Website Terms of Use

Ownership

Our website and its contents are the property of the College of Opticians of B.C (COBC). The website is protected by Canadian and international copyright, trademark, and other laws. Use of our website does not give you ownership or other rights to the website or its content. You may not copy, redistribute, reproduce or republish any content from this website in any form without our written permission.

Accuracy

Although all reasonable efforts are made to ensure accuracy, the information on our website is not official and may contain inaccuracies or typographical errors. Information may be changed or updated without notice. We may also edit, delete or add to the information described in this site at any time without notice.

Links to other sites

Our website may include links to websites operated by other agencies, non-profit organizations and private businesses. When you access another site, this COBC Privacy Statement and Terms of Use will no longer apply, and you may be subject to any terms of use of that website. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of external websites.

Links from third-party sites

We cannot control which websites link to our website. Such links do not indicate our endorsement.

Disclaimer

All information on our website is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title or non-infringement. Anyone downloading files does so at their own risk and assumes the risk of computer viruses or other malicious programs.

Limitation of Liabilities

In no event will COBC be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, special or other consequential damages for any use of our website, or on any other hyperlinked website, including, without limitation, any loss of programs or other data on your computer or otherwise, even if we are expressly advised of the possibility of such damages.

Marks

The COBC logo is a trademark of the College of Opticians of B.C. The COBC logo may not be used or reproduced by anyone without our permission. The Licensed Optician logo is an official mark (OM), which is considered intellectual property in Canada. It protects names and designs used by public authorities. The logo and name may not be reproduced by anyone without our permission.

Our commitment to you

The college is committed to protecting your privacy. We seek to use best practices in holding any personal information we collect. We collect, use and disclose personal information in accordance with our province’s Health Professions Act (HPA), Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) and other applicable legislation.

Some of the information on our Register is publicly available under Section 22(1) of the HPA . Some of this information can be viewed through our Registrant Directory. This Privacy Statement does not cover that information.

COBC may disclose aggregate data from the Continuing Competency Program to education programs to assist with program development and the delivery of educational content. Identifying personal information is not disclosed.

System activity records (metadata) and system backups

When you connect and interact with COBC’s online services (such as the Optician application portal, profile management, or the Continuing Competency Program), our IT systems automatically create, collect, and record some technical information about those activities. These activity records, also known as metadata, are a necessary and critical element in managing and maintaining the security and integrity of all modern IT systems used by organizations such as COBC. For example, an email address you use to connect and interact with our online services may be one piece of information recorded in metadata. This technical information allows COBC to, for example, keep track of which connections made it through our system firewall and identify whether a connection was allowed somewhere it was not supposed to be allowed. This helps us meet our obligations to protect the personal information of all of our system users, whether or not you are a COBC registrant.

All information provided to COBC by registrants or other individuals may be stored temporarily in our system backups, for the purposes of business continuity and disaster recovery. Our system backups are permanently and securely deleted on a regular basis.

Access to the activity records stored in our systems and to our system backups is restricted. Staff of COBC are not authorized to have access to system activity records or system backups. Access is available to COBC’s registrar and authorized IT staff and IT providers only, on a need-to-know basis, as necessary to provide you with user support or for purposes related to matters such as: installing, implementing, maintaining, repairing, trouble shooting or upgrading our IT system or system equipment; data or operational recovery following a system or equipment failure; or, other matters related to maintaining information security and confidentiality in our systems and networks or continuity of our business operations. They are bound by their legal obligations to maintain the confidentiality of information in COBC’s systems, in accordance with applicable laws and COBC’s information management and security policies in force from time to time. However, despite these security and confidentiality arrangements, it is possible that COBC and its IT service providers may from time to time be compelled to disclose system activity records or system backups, by court order or as otherwise required in accordance with applicable laws.
COBC may also collect aggregate data to understand the usability of our systems. We do not track individuals who access our systems.

How long we retain your data

COBC retains aggregate website data for a maximum of one year. Data is destroyed at the end of each fiscal year.

Questions and complaints

Privacy-related questions, concerns or complaints should be directed to the Registrar, Lisa Bannerman at 604-742-6472 or lbannerman@cobc.ca
900-200 Granville Street, Vancouver, BC, V6C 1S4