HUMBOLDT — The City of Humboldt has adopted its first privacy policy outlining the type of information collected, what it is used for, where it is stored and how the city will keep it secure.
This is a part of the city’s current effort to update and develop human resource (HR) policies.
Lori Yaworski, Humboldt’s director of corporate services, said that in practice this won’t lead to any changes due to the city already being in compliance with the province’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
“[The] policy is just to officially know the rules, regulations and procedures so everyone has a clear-cut idea of what’s expected for the privacy of the public and also our employees,” Yaworski said.
“It’s just an actual policy that staff will be signing off on that they’ve read and authorized.”
The policy includes an employee acknowledgement and agreement that will be required to be signed by all Humboldt municipal employees.
According to the policy, the city may share compiled demographic information with its business partners or advertisers, but no personal information that can identify any individual person will be disclosed without individual consent.
The city cannot sell, distribute, or disclose personal information, including contact information or employee lists to third parties such as consultants, suppliers, or business partners of the city, without the understanding that these parties obey and abide by the policy, to the extent necessary of fulfilling their own business duties and day-to-day operations.
While IP addresses will continue to be logged in order to administer the site, track visitor movement, and gather demographic information, these IP addresses will not be linked to any personally identifiable information. Any registration or order form asking site visitors to enter personal or financial information will be protected by SSL encryption.
Individuals whose personal information is being collected are entitled to know how the city uses their personal information and that the use of any personal information collected is limited to only what is needed for those stated purposes. If necessary, the city will obtain individual consent if personal information is to be used for any other purpose.
The city will retain personal information only for the duration it is needed for conducting its business and ensuring statutory compliance Employees with care or control of personal or sensitive information, electronic media, or devices must handle and dispose of these appropriately.
Employees who are in doubt as to whether certain information is confidential must ask the appropriate authority before disclosing, releasing, or transmitting it.
Personal information may also be disclosed if required to do so by law.
