Privacy Policy
1. THE PRIVACY CODE OF THE CANADIAN REAL ESTATE ASSOCIATION
This office is a member of The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA)
and adheres to and abides by the principles set out in the CREA
Privacy Code. All employees and sales representatives associated
with this office must sign an acknowledgement that they will comply
with the requirements of the Code.
2. THE POLICY STATEMENT
This office only collects personal information necessary to
effectively market and sell the property of Sellers to locate,
assess and qualify properties for Buyers and to otherwise provide
professional and competent real estate services to clients and
customers.
3. THE PERSON IN CHARGE
Dieter W. Wolle is the privacy compliance officer responsible for
privacy compliance in this office. His name shall be made available
to consumers. The responsibilities of the privacy compliance officer
shall include:
· establish and update information protection policies;
· ensure policies are implemented by other organization to which
data-processing functions are outsourced;
· establish criteria for classification of information;
· evaluate the accessibility of sensitive information and take
corrective action where necessary;
· provide education to employees on the importance of information
protection;
· attempt to resolve consumer privacy complaints to the satisfaction
of the consumer
4. THE COLLECTION, USE AND DISCLOSURE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
Only the information necessary to facilitate the real estate
transaction or otherwise provide professional and competent service
to clients and customers will be collected;
a) No personal information shall be collected from an individual
without first obtaining the consent of the individual to the
collection, use and dissemination of that information;
b) Express consent (whether oral or written) must always be obtained
except in the following situations:
· Consent may be implied where the information is not sensitive and
where it can be reasonably assumed that the individual would expect
the information to be disclosed in this fashion;
· Once information is collected, it will be used and disclosed for
the purposes disclosed to the individual
· All representation agreements must include the approved privacy
clauses.
Information should be available to other persons in the office only
on a need-to-know basis.
5. DISCLOSURE FOR NEW PURPOSE
Anyone using personal information for some new purpose that extends
beyond the consent already provided must obtain the express consent
of the person for that use;
· Requests for information by law enforcement officials, lawyers,
private investigators or other agents or subpoenas for documents
issued by the court must be referred to the (privacy officer/office
manager or broker/agent as appropriate).
STORAGE
· Filing cabinets designated by the office manager to contain
personal, including sensitive, information are to be kept secured at
all times.
· All personal have computer passwords. These passwords are
confidential and are not to be shared with any unauthorized persons.
DESTRUCTION
· This office has in place a record retention and destruction
policy. Refer to that portion of the policy manual for details.
6. PROTECTING INFORMATION
Information must be protected in a manner commensurate with its
sensitivity, value and criticality. This policy applies regardless
of the media on which information is stored, the locations where the
information is stored, the systems used to process the information,
or the processes by which information is handled.
COLLECTION AND DISCLOSURE
Meetings with customers and clients on these premises must take
place in a place and manner to ensure confidentiality;
Mail and faxes must be routed directly to the intended recipient;
7. ACCURACY OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
To ensure the quality of the information collected:
a) Insofar as possible, personal information should be collected
directly from the consumer.
b) Public property information (taxes, assessmentdata etc.) should
be verified.
c) Disclaimers of accuracy in the form approved by the office should
always be attached to any disclosure of information.
8. ACCESS TO PERSONAL INFORMATION
a) Copies of any privacy brochure approved by this office should
always be available to the public in the reception area of the
office.
b) The individual set out in Section 3 as being responsible for
privacy compliance is the person responsible for responding to
access requests and all such requests will be referred to him or
her. All staff and salespersons will co-operate fully with the
privacy compliance officer in responding to requests.
c) On written request and appropriate identification satisfactory to
the organization, an individual will be advised of personal
information about him/her retained in the firm’s records;
d) Where information cannot be disclosed (for example, the
information contains reference to other individuals or is subject to
solicitor-client privilege) the individual will be given reasons for
non-disclosure;
e) An individual may have appended to a record, any alternative
information where the office is of the view that the appended
information is, in fact, correct;
f) A minimal administrative fee may be charged to supply the
information.
9. COMPLIANCE
a) Any complaints from an individual concerning the collection, use
or disclosure of their personal information or concerning the
individual's ability to access their personal information must be
referred to the privacy compliance officer, who will attempt to
resolve the complaint to the individual's satisfaction;
b) In the event the complaint cannot be resolved internally to the
individual’s satisfactions, he or she will be advised of where to
direct the complaint.
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