Overview
The protection of personal information is important to The GeoFocus Group (GeoFocus). GeoFocus is committed to maintaining the accuracy, security and privacy of personal information in accordance with applicable legislation. This GeoFocus privacy policy is a statement of principles and guidelines concerning the protection of personal information of our customers, service providers and other individuals (“you”). Any questions about this policy can be directed to GeoFocus (phone 416-622-0456, info@thegeofocusgroup.com).
Our employees play an important role in protecting personal information. Our employees are required to adhere to this policy and take all reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is protected from unauthorized access.
Consent
By submitting personal information to The GeoFocus Group, you agree that we may collect, use and disclose such personal information in accordance with this privacy policy and as permitted or required by law. Subject to legal and contractual requirements, you may refuse or withdraw your consent to certain of the identified purposes at any time by contacting GeoFocus. If you refuse or withdraw your consent, GeoFocus may be unable to provide you or continue to provide you with certain services, programs and/or information which may be of value to you.
If you provide GeoFocus with personal information of another individual, you represent that you have all necessary authority and/or have obtained all necessary consents from such person to enable GeoFocus to collect, use and disclose such personal information for the purposes set forth in this privacy policy.
Collection of personal information
Canadian privacy legislation defines “personal information” broadly as information about an identifiable individual or as information that allows an individual to be identified. For the purposes of this policy, “personal information” means information about an identifiable individual as defined from time to time in applicable privacy legislation. Generally speaking personal information does not include what is considered business contact information generally found on a business card (i.e. name, title, business number, business fax number, business email address, etc.).
Although GeoFocus deals commonly with other companies and in those cases does not collect personal information, we also deal with individual customers. We collect the personal information of our individual customers in administering the following:
Construction Management Services
Construction Advisory Services
Expert Witness Services
Expert Opinion Services
Other Construction Related and Land Development Services
For the purposes of receiving Client inquiries GeoFocus often collects the following types of personal information:
name;
telephone number;
email address;
project location;
project type;
service type;
description;
Use of personal information
The personal information collected by the CCA is used for the following purposes:
- to contact the individual for instruction;
- to issue invoices, administer accounts, collect and process payments;
- to send GeoFocus email correspondence
- to send GeoFocus newsletter and/or other marketing materials
- to comply with any legal or regulatory requirements or provisions;
- for any other purpose to which you consent.
We only collect personal information directly from the individual except when we have the individual’s consent to collect information from elsewhere or are permitted by law to collect it without the individual’s consent.
We use an individual’s personal information strictly for the purposes outlined above. If we need to use the personal information for any other purpose we will contact the individual and obtain consent prior to that use.
Disclosure of personal information
From time to time, GeoFocus may disclose your personal information to:
- service providers, including an organization or individual retained by GeoFocus to perform functions on its behalf, such as marketing, data processing, printing, mailing, document management, and office services;
- an organization or individual retained by GeoFocus to collect debts outstanding on an account;
- a financial institution, on a confidential basis and solely in connection with negotiating payment of an account to which you have consented; and
- any third party or parties, where you consent to such disclosure or where disclosure is required or permitted by law.
When we disclose your personal information to third parties, we require such parties to maintain levels of confidentiality and security, in addition to obtaining such third parties’ representation of the implementation of their own privacy policy.
An individual has the right to withdraw consent for our collection, use or disclosure of their personal information at any time. However, if an individual does so it may affect his/her ability to participate in programs and/or receive services provided by GeoFocus. If an individual wishes to withdraw consent, or has any questions about withdrawing consent, he or she can contact our privacy officer.
Business contact information is not protected by this policy. This type of information is not considered to be personal information and may be collected, used and disclosed without consent.
Storage of personal information
GeoFocus has appropriate safeguards in place to protect personal information. GeoFocus takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that your personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. Among the steps taken to protect your personal information are:
- premises security;
- restricted file access to personal information;
- technological safeguards such as security software and firewalls to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access;
- internal password and security policies;
- proper training of GeoFocus employees in respect of privacy matters.
Accuracy of personal information
We try to keep personal information as accurate as possible and individuals can assist us by providing us with updated information when necessary. Information can be updated by contacting GeoFocus .
Retention of personal information
We only keep personal information for as long as is necessary for the purposes outlined above. This may include keeping the information after a service or program has been completed in order to resolve any problems or concerns that may arise. We are also required by law to maintain certain records for set amounts of time.
Access
Individuals have the right to access the personal information we hold about them. You can access your personal information by making a request to our Privacy Officer. The Officer will provide the necessary forms and assistance to make the request and obtain the information. If you believe that some of the personal information is incorrect you can request that the information be corrected.
The GeoFocus may charge an individual for minimal out-of-pocket expenses in responding to an access request. If we decide that a charge is appropriate we will provide you with a written estimate prior to providing access. Any concerns with the estimated charge should be directed to our privacy officer.
Accountability
We apply our best efforts to protect your privacy. If an individual has any concerns they are free to contact GeoFocus. We hope that we will be able to resolve any problems. If concerns are not resolved, GeoFocus can provide information on making a formal complaint.
Employment inquiries
If you apply for employment at GeoFocus, we will require your personal information as part of our review process. We normally retain information from candidates after a decision has been made, unless you ask us not to retain the information. If we offer you a job, which you accept, the information will be retained in accordance with our privacy procedures for employee records.
Website
GeoFocus’ website may contain links to other sites, which are not governed by this privacy policy.
On our website, like most other commercial websites, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information in order to optimize our web service. We may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not include any identifiable personal information.
Amendment of this privacy policy
GeoFocus will from time to time review and revise its privacy practices and this privacy policy. In the event of any amendment, an appropriate notice will be posted on GeoFocus’ website.