Our Commitment to Privacy

A tradition of respect for rights

Credit unions in Canada have a long history of respecting the rights of their member/owners. As co-operative financial institutions, credit unions are committed to implementing policies and procedures that maintain these rights.

Your credit union Board of Directors has adopted the Credit Union Code for the Protection of Personal Information, established Policies and Procedures, and appointed a Privacy Officer. You are entitled to review the Code, access your personal information, or contact the Privacy Officer at any time. Through these actions, what has been our accepted practice becomes our documented commitment to you, the member.

Your Personal Information

We hold personal information about members to help us meet and maintain the highest standards of financial service. This information can include your name, address, Social Insurance Number, age, use of accounts and credit history, employment records, personal references, as well as the relationship of others linked to you in account services. We obtain this information from you directly, and from the product and service arrangements you have made with or through us. Information is also obtained with your permission from credit bureaus, other financial institutions and from the personal references you provide us.

Co-operative Financial Services Partners

Your credit union also provides services in conjunction with financial services partners that include the Co-operative Financial Services Group of companies. These companies include: League Data, CGI, ASAPP, Atlantic Central, Central 1, League Savings & Mortgage, Interac®, Collabria, Cooperators Insurance, Concentra Bank, Credit Union Members Insurance Society (CUMIS), Credit Union Financial Management (CUFM), or other similar organizations that support credit union goals and values and provide useful and valuable products and services to our members.

In accordance with regulatory requirements, your credit union may be required to collect, use or disclose information with other Co-operative Financial Services Partners in providing a service.

Your personal information may also be shared with these partners so that they may promote their services to you.

We only collect what we absolutely need

We collect this information from you directly, with your consent, and according to the terms of the product and service arrangements you have made with or through us. Information is also obtained with your consent from credit bureaus, other financial institutions, and from the references you provide to us.

Your personal information is collected for one or more of the following purposes:

• to verify your identity;
• to understand your needs and eligibility for products and services;
• to open, maintain and administer your accounts and provide financial services that meet your needs;
• to obtain credit reports, evaluate your credit rating and credit worthiness, and check references;
• to administer and manage security and risk in relation to your account and the financial services provided to you;
• to comply with legal and regulatory requirements; and
• to offer and provide you with other products and services of the credit union and of our affiliates and service suppliers.

The law requires us to ask for your SIN when you open an interest-bearing account or when you obtain products or services that require reporting to certain government agencies. We also may use it to identify you with credit bureaus and other financial institutions for credit matching purposes and other purposes related to your ongoing relationship with us. However, providing your SIN is not a condition of service.

Personal Information Consent

You can provide us with your express consent in a variety of ways (depending upon the sensitivity of the information) - in writing, electronically, or verbally in some instances. For current members, implied consent will apply, where we can reasonably conclude that you have given consent by deciding not to withdraw your consent. Preferably, we will obtain your express consent in writing when you become a credit union member or when you apply for a new credit union service offering.

If, for whatever reason, you do not provide us with your written consent, or do not withdraw your consent, we will assume that we have your implied consent for the continuing use of your personal information for purposes described within this policy, including disclosure to the Cooperative Financial Group of Companies.

You can withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual obligations.

For example, your credit union is required by law to provide a record of your interest earning information to the Canada Revenue Agency, therefore this information could not be limited. However, you must understand that if you make this choice, we may not be able to provide you with the product or service that you desire.

Credit Union Code for the Protection of Personal Information

Here is a summary of the 10 Principles. If you would like additional information, please contact us.

1. Accountability We have designated a Privacy Officer who is accountable for our compliance with the principles of the Code.
2. Identifying Purposes Before or at the time we ask you for personal information, we will identify the purposes for which it will be used or disclosed.
3. Consent We require your knowledge and consent for the collection, use, or disclosure of personal information.
4. Limiting Collection, The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purpose identified by the credit union.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention If you have provided explicit limited consent, your personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected or as required by law. We will retain your information only as long as necessary to fulfill identified purposes.
6. Accuracy We will keep your information accurate, complete, and up-to-date.
7. Safeguards We will protect your personal information with appropriate security safeguards.
8. Openness We will make specific, understandable information readily available to you about our personal information policies and practices.
9. Individual Access When you request it, we will give you access to the existence, use, and disclosure of your information. You are entitled to question its accuracy and completeness, and its uses.
10. Challenging Compliance You are entitled to question the Privacy Officer about our compliance with any of these principles.

Web Site Privacy

On our web site, we only collect personal information required to improve the services we offer, to improve our site content and, with your permission, to contact you with information about our services. For more information on our web site Privacy Statement, please read below.

Information we collect on our site

You can visit all public areas of our site without providing any personal information about yourself. Our Web site collects only non-personal information based on a visitor's Internet Protocol (IP) address (this is not personally identifiable). Information collected includes the date and time of visit, the type of Internet browser used to access the site, the referring address (the link a visitor uses to access the site). This data is used to create statistics on site usage and improve online services.

If you send us an e-mail, any information provided by you will only be used for the purposes of responding to your inquiry or acting on your request. We will not use your name or e-mail address for any other purposes without additional consent.

Links to other Web sites

Our web site contains links to other web sites that are part of, affiliated with, or have a business relationship with Public Service Credit Union. When you leave our site to visit one of these other sites, the only information transferred to the new site is the fact that you came from the Public Service Credit Union web site pscu.ca. Transmission of this referring address allows other sites to monitor their own web traffic but does not disclose any personal information about you.

How do I contact Public Service Credit Union with Questions or Concerns?

We welcome any questions or concerns about our Privacy Statement, or the practices of this site.

Please contact us by e-mail or in writing at the following address:

Notice:

Public Service Credit Union reserves the right to amend its Internet Privacy Statement and its Privacy Code at any time with or without notice. Please check this page periodically for changes.