The British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) is committed to adhering to the principles of PIPA (Personal Information Protection Act), PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Document Act), CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation) and any other applicable legislation to protect the privacy and confidentiality of the personal information of donors, members, employees, directors, volunteers, clients and other stakeholders. The BC SPCA values the trust of those we deal with, and of the public, and recognizes that maintaining this trust requires that we be transparent and accountable in how we treat the information individuals choose to entrust with us.

Read our full privacy and confidentiality policy.

During the course of our various activities, events, and through the conducting of our programs and services, the BC SPCA gathers and uses personal information to carry out its work and other day-to-day activities. It is reasonable for a person to expect the BC SPCA to carefully protect the personal information it collects and that any other use other than those for which it was collected, will be disclosed, and subject to consent

The BC SPCA does not sell, rent or exchange any personal information collected from our supporters with any other organization or entity.

Contact information

Questions, inquiries, concerns, or complaints relating to the BC SPCA’s policy on the treatment of personal information can be directed to the BC SPCA privacy officer:

Email Sarah Martin
Officer, Data Assets

Further information on privacy and your rights in regard to your personal information may be found on the website of the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (OIPC).

Website privacy statement

This website is operated by the BC SPCA for the benefit of our community members and those interested the delivery of our programs and services and to those interested in supporting the work of the BC SPCA. It is free for use by individual web users, and no registration is required.

Credit card data and security

The BC SPCA recognizes that, for the purposes of donations or purchases, supporters may provide
us with their banking or credit card information. We only use this information to process the
transaction as intended by the supporter.

Credit card transactions processed offline are processed through Level 1 PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) service providers and payment gateways. Our credit card processing service providers and payment gateways are reviewed annually, or whenever a provider is changed. We register with Sysnet PCI Compliance Manager annually (Merchant ID: 8029147322).

Credit card transactions processed online through our website are passed through a secure third-party provided SSL verified connection to adhere to industry standard privacy and security standards.

Use of information

The BC SPCA is firmly committed to data privacy, particularly as it relates to visitors to this website. We do not sell, rent or exchange any personal information collected from our site visitors that has been gathered online.

We do send email notifications of events, news, bulletins, updates in addition to e-receipts, solicitations and acknowledgements of donations, however only to those who have given us their email address and indicating they wish to receive these types of communications. We do use email addresses to define target audiences on social media for the purpose of sharing messages from the BC SPCA.

Every mass e-mail we send our supporters has an unsubscribe feature. You may ‘opt-out’ from receiving e-communications at any time by utilizing the unsubscribe feature embedded in the email.

Removal from mailing list

If you wish to unsubscribe from an email, mail, update your contact information or to discuss your communication preferences, please email us or call 604.681.7271 (1.800.665.1868 outside the Lower Mainland) and we will be happy to oblige your requests.

In accordance with CASL, unsubscribing from emails is to happen without delay when possible, otherwise it must be rectified within 10 business days after receiving notice of withdrawal.

CASL (Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation)

The 2014 Canadian Act relating to commercial electronic messages (CEM) places a variety of parameters on electronic messages:

• Express consent – When sending to those who have given express consent (subscribed) to receive email communications from the BC SPCA we must identify the sender and include an option to unsubscribe

• Implied consent – When sending to those who have given implied consent by making a transaction (donation, purchase, adoption) or who has a relationship with the BC SPCA as a member or volunteer the BC SPCA may send communications for up to two years from the date of their last transaction, or the end of their relationship, as long as we identify the sender and include an option to unsubscribe

Emails with the sole purpose of raising funds for animals and newsletters about our work do not require consent, as long as we identify the sender and include an option to unsubscribe.

Easy access to unsubscribe: Every electronic publication we send our supporters has an unsubscribe feature. You may ‘opt-out’ from receiving e-communications at any time by utilizing the unsubscribe feature in any of these emails. You may also update your email subscriptions by going to our sign up for our NEWSLETTER page.

Please note unsubscribing from emails is to happen without delay when possible, otherwise it must be rectified within 10 business days after receiving notice of withdrawal.

Share with care: This Act also applies to sharing. If you are planning to share one of our emails or web pages through email or direct messaging on social media, you must comply with CASL. Under CASL you should only share with people you have a personal relationship with, or those who have a publicly listed business email (as long as the content relates to their business. e.g. sharing an advocacy concern with your MLA, or SPCA Certified information with a farmer).

Please note, a “personal relationship” requires that the real identity of the individual who claims a personal relationship is known by the other individual involved in such a relationship (as opposed to instances where a virtual identity or an alias is used). Using social media or sharing the same network does not necessarily reveal a personal relationship between individuals. The mere use of buttons available on social media websites – such as clicking “like”, voting for or against a link or post, accepting someone as a “Friend”, or clicking “Follow” – will generally be insufficient to constitute a personal relationship for the purposes of sending an email or direct message to that person.

For more information, please visit the federal government’s FightSpam website and the CRTC website.

Cookies

“Cookies” are bits of information sent to your computer from a website through your browser program. Cookies help you access pages faster and allow our server to recognize you as you move from page to page. If you choose not to accept cookies, some sections of our site – such as making online donations, signing petitions or signing up for emails – may not be available to you.

The BC SPCA only reads cookies specifically written for our site and does not use cookies to track a user’s Internet history on other issues. We use cookies to better understand how our site is used and to make sure our information and dynamic content are served correctly. Aggregated data collected by the BC SPCA may from time to time be provided to our sponsors and underwriters.

Legal disclaimer

Though we make every effort to preserve user privacy, we may need to disclose personal information when required by law and wherein we have a good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a current judicial proceeding, a court order or legal process served on our society.