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Our Privacy
Policy
Introduction
On January 1, 2004, the Government of Canada passed new legislation known as
the Privacy Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
This legislation requires all companies and firms that provide business
services and collect personal information to adopt privacy policies and
inform you of these policies and your rights under PIPEDA.
David M. den Boer, CA collects, uses and discloses personal information in
the possession, or under the control, of its clients to the extent required
to fulfill its professional responsibilities and operate its business. My
firm is committed to maintaining the privacy of personal information
provided by its clients and protecting all personal information in its
possession or control. This Privacy Policy sets out the principles and
procedures that the firm follows in meeting its privacy commitments to its
clients and complying with the requirements of federal and provincial
privacy legislation.
Accountable
My firm is accountable for all personal information in its possession or
control. This includes any personal information received directly from
clients who are individuals, or indirectly, through clients that are
organizations (e.g., corporations, government entities, not-for-profit
organizations).
We have:
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established and put into effect policies and
procedures aimed at properly protecting personal information |
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educated our employee(s) regarding our privacy
policy and their role and responsibilities in keeping personal
information private |
Collection and Use
My firm collects personal information from clients using and disclosing such
information only to provide the professional services that the client has
requested. Each service provided is described in a letter to the client. The
letter includes a description of the personal information required, why it
is required, the uses that will be made of the information, and with whom it
may be shared in the course of providing professional services.
The personal information collected from a client during the course of a
professional service engagement may be:
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shared with the personnel participating in such
engagement |
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disclosed to individuals within the firm to the
extent required to assess compliance with applicable
professional standards and rules of professional conduct, and
policies, including providing quality control reviews of work
performed |
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disclosed to members of the organization's audit
committee and board of directors, and others in the company that
might not otherwise have access to the information, in the
course of communicating aspects of the results of our engagement |
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provided to external professional practice
inspectors (e.g., representatives of the Canadian Public
Accountability Board, or a provincial institute of chartered
accountants), who by law, professional regulation, or contract
have the right of access to our files for inspection purposes |
My firm collects only that personal information required to perform its
professional services and to operate its business, and such information is
collected by fair and lawful means.
Agreement with Client
Before I undertake a professional services engagement, I require the
prospective client to sign an engagement letter or contract. The engagement
letter or contract includes a description of the personal information
required, why it is required, the uses that will be made of the information,
and with whom it may be shared in the course of providing my professional
services. By signing the engagement letter or contract, the client provides
its agreement that proper consents to the collection, use and disclosure of
personal information as set out in the letter have been or will be obtained
(the consent of the individual is the responsibility of the client not the
accountant).
Disclosure and Retention
My firm uses or discloses personal information only for purposes for which
it has consent, or as required by law. This personal information is retained
only as long as necessary to fulfill those purposes.
As required by professional standards, rules of professional conduct and
regulation, we document the work we perform in records, commonly called
working paper files. Such files may include personal information obtained
from a client.
Working paper files and other files containing, for example, copies of
personal tax returns are retained for the time period required by law and
regulation, including Rules of Professional Conduct.
We regularly and systematically destroy, erase, or make anonymous personal
information no longer required to fulfill the identified collection
purposes, and no longer required by laws and regulations.
Accuracy
We endeavour to keep accurate, complete, and up-to-date, personal
information in our possession or control, to the extent required to meet the
purposes for which it was collected.
Certain customer and other information is used to form an opinion and needs
to be accurate to be relied upon, as a result, updating the information is
encouraged on an annual basis.
Security
My firm protects the privacy of personal information in its possession or
control by using security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the
information.
Physical security is maintained over personal information stored in hard
copy form.
Authentication is used to prevent unauthorized access to personal
information stored electronically. Encryption is used to prevent
unauthorized access to personal information received or sent over the
Internet.
For files and other materials containing personal information entrusted to a
third party service provider (e.g., a provider of paper based or electronic
file storage), we obtain appropriate assurance to affirm that the level of
protection of personal information by the third party is equivalent to that
of our firm.
My firm is open about the procedures used to manage personal information.
Up-to-date information on our privacy policy can be obtained upon request or
from our web site.
Response and Compliance
My firm responds on a timely basis to requests from clients about
personal information we possess or control.
Individual clients of my firm have the right to contact us to obtain access
to their personal information. Similarly, authorized officers or employees
of organizations that are our clients have the right to contact us to obtain
access to personal information provided by that client. In certain
situations, however, we may not be able to give clients access to all their
personal information. We will explain the reasons why access must be denied
and any recourse the client may have, except where prohibited by law.
Clients may challenge my firm's compliance with its Privacy Policy.
We have policies and procedures to receive, investigate, and respond to
clients' complaints and questions relating to privacy.
To challenge compliance with this Privacy Policy, clients are asked to
provide an email message or letter to my firm. I will ensure that a complete
investigation of a client complaint is undertaken and will report the
results of this investigation to the client within 30 days. If you have any questions about privacy policies and practices, contact
David M. den Boer, CA
241 Bonaventure Drive, Hamilton ON L9C 4R1
phone: 905.389.2670
- fax: 905.389.4642
email:
dave daviddenboer.ca |
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