Congregation Shaarey Zedek 2009

CONGREGATION SHAAREY ZEDEK recognizes the importance of privacy and the sensitivity of personal Information. We take seriously our obligation to keep this information confidential and we protect it with physical, electronic and procedural safeguards. In order to comply with applicable privacy legislation and to instill confidence in our members, and potential members that the personal information they entrust to us is safe, we have developed this Privacy Policy. “Personal Information” means information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title, business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization.

Why does Shaarey Zedek Collect Personal Information from its Members?
Shaarey Zedek collects Personal Information so that we can provide our members and our community with a range of services and activities, which include, but is not limited to:

• yahrzeit reminders and aliyot;    
• bulletin and general notices and mailings;
• voice call-outs and e-mail newsletters;
• general announcements, including life cycle events, illness and death of family members;
• youth activity announcements;
• membership privileges;
• membership status determination;
• fundraising;
• Sisterhood activities;
• general communication with our members, their spouses, and their family members;
• understanding and assessing the needs and requirements of our members and potential members and offering services, programming and events to meet those needs; and
• use by the Clergy in pursuit of their duties.

Further membership in a religious community brings with it certain “understandings”, one of which is that certain information or news about members and their life cycle events will be shared with that community. We will continue to share this sort of information unless we are specifically requested not to do so.

How does Shaarey Zedek Collect Personal Information from its Members?
We collect Personal Information only by lawful and fair means and not indiscriminately. We may collect Personal Information directly from you when you become a member of Shaarey Zedek, or during the term of your membership. We may on occasion, obtain information about you from other sources, such as family members or other members of Shaarey Zedek.

Consent
Shaarey Zedek, will not collect, use or disclose your Personal Information without your consent, except in certain extraordinary circumstances. Such extraordinary circumstances shall include without limitation, when legal, medical or security reasons make it impossible or impractical to obtain consent.
Consent for the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information may be obtained orally or in writing and may be expressly given or implied. We may also from time to time ask you to give your written consent to the use and disclosure of specific Personal Information. In determining how we obtain your consent, we will take into account the sensitivity of the Personal Information using and disclosing. We will use and disclose your Personal Information only in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

Member does not Provide Consent
The choice to provide us with Personal Information is always yours. Upon request, we will explain your options of refusing or withdrawing consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your Personal Information and will record and respect your written choices. However, your decision to withhold partic­ular details may limit our ability to provide our services to you. This measure is necessary to protect the integrity of the services offered by Shaarey Zedek. Furthermore, any refusing or withdrawing of consent will always be subject to overriding legal requirements or commitments.

Disclosure of Your Members’ Information
Under certain circumstances Shaarey Zedek, may disclose your Personal Information.  These circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following:      

• when we in good faith believe the law requires or authorizes us to do so, including the reporting to Canada Revenue Agency of donations received;
• when the services we are providing require us to give your information to third parties (for example, to a funeral parlour, caterer, educator, non-employed clergy), in which case your consent will be implied unless you advise otherwise;
• where it is necessary to establish or collect contributions;
• when Personal Information is required to be provided to third party service providers (e.g. accountants, computer back-up services, or archival file storage providers) with whom we have contractual arrangements and those third party providers ensure us that the Personal Information will be protected at a level in keeping with our own standards;
• when we engage in joint activities or programs with other organizations of a religious or communal nature;
• in the event that the information is already readily available to the general public.

We will not make our membership list available to third parties in any form, except as set out in this section, or unless we have your express or implied consent.

Is Members’ Information Secure?
Shaarey Zedek takes all reasonable precautions to ensure that your Personal Information is kept safe from loss, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. Among the steps taken to protect your information, depending on its type and sensitivity, are:

• premises security;
• restricted access to Personal Information;
• deploying technological safeguards such as security software and firewalls to prevent hacking or unauthorized computer access;
• internal password and security policies; and
• where necessary or appropriate, requiring third parties to sign confidentiality agreements.

As Shaarey Zedek is responsible for any Personal Information under its control, including Personal Information that Shaarey Zedek may transfer to a third party for processing, we will use contractual or other means to ensure that the third party will have a comparable level of privacy protection to the internal privacy protection maintained at Shaarey Zedek. 

Updating Members’ Personal Information
Since we use your Personal Information to provide services to you, it is important that the information be accurate and up-to-date. If any of the information changes, or if you should become aware that the Personal Information which we have is incorrect, please inform us as soon as possible.

Access to Members’ Personal Information
You may request access to any Personal Information we hold about you. Summary information is available on written request. More detailed requests that require archive retrieval or copying costs may be subject to reasonable reimbursement for our actual costs.

Can a Member be Denied Access to His or Her Personal Information?
Your rights to access your Personal Information are not absolute. We may deny access when:

• denial of access is required or authorized by civil or Jewish law or the rules of a formal dispute resolution process, such as a Beth Din;
• information relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings against you;
• granting you access would have an unreasonable impact on the privacy of others;
• to do so would prejudice negotiations with you;
• to protect Shaarey Zedek’s rights and property and;
• the request is frivolous or vexatious.

If we deny your request for access, or refuse a request to correct information, we will provide you with a written explanation.

How Long will the Shaarey Zedek keep Members’ Personal Information?
We retain your Personal Information for as long as you are a member and afterwards for as long as is reasonably necessary for us to complete our dealings with you, or as may be required by law, or for purposes of compliance with our religious obligations. Because synagogue records are often a valuable source of information which may be required for halachic or genealogical purposes, selected items of Personal Information may be retained indefinitely.

Website
Our website (www.szwinnipeg.ca) contains links to other sites that are not governed by this Privacy Policy. While no specific Personal Information is retained with respect to any visitor to our website, we may monitor traffic patterns, site usage and related site information to optimize our web service. In the continuing development of our website we may provide aggregated information to third parties, but these statistics do not contain any identifiable Personal Information.

Communicating with Shaarey Zedek
Email is not a one hundred per cent secure medium. You should be aware of this when contacting us with a request for the forwarding of personal or confidential information through this medium.

Changes to Shaarey Zedek Privacy Policy
Shaarey Zedek Privacy Policy is effective June 1, 2009. Since Shaarey Zedek, regularly reviews all of its policies and procedures, we may change our Privacy Policy from time to time. Please refer to our website or contact our Privacy Officer for revisions and updates.

Accountability and Requests for Access
Shaarey Zedek has appointed a Privacy Officer to ensure compliance with all applicable privacy legislation and the terms of this Privacy Policy. If you have any questions, wish to review your personal Information, comment on this Privacy Policy or make a complaint, please contact our Privacy Officer at:

Dr Rena Secter Elbaze
Executive Director
Privacy Officer
Congregation Shaarey Zedek
561 Wellington Crescent
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3M 0A6
Email: rena@szwinnipeg.ca
Tel: 204-975-3789