Introduction
Tourism British Columbia (Tourism BC) offers a selection of websites designed to help people find
information about travel and vacation experiences in British Columbia and
participate in a variety of tourism-related services:
- The consumer
information or HelloBC site (www.hellobc.com)
provides an array of information on topics useful to people visiting
British Columbia, such as accommodation, vacation packages and special
offers, transportation and events;
- The Tourism
BC corporate site (www.tourismbc.com)
provides information on the organization's corporate program that is
useful to tourism operators, media and stakeholders;
- Our travel
media page (www2.hellobc.com/travelmedia/)
provides information useful to writers, editors and film producers such as
story ideas, images, filming and planning a research trip;
- The British
Columbia Magazine site (www.bcmag.ca)
provides information about our award-winning magazine and its unique
portrayal of the beautiful places, intriguing journeys and remarkable
people of British Columbia;
- Our supplier site (www.tourismbc.net)
enables tourism product suppliers to register their properties or tourism
businesses online and for inclusion, as applicable, in our Approved
Accommodation Program or one of Tourism BC's marketing programs. Access to
tourismbc.net is only possible with a Tourism BC-assigned authenticated user
ID name and user-assigned password.
Tourism
BC also offers international websites that provide travel and vacation
information that may be of particular interest to visitors from other countries.
We at Tourism BC are committed to protecting the privacy of our customers. Any personal information
provided to us through our website is collected, used and disclosed in
accordance with the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection
of Privacy Act and other applicable legislation.
What is considered Personal
Information under the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection
of Privacy Act?
Under the British Columbia Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, personal
information includes recorded information about an identifiable individual,
such as name, address, phone number, e-mail address and credit card
information. Business contact information is not included in the
definition of personal information under our provincial legislation.
When Tourism BC collects personal information, we identify the:
- purpose
for collecting the personal information,
- legal
authority for collecting it, and
- title,
business phone number, business address and e-mail address of an employee
who can answer questions you may have about the collection of information.
What Personal
Information We Collect and How We Use It
When someone visits one
of our websites, our web server automatically collects a limited amount of
standard information essential to the operation, security and evaluation of the
Tourism BC website. This information helps us to make our site more useful to
visitors and includes the:
- Internet
domain and Internet Protocol (IP) address from computers that access our
web site,
- type
of browser and operating system used to access our site,
- date
and time our site is accessed,
- pages
visited,
- address
of any web sites linked to, and
- content
downloaded from our site.
While some of this
information does not identify who people are, other information (e.g. Internet
domain names or the IP addresses of internet service providers) may provide
identification. The extent of personal identification depends on the naming
standards followed by the internet service provider. You may wish to check with
your provider to inquire about their policies and practices in this regard. Tourism BC does not use this information to identify individuals who visit our website
unless required to do so as part of an internal investigation or other law
enforcement purpose.
Any personal information
collected via our website (e.g. web forms) is done in compliance with BC's privacy
legislation and is considered necessary for providing services offered by our
organization. There is always an option of whether or not to provide us with
personal information. Your decision not to participate in electronic service
delivery activities will not impair your ability to browse our web site.
However, it may limit the use of certain website features. The personal
information provided to us is used for the purpose for which it was collected
or for a use consistent with that purpose. For example, personal information
may be used to: send information about British Columbia that we believe will be
of interest (based on a confidential personal profile); contact about upcoming
vacation opportunities; respond to inquiries; provide requested materials;
obtain feedback on vacation experiences; or assist with the use of our web
site. In most cases, we try to obtain explicit consent before these activities
will occur. At any time, anyone may request that we stop communicating by
either updating their user profile or contacting us directly.
In certain circumstances,
we may need to provide personal information to our service providers in order
to facilitate the operation of our website or processing of payment
transactions. Before any personal information is disclosed, all recipient
organizations must agree to protect the privacy of personal information in a contractual
manner consistent with our policy and compliant with BC's Freedom of Information
and Protection of Privacy Act.
Security of Your
Information
Tourism BC is obligated to protect personal information by
making reasonable security arrangements against such risks as unauthorized
access, collection, use, disclosure or disposal. Security measures, such as the
use of FTP secure sites, have been integrated into the design, implementation
and day-to-day operating practices as part our commitment to protect the
information we hold.
The personal information
submitted is secure once it reaches the Tourism BC server. In transit between a
computer and the server, however, it may not be secure. Therefore, we cannot
guarantee that information will not be disclosed in ways not otherwise
described in this policy.
Links to Other Web
Sites
The Tourism BC consumer
website includes links to our other sites. Some of these sites offer unique
services and may include detailed privacy statements describing how personal
information may be used. We encourage users to review any detailed privacy
statements prior to providing personal information. Your use of our website
services and provision of personal information through our sites signifies your
consent to our use of this information as outlined in this privacy policy or
any detailed privacy statements.
The Tourism BC website also
provides links to external web sites that offer information on tourism-related
products and services. These sites may be operated by other government
agencies, non-profit organizations or private businesses. Tourism BC is not responsible for the content and privacy practices of external web sites. We
encourage users to review the privacy policy for each external site before
submitting any personal information.
Cookies
Cookies are small pieces
of data that web pages place in computers to assist in returning to that page. Tourism BC uses cookies to track activities on our web site to help us identify what
tourism-related products and services consumers are interested in, so that we
may continually work towards providing useful and relevant content. It is
possible to change the settings on a web browser to deny cookies or to warn
when cookies will be deposited.
Mappoint
Tourism BC uses a third party service for locator maps. See
the Mappoint Terms and Conditions and Privacy
Policy.
How Long Information
Is Retained
The length of information
retention varies in relation to the nature of the service provided. We keep
information for the length of time necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for
which it was collected. Tourism BC manages the information it collects in
accordance with government records retention schedules and other legislative
requirements.
Changes to Our Privacy
Policy
Tourism BC may, from time to time, review and revise its
privacy practices and our website privacy policy.
Who Can I Contact
About the Tourism British Columbia Privacy Policy or the Collection/Use of Personal
Information?
General questions or
comments about this privacy policy can be directed by e-mail, phone, fax or in
writing to our privacy manager at:
Tourism British
Columbia
Manager, Records, Access & Privacy
Box 9830.Stn.Prov.Govt
300-1803 Douglas Street
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada V8W 9W5
Phone: (250) 356-6363
Fax: (250) 387-8246
E-mail: privacy@tourismbc.com
Where Can I Find
Information on British Columbia's Freedom of Information and Protection of
Privacy Act?
For information relating
to British Columbia's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act,
please refer to the Government of British Columbia website at: www.mser.gov.bc.ca/privacyaccess/