January 2004 ISSUE
APEGGA Reviews Privacy Policies
in Response to New Provincial Legislation
BY GEORGE LEE
The PEGG
APEGGA privacy policies will ensure that the handling of member information
complies with new provincial legislation, said Deputy Registrar Al Schuld, P.Eng.
“We’re confident that most or all of what APEGGA does with personal
information is acceptable under the new Personal Information Privacy Act. What
we’re doing now is clearly outlining what our practices are, so members
can be assured that their information is not improperly collected or used,” said
Mr. Schuld.
“We’re also reviewing all of our information and data collection
policies, to find out whether we need to change any of them.”
The Alberta Legislature’s committee-of-the-whole passed the Personal Information
Privacy Act in early December, which means APEGGA will be legislated provincially
for privacy rather than under the federal Personal Information Protection and
Electronic Document Act. Both acts take effect Jan. 1, 2004.
Mr. Schuld said protection of privacy has always been an APEGGA priority. The
Association’s regulatory roles, however, and its obligation to protect
the public and maintain professionalism, require a certain amount of information
collection and sharing. For example, the public needs enough registration list
information to confirm members are APEGGA-regulated professionals. And when someone
complains about member conduct, APEGGA has to investigate.
“Certain activities must take place involving personal information. These
are intrinsic to the process of self-regulation, and they allow members to enjoy
the benefits and meet the obligations of professionalism,” said Mr. Schuld,
APEGGA’s privacy officer. “The key here is to strike a balance between
each member’s expectation of privacy and each member’s expectation
that APEGGA maintain the quality of the professions.”
APEGGA’s member services aren’t regulatory and do involve some information
sharing. However, that sharing is limited to business contact information, as
provided by members.
As The PEGG went to press, APEGGA was finalizing a personal information code
and a separate website privacy policy. Watch www.apegga.org for updates and the
final versions of the two documents.
The draft version of the code is built upon 10 major tenets:
• Accountability
• Identifying purpose
• Consent
• Limiting Collection
• Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
• Accuracy
• Safeguards
• Openness
• Individual Access
• Challenging Compliance (to privacy legislation)
The website policy will fall in line with the privacy code. APEGGA isn’t
required to have a separate privacy policy for the site, but Mr. Schuld said
web privacy is on the minds of many members because of the volume of electronic
information sharing that occurs these days. Besides, a website policy is in the
spirit of the Personal Information Protection Act.
Although it appears little will change in the way APEGGA conducts day-to-day
work, Mr. Schuld said the exercise of creating and publicizing the policies is
valuable in itself. “These documents will demonstrate that what we do is
above-the-board and necessary, and that there is recourse for members when they
disagree with our privacy actions. We need to be as transparent as possible in
this area and all other areas of our work.”