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BIP’s Privacy Protection Policy

At BIP, respect for privacy is an integral part of our commitment to respondents and to the general public. When you participate in our studies, rest assured that we do everything possible to protect the confidentiality of your personal information.

At any time, when you answer our surveys, whether in person, by phone, by mail or online, we respect the anonymity of your answers, unless we have obtained your express consent in advance to disclose certain information. Your personal information is never sold to anyone. Furthermore, you are free to choose whether or not to participate in a survey, free to choose not to answer any specific questions and free to discontinue participation at any time.

BIP’s privacy protection policy consists of a statement of principles and guidelines describing the level of personal information security that BIP provides to respondents and to the general public. The objective of this policy is to promote responsible and transparent personal information management practices that are consistent with the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada).

BIP reviews its privacy protection policy on an on-going basis to make sure that it is always relevant and consistent with industry standards, technologies and laws.

BIP is a member of the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association (MRIA). This organization sets the standards to which members must adhere. These standards also aim to protect your privacy.

If you have concerns about how BIP protects your personal information, please write to our Privacy Officer by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or by mail to:


Privacy Officer
BIP – Bureau of Professional interviewers
630 Sherbrooke St. West, Suite 210
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 1E4

Scope and application

The 10 basic principles of BIP’s privacy protection policy are interrelated and BIP must comply with each of these principles. Each principle must be read in conjunction with its accompanying comments. As permitted by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada), comments included in BIP’s privacy protection policy have been refined to reflect BIP’s specific issues with regard to personal information. The scope and application of BIP’s privacy protection policy are as follows:

  • BIP’s privacy protection policy appliesto personal information collected, used or disclosed by BIP as part of its business activities.
  • IP’s privacy protection policy applies to the management of personal information, whether obtained verbally, electronically or in writing.
    1. BIP’s privacy protection policy imposes no limitation regarding the collection, use or disclosure of the following information by BIP;
    2. Information that does not make a person identifiable;
    3. The name, job title, address and work phone number of an employee of an organization.
      Other publicly available information specified in the regulations adopted under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada).
  • The application of BIP’s privacy protection policy is subject to the requirements and provisions of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (Canada) and the regulations thereunder and to other applicable laws and regulations.

 

Définitions

Collection: The act of gathering, acquiring, recording or obtaining personal information from any source whatsoever, including a third party, by any means whatsoever.

Consent: Voluntary agreement for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for specific purposes. Consent may be express or implied, and may be given directly by a person or his/her authorized representative. Express consent can be given verbally, by email or in writing, but is always unequivocal and freely given, without interference from BIP. There is implied consent when an individual’s consent can be reasonably assumed by his/her conduct or inaction.

Disclosure: Making personal information available to third party.

Employee:  An employee or subcontractor of BIP.

Personal information: Information identifying a person. This does not include the name, job title, address or work phone number of an employee of an organization, nor descriptive and factual information about an organization.

Respondent: A member of the public who provides personal information to BIP as part of a survey conducted by the company. For example, a respondent is an individual who discloses personal information to BIP as part of market or social research, whether quantitative or qualitative.

Third Party: A person or organization independent of BIP.

Use: The processing, handling and management of personal information by BIP or a third party mandated to do so by BIP.

 

The 10 principles of privacy protection

 

Principe 1 – Accountability

BIP is responsible for personal information in its possession and shall designate one or more persons responsible for ensuring that BIP adheres to the following principles.
Responsibility for compliance with BIP’s privacy protection policy is the responsibility of the Privacy Officer, who can be reached by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,(confirm email) or by mail at the following address:

 


Privacy Officer
BIP – Bureau of Professional interviewers
630 Sherbrooke St. West, Suite 210
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 1E4

Other persons working at BIP may have the authority to act on behalf of the Privacy Officer or be responsible for collecting and processing personal information on a daily basis.
BIP is responsible for personal information in its possession or under its control, and shall use contractual or other means to ensure a comparable level of security when a third party is in possession of or uses such information.

 

Principe 2 – Identifying Purposes for the Collection of Personal Information

BIP defines the reasons for the collection of personal information before or during collection.
BIP collects personal information from the public solely for the following reasons:

  1. To carry out marketing and social research (quantitative and qualitative);
  2. To understand respondents' opinions and justify the relevance of carrying out more thorough market and social research (quantitative and qualitative);
  3. To meet the requirements of laws and regulations.

In this document, the term "specific purposes" always refers to the purposes set out in this principle.

BIP informs respondents of the specific purposes for which personal information is destined (verbally, electronically or in writing) before such information is collected or during the survey. Upon request, persons collecting personal information must explain the specific purposes of the collection or direct the respondent to a person designated by BIP who is able to explain them.

When the personal information collected is to be used or disclosed for purposes other than those specified, BIP must first explain these new purposes to the respondent and obtain his/her explicit consent, unless the use or disclosure is permitted or provided by law.

BIP may transmit information obtained in connection with any survey to its customers or to third parties, provided that the information is supplied in aggregate form and it is impossible to identify respondents.

 

Principe 3 – Consent

The respondent's consent is required for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information, except where inappropriate.
Respondents who participate in survey studies always do so voluntarily. The fact that a respondent agrees to participate in a survey implies that he/she is also granting consent.

In general, no personal information collected as part of a survey is disclosed to third parties. However, sometimes the sponsor of the research project wishes to contact respondents directly. In such cases, BIP always explains to respondents why personal information has to be disclosed and obtains the express consent of the respondent before divulging it.  

A respondent is free to choose whether or not to participate in a survey, free to choose not to answer any specific questions and free to discontinue participation at any time.
When obtaining the consent of a respondent, BIP makes all necessary efforts to inform the respondent of the specific purposes for the which the personal information is destined. The specific purposes must be stated in such a way that the respondent will fully understand them.

As a general rule, BIP must obtain the consent of the respondent to use and disclose personal information when collecting data. However, BIP can obtain consent to use or disclose personal information after it has been collected, provided that it obtains consent before using or disclosing the information for a new purpose.

BIP takes the sensitivity of personal information and the reasonable expectations of respondents into account when determining the appropriate form of consent.
A respondent’s participation in a quantitative or qualitative marketing or social research study may constitute implied consent for BIP to collect, use and disclose personal information for specified purposes.

 

Principe 4 – Collection Limits

BIP limits collection of personal information to that which is necessary for the study. BIP uses fair and lawful means to collect personal information.

When conducting surveys, BIP limits the amount and type of personal information collected to that which is required as part of the study and has been specified to respondents.

Most of the personal information that BIP collects comes directly from the person concerned or a member of that person’s household. Except as permitted by law, BIP does not collect personal information from external sources, such as its customers, without the consent of the individuals concerned.

 

Principe 5 – Limits of Use, Disclosure, and Retention of Personal Informatio

BIP will not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it has been collected without the consent of the individual or where the law requires or permits. Personal information shall be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfilment of those purposes.
BIP may disclose a respondent’s personal information to:

  1. a client of BIP, where the respondent has consented;
  2. a third party mandated by BIP to carry out activities on its behalf;
  3. a public authority or agent of a public authority, if, in BIP’s judgement, there is reason to believe that imminent danger to life or property exists which could be avoided or minimized by disclosure of such information;
  4. a third party, if the respondent consents or where the law requires or permits.

Only employees of BIP who are required by their work or duties to access respondents’ personal information are allowed to do so.
BIP retains personal information only as long as necessary or appropriate for the specified purposes or as required by law. Depending on the circumstances, it is possible that a respondent may need to be re-contacted in order to clarify survey responses or to obtain additional responses. Therefore, BIP retains personal information for a reasonable period of time in order to be able to re-contact the person concerned.

BIP takes measures and establishes reasonable and consistent practices with respect to schedules of retention and destruction of records containing personal information that is no longer required or relevant for the purposes established or no longer required to be maintained by law. This information must be destroyed, erased or rendered anonymous.

 

Principe 6 – Accuracy

Personal information must be as accurate, complete and current as possible for the purposes for which it is intended.

Personal information used by BIP must be sufficiently accurate, complete and current to minimize the possibility that inaccurate information may be used when making a decision regarding a respondent.

BIP updates personal information about respondents and employees as necessary to fulfil the specified purposes or upon notification by the individual.

 

Principe 7 – Security Measures

BIP takes appropriate measures to protect personal information according to its sensitivity.

BIP takes necessary precautions to protect personal information against such risks as loss or theft, and against unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, modification or deletion, regardless of the format in which the information is stored.

BIP protects the personal information that is disclosed to third parties through contractual agreements stipulating the confidentiality of the information and the specific purposes for which it can be used.

All BIP employees who have access to personal information shall respect the confidentiality of such information.

 

Principe 8 – Transparency of Policies and Procedures

BIP provides information about its policies and procedures regarding personal information to all concerned.

BIP ensures that information regarding policies and procedures is easy to understand, including:

  1. the title and address of the person or persons responsible for ensuring that BIP adheres to its privacy protection policy, and the person to whom inquiries or complaints should be forwarded;
  2. the means of accessing personal information held by BIP;
  3. a description of the type of personal information held by BIP, including an account of its use;
  4. a description of the types of personal information made available to other related organizations (e.g. subsidiaries).

 

Principe 9 – Access to Personal Information

Upon request, BIP shall inform any individual of the existence, use and disclosure of his/her personal information, and shall provide access to this information. The individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and require that it be amended if necessary.

When an individual makes a request in writing to the Privacy Officer, BIP shall inform the individual of the existence, use and disclosure of his/her personal information, and give the individual access to this information.

In some cases, BIP may not be able to provide access to all of the personal information it holds about a respondent. For example, BIP may abstain from providing access to information if disclosure would reveal information about a third party or endanger the life or safety of another individual. In addition, BIP would not be able to provide access to information if doing so would simultaneously reveal confidential commercial information.

In order to protect private information, a respondent may be required to provide sufficient personal information to allow BIP to identify the individual and to verify the existence, use and disclosure of his/her personal information and authorize the individual to access his/her file. This information shall be used solely for that purpose. BIP promptly corrects or completes any personal information that is incorrect or incomplete. Any resolved differences regarding the accuracy and completeness of the information shall be recorded in the file of the individual concerned. Where appropriate, BIP shall transmit this updated personal information to third parties who have access to the information in question or inform them of the existence of any unresolved differences.

Respondents and employees can obtain information or access their own records by contacting BIP’s Privacy Officer.

 

Principe 10 – Complaint Regarding Non-Compliance With Principles

Any individual shall be able to express a concern with respect to compliance with the principles mentioned above to the person(s) responsible for privacy.

BIP has developed a procedure to address all inquiries or complaints from respondents regarding the management of personal information.

Upon written request, BIP shall inform a respondent of the existence of this procedure as well as the complaints procedure.

Where appropriate, the person(s) responsible for privacy may obtain advice from a third party before responding to a complaint.

BIP investigates all complaints received regarding compliance with the privacy protection policy. When a complaint is justified, BIP takes appropriate action to resolve the situation, including, if necessary, amending its policies and procedures. The respondent must be informed of the outcome of the investigation regarding his/her complaint.

 

Additional Information

For additional information regarding BIP’s privacy protection policy, please contact the Privacy Officer by email at  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,  (confirm email) or by mail at the following address:


Privacy Officer
BIP – Bureau of Professional interviews 
630 Sherbrooke St. West, Suite 210
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 1E4


You can also visit the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s website at the following address: http://www.privcom.gc.ca