certain what information those sites collect, and how to opt out, check the respective policies of each site.
Related links
PHSA's websites contains links to other websites. PHSA is not responsible for the privacy practices of these websites or the accuracy or reliability of any content found on such sites.
Internet browsers, such as Internet Explorer and Chrome, will display ‘not secure’ in the browser address bar or may launch a pop-up security alert message when you try to access one of PHSA’s websites. This is because our sites do not use Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS). HTTPS is an internet communication protocol that protects the integrity and confidentiality of data between a visitor’s computer and the website.
We take website security seriously. While our websites are not currently configured for HTTPS, there is minimal risk to our website visitors when connected on trusted networks.
Visitors to our site who are just reading or downloading documents, will not encounter any additional security risk. The content on PHSA’s various websites contain public, non-personalized information to view and lookup information.
Web-based forms on our websites are secured through https. Those forms may not show HTTPS in the browser (with the lock icon) because they are embedded in our websites.
PHSA has started a multi-year project to move our websites to a new platform configured for HTTPS.
