The Manitoba Queer Chamber of Commerce (“MQCC”) is committed to protecting the privacy of our members, volunteers, partners, website visitors, and other stakeholders we engage with. This Policy explains how MQCC collects, uses, discloses, and safeguards personal information, and provides guidelines for viewing and editing such information. 

“Personal information” is defined as any information that is identifiable to a person as an individual. This may include, but is not limited to, the individual’s name, gender, age, date of birth, language of correspondence, mailing address, telephone/fax number, email address, and membership in an organization. Personal information does not include publicly available information about an individual in their capacity as an employee of an organization such as their name, job title, work mailing address, work email address, or work telephone/fax number. 

MQCC may collect personal information from: 

• Members 

• Attendees (of in-person and virtual events) 

• Volunteers 

• Partners (including sponsors & donors) 

• Subscribers (of online platforms, newsletters, or otherwise) 

• Others who have shown an interest in or who engage with MQCC 

This information is collected by a variety of methods: phone, fax, mail, email, social media, online, or in-person. 

Personal information may be collected for such purposes as: 

• administering MQCC membership and providing member services 

• registering for MQCC meetings, workshops, or other events 

• purchasing various products or services (ex. tickets, memberships, etc.) 

• processing and administering the above or other purposes as necessary 

The purpose for which MQCC collects personal information will be identified at or before the time the information is collected, and all such personal information will be voluntarily provided by the individual.

MQCC uses personal information to better serve our members, attendees, volunteers, and partners, and to expand our community of support. This includes using personal information: 

• To deliver services  

• To provide information about tickets, events, membership, and support 

• To thank supporters and fulfill member and partner benefits  

• To invite supporters to special events 

• To sell subscriptions and tickets; to solicit financial support 

• For service phone calls and emails 

• Other purposes that may be relevant to carrying out MQCC’s activities 

MQCC will only use personal information for the purpose that it was collected for, or for a purpose that one would reasonably expect it to be used. Should MQCC require use of collected personal information for a new purpose, consent will be sought for that new use. When the personal information is used for communications from MQCC, individuals may opt out of receiving said communications.

MQCC retains personal information only as long as is necessary to provide the individual or business with the requested product, service, or information. Any personal information that MQCC retains will be kept secure and confidential at all times. In general, MQCC retains personal information for a period of not longer than seven years, in secure digital storage using industry standard techniques such as firewalls, encryption, intrusion detection and restricted access to computers. 

Unfortunately, no online data transmission can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. As a result, while MQCC strives to protect personal information, it cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information transmitted to it or received from it electronically. MQCC has no way of protecting transmitted information until it reaches us. Once a transmission is received, MQCC acts to ensure its security on our servers. 

Internally, access to personal information is restricted to employees and/or volunteers who need access to the information in order to perform their jobs. These individuals are limited in number and are committed to following this Policy. 

MQCC does not sell or trade personal information with third parties. Some personal information collected by MQCC, however, may be transferred to our service providers for processing and storage. Some of our service providers are located outside of Canada and accordingly, personal information may be processed and stored outside of Canada and may be subject to the laws of the jurisdiction in which it is processed or stored. MQCC requires service providers to respect this Policy.  

MQCC treats its obligations with respect to the disclosure of personal information very seriously. MQCC will not sell, rent, or share personal information collected. MQCC will not use or disclose personal information without the knowledge or consent of the individual except for purposes relating to an investigation under, the enforcement of or the administration of a law, or where required by law to disclose the information. 

MQCC may offers various programs to its members through external merchants. Members who chose to participate in these programs should refer directly to the privacy policies of the sponsoring companies. MQCC does not collect, use or retain any personal information from these programs.

MQCC is committed to protecting the privacy of those who use our website. MQCC does not collect personal information about individuals browsing our website. However, MQCC does collect statistical information through a log file which indicates number, length, and frequency of page visits, external links redirecting users to our website, and which browser, operating system, and type of device (mobile or desktop) was used to access our website. This information is analyzed to help us develop content that responds to the interests of our website visitors. 

MQCC makes readily available to individuals this Policy and related procedures for managing personal information. Access to the Policy and related procedures is provided on the MQCC website and in written form upon request. Any questions about the handling of personal information by MQCC can be raised with the Privacy Officer(s) noted above. 

An individual may, via a written request, view and/or edit their personal information as collected by MQCC. MQCC will inform them of what personal information it has about the individual, what it is being used for and, in cases where it has been disclosed, to whom it has been disclosed.  

To make a request, please send a written letter or email addressed to MQCC’s Privacy Officer(s) at the address indicated above. In the written request, please include the following information: 

• Name 

• Contact details 

• Nature of the request   

If an inquiry concerns a specific transaction, please indicate the date of the transaction and provide a receipt number if applicable. 

MQCC will do our best to reply to requests no later than thirty days after receipt of the request. If it is not able to respond within this time period, a notice of extension will be sent.