The Alberta College of Occupational Therapists (ACOT) is committed to protecting the privacy of regulated members of the profession and the public. The Website Privacy Policy outlines how ACOT will fulfill its requirements to comply with the Alberta Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and the Health Professions Act with respect to the collection, use, disclosure and retention of personal information via ACOT’s Website. ACOT also maintains a separate Managing Information and Privacy Policy that outlines the measures required of ACOT staff and Council to fulfill ACOT’s legislated duty to protect and responsibly access personal information collected in any manner, used and held by ACOT.
Our Commitment to Privacy
acot.ca (the “Website”) is a website owned and operated by the Alberta College of Occupational Therapists, (also referred to as “the College,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). The Website is intended for use by the public and occupational therapists registered in Alberta (“registrants”). The main part of the Website is open to the public interested in occupational therapy-related topics or accessing the public directory of Alberta-registered occupational therapists. Registrants have access to a password protected section,
This Website Privacy Policy (the “Policy”) is notice to you of how your personal information will be collected, used, stored and disclosed if you choose to use the Website. If you do not want your personal information handled pursuant to the terms in this Policy, you may not use the Website. ACOT may change or update this Policy at any time and those changes will be in effect as soon as they are posted on the Website. You are also agreeing to follow any changed or updated terms of this Policy when they are posted, so check this Policy often. Professional users of the Website acknowledge that they always remain subject to the applicable privacy or health information legislation governing their business, employer or patients.
What personal information do we collect and why?
What is personal information? In the context of ACOT’s website, personal information is information about an identifiable individual user of the Website.
General Public Users
The Website may collect Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of any user of the Website to measure use of the Website, administer the Website, improve content and gather broad demographic information for aggregate use. We do not link IP addresses to personally identifiable information, and therefore, no personal information of general public users is collected or used by the Website or ACOT.
Registered Occupational Therapists
If you are an Alberta-registered occupational therapist, you will access your registrant profile and Continuing Competence Program (CCP) records from the password-protected section of the Website (the “Registrant Login” or “Member Section”). We also collect the following personal information: the email address and password (that you create) which are linked to your registration number and registration information in ACOT’s database. We retain “audit trail” records of all your sign-ins and any information you submit through the Registrant Login section. This includes any registrant and applicant information collected in accordance with section 14 of ACOT’s Bylaws. ACOT is required to make available to the public through the OT Register (“public directory”): your name, registration number, status on the ACOT register, any specializations (i.e. acupuncture roster) and conditions on your registration (if any).
Is personal information shared with anyone?
ACOT uses external service providers. Consultants or contractors may have limited access to personal information if access is necessary for the performance of their duties. ACOT’s website or computer consultants may have access to personal information from time to time including to ensure performance and functioning of the Website and membership database, and to assist with the storage of information and external email service provision. Personal information in user profiles will not be stored outside of Canada.
We disclose personal information only with consent or where permitted by law: We will not sell your personal information or make it available to advertisers. We will only disclose personal information with consent or where this is permitted by law, including in response to a court order, or pursuant to a lawful request by a government agency. As noted above, your name, registration number, along with your permit status, permit effective and expiry dates, specializations and any conditions are disclosed in the publicly accessible member register/public directory on the Website.
In accordance with the Health Information Act, ACOT provides registrants’ “health service provider information”, as collected and stored in the Registrant Login section of the Website, to the Government of Alberta’s Provincial Provider Registry (PPR). The type of registrant information required for the PPR is outlined on the Provincial Provider Registry website.
ACOT also provides human workforce information data (as collected in the Registrant Login section) in aggregate form to the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI). These data are collected and disclosed to CIHI in accordance with section 14 of ACOT’s Bylaws and in alignment with CIHI’s current Health Workforce Information Minimum Data Set Data Submission Manual available on CIHI’s website. When sharing registrant information with CIHI, registrant identification numbers are used instead of names and CIHI is under strict privacy obligations to not cross reference registrant identification numbers with ACOT’s registrant directory.
How does ACOT protect your privacy?
ACOT staff and volunteers are trained to appreciate the importance of privacy and maintain the confidentiality of personal information. We make every reasonable effort to ensure the security of the personal information in our possession, including by taking the following measures:
- We ensure that physical and technical safeguards are in place.
- We implement administrative safeguards to restrict access to personal information to those with a need to access the information.
- We only maintain personal information for as long as we require it in accordance with our Managing Information and Privacy Policy. Personal information that is no longer required will be rendered non-identifying and/or securely destroyed.
Linking to Other Websites
Please remember that, if you use a link to go from the Website to another website, the privacy provisions of this policy are no longer in effect with respect to any personal information that may be disclosed on such third-party websites or services. Your activities and interaction on any other website, including websites that have a link on this Website, is subject to that website’s own rules and policies.
Accessing and correcting personal information
You have a right to access records containing your personal information, subject to certain lawful restrictions. We rely on occupational therapist users to make changes to the personal information in their user profile in the Member Section. You may also request corrections of your personal information, if you cannot make those corrections yourself. If you request a correction of your personal information, we will correct the information as soon as is reasonably possible, subject to legal limitations. Requests for access or correction of personal information should be made in writing to our Privacy Officer, who will make every reasonable effort to assist you.
ACOT will respond to your concerns
ACOT has designated a Privacy Officer to answer your questions and respond to your concerns. Our Privacy Officer can be contacted at 312, 8925-51 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T6E 5J3 or at 780-436-8381 extension 103.
If you have a question or concern about ACOT’s website privacy policy, please contact ACOT’s Registrar at registrar@acot.ca.