Privacy Policy

ALBERTA ASSOCIATION OF OPTOMETRISTS PRIVACY POLICY

Last modified: August 28, 2024

INTRODUCTION

The Alberta Association of Optometrists (the “Association,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy concerns and is committed to protecting your personal information through compliance with this Privacy Policy (“Privacy Policy”) and applicable law. For the purposes of this Privacy Policy, “you” refers to individuals who access and use our Website or AAO4U App, defined below. This Privacy Policy describes:

  • The types of information we may collect or that you may provide when you access or use the Association’s websites, including with respect to the Eyesafe™️ program administered in Alberta by the Association ("Eyesafe"), or the Eye See… Eye Learn™️ program ("Eye See … Eye Learn"), or the Eyesafe™️ Advantage program (“Eyesafe Advantage”). The websites for Eyesafe and Eye See … Eye Learn, including Eyesafe Online and Eyesafe Advantage, are maintained by the Association and accessible through the Association's website, and all of the foregoing are herein collectively referred to as our "Website".
  • The types of information we may collect or that you may provide when you access or use the Association’s AAO4U mobile application from Eventpedia used for certain events or conferences (the “AAO4U App”).
  • Our practices for collecting, using, maintaining, disclosing and protecting that information.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand how we collect, use, maintain, disclose and protect your personal information. By accessing or using our Website or the AAO4U App, you indicate that you understand, accept, and consent to the practices described in this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. This Privacy Policy may change from time to time (see Changes to Our Privacy Policy section below). Your continued use of our Website or AAO4U App after this Privacy Policy has changed indicates that you accept and consent to those changes, so please check this Privacy Policy periodically for updates

IF YOU DO NOT CONSENT TO THE TERMS OF THIS PRIVACY POLICY, PLEASE DO NOT PROVIDE US WITH ANY PERSONAL INFORMATION.

1. INFORMATION COLLECTION

We use different methods to collect your information, including through:

  • Direct interactions with you when you provide it to us, for example, by filling in forms or corresponding with us by phone, email, or otherwise.
  • Third Parties may provide us with information about you in connection with our programs or services, including Eyesafe, Eyesafe Advantage, and Eye See … Eye Learn as further described below.
  • User contributions. You may provide information for us to publish or display on public areas of our Website or the AAO4U App or to transmit to other Website or AAO4U App users or third parties.
  • Automated technologies or interactions, as you navigate through our Website or AAO4U App. Information collected automatically may include usage details, device information, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other tracking technologies. Please be advised that we use Google Analytics to track and report website traffic and that some information may be collected by Google. Please consult Google's privacy policy for details.

This Privacy Policy applies only to personal information we collect and does not apply to information collected by any third party, such as social media, other websites, content, or applications that may link to or be accessible from or through our Website or AAO4U App. We are not responsible for personal information that third parties may collect, disclose, store and use, including through their websites or applications. We encourage you to carefully review the privacy policies of any websites or applications you visit.

1.1 Information You Provide to Us

The information we collect from you on or through our Website or AAO4U App may be provided directly to us in various ways, including:

  • Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website or AAO4U App, including information provided at the time of creating an account or registering to use our Website or AAO4U App, registering for an event or program, subscribing to our services, responding to surveys, posting information or material, registering and/or requesting or ordering services, including through Eyesafe, Eyesafe Advantage, or Eye See … Eye Learn;
  • Scanning a QR code with the AAO4U App camera function to provide access to your user profile information;
  • Completing transactions through our Website;
  • Conducting search queries on our Website or AAO4U App;
  • Contacting us directly including by phone, email, or AAO4U App-related electronic communications; or
  • Contributing to interactive features, such as providing video or audio recordings, creation of personally identifying avatars, responding to surveys or polls, or engaging in Q&A functionalities, bulletin boards, chat areas, or forums.

The types of personal information that we might collect from you include, without limitation:

  • Name (including parent/guardian name);
  • Mailing address;
  • Telephone numbers;
  • E-mail address;
  • Company;
  • Title;
  • Designations;
  • Credit card and other payment information;
  • Purchase history and preferences;
  • Website use preferences;
  • Opinions about our services;
  • Pictures of your ID;
  • Pictures of you (including headshot);
  • Biographical information;
  • Username, password and other login information; and
  • Other contact or identifying information you provide to us,

about you or an individual for whom you act as parent or legal guardian.

You are not required to provide us with such information, but certain features of our Website or AAO4U App may not be accessible or available, absent the provision of certain requested information.

Within the AAO4U App, you have the option to disable certain features or control the visibility of your information. You also have the ability to update, edit, delete or hide your information, or remove your information from being displayed in the attendee list.

You may also provide information to be published or displayed (hereinafter, "posted") on the AAO4U App or public areas of our Website or transmitted to other users of our Website, AAO4U App, or third parties (collectively, "User Contributions"). Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. We cannot control the actions of other users of the AAO4U App, Website, or third parties with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. Therefore, we do not guarantee that unauthorized persons will not view your User Contributions.

Information that we collect about you or that you provide to us through a third-party website or platform, including the AAO4U App, may also be collected by the third-party and may be subject to their privacy policy. Please consult Eventpedia’s privacy policy for details.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

We may receive and store certain information about you and your device(s) automatically when you access or use our Website or AAO4U App. This information may include:

  • Technical Information – We may collect technical information associated with your activity on our Website or AAO4U App and may include information related to your browser and operating system, IP address (the internet address of your computer), unique device identifiers, and other information such as your device type. We use such information for diagnostic and statistical purposes and to administer our Website and AAO4U App and the services provided through them. Mobile device information may be collected to generate app adoption analysis, and enhance product performance and monitoring.
  • Usage Information – We may collect information to better understand customer traffic patterns and usage of our Website or AAO4U App. This may include the webpage that you were visiting before accessing our Website or AAO4U App, the pages or features of our Website or AAO4U App that you browsed, to inform us which part of our Website or AAO4U App you visit and how much time you spend there. This information is used to analyze and improve our Website and AAO4U App, and to enhance user experience.
  • User Preferences – We collect information about your preferences to make your use of our Website and AAO4U App more productive through the use of cookies.

 

1.3 Information Collected from Third Parties

We may receive information about you from third parties, such as your employer or a third-party administrator of group benefits in connection with Eyesafe or Eyesafe Advantage. We may also receive information about children in connection with Eye See … Eye Learn or Eyesafe Advantage, including through member optometrists. Additionally, we may receive information about you from third parties in connection to one of our other programs or services.

2. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information, to:

  • Fulfill any purposes for which the information was provided;
  • Present our Website or AAO4U App and its contents to you;
  • Verify your identity;
  • Provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us;
  • Publicize members and others who register for our events or accessing certain resources;
  • Respond to inquiries received from you, including in relation to any of the Association’s programs such as Eyesafe, Eyesafe Advantage, or Eye See … Eye Learn;
  • Provide you with notices about your account, including expiration and renewal notices;
  • Issue invoices, receipts or other confirmations to you;
  • Notify you of Privacy Policy changes;
  • Contact you via email or text message to conduct research and share information that you provide to us;
  • Gather feedback about our Website or AAO4U App and the services we offer through our Website and AAO4U App;
  • Inform you of other products or services available from the Association and its programs, associate members, partners, or service providers;
  • Carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from any contracts entered between you and us, including the Terms of Use, for billing and collection, or to comply with any legal requirements;
  • Notify you about changes to our Website or AAO4U App or any products or services we offer or provide though it;
  • Improve our Website or AAO4U App, products or services;
  • Allow you to participate in interactive features, social media, gamifications, surveys, polls, Q&A functionalities, chats, private messaging, or similar features on our Website or AAO4U App;
  • In respect of Eyesafe, provide prescription safety eyewear;
  • In respect of Eyesafe Advantage, provide prescription sports protective eyewear;
  • In respect of Eye See … Eye Learn, encourage parents to arrange eye exams for their children from an optometrist, and in some cases to provide such children with free eyeglasses;
  • In any other way we may describe when you provide the information; and
  • For any other purpose to which you consent.

 

3. DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We do not rent or sell your information to anyone. We will only share your information as follows:

  • To contractors, service providers, third-party processors, and other third parties we use to deliver the services that you request and that we use to support our operations (such as analytics and search engine providers that assist us with Website or AAO4U App development, improvement and optimization).
  • To advertisers and advertising networks that require the information to select and serve relevant advertisements to you and others. We do not disclose data about identifiable individuals to our advertisers, but we may provide them with aggregate information about our users (for example, we may inform them that 50 women between 30 and 45 have clicked on their advertisement on a specific day). We may also use such aggregate information to help advertisers target a specific audience (for example, men in a specific location). We may make use of the personal information we have collected from you to enable us to display our advertisers' advertisement to that target audience.
  • To enforce or apply our Terms of Use and other contracts with you, including for billing and collection purposes.
  • As may be required by law.
  • With a health care provider in the case of a medical emergency.
  • For any other reasonable purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information, or to which you consent.

 

4. ACCESSING, CORRECTING, AND DELETING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

The Association makes reasonable efforts to keep your personal information complete, up-to-date and accurate. Should you wish to access, update, correct or delete your personal information, or express any concerns regarding our use of your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact information provided below.

We will respond to your request as soon as practicable, or in any event, in compliance with applicable laws. We may refuse a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect. We may also need to retain certain information for billing purposes or as otherwise required by law.

We may request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and your right to access, and to provide you with the personal information that we hold about you or make your requested changes. Applicable law may allow or require us to refuse to provide you with access to some or all of the personal information that we hold about you, or we may have destroyed, erased, or made your personal information anonymous in accordance with our record retention obligations and practices. If we cannot provide you with access to your personal information, we will inform you of the reasons why, subject to any legal or regulatory restrictions.

Please note that if you delete your User Contributions from our Website or AAO4U App, copies of your User Contributions may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or might have been copied or stored by third parties or other Website or AAO4U App users.

5. DATA SECURITY

The security of your personal information is very important to us. We take reasonable physical, technological, and administrative measures to prevent unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification, disposal or destruction of personal information in our custody or control. We and our IT suppliers follow industry recognized standards on information security management to safeguard your information.

The safety and security of your personal information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website or the AAO4U App, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. Passwords registered with our Website or AAO4U App are encrypted to ensure protection against unauthorized access to your personal information.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet and mobile platforms is not completely secure. Although we follow all legal requirements and do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of personal information transmitted to our Website or AAO4U App. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on our Website or AAO4U App.

6. DATA TRANSFERS

We use service providers who are located in Canada and your personal information will be stored and processed only in Canada. We bind our service providers to offer an acceptable level of data security and otherwise process your information in accordance with Canadian law. If you have any questions about our use of service providers outside of Canada, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact information provided below.

7. DATA RETENTION AND DISPOSITION

Except as otherwise permitted or required by applicable law or regulation, we will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Personal information that is no longer required is destroyed, erased or anonymized.

Under some circumstances we may anonymize your personal information so that it can no longer be associated with you. We reserve the right to use such anonymous and de-identified data for any legitimate business purpose.

8. CHILDREN

The Eye See … Eye Learn program is an educational program encouraging parents of kindergarten-aged children to receive an eye exam from an optometrist. If required, a free pair of eye glasses can be provided to the child. Consequently, the health information of such children is among the personal information we collect. Such health information is collected, used and disclosed only with parental consent, and in strict conformance with this Privacy Policy and with the Health Information Act (Alberta). If we learn we have collected or received personal information regarding a child without verification of parental consent, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information regarding a child without parental consent, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact information provided below.

9. OTHER HEALTH INFORMATION

The Eyesafe, Eye See … Eye Learn, and Eyesafe Advantage programs involve the health information of individuals, which is collected, used, disclosed and protected in strict conformance with this Privacy Policy and the Health Information Act (Alberta).

10. WITHDRAWING CONSENT

Where you have provided your consent to the collection, use or disclosure of your personal information, you may have the right to withdraw or vary your consent under certain circumstances. To withdraw or vary your consent, if applicable, please contact our Privacy Officer at the contact information provided below. Please note that if you withdraw or vary your consent, we may not be able to provide you with a particular product or service. We will explain the impact to you at the time to help you with your decision.

11. CHANGES TO OUR PRIVACY POLICY

The Association may update this Privacy Policy from time to time for any reason whatsoever. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Policy in order to stay informed of how the Association is protecting your personal information. Each time this Privacy Policy is amended, the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of the Privacy Policy will be revised accordingly. If we make any material or substantive changes in this Privacy Policy, we will notify you by posting a clear and conspicuous notice of these changes on our Website, AAO4U App, and in this Privacy Policy and by sending an email to the email we have on file.

12. CONTACT INFORMATION – PRIVACY OFFICER

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or our privacy practices, please contact our Privacy Officer:
By e-mail: alberta.association@optometrists.ab.ca
By telephone: (780) 451-6824
By fax: (780) 452-9918

We will do our best to promptly respond and address any questions or concerns. If you are not satisfied with our response to your query, you may also contact the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta by email at generalinfo@oipc.ab.ca or by telephone at 1-888-878-4044 (toll-free).