Manitoba Opera Privacy Policy

Manitoba Opera’s mission is to enrich the lives of Manitobans, by producing and presenting opera of the highest quality and by fostering the appreciation and knowledge of opera.

The type of personal information that Manitoba Opera collects, uses, retains and discloses about your personal information depends upon your relationship with Manitoba Opera. The following outlines our purposes if you are a subscriber or a donor.

With Respect to our Subscribers:

to establish and serve you as our customer
to process your payment with a financial institution (such as your credit card company, your bank or our bank);
to issue tickets and receipts or other documentation that may be reasonably required;
to provide you with information and invite you to attend future performances;
to provide you with information and invite you to contribute or participate in campaigns and fundraising events and programs, which campaigns, events and programs may be operated by Manitoba Opera or an unrelated third party;
to maintain adequate accounting and tax records, to assess the quality and quantity of our performances and services and to have information in such formats we may reasonably require for our business needs;
to meet any legal, governmental or regulatory requirements, to detect and prevent fraud, and to protect the interests of you and Manitoba Opera.

With Respect to our Members/Donors:

to establish you as a member/donor or a participant in a fundraising event, such as a lottery or a draw;
to process your contribution or payment with a financial institution (such as your credit card company, your bank or our bank);
to issue income tax receipts, tickets or other documentation that may be reasonably required;
to inform you about the progress of campaigns, the results of fundraising events or the use made of contributions or payments;
to provide you with information and invite you to contribute or participate in future campaigns and fundraising programs and events, which campaigns, programs and events may be operated by Manitoba Opera or an unrelated third party;
to maintain adequate accounting and tax records, to assess the quality and quantity of our campaigns and fundraising events and to have information in such form as we may reasonable require for our business needs;
to meet any legal, governmental or regulatory requirements, to detect and prevent fraud, and to protect the interests of you and the Manitoba Opera.

In order to provide the above noted services, Manitoba Opera must collect certain personal information. Manitoba Opera understands the importance of keeping your personal information confidential. Manitoba Opera is committed to protecting the confidentiality of the personal information that you provide and is dedicated to upholding certain confidentiality obligations at law, pursuant to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and Regulations, and as set out in this Privacy Policy.

To comply with its obligations at law, Manitoba Opera has undertaken to ensure that its employees, agents and authorized persons take all reasonable steps to protect the confidentiality of personal information. Manitoba Opera’s obligations include the protection of personal information from risks such as inappropriate collection, use, disclosure, storage or destruction. Manitoba Opera has appointed a Privacy Officer who is accountable for Manitoba Opera’s compliance with its obligations at law. The Privacy Officer may appoint other individuals to take responsibility for the day-to-day collection and processing of personal information.

If there are any matters that have not been expressly addressed in this Policy, or if anyone requires clarification as to how to implement or interpret this Policy, or if an individual would like to request access to his or her personal information or to amend such information, such concerns should be brought to the attention of the Privacy Officer immediately.

The Privacy Officer can be contacted as follows:

E-mail – mblais@mbopera.ca
Mail – Manitoba Opera
Attn: Michael Blais, Privacy Officer
Room 1060, 555 Main Street
Winnipeg, MB R3B 1C3
Phone – 204-944-8929

I. Definitions

1.1 The following definitions are to assist in the interpretation of this Privacy Policy and are subject to change given amendments to applicable legislation:
- a. “collection” means the gathering, acquiring, recording, or obtaining of personal information from any source, including third parties, whether written or verbal;
- b. “consent” means voluntary agreement for the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for defined purposes. Consent can be either expressed or implied and can be provided directly by the individual or by an authorized representative. Express consent can be given orally, electronically or in writing, but is always unequivocal and does not require any inference on the part of Manitoba Opera. Implied consent is consent that can reasonably be inferred from an individual’s action or inaction;
- c. “commercial activity” means any particular transaction, act or conduct or any regular course of conduct that is of a commercial character, including the selling, bartering or leasing of donor, membership or other fundraising lists;
- d. “disclosure” means making personal information available to a third party;
- e. “personal information” means information about an identifiable individual, but does not include the name, title or business address or telephone number of an employee of an organization;
- f. “record” includes any correspondence, memorandum, book, plan, map, drawing, diagram, pictorial or graphic work, photograph, film, microform, sound recording, video-tape, machine-readable record and any other documentary material, regardless of physical form or characteristics, and any copy of any of those things;
- g. “third party” means an individual or organization outside of Manitoba Opera;

II. Application of the Privacy Policy

2.1 This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information collected, used, stored or destroyed by Manitoba Opera, where Manitoba Opera has collected, used, stored or destroyed such information in the course of commercial activities.
2.2 This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information, including all records of personal information, whether it is written, photographed, recorded or stored in any manner, on any storage medium or by any means including by graphic, electronic or mechanical means.
2.3 This Privacy Policy applies to all personal information, regardless of whether it was received, collected or acquired prior to or after the implementation of the Policy.
2.4 This Privacy Policy applies to all employees and agents of Manitoba Opera and each employee and agent shall sign a “Pledge of Confidentiality” in the form attached hereto as Schedule “A”, acknowledging that he or she is bound by the terms of this Privacy Policy and is aware of the consequences of breaching the Policy.
2.5 Should Manitoba Opera transfer personal information to a third party for processing or other permitted transactions, it shall use contractual or other means to provide a comparable level of protection which the information is being processed by a third party.

III. Access to Personal Information

3.1 Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information and shall be given access to that information, subject to certain exceptions specified by law. An individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
3.2 Where Manitoba Opera records contain information about a third party, Manitoba Opera shall not provide access to such information unless the information applicable to the third party can be severed from the record.
3.3 All requests for access or amendment to personal information by the person who is the subject of the information shall be made in writing to the Privacy Officer. Where an employee of Manitoba Opera receives such a request, it shall be forwarded to the Privacy Officer forthwith.
3.4 In releasing personal information to an individual, Manitoba Opera shall indicate the source of the information and shall provide an account of the use that has been made or is being made of this information and an account of the third parties to which it has been disclosed, namely the name of the organizations to which the personal information has been disclosed and if possible, shall specify the information disclosed.
3.5 The Privacy Officer shall respond to a request for access to personal information or requesting an amendment to such personal information within 30 days. Should the Privacy Officer determine, on a reasonable basis, that a request for an amendment to such personal information is appropriate, the Privacy Officer shall ensure that the personal information is amended accordingly and where appropriate, the amended information shall be transmitted to third parties having access to the information in question.
3.5 If however, the Privacy Officer determines that, at law, no access to the record of personal information shall be granted, the Privacy Officer shall keep a record of the refusal, including reasons for refusal on file.
3.6 When a challenge concerning the accuracy or completeness of personal information has been made, but has not been resolved to the satisfaction of the individual, the Privacy Officer shall keep a record of the substance of the unresolved challenge, and where appropriate, shall transmit the existence of the unresolved challenge to third parties having access to the information in question.

IV. Purposes for Collection and Use of Personal Information

4.1 Manitoba Opera collects only that information necessary to provide the services requested by subscribers, single ticket buyers, members, and donors namely for the purposes of keeping them informed of the business activites of Manitoba Opera. These activities have been stated in page one, second paragraph of the Manitoba Opera Interim Privacy Policy.
4.2 In certain circumstances, personal information can be collected, used or disclosed without the knowledge or consent of the individual. Manitoba Opera will only engage in such conduct where required or permitted to do so by law.
4.3 The identifiable personal information collected will only be used for the specified purposes. For greater certainty, Manitoba Opera may compile certain statistics using the personal information and may provide such statistics to its funders upon request.
4.4 Unless permitted by law, personal information will be collected directly from the individual who is the subject of the information.
4.5 An individual may withdraw consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice. Manitoba Opera shall, upon receipt of a withdrawal of consent, inform the individual that such a withdrawal means that Manitoba Opera must terminate the services offered.

V. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

5.1 Personal information shall not be disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law.
5.2 Manitoba Opera shall retain files containing personal information for a period of no longer than five(5) years after termination of the relationship with Manitoba Opera.
5.3 Personal information that is no longer required by Manitoba Opera to fulfill the purposes for which the information was collected should be shredded and disposed of in a manner that safeguards the confidentiality of the information.

VI. Safeguarding Personal Information

6.1 Manitoba Opera shall take reasonable steps to protect personal information against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification of personal information. All personal information under the custody or control of Manitoba Opera in written form shall be kept in locked filing cabinets and access to such files shall be limited to those employees who require access in order to complete their duties. Personal information that is stored electronically shall be protected by an appropriate firewall and password encrypted.
6.2 The Privacy Officer shall, on a regular basis, ensure that such office policies are being adhered to and that all such personal information is being stored and safeguarded in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

VII. Challenging Compliance

7.1 Should an individual have issue with the manner in which Manitoba Opera, its employees or agents are collecting, using, storing, disclosing or destroying information, he or she may contact the Privacy Information Officer at the address previously set out above.
7.2 The Privacy Information Officer shall have 30 days from receipt of the complaint to investigate the complaint and to provide a response, including the remedy to be employed, if any.