Privacy
At Haldimand-Norfolk REACH we take privacy very seriously. For this reason, we have several policies and practices in place that help to ensure that the information you share with us is private and confidential unless you give us permission to share this with others. Sometimes, we do share information with our funders that is non-identifying, we share information with supervisors as part of service planning, and sometimes during an agency accreditation process our participant files are reviewed. When an accreditation review occurs, the reviewers are professionals who also sign our agency confidentiality agreement. There are also some limits to privacy when safety may be an issue. Learn more about the agency’s responsibilities to keep your information private, below.
Your Personal Health Information
Haldimand-Norfolk REACH supports families, adults and young people with many types of programs and services. We provide counselling programs to people of all ages and to families. We also help youth who are in trouble with the law, and youth over sixteen years old who have no safe place to live. We help adults with special needs and families who have children with special needs. H-N REACH also provides programs that support families with young children.
Collecting Your Personal Health Information
We will ask you and your family to talk to us about you and what has been happening. We will ask you how you think we can help, so that we can plan together for the supports you need. The things you tell us about you, your body, and your feelings are called personal health information. We may get personal health information about you (or your child or someone who is taking care of you) from you or from someone else (such as your doctor or someone else who is helping you). We will only collect, use and share your information with your permission, except where the law allows us to do so.
Giving Out Your Personal Health Information
The law says that we have to keep your personal health information PRIVATE. This means that we will not tell anyone what you tell us, except where we have to, or think that you would want us to. For example, there are times when we may have to tell other people that someone could be hurt or that a child has been hurt or is not being cared for. UNLESS YOU TELL US NOT TO we can talk with someone else who is helping you (such as a doctor or counsellor) so that we can plan together for the supports that you need.
Using Your Personal Health Information
How we use your personal health information:
- To help you at our agency, at school or somewhere else that you have told us is important to you;
- To make decisions about how we can help you;
- To make sure we are helping you as best we can;
- To prevent problems from happening;
- To teach students who may be working with us;
- To study what we do and the people we help;
- If the law tells us we have to use information for other reasons.
Protecting Your Personal Health Information
We will do our best to make sure that any personal health information that we collect is not stolen, lost or used without you saying that we can use it. Everyone who works with us will also do their best to protect your personal health information.
We will let you know if your personal health information is lost or stolen. If you want to know more about how we protect your personal health information ask us for a copy of our Privacy Policy.
Seeing Your Personal Health Information
You can ask to see any personal health information we have about you. If you think your personal health information is wrong or that information is missing, you can ask us to fix any mistakes or add any information. Sometimes we will not be able to show you the personal health information we have or to change what you ask us to. If we cannot fix or show you your personal health information, we will talk with you about why.
How to Contact Us:
Privacy Officer
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the privacy and/or information practices at our agency, or if you are unhappy about something that has been done with your personal health information, please contact our Privacy Officer, Lynn Tessaro at 519-587-2441 Ext. 351.
Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
If you are not able to resolve a privacy issue directly with our agency and wish to get in touch with someone else about this, you may contact the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario at 1-800-387-0073 or info@ipc.on.ca.
Print our Privacy Statement (PDF)
Purpose
Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H. is committed to respecting the privacy of users accessing its website and social media platforms. This is to inform service participants, community members, staff and the broader community of our policy and practices concerning the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information.
Policy
This policy is intended to describe to users of our online platforms the following:
- The types of anonymous and identifying information collected from casual visitors and general users of the Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H. website https://www.hnreach.on.ca and https://reachoutyouth.ca and platforms including Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
- Cookies, log files, and use of other mechanisms to automatically collect user device information.
- Purposes for which user information is collected and how it will be used.
- Sharing of user data with any third parties.
- Requirements and procedures for obtaining consent where required, including express consent for the installation of executable programs on a user’s system.
- Handling, retention, and destruction of users’ information.
Consent
By using our Site, users agree that they consent to the conditions set out in this Policy.
How we use personal information
When users provide us with information through our ‘Contact Us’ option, their information is received by the Executive Director and assigned administrative staff. We may disclose the contents of user message to any member of our agency who has been assigned to answer the inquiry.
Cookies, Log Files, Other Mechanisms to Collect Information
Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H.’s websites are encrypted with secure certification so any information sent to or received from the site is encrypted.
Users have control over the cookies settings on the device they are using to access our Site. Cookies are intended to make it easier for users to access Sites repeatedly, and users can adjust their settings to avoid cookies, or can erase cookies history when they are done.
Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H. does not use automatic log files or any other mechanisms to collect information from users of our websites. We do not share any user data with any third parties.
Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H. does not collect personal device information when using the public wifi access within any Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H. buildings or sites.
Other Disclosures
We will not share user information with other third parties, except in the following cases:
- If the law requires it.
- If it is required for any legal proceeding in which we are required to submit evidence.
- To prove or protect our legal rights.
If users follow hyperlinks from our Site to another Site, from our Quick Links and Resources for example, we are not responsible for and have no control over privacy policies and practices of these external sites.
Our social media platform includes Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn. These providers may collect user IP address, which page a user is visiting on our Platform, and may set a cookie to enable the feature to function properly. User interactions with these providers are governed by the Policy of the company providing it.
If users have any questions or concerns about Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H.’s Online Properties – User Privacy, they may contact Haldimand-Norfolk R.E.A.C.H. Privacy Officer.