The Mediation Centre

This policy is made pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. It is a complex Act and provides some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to the commitments set out below.

Privacy of personal information is an important principle to The Mediation Centre. We are committed to collecting, using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only to the extent necessary for the services that we provide. We also try to be open and transparent as to how we handle personal information. This document describes our privacy policies.

WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. It includes information that relates to personal characteristics (gender, age, income, home address etc), health (history, conditions etc), or their activities and views (religion, politics etc).  Personal information does not include business information (business address and phone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.

WHO ARE WE?

Our Corporations, The Mediation Centre of Simcoe County Inc. and Consillium ADR INC includes board members, roster mediators, executive director, executive assistant and bookkeeper.  We contract accountant and cleaners. We sometime use consultants or agencies that may, in the course of their duties have limited access to personal information we hold. (these include computer consultants etc) We have assurance from those with such access that they will follow appropriate privacy principles.

COLLECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION

Our primary purpose for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information is to serve our clients.  For our clients, the primary purpose of collecting information is alternative dispute resolution which may include: providing ADR services, parenting seminars, arbitration, training, coaching, PC, civil and workplace mediation.

PROTECTING PERSONAL INFORMATION

The essence of the mediator/client relationship is based upon trust and confidence. It has always been of the utmost importance to us, to endeavour at all times to protect the personal information that we collect.

RETENTION & DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any questions that you might have about the services that we have provided and for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. It is our practice to destroy any unnecessary documents by shredding them. We destroy unnecessary electronic information by deleting it.