Privacy

Purpose of privacy policy

In any business, confidentiality and privacy of information is key and may require a privacy policy. Accordingly we have adopted this Privacy Policy to guide how GHi Professional Accountants, Chartered Accountants (GHi) collects, uses and discloses the personal information required in the normal course of fulfilling our professional responsibilities and operating our business.

Introduction

As professional organization, GHi respects the privacy rights of our clients, employees and partner/partners and is committed to protect all personal information in our possession or control.

About other areas of ghiprofessionals.com

It is pertinent to mention here that the other websites contained within ghiprofessionals.com are provided by other government or private entities are not provided by us. Such websites, as well as other websites that may be linked to this Website, are not governed by this privacy statement. We encourage visitors to review the privacy statements on each of these other websites before disclosing any personal information.

Privacy and confidentiality

GHi takes the privacy and confidentiality of our clients and our partner/partners and employees very seriously. We are committed to protect privacy rights. Certain of the practices discussed in the Policy reflect requirements set out in both federal and provincial privacy legislation. Our goal is to respond to the requirements of the law, and to be responsive to our clients, as well as partner/partners and employees who expect us to demonstrate our commitment to respecting their privacy and protecting their personal information.

Terms and Conditions
The Terms and Conditions of every professional services engagement are documented in each Engagement Letter. These Terms and Conditions include a discussion about how GHI may use and disclose your personal information. By signing the engagement letter, you will be providing your consent to the collection, use and disclosure described in the Terms and Conditions.

Forms and applications used to provide human resources-related services to partner/partners and employees will describe the purposes for which personal information is required and with whom it will be shared, and will allow for you to consent to the collection, use and disclosure as described.

You always have the option not to provide your consent to the collection, use and distribution of your personal information, or to withdraw your consent at a later stage. Where a client chooses not to provide us with permission to collect, use or disclose personal information, we may not have sufficient information to provide you with our services. Where a partner, employee or candidate for employment chooses not to provide us with permission to collect, use or disclose personal information we may not be able to employ you or to provide you with benefits.

Purpose of collection of information
In most instances, GHi will collect, use or disclose personal information only to provide professional services to you. Each engagement letter includes an explanation of why we require information, what use will be made of it and with whom it may be shared in order to provide our professional services.

Your personal information may be disclosed internally for the purpose of determining compliance with applicable professional standards, GHI internal policies, or in the performance of quality reviews.

We also collect personal information from our partner/partners  and employees in order to pay them, comply with laws, provide them with benefits, and to improve on programs, policies and employee relations.  We also collect personal information from individuals seeking employment with GHI. When we collect personal information, we inform you of the reasons why we require such information, what use will be made of it and with whom it may be shared.

Education and accountability
GHi may receive any personal information directly, for example, from individual clients, partner/partners and employees, as well as individuals’ personal information that we may receive indirectly, for example, through corporate and government clients. GHi is accountable for all personal information (that we receive directly and indirectly) in our possession or control. We have policies and procedures aimed at protecting personal information. We educate our partner/partners and employees about our Privacy Policy and their role in protecting your personal information. If you have questions about our privacy practices, you are free to contact our office at (431) 887-4148.

Limits on collection of information
We will limit, where possible, the collection of client and employee personal information to that which is required to provide our services or operate our business.

Use, disclosure and retention of information
If we intend to use your personal information for a purpose not previously identified to you, we will obtain your prior consent.

However, we may use personal information without consent where for the purpose of acting in respect of an emergency that threatens the life, health or security of an individual or to comply with a subpoena, a warrant or an order made by a court or other body with appropriate jurisdiction or to comply with rules of conduct required by regulatory bodies to a government institution that has requested the information, or by federal or provincial governments etc.

In compliance with professional standards, we keep a record of the work performed by us. This record, or “working papers” may include personal information. Working papers are safeguarded against inappropriate access, as discussed within privacy document.

GHI retains personal information about current and past partner/partners and employees in accordance with employment laws and standards. Personal information collected from individuals seeking employment with GHI will be retained by GHI indefinitely so that GHI may contact you about other positions that may also be of interest to you.

Completeness and accuracy of information
In order to provide you with a professional level of service and with appropriate benefits, the personal information that we collect about you must be accurate, complete and current. From time to time, you may be asked to update your personal information. You are encouraged to advise us of any changes to your personal information that may be relevant to the services we are providing to you.

Clients are encouraged to contact their engagement partner to update their personal information. Employees and candidates should contact our office at (431) 887-4148 should they need to update their personal information.

Protecting personal information
We protect your personal information by using physically secure facilities. Security measures are in place to protect the loss, misuse and alteration of the information under our control. Personal information collected is stored in secure operating environments that are not available to the public (e.g., restricted access premises). To prevent unauthorized electronic access to personal information, we maintain information collected in a secure environment.

Complaints
GHi will respond to individual complaints and questions relating to privacy. We will investigate and attempt to resolve all complaints.

Questions or concerns

To challenge compliance with this Policy, please forward your concerns in writing to our office. We will ensure that a complete investigation of your complaint has been undertaken and will report their findings to you in most instances within 30 days.

We know that protecting your privacy is important to you. That is why it is so important to us. If you have any questions or concerns about your privacy and our role in protecting it, please contact our office at (431) 887-4148. 

How to contact us
As a client, partner or employee, you have the right to review and obtain copies of your personal information on record by contacting our office. In most instances, you will receive a response to your request within 30 days.

If you have any concerns about the access provided to you or needed a recent version of policy, you are encouraged to contact our office at (431) 887-4148.

Changes to this privacy statement

We may modify or amend this privacy statement from time to time.

To let you know when we make changes to this privacy statement, we will amend the revision date at the top of this page. The new modified or amended privacy statement will apply from that revision date. Therefore, we encourage you to periodically review this statement to be informed about how we are protecting your information.