Personal Information Protection Policy

At D. Kwasnicky & Associates Inc., we are committed to helping individuals and corporations with financial problems.  We are dedicated to the protection of your privacy and confidentiality in the way we conduct our business.  In conducting our business, we are required to collect, use and disclose some personal information about you and this policy outlines how we ensure that the privacy and confidentiality of your personal information is one of our highest priorities.

Definitions 

Personal Information –means information about an identifiable individual.   It includes information that relates to specific characteristics; including, but not limited to, name, age, home address and phone number, social insurance number, marital status, income, medical information, education, and employment information.  Personal information does not include contact information (described below), nor does it include business information which is not protected by privacy legislation.

Contact information – means information that would enable an individual to be contacted at a place of business and includes name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax number.  Contact information is not covered by this policy or PIPA.

Privacy Officer – means the individual designated responsibility for ensuring that D. Kwasnicky & Associates Inc. complies with this policy and PIPA.

Collecting Personal Information

We will communicate to you the purposes for which personal information is being collected, either orally or in writing, before or at the time of collection and will only use it for those purposes.  We will only collect information that is required as applicable to the nature of the engagement we are performing.  In the event that we wish to use your information for any other purpose, we will obtain your consent, expressly or implied, before such use.

Primary Purposes for Collection of Personal Information

The type of personal information that we may obtain will vary depending upon the nature of the engagement we are performing.  In general, we collect personal information on debtors to assess their financial options, verify a debtor’s identify prior to the filing of a formal proceeding, in order to fulfill our statutory obligations or to assist you in fulfilling your statutory obligations.  While we obtain most of this information from the debtor, we may also collect additional information from other sources in order to fulfill our obligations as an insolvency and restructuring professional, including the following:

• Creditors.  Such information may include your address and contact details, credit history, insurance coverage, security, transaction history, account numbers, verification of account balances, etc.
• Family members of the debtor.  The information obtained may relate to spousal support or child maintenance payments, income levels, asset ownership and usage, etc.
• Public records, including the provincial and federal courts, collection agencies, Personal Property Security Registry, Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, etc.
• Information from credit counsellors or other advisors relating to a particular insolvency.
• Employees.  Where our appointment entails the bankruptcy, receivership, liquidation or other advisory role for a corporation, we assume the same statutory obligations as that of the corporation and as such, we must collect, use and disclose personal information for that corporation

Consent

• When the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law (e.g., under subsection 205(1) of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act of Canada where the Trustee has grounds to believe that an offence has been committed on any bankruptcy estate
• In an emergency that threatens an individual's life, health, or personal security;
• When the personal information is available from a public source (e.g., a telephone directory);
• When we require legal advice from a lawyer;
• For the purposes of collecting a debt;
• To protect ourselves from fraud; and,
• To investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law.

Retaining and Safeguarding Personal Information

We understand the importance of protecting the personal information obtained in the performance of our engagements.  We are committed to ensuring the security of personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.
In order to comply with our statutory obligations, we will be required to retain your personal information, as we determine necessary.  This may result in the information being retained after you are no longer a client of D. Kwasnicky & Associates Inc. 
We are committed to ensuring that high security standards are maintained by ourselves or third parties.  These include direct supervision or restricted areas, locked filing cabinets, electronic passwords and staff training.  You are assured that the personal information we obtain will not be released to any third party, other than as required by law, unless consent is obtained.

Accuracy of Personal Information

We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up to date.  However, we do not assume responsibility for verifying the ongoing accuracy and content of your personal information.
It is important that you keep us apprised of any changes in your personal information.  You may request correction to your 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.
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 due to a dispute, we will note the correction request in the file.

Access to Your Personal Information

You have a right to access your personal information, subject to limited exceptions.  A request for access may be made verbally or in writing, at our discretion.  You will be required to provide sufficient detail to identify the particular information you require and confirm your identity.
We will make the requested information available within a reasonable period that is within 30 business days of receipt of your request.  A nominal fee may be charged for providing access to the requested information.  Where a fee may apply, we will inform you of the cost and request further direction on whether or not we should proceed with the request.
If your request is refused in full or in part, we will notify you in writing, providing the reasons for refusal and the recourse available to you.

Privacy Officer or designated individual

The Privacy Officer responsible for ensuring D. Kwasnicky & Associates Inc.’s compliance with this policy and the Personal Information Protection Act is Debora Kwasnicky.  Please direct any questions or concerns you may have to:

Debora Kwasnicky
D. Kwasnicky & Associates Inc.
211 – 3030 Lincoln Avenue
Coquitlam, BC, V3B 6B4
Telephone:       604-464-7272
Facsimile:         604-464-7273
Email:              contact@dkabc.ca

D. Kwasnicky & Associates Inc.| PH 604-464-7272 | FAX 604-464-7273 | contact@dkabc.ca