ODA Member and Applicant Privacy Statement - Ontario Dental Association

Last Revised: March 29, 2023

The Ontario Dental Association (“ODA”) is committed to protecting your privacy and safeguarding your personal information. The purpose of this Privacy Statement is to inform you about the types of Personal Information we collect, use and disclose. It describes the general purposes for that collection, use and disclosure, and how you may access and correct that information.

This Privacy Statement applies to our handling of the Personal Information of ODA members and (as appropriate) applicants to be members (“ODA Dentists”).

From time to time, we may make changes to this Privacy Statement. The Privacy Statement is current as of the “last revised” date which appears at the top of this page.

What do we mean by Personal Information?

“Personal Information” means information about an identifiable individual, including information that identifies you or can be used to identify you (whether alone or in combination with other information). Personal Information does not include certain publicly available information or business contact information.

What types of Personal Information does the ODA collect about ODA Dentists?

The ODA collects a variety of Personal Information to be able to provide benefits and services to ODA Dentists – including some or all of the following information:

Professional credentials – such as place of education, year of graduation, RCDSO number
Position in practice
Home address
Date of birth
Volunteer and work history, and any other information you or a third party may voluntarily provide on your CV, Volunteer Information Form and/or Honours and Awards Nomination Form, such as educational experience, birthplace, references, awards history, family information
Information about income for membership in reduced fee categories and the administration of our Benevolence Program
Medical information voluntarily provided by you or a third party to support a request for assistance through our Benevolence Program or Extended Health Care (EHC) insurance
Names of family members covered by the EHC insurance
A declared conflict of interest (if applicable for a member of the board, council or an ODA committee)
Retirement date (where applicable)

For what purposes does the ODA use the Personal Information of ODA Dentists?

For applicants, the ODA may use the Personal Information it collects for purposes such as:

To process prospective members’ membership applications
To send out membership renewal information, process payments and issue receipts
To respond to your inquiries
For purposes for which the applicant provides consent
For purposes permitted or required by law.

For ODA members, the ODA may use the Personal Information it collects for purposes such as:

To process prospective members’ membership applications
To send out membership renewal information, process payments and issue receipts
To provide members with the “Ontario Dentist” (journal) and other information and communications
To offer and provide benefits, products, services and programs (e.g. Mediation Program, CDSPI’s Retirement Savings Program (RSP), EHC Program, affinity/member discount programs and services, Office Verification Stamp, Annual Spring Meeting registration, continuing education registration, other events registration and administration)
To administer the Honours & Awards program
To conduct ODA surveys and research
To generate aggregate demographic statistic reports of members
To conduct ODA and Component Society business (e.g. committees, volunteer activities, nominations, elections, meetings, continuing education, research surveys, marketing, lobbying and networking, society membership drives)
To respond to your inquiries
To provide mailings and email services required to conduct ODA business
To publish your professional contact information (which may include your professional website or social media account) and specialty in the ODA’s “Find An ODA Dentist” online portal to be used as a reference for members and the public
To improve our operations and member benefits, including to ensure they reflect the needs and interests of our members
To help ensure your experience on the ODA’s website or other online properties is relevant and useful to you
For purposes for which members provide their consent
For purposes permitted or required by law.

When and to whom does the ODA disclose Personal Information of ODA Dentists?

The ODA does not sell any Personal Information to anyone for any purpose. The ODA does not disclose the Personal Information it collects to third parties other than the following:

The ODA discloses to the public whether a dentist is an ODA Dentist, and ODA Dentist contact information, as follows:
- ODA Dentist’s practice contact information is disclosed to members of the public looking for a dentist in a particular location or area, either over the telephone or through the ODA website’s “Find An ODA Dentist” portal, unless the ODA Dentist expressly requests otherwise
- ODA Dentist’s practice contact information is disclosed to interested parties, for those dentists expressly requesting to participate in the ODA’s listing of placements, locums, employment opportunities for associates and staff, and dental practice purchase and sale opportunities
- Years of ODA membership is publicized as part of the ODA’s and Component Society’s anniversary awards program so as to recognize longstanding members

The ODA discloses ODA Dentist Personal Information as part of providing member benefits or programming – for example:
- For program offers limited to ODA Dentists, the ODA will provide a list of current ODA Dentists that may include the membership ID and business address to the companies providing the offers, to be used for confirmation of eligibility and delivery of offers
- The ODA will publish in “Ontario Dentist” and other publications, information about the achievements and activities of ODA Dentist volunteers as well as a listing that welcomes new members
- The ODA may disclose your contact information (default address and phone numbers only) to other ODA Dentists for the purposes of connecting ODA Dentists together (e.g. for Component Society purposes, for ODA election purposes, for a mailing service offered by the ODA, and for patient care referrals)
- We provide information relevant to Component Society business to volunteer ODA Dentists working on behalf of the Component Society
- For those ODA Dentists in the EHC program, information such as name, address, membership ID number, dependent name(s) and, in certain instances, age and coverage details is provided to our EHC provider, Great-West Life, to process a member’s application including initiation of and changes to coverage
- For purposes of administering the Honours and Awards program, information about volunteer involvement, previous awards as well as the CV and nomination package may be disclosed to the Honours and Awards Committee and Board of Directors to determine eligibility for an award

The ODA discloses ODA Dentist Personal Information to other dental organizations – for example:
- The ODA provides the Canadian Dental Association (“CDA”) with contact information, membership ID number and other distinguishing data on ODA Dentists to determine eligibility for products and services provided by the CDA
- We also provide lists of members, including practice specialization (if applicable), and years of membership and years of practice, to Specialty Societies and the Toronto Academy of Dentistry for the purpose of determining eligibility for events and member services

The ODA discloses ODA Dentist Personal Information for such other purposes as a dentist may consent, or as permitted or required by law

What if you object to the ODA’s collection, use or disclosure of Personal Information?

You may, subject to legal restrictions, withdraw your consent to the further use or disclosure by ODA for some or all of the purposes identified (although this may mean that you will not be able to participate in certain ODA benefits, programs or services). Contact the ODA to note any objections.

How accurate is the Personal Information held by the ODA?

The ODA makes every reasonable effort to ensure that the information we maintain is accurate and up to date. However, as your Personal Information is subject to change, we rely on you to advise us of changes to Personal Information that you have previously provided to the ODA so that we can continue to provide communications, services and activities described in this Privacy Statement.

How secure is your Personal Information?

We have implemented physical, organizational, contractual and technological security measures in an effort to protect your Personal Information from loss or theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. We have taken steps to ensure that only employees who are granted access to your Personal Information are those with a business ‘need-to-know’ or whose duties reasonably require such information.

In some cases, the ODA uses service providers to assist the ODA with any of the above purposes. We may transfer your Personal Information to service providers with whom we have a contract that includes appropriate privacy standards, where such third parties are assisting us with any of the purposes set out above. Some service providers may process Personal Information on the ODA’s behalf outside of the country (i.e., in the United States). To the extent that any Personal Information is out of the country, it is subject to the laws of the country in which it is held, and may be subject to disclosure to the governments, courts or law enforcement or regulatory agencies of such other country, pursuant to the laws of such country.

How long does the ODA retain your Personal Information?

The ODA’s policy is to retain Personal Information only as long as is necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it is collected, or for such longer period as is permitted or required by law.

How do you access or correct the Personal Information held by ODA?

At any time, you may send a written request for access to your Personal Information, and the ODA will provide you with access to your Personal Information to the extent required by law or as reasonably determined by the ODA.

At any time, you may send a written request for the correction of any inaccurate Personal Information, and the ODA will correct your Personal Information where it is demonstrated that correction is required.

Such access or correction requests are to be submitted to the attention of the Chief Privacy Officer at 4 New Street, Toronto, Ontario M5R 1P6 or email at privacy@oda.ca.

What if you have a question or concern about the ODA privacy practices?

You may address any questions or concerns relating to this Privacy Statement or ODA privacy practices to the Privacy Officer, 4 New Street, Toronto, Ontario M5R 1P6 or email at privacy@oda.ca.

Your email address

The email address you provide to the ODA is used to provide you with general information as well as confidential information such as your password for the ODA website and to inform you about inquiries made by your staff to the ODA on your behalf, etc. ODA Dentists who share an email address with others accept the risk that confidential information will be accessed by those users.

Video surveillance at ODA premises

The ODA uses video surveillance at its premises for the purposes of ensuring a safe and secure workplace.