Halton Eye Care Privacy Agreement

Your privacy is important to Halton Eye Care. This Agreement sets out the information practices for Halton Eye Care, including what type of information is collected, how the information is used, and with whom the information is shared.

This Agreement may be amended from time to time. All future changes will be made available on our website, with physical copies made available at our office.

In this Agreement, “we”, “our”, “us” and “Halton Eye Care” means Sooklal and Jain Optometry Professional Corporation and any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, programs or joint ventures they participate in. “You” and “your” mean an individual who has purchased, enrolled in or signed an application in respect of any product or service offered by us (“Service”), including any personal representatives.

What is Personal Information?

Personal information is information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes information that relates to their personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, home address or phone number, ethnic background, family status), their health (e.g., health history, health conditions, health services received by them) or their activities and views (e.g., opinions expressed by an individual, an opinion or evaluation of an individual). Personal information is to be contrasted with business information (e.g., an individual’s business address and telephone number), which is not protected by privacy legislation.

Regulatory Requirements

Halton Eye Care abides by the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004 (PHIPA) and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, 2000 (PIPEDA). We are required by law to maintain the privacy of your personal information, provide you notice of our privacy practices regarding your personal information and follow the terms of our policy that is currently in effect.

Collection, use and disclosure of information

1. When you purchase, or use any Service, you are considered a customer of ours. As a customer, you agree that we may collect personal information from you and about you such as:  Your name, address, telephone number, health card number, date of birth and nature of your principal business or occupation, all of which may be required by law;  Identification, such as a valid driver’s license or passport;  Insurance provider, and other insurance related information such as group number, certificate number, drug plan number, and plan contract number, to facilitate billing and receiving payment.  Personal health information such as, health history, including family history, physical condition, function, and social situation in order to help us assess what your eye care needs are, to advise you of your options and to provide the eye care you choose to have, and monitor ongoing changes to your health.  Information about third parties such as your spouse, children or dependents that you wish to benefit from our services or to co-ordinate coverage of insurance benefits for products or services offered. We may collect your personal information, and use it, and disclose it for the following purposes:  To confirm your identity;  To understand your needs;  To determine the suitability of our Services for you;  To determine your eligibility for our Services;  To set up, manage and offer Services that meet your needs;  To provide you with ongoing Service;  To satisfy legal and regulatory requirements that we believe are applicable to us, including the requirements of any self-regulatory organizations to which we belong;  To help us collect a debt or enforce an obligation owed to us by you;  To respond to a court order, search warrant or other demand or request which we believe to be valid, or to comply with the rules of production of a court;  To manage and assess our risks;  To investigate and adjudicate insurance claims, other claims or complaints; and  To manage and settle any actual or potential loss in connection with fraud or criminal activity. Your personal health information will never be disclosed to any third party service providers, unless required to fulfill a service to which you have consented to or is required by law.

2. We may use third party service providers to process or handle personal information on our behalf and to assist us with various services such as printing, postal and electronic mail distribution and marketing (including by telephone and electronic means), and you acknowledge that we may release information about you to them. When personal information is provided to our service providers, we will require them to protect the information in a manner that is consistent with our privacy practices.

3. You agree that we may monitor, record, and retain any telephone call or electronic communication we have with you. This is to establish a record of the information you provide, to ensure that your instructions are followed properly and to ensure customer service levels are maintained. Records of calls and electronic communications are destroyed when they are no longer required for business or other purposes, and any personal information is safeguarded in accordance with this Agreement.

4. Halton Eye Care may use video surveillance in and around our office(s) for the purpose of safeguarding our clients and employees and protecting against theft, fraud and vandalism. Any video images recorded are destroyed when they are no longer required for business or other purposes, and any personal information is safeguarded in accordance with this Agreement.

5. We may ask you for contact information such as your telephone, mobile or fax number or email address, and keep and use this information so that we may contact you directly through these channels for the purpose of scheduling appointments, providing notice, marketing, including telemarketing. Your consent to this is not a condition of doing business with us and you may withdraw it at any time by providing reasonable notice to an employee of Halton Eye Care.

6. You agree that all information that you give us will, at any time, be true and complete. If any personal information changes or becomes inaccurate or out of date, you are required to advise us so we can update our records.

Retention and Destruction

Halton Eye Care will typically retain your patient records for a minimum of 10 years or as long as it is required, even if you cease to be a customer. You can ask us, in writing, to discontinue the use or disclose your personal information after a written revocation of your implied or informed consent is received, unless we have already acted in reliance upon this consent.

We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, we ensure that information on the hard drive is destroyed. Alternatively, we may send some or the entire patient file to our patient.

Access to Information

You have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. We can help you identify what records we might have about you and we will assist you with access to this information if necessary. We will need to confirm your identity, if we do not know you, before providing you with this access. We reserve the right to charge a nominal fee for such requests. An estimate of the fee will be provided to you in advance. We may ask you to put your request in writing. If we cannot give you access, we will notify you within 30 days if at all possible, and tell you the reason, as best we can, as to why we cannot give you access. If you are not satisfied with our explanation you have the right to complain to a Privacy Commissioner appointed under the provincial act. If you believe there is a mistake in the information we have about you, you have the right to ask for it to be corrected. You may be required to make the request in writing. This applies to factual information and not to any professional opinions we may have formed. We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are incorrect. Where a mistake has been made, we will make the correction and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not agree that we have made a mistake, we will include in our file a brief statement from you on the point and we will forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier information. If you do not agree with our reasons to refuse to correct your records, you can make a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner.

Privacy Questions and How to Access Your Information

Should you have any privacy questions or wish t make an access request, please contact:
Halton Eye Care
515 Dundas Street West Unit 6
Oakville, Ontario
L6M 1L9