PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION POLICY
Stonewater Properties Inc. is committed to providing investors with
excellent service. This service involves the collection, use and
disclosure of some personal information about our investors and their
brokers, protecting their personal information is one of our highest
priorities.
Stonewater Properties Inc. follows the British Columbia’s Personal
Information Protection Act (PIPA). PIPA, which came into effect on
January 1, 2004, sets out the ground rules for how B.C. businesses and
not-for-profit organizations may collect, use and disclose personal
information.
We inform our investors of why and how we collect, use and disclose
their personal information upon request, obtain their consent where
required, and only handle their personal information in a manner that a
reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
Stonewater Properties Inc’s commitment includes ensuring the accuracy,
confidentiality, and security of our investors’ personal information
and allowing our investors to request access to, and correction of,
their personal information.
Scope of this Policy
This
Personal Information Protection Policy applies to Stonewater Properties
Inc. and its subsidiaries. This policy also applies to any service
providers collecting, using or disclosing personal information on
behalf of Stonewater Properties Inc.
Definitions
Personal Information
– means information about an identifiable individual e.g. name, mailing
address, social insurance number, marital status, number of units
purchased, investment advisor, and investment dealer.
Contact information –
means information that would enable an investor(s) to be contacted at
the mailing address in personal information and includes the name of
the investor(s). Contact information is not covered by this policy or
PIPA.
Privacy Officer – means the individual
designated responsibility for ensuring that Stonewater Properties Inc.
complies with this policy and PIPA.
Policy 1 – Collecting Personal Information
1.1 Unless the purposes for collecting personal information are obvious
and the investor(s) voluntarily provides his or her personal
information for those purposes, we will communicate the purposes for
which personal information is being collected, either orally or in
writing, before or at the time of collection.
1.2 We will only collect investor information that is necessary to fulfill the following purposes:
- To communicate with our investors on a quarterly basis regarding distribution information;
- To communicate with our investors with respect to a material change, or significant event;
- To send out relevant tax information to our investors and relevant tax authorities;
- To ensure a high standard of service to our investors;
- To meet regulatory requirements;
- To verify identity.
Policy 2 – Consent
2.1 We will obtain investors’ consent to collect, use or disclose
personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized
to do so without consent).
2.2 Consent can be provided in writing, electronically, through an
authorized representative or it can be implied where the purpose for
collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be
considered obvious and the investor voluntarily provides personal
information for that purpose.
2.3 Consent may also be implied where an investor is given notice and
a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of his or her personal information
being used for mail-outs, the marketing of new services or products, or
fundraising and the investor does not opt-out.
2.4 Subject to certain exceptions (e.g. the personal information is
necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of
consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation),
investors can withhold or withdraw their consent for Stonewater
Properties Inc. (or its affiliates) to use their personal information
in certain ways. An investor’s decision to withhold or withdraw their
consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our
ability to provide a particular service or product. If so, we will
explain the situation to assist the investors’ in making the decision.
2.5 We may collect, use or disclose personal information without the
investors’ knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:
- When the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law;
- In an emergency that threatens an individual's life, health, or personal security;
- When we require legal advice from a lawyer;
- For the purposes of collecting a debt;
- To protect ourselves from fraud;
- To investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law.
Policy 3 – Using and Disclosing Personal Information
3.1 We will only use or disclose investors’ personal information where
necessary to fulfill the purposes identified at the time of collection
[or for a purpose reasonably related to those purposes such as, but not
limited to]:
- To provide tax information to our investors and relevant tax authorities;
- To contact our investors directly about distributions and/or material events.
3.3 We will not sell investor lists or personal information to other parties.
Policy 4 – Retaining Personal Information
4.1 If we use investors’ personal information to make a decision that directly affects the investors, we will retain that personal information for at least one year so that the investors have a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.
4.2 Subject to policy 4.1, we will retain investors’ personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.
Policy 5 – Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Information
5.1 We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that investor(s) personal information is accurate and complete where it may be used to make a decision about the investors or disclosed to another organization.
5.2 Investor(s) may request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
5.3 If the personal information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, we will correct the information as required and send the corrected information to any organization to which we disclosed the personal information in the previous year. If the correction is not made, we will note the investor correction request in the file.
Policy 6 – Securing Personal Information
6.1 We are committed to ensuring the security of the investor(s)’ personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.
6.2 The following security measures will be followed to ensure that the investor(s)’ personal information is appropriately protected: the use of locked filing cabinets; the use of user IDs, passwords, firewalls; restricting employee access to personal information as appropriate (i.e., only those that need to know will have access; contractually requiring any service providers to provide comparable security measures).
6.3 We will use appropriate security measures when destroying the investor(s)’ personal information such as shredding documents, and deleting electronically stored information.
6.4 We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.
Policy 7 – Providing Investors’ Access to Personal Information
7.1 Investors have a right to access their personal information, subject to limited exceptions.
7.2 A request to access personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information being sought.
7.3 Upon request, we will also tell the investor(s) how we use their personal information and to whom it has been disclosed if applicable.
7.4 We will make the requested information available within 30 business days, or provide written notice of an extension where additional time is required to fulfill the request.
7.5 If a request is refused in full or in part, we will notify the investor(s) in writing, providing the reasons for refusal and the recourse available to the investor(s).
Policy 8 – Questions and Complaints: The Role of the Privacy Officer
8.1 The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring Stonewater Properties Inc. compliance with this policy and the Personal Information Protection Act.
8.2 Investors should direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding Stonewater Properties Inc. compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the investors may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.
Contact information for Stonewater Properties Inc. Privacy Officer:
Suite 210 19988 84th Avenue
Langley, BC V2Y 3C2
Tel: 604-882-0808
Fax: 604-882-1722
Attn: Privacy Officer