At Goldsmith Kwok Accounting Group LLP, we are committed to providing our clients with exceptional service. As providing this service involves the collection, use and disclosure of some personal information about our clients, protecting their personal information is one of our highest priorities.
While we have always respected our client’s privacy and safeguarded their personal information, we have strengthened our commitment to protecting personal information as a result of British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). PIPA, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, sets out the ground rules for how B.C. businesses and not-for-profit organizations may collect, use and disclose personal information.
We will inform our clients of why and how we collect, use and disclose their personal information, obtain their consent where required, and only handle their personal information in a manner that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
This Personal Information Protection Policy, in compliance with PIPA, outlines the principles and practices we will follow in protecting clients’ personal information. Our privacy commitment includes ensuring the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of our clients’ personal information and allowing our clients to request access to, and correction of, their personal information.
Personal Information –means information about an identifiable individual E.g., including name, age, home address and phone number, social insurance number, marital status, income, employment information. Personal information does not include contact information (described below).
Contact information – means information that would enable an individual to be contacted at a place of business and includes name, position name or title, business telephone number, business address, business email or business fax number. Contact information is not covered by this policy or PIPA.
Privacy Officer – means the individual designated responsibility for ensuring that Goldsmith Kwok Accounting Group LLP complies with this policy and PIPA.
Unless the purposes for collecting personal information are obvious and the client voluntarily provides his or her personal information for those purposes, we will communicate the purposes for which personal information is being collected, either orally or in writing, before or at the time of collection.
We will only collect client information that is necessary to fulfill the following purposes:
We will obtain client consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).
Consent can be provided orally, in writing, electronically, through an authorized representative or it can be implied where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be considered obvious and the client voluntarily provides personal information for that purpose. Our standard form engagement letter also sets out certain matters relating to privacy and confidentiality relating to communications and information relating to our professional and regulatory licensing.
Consent may also be implied where a client is given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of his or her personal information being used for newsletters and updates, and the client does not opt-out.
Subject to certain exceptions (e.g., the personal information is necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation), clients can withhold or withdraw their consent for Goldsmith Kwok Accounting Group LLP to use their personal information in certain ways. A client’s decision to withhold or withdraw their consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our ability to provide a particular service or product. If so, we will explain the situation to assist the client in making the decision.
We may collect, use or disclose personal information without the client’s knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:
We will only use or disclose client personal information where necessary to fulfill the purposes identified at the time of collection.
We will not use or disclose client personal information for any additional purpose unless we obtain consent to do so.
We will not sell client lists or personal information to other parties.
If we use client personal information to make a decision that directly affects the client, we will retain that personal information for at least one year so that the client has a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.
We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that client personal information is accurate and complete where it may be used to make a decision about the client or disclosed to another organization.
Clients may request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
If the personal information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, we will correct the information as requested by the client and send the corrected information to any organization to which we disclosed the personal information in the previous year. If the correction is not made, we will note the clients’ correction request in the file.
We are committed to ensuring the security of client personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.
We use appropriate technologies that maintain high security standards to ensure the protection of client information.
We use appropriate security measures when destroying client’s personal information.
We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.
Clients have a right to access their personal information, subject to limited exceptions.
A request to access personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information being sought.
Upon request, we will also tell clients how we use their personal information and to whom it has been disclosed if applicable.
The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring Goldsmith Kwok Accounting Group LLP’s compliance with this policy and the Personal Information Protection Act.
Clients should direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding Goldsmith Kwok Accounting Group LLP’s compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the client may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.
If you have any questions regarding your personal information or our privacy policy, please contact our Privacy Officer at:
Privacy Officer
Goldsmith Kwok Accounting Group LLP
502 – 1168 Hamilton St.
Vancouver, BC V6B 2S2
604-424-8248