Privacy Policy

ALBERTA LAW FOUNDATION

The Alberta Law Foundation (the “Foundation”) is a non-profit funder that provides grants to charities and non-profit organizations engaged in legal research, or providing legal information, education, advice or representation services. The Foundation is committed to safeguarding the personal information provided to us by grantseekers, grant recipients, stakeholders that we engage with and individuals visiting our web site.

This policy outlines the principles and practices we follow in collecting, using, safeguarding and disclosing personal information.

What is personal information?

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This includes an individual’s name, home address and phone number, age, sex, marital or family status, an identifying number, financial information, educational history, etc.

Business contact information of an individual as defined in the Alberta Personal Information Protection Act (name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business e-mail address, business fax number and other similar business information) collected, used or disclosed for the purpose of enabling the individual to be contacted in relation to the individual’s business responsibilities is not considered personal information for purposes of this policy.

What personal information do we collect?

We collect only the personal information that we need for the purposes of providing services to grantseekers, grantees and other stakeholders, including personal information needed for:

  • Grant-making activities – We may collect personal information submitted to the Foundation by grantseekers, grant recipients and their board or staff members as part of grant enquiries, applications and reporting, and evaluation of work conducted in relation to such grants for purposes of assessing grant applications and funded projects or programs and administering grants;
  • Research and development – We may collect personal information for purposes of research and development of policy related to the delivery of our grant-making program and of services delivered under those grants, including statistical research and analysis;
  • Providing training or information sessions to grantees and other stakeholders; and
  • Communicating information about our grant programs, research, events and activities through newsletters, annual reports, financial and other reports.

Generally, we collect personal information directly from individuals to whom it relates. Sometimes we may obtain information about individuals from other sources including information provided in grant applications, and persons interacting with Foundation grantees. We may collect personal information about an individual from other persons with the individual’s consent or as authorized by law.

Consent

We ask for consent to collect, use or disclose personal information, except where collection, use or disclosure without consent is authorized or required by law. Sometimes we will ask for consent in writing, but in some cases, we may accept verbal consent. We may assume an individual’s consent in cases where the individual volunteers information for an obvious purpose.

We assume an individual’s consent to continue to use and, where applicable, disclose personal information that we have already collected, for the purpose for which the information was collected.

An individual may withdraw consent to the use and disclosure of personal information at any time, unless the personal information is necessary for us to fulfil our legal obligations. We will respect the decision to withdraw consent, but we may not be able to provide certain services if we do not have the necessary personal information.

We may collect, use or disclose personal information without consent as authorized by law. For example, we may not request consent when the collection, use or disclosure is to determine suitability for an honour or award, or in an emergency that threatens life, health or safety.

How do we use and disclose personal information?

We use and disclose personal information only for the purpose for which the information was collected, except as authorized by law. For example, we may use an individual’s contact information to send communications about our programs and activities.

How do we safeguard personal information?

We protect personal information in a manner appropriate for the sensitivity of the information. We take reasonable precautions to ensure that personal information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access or disclosure. For example, some of the steps we take to protect personal information include:

  • Securing our office space and physical premises against unauthorized entry;
  • Using technical safeguards such as security software and firewalls to prevent unauthorized computer access;
  • Use of internal passwords to restrict access to computer

We use appropriate security measures when destroying personal information, including shredding paper records and permanently deleting electronic records.

We retain personal information only as long as is reasonable to fulfil the purposes for which the information was collected or for legal or business purposes.

Employment and/or volunteer enquiries

If you apply to us for employment or volunteer opportunities we need to consider your personal information as part of our review process. We normally retain candidate information for one year after a decision has been made, unless you ask us not to retain the information. If we offer you the job and you accept it, or if you are successful at securing a volunteer position, the information will be retained in accordance with our procedure for employee and volunteer records.

Web site statistics and analytics, including the use of cookies

A cookie is a string of information that a website stores on a visitor’s computer, and that the visitor’s browser provides to the website each time the visitor returns. We use cookies to help us enhance the use of our web site and the user experience. We also collect information about page visits and downloads and click- throughs to better understand what types of content are most valuable to our community. You may disable the use of cookies on your browser.

There may be links from our web site to other web sites; note that this Privacy Policy applies only to our web site and not to web sites of other companies or organizations to which our site may be linked. You must check on any linked sites for the privacy policy that applies to that site and/or make any necessary inquiries in respect of that privacy policy with the operator of the linked site. These links to third party web sites are provided as a convenience and are for informational purposes only.

Specific provisions relating to the use of the Fluxx grant management software platform

The Foundation uses a grant management software platform hosted by Fluxx Labs Inc. (the “Platform”) to receive and assess grant applications and grant enquiries, and to administer grants and compliance reporting. You may be given access to the Platform as a Foundation Grantmaker Site User.

By accessing or using the Platform, or submitting information through the Platform, you acknowledge and agree that you have read, understand, and agree to the terms of the Fluxx Privacy Notice posted on the log in page of the ALF Grantmaker Site, and agree to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with that Privacy Notice.

With respect to personal information collected by us via the Foundation Grantmaker Site, Fluxx acts as a data processor.

Generally, if you are a Foundation Grantmaker Site User, we collect the following basic information on the ALF Grantmaker Site:

  • Your identity: first name, last name, organization name;
  • Your password and user name (which are stored by Fluxx in encrypted form only for the purpose of enabling you to reset your password);
  • Your contact details: postal address (or your organization’s postal address), email address, phone number(s); and
  • Your job title (if applicable).

In addition, we collect from you a variety of additional information for purposes of assessing your enquiry or grant application and administering your grant. This information is electronically submitted to the Fluxx Platform for hosting of the Foundation Grantmaker Site, indexing and related processing by Fluxx on our behalf, in accordance with our agreement with Fluxx.

Personal information provided to the Foundation through the Foundation Grantmaker Site is collected, used and disclosed by us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Fluxx’s processing of personal information that we collect on the Foundation Grantmaker Site is limited to the purpose of hosting the Platform for the Foundation. However, to the extent that Fluxx processes

personal data that it receives from Foundation Grantmaker Site Users, it does so for the purposes expressly set forth in Section 3 of the Fluxx Privacy Notice and in compliance with that Privacy Notice.

With respect to disclosure of personal information, Fluxx may process your personal information with the assistance of third-party service providers, as explained in section 10 of the Fluxx Privacy Notice.

Access to records containing personal information

Individuals have a right to access their own personal information in a record that is in the custody or under the control of the Foundation, subject to some exceptions. For example, organizations are required under the Alberta Personal Information Protection Act to refuse to provide access to information that would reveal personal information about another individual.

If we refuse a request in whole or in part, we will provide the reasons for the refusal. In some cases where exceptions to access apply, we may withhold that information and provide the remainder of the record.

You may make a request for access to your personal information by writing to info@albertalawfoundation.org. You must provide sufficient information in your request to allow us to identify the information you are seeking.

Questions and complaints

If you have a question or concern about any collection, use or disclosure of personal information by the Foundation, or about a request for access to your own personal information, please contact info@albertalawfoundation.org.