Privacy Policy

Faculty & Staff

Click here for the YHS Employee Privacy Policy

Students & Parents

The York House School Society (“school”) is committed to respecting your right to privacy. We acknowledge the sensitivity of the personal information, which may be provided to us in the course of delivering educational programs. The school is committed to meeting or exceeding the privacy standards established by British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and any other applicable legislation.

We recognize our obligations concerning the personal information of our students and parents that we collect, use or disclose. Safeguarding personal information of students and parents is a fundamental concern of the school.

This Privacy Policy describes the policies and practices of the school regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information about students and parents, including the steps the school takes to ensure personal and financial information is handled appropriately and securely. The school may add, modify or remove portions of this Privacy Policy when it is considered appropriate to do so, and any such changes will be effective upon giving notice of the revised policy. You may ask for the most recent update of this Privacy Policy at the school office. This Privacy Policy may be supplemented or modified by agreements entered into between the school and an individual from time to time.

The Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”) applies to the way independent schools may collect, use, disclose and secure personal information.

Definitions
In this Privacy Policy, the following terms have the meanings set out below:

“personal information” means any information about an identifiable individual, as further defined under British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act or other applicable laws. Personal information excludes the name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email, and business fax number of an individual, as well as any publicly available information as designated under applicable laws, such as information available from a public telephone directory or from a public registry.

“Parent” means the parent, guardian, or another legal representative of a student.
“Student” means a prospective, current student, or past student of York House School.

Accountability

Accountability for compliance with this Policy rests with the school’s Chief Privacy Officer, even though others within the school may have responsibility for the day-to-day collection and processing of Personal Information and may be delegated to act on behalf of the Chief Privacy Officer. The school is responsible for Personal Information in its custody and under its control, including Personal Information that it has transferred to an external service provider for processing. Where the school uses external service providers that require access to Personal Information, for example, to maintain its computer system or to assist with clerical or administrative activities, it requires the service providers to secure Personal Information with a comparable level of protection to that provided by the school.

York House School
Privacy Officer - Paige Mettrick
4176 Alexandra Street
Vancouver, BC V6J 2V6
604-730-2405
pmettrick@yorkhouse.ca

Identifying Purposes

When the school collects personal information from students and parents, we will tell the students and parents the purpose for collecting the information and who can answer their questions about such collection.

The school collects students and parents personal information for the following purposes:

to support the development and delivery of the school’s educational programs;
to meet legal and regulatory requirements regarding student records;
for health and safety;
to process applications and open and maintain a student file;
to maintain a record of a student’s course of study, evaluations, academic and other achievements;
to process or facilitate scholarships, grants and like awards;
to provide information to other academic institutions, for example, colleges and universities;
to communicate with students and parents about matters related to the student’s attendance, evaluation, course of study, and school activities and events;
to maintain contact with and notify parents, past parents and friends of the school of activities, events, services, and other matters relating to the school;
in connection with fundraising initiatives;
for billing and the processing of fees and donations;
to communicate with designated contacts about and manage emergencies;
to obtain insurance and file insurance claims;
in connection with a sale or other transaction or reorganization of the school’s operations;
to comply with legal requirements and cooperate with law enforcement activities; and
health, psychological, or legal information to provide certain specialized services in those areas or as adjunct information in delivering educational services.

York House School also collects information in connection with the use of its computer systems. Personal information may be collected, used, and disclosed in the course of the operation of building security systems - including video and other surveillance systems.

If the school plans to use personal information it has collected for a purpose not previously identified, the school will identify the purpose and obtain consent to the use unless using the information without consent is permitted or required by law.

Consent

By selecting York House School for the delivery of an educational program to your child, you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of the student’s personal information to the extent necessary to deliver educational programs and adjunct services to the student.

The school will obtain consent of the individual for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information except where the law states exemptions, grants permission, or creates a requirement for collection, use, or disclosure of personal information.

The way in which the school seeks consent varies depending upon the sensitivity of the personal information, the reasonable expectations of the individual to whom it relates (and in the case of students, their parents) and the purpose for which the personal information is to be used. Consent may be express, implied— including the use of “opt-out” consent where appropriate— or deemed. For example, if an individual provides his/her mailing address and requests information regarding a particular service, consent to use the address to provide the requested information may be implied.

Consent may be withdrawn, subject to legal restrictions and reasonable notice, however, the withdrawal (or refusal) of consent to use or disclose personal information may restrict or prevent participation in programs or the receipt of certain services. The school will make best efforts to provide notice where there will be implications to withdrawing consent.

Limiting Collection

The school will limit the amount and type of personal information it collects to that which is necessary for the identified purposes and as permitted by law.

Limiting Use, Disclosure

The school will only use, disclose and retain personal information for the purpose for which it was collected unless the individual has otherwise consented, or when its use, disclosure, or retention is required or permitted by law.

How is Information Used

The following are examples as to how the school uses personal information:

to communicate with parents and students, process applications and ultimately to provide students with the educational services and co-curricular programs you expect;
to enable the school to operate its administrative function, including payment of school fees and maintenance of non-education school programs including parent and volunteer participation and fundraising;
health, psychological, or legal information to provide certain specialized services in those areas or as adjunct information in delivering educational services; and,
to communicate with parents (past and present), students (past and present), and friends of the school for the purposes of advising of activities, events in the promotion of the school, including fundraising and advancement initiatives.

Other Information Uses

York House School may use anonymous information, such as information collected through surveys or statistical information regarding students, to constantly improve our school.

When May Information be Disclosed?

York House School may disclose an individual’s personal information to others in connection with the purpose for which it was collected, as consented to by the individual, or as required or permitted by law. The following are some examples of how the school may disclose personal information.

When Authorized by You
Other educational institutions routinely contact the school for personal information about students. For example, if a student moves to another school, college or university, student records are requested by the enrolling institution. Your permission to pass on these records is usually obtained when the student is registered and you authorize the school to disclose such information to other appropriate educational institutions for the ongoing education of the student.

Contact information may be used to enable the school to provide the para-educational and administrative services usually operated by the school. These services include phoning committees, participation groups, parent meetings, fundraising, events, annual general meetings, etc.

In some cases, when communication is over the telephone, your consent to the use and/or disclosure of your information will be obtained verbally. In other cases such as when you communicate through e-mail, your consent will be obtained electronically.

When Required by Law
The type of information the school is legally required to disclose most often relates to family court issues, legal proceedings, court orders and government tax reporting requirements. Student information as per Form 1701 is annually filed with the Ministry of Education. Only the information specifically requested is disclosed and the school takes precautions to satisfy itself that the authorities making the request have legitimate grounds to do so.

When Permitted by Law
The school is legally permitted to disclose some personal information in situations such as an investigation of illegal activities, reasonable methods to collect overdue accounts, a medical emergency or suspicion of illegal activities, etc. Only pertinent information is disclosed. The school does not sell, lease or trade information about you to other parties.

Outside Service Suppliers
The school sometimes contacts outside organizations to perform specialized services such as printing, student assessments, market research or data processing. For example, the school gives its yearbook publisher the information required to produce the annual yearbook. Suppliers of specialized services are given only the information necessary to perform those services, and the school takes appropriate steps to ensure that such information is securely transferred and stored and is used only to fulfill the purposes for which it was disclosed to the service provider.

Restricting Sharing Information

If you choose to limit the sharing of your personal information, please contact the school office and submit a written letter specifying which items of personal information you wish to limit, and to whom you wish these items to be restricted. Please remember that certain agencies, by law, have access to certain types of personal information.

How Long Is Personal Information Retained?

The school retains personal information for as long as required to fulfill the identified purposes or to comply with statutory retention periods.

Safeguards

The school employs physical measures (such as locks on offices and other areas of the facilities), organizational measures (such as policies permitting access to personal information on a “need-to-know” basis only), and technological measures (such as the use of passwords for access to the school’s computer system) to protect personal information against loss and theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, use and modification. The school requires compliance by its employees with this policy, enforces that requirement and exercises care in the disposal of personal information to prevent unauthorized access.

The school will protect personal information by security safeguards that are appropriate to the sensitivity level of the information. In the course of daily operations, access to personal information is restricted to authorized employees who have a legitimate reason for accessing it. For example, teachers will have access to personal information about students but not a parent’s account with the school. Employees are appropriately educated about the importance of privacy and they are required to follow the school’s policies and procedures regarding the handling of personal information.

Student Files

Student files are stored in secured filing cabinets. Access is restricted to only those employees (teachers, teacher assistants, counselors, administrative assistants, etc.) who, by nature of their work, are required to see them.

Electronic Security

The school manages electronic files appropriately with passwords and security measures that limit access by unauthorized personnel. The school’s security practices are reviewed periodically to ensure that the privacy of personal information is not compromised.

Openness

Through this policy, the school makes available a general account of its personal information management practices, including the purposes for which it uses and discloses personal information, instructions on how to gain access to and correct personal information and how to obtain additional information about the school’s privacy practices and/or its use and disclosure of particular personal information.

Compliance Contact: Chief Privacy Officer – Heather Kuzsel

Any student, parent, alumnae or donor is invited to bring any concerns or questions concerning the school’s compliance with this policy or personal information management to the Chief Privacy Officer – Heather Kuzsel, who can be reached at hkuzsel@yorkhouse.ca.

Accuracy, Correction, Access and Inquiries

The school takes steps to ensure that personal information is as accurate, complete and up-to-date as necessary for the purposes for which it is used. The Act permits individuals to access their personal information under our custody or control, and information on how their personal information is being used or disclosed by us, including the names of the individuals and organizations to whom their personal information under our custody or control has been disclosed by us. The school will respond to all such requests in compliance with the Act.

Parent/Student Access to Student Personal Information

A parent may access and verify school records of the student, with appropriate notice so that the office is able to supply the information required. Most of this information is available in the registration forms and other forms that you filled out.

Exceptions to Access of Record

York House School may exercise its right to deny access to some information contained in student files where the disclosure of information may threaten someone else’s safety, mental, or physical health, or where disclosure could be harmful to personal privacy of a third party (please reference section 19 and 22 of the Personal Information Privacy Act).

In considering a disclosure exception, the school will take into consideration the following:

Relevant Circumstances

Was the information supplied in confidence?
Will disclosure unfairly damage reputation?
Is the personal information relevant to the fair determination of the applicant’s rights?

Disclosure Presumed to be Unreasonable Invasion of Third Party’s Personal Privacy

Does the personal information relate to educational history?
Does the personal information consist of personal recommendations or evaluations about the third party?
Does the personal information relate to medical, psychiatric or psychological history, diagnosis, condition, treatment, or evaluation?

Examples of denying access to information would include:

Evaluations supplied in confidence by a teacher about a student with the mutual understanding that the evaluation will be confidential.
Disclosure of a counsellor’s notes of interviews with a student to their parent(s) on the basis of a threat to safety or mental or physical health. This could also invade the student’s personal privacy.
Notes or letters that contain personal information about a third party within the records sought by an applicant must be purged or summarized. A letter contained in a student file containing personal information involving a teacher’s employment history must be severed from any information provided to the student or applicant.

The school asks students and parents to update personal information they have provided to the school as it changes.

The law permits individuals to request the correction of errors or omissions in their personal information in our custody or control. The school will respond to all such requests in compliance with the Act. If the school does not agree with the correction, the correction will nevertheless be annotated.

September 2021