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The information on this “F.J. Zielski
& Associates Inc.” web site is provided with the
understanding that the authors and/or publishers are not through
this web site rendering legal, insolvency, tax and /or other professional
advice and services. As such, it should not be used as a substitute
for consultation with professional insolvency, legal, tax or other
competent and qualified advisers. While every attempt has been
made to provide the user with accurate and reliable information, F.J. Zielski & Associates Inc. is not responsible for
any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the
use of the information on this web site.
Privacy of personal information is an important principle to F.J.
ZIELSKI & ASSOCIATES INC. We are committed to collecting,
using and disclosing personal information responsibly and only
to the extent necessary for the services we provide. We also try
to be open and transparent as to how we handle personal information.
This document describes our privacy policies.
What is Personal Information?
Personal information is information about an identifiable individual.
Personal information includes information that relates to their
personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, marital and family
circumstance, income, debts, home address or phone number, cause
of financial difficulties), their health (e.g., disabilities,
health conditions resulting in loss of income) or their activities
and views (e.g., opinions expressed by an individual, our opinion
about the causes of personal bankruptcy). Personal information
is to be contrasted with business information (e.g., an individual's
business address and telephone number), which is not protected
by privacy legislation.
Who we are
Our organization, the insolvency and restructuring office of F.J.
ZIELSKI & ASSOCIATES INC., includes at the time of writing
two partners and seven staff members. We use a number of consultants
and agencies that may, in the course of their duties, have limited
access to personal information we hold. These include computer
consultants, office security and maintenance, a file storage company,
temporary workers to cover holidays, credit card companies, website
managers, cleaners, our landlord, income tax preparers and lawyers.
We restrict their access to any personal information we hold as
much as is reasonably possible. We also have their assurance that
they follow appropriate privacy principles.
 We collect Personal Information: Primary
Purposes
About Debtors:
Like all Insolvency and restructuring professionals, we assume
a number of roles. For example, we can act as a trustee in bankruptcy,
an administrator of a consumer proposal, a receiver, a manager
and an agent of a secured creditor. Depending on our precise role
(and the role can change over time) the type of personal information
we collect, use and disclose about a debtor can vary.
However, in general terms, we typically collect personal information
about debtors in order to understand their assets and liabilities,
their income and expenses, their family circumstance, the reasons
for their financial difficulties and what contributions they might
reasonably make towards their debts. This information is typically
then used and disclosed to file the appropriate forms, with the
government (e.g., Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy,
Official Receiver, Canada Revenue Agency) and sometimes the courts,
and to advise the creditors of the debtor's circumstances, realize
the assets, collect any surplus income during the bankruptcy,
pay off the creditors and participate in the process for discharging
the debtor from bankruptcy.
While we collect most of this information from the debtor, we
may also collect some of this information from the creditors,
family members of the debtor, those involved in financial transactions
with the debtor, public records and others with relevant information
in order to ensure that we have all of the information as accurately
as possible. This is part of our obligation as insolvency and
restructuring professionals.
Debtors are usually asked to consent to this collection, use
and disclosure of their personal information. However, sometimes
we may collect, use and disclose information without consent,
for example, in the following circumstances:
• where we are acting as an agent of the creditor for
the purpose of collecting a debt;
• where we are required to do so by law;
• where the information is publicly available in a prescribed
record; or
• in emergency situations.
Consent may be written, verbal or implied.
About Creditors
Like most insolvency and restructuring professionals we collect,
use and disclose information about the amount claimed by creditors
and the creditors themselves in order to evaluate and process
the claim and make distributions. For example, the Statement of
Affairs document distributed to creditors and filed with the government
lists all know creditors and the amounts owing. Usually, this
information is business information, not personal information.
However, some creditors are owed money in their personal capacity
and their contact and financial information will be personal,
not business. In that circumstance, we may need to collect, like
we do for debtors, the creditor's social insurance number in order
to report the transaction or related income.
Again, as for debtors (see discussion above), an attempt is
made to obtain consent whenever possible. However, sometimes this
is not possible (e.g., we are required to circulate a Statement
of Affairs to creditors by law). Creditors should assume that
whenever they provide information to us that they are also providing
consent for us to use and disclose the information in the ordinary
course to the debtor, the other creditors (who have the right
to know who else is claiming against the assets of the debtor),
the government and the courts.
About clients and employees of a Debtor
When we assume ownership, receivership or management of a debtor's
business, we have the same obligations as that of the debtor.
Thus, if the business engages in commercial activities covered
by privacy legislation, we collect, use and disclose personal
information in the same way that the debtor is required to. For
example, we can only sell a business's client list or records
in the same way that the debtor could. For more information for
a particular circumstance, please contact our Privacy Officer.
About members of the general public:
For members of the general public, our primary purpose for collecting
personal information is usually to gather and review information
that is relevant to an issue affecting our own debtor files (e.g.,
ownership and history of funds or an asset). Thus, the personal
information is usually incidental to our managing a debtor file.
Often this collection, use and disclosure is done without the
individual's consent because we are reviewing an apparent breach
of agreement or the law and obtaining consent would compromise
the investigation, or because we are required by law to make the
inquiries.
Another primary purpose for collecting personal information about
members of the general public is to make them aware of insolvency
and restructuring services in general or our firm in particular.
For example, while we try to collect work contact information
where possible, we might collect home addresses, fax numbers and
email addresses. We try to obtain consent before collecting any
such personal information (unless it is available in a prescribed
public record), but where this is not, for any reason possible,
we will upon request immediately remove any personal information
from our distribution list.
On our website, we only collect, with the exception of “cookies”
(electronic markers identifying computers that have previously
visited our website), the personal information you provide and
only use that information for the purpose for which you gave it
to us (e.g., to respond to your email message, to register for
a course, to subscribe to our newsletters). “Cookies”
are only used to help you navigate our website and are not used
to monitor you.
About staff:
For people who work for us, our primary purpose for collecting
personal information is for necessary work-related communication
and activities and government filings (e.g., to discuss an assignment,
sending out paycheques, conferring benefits, monitoring employee
performance, year-end tax receipts, tax filings). Examples of
the type of personal information we collect for those purposes
include home addresses and telephone numbers, social insurance
numbers and information for performance reviews. It is rare for
us to collect such information without prior consent (which is
sometimes implied), but it might happen in the case of a health
emergency (e.g., an outbreak of a contagious disease) or to investigate
a possible breach of law (e.g., if a theft were to occur in the
office).
We collect personal information: Related and Secondary Purposes
Like most organizations, we also collect, use and disclose information
for purposes related to or secondary to our primary purposes.
The most common examples of our related and secondary purposes
are as follows:
- To invoice for our services or to collect unpaid accounts;
- To advise the public, including referral sources of our newsletters,
courses we provide and our services;
- Our firm reviews our files for the purpose of ensuring that
we provide high quality services, including assessing the performance
of our partners and staff. In addition, external consultants
(e.g., consultants, lawyers, information technology) may on
our behalf do audits and continuing quality improvement reviews
of our firm, including reviewing files and interviewing our
staff.
- Insolvency and restructuring professionals are regulated by
the Office of the Superintendent of Bankruptcy, provincial regulators
for accountants, the Canadian Association of Insolvency and
Restructuring Professionals and others who may inspect our records
and interview our staff as part of their regulatory activities
in the public interest. In addition, as professionals, we will
report serious misconduct, incompetence, or incapacity of other
professionals, whether they belong to other organizations or
our own. Also, our firm believes that it should report information
suggesting serious illegal behavior to the authorities. External
regulators have their own strict privacy obligations. These
reports could include personal information about debtors, creditors,
or other individuals, to support the concern (e.g., improper
services), although we try to keep this disclosure to a minimum.
Also, like all organizations, various government agencies (e.g.,
Canada Revenue Agency, Information and Privacy Commissioner,
Human Rights Commission, etc.) have the authority to review
our files and interview our staff as a part of their mandates.
In these circumstances, we may consult with professionals (e.g.
lawyers, accountants) who will investigate the matter and report
back to us.
- Debtors, creditors or other individuals we deal with may have
questions about the services we have provided, or how we have
handled personal information about them. We also provide services
for some individuals over a period of months or years for which
previous records are helpful. We retain our insolvency and restructuring
information for a minimum of five years after the last contact
to enable us to respond to those questions and provide these
services.
- If F.J. Zielski & Associates Inc. or its assets
were to be sold, the purchaser would want to conduct a “due
diligence” review of the firm's records to ensure that
it is a viable business that has been honestly portrayed to
the purchaser. This due diligence may involve some review of
our financial and service files. The purchaser would not be
able to remove or record personal information. Before being
provided access to the files, the purchaser must provide a written
promise to keep all personal information confidential. Only
reputable purchasers who have already agreed to buy the organization's
business or its assets would be provided access to personal
information, and only for the purpose of completing their due
diligence search prior to closing the purchase.
You can choose not to be part of some of these related or secondary
purposes (e.g., by declining promotional materials, by paying
for your services in advance). We do not, however, have much choice
about some of these related or secondary purposes (e.g., external
regulation).
Protecting personal information
We understand the importance of protecting personal information.
For that reason, we have taken the following steps:
• Paper information is either under supervision or secured
in a locked or restricted area.
• Electronic hardware is either under supervision or secured
in a locked or restricted area at all times. In addition, passwords
are used on computers. All of our cell phones are digital, which
signals are more difficult to intercept (however, we still are
careful on cell phones because sometimes they switch over to
an analog service).
• Paper information is transmitted through sealed, addressed
envelopes or boxes by reputable companies.
• Electronic information is transmitted either through
a direct line or is anonymized or encrypted.
• Staff are trained to collect, use and disclose personal
information only as necessary to fulfill their duties and in
accordance with our privacy policy.
• External consultants and agencies with access to personal
information must provide us with appropriate privacy assurances.
Retention and destruction of personal information
We need to retain personal information for some time to ensure
that we can answer any question you might have about the services
provided or how we handled personal information about you and
for our own accountability to external regulatory bodies. However,
we do not want to keep personal information too long in order
to protect your privacy.
We keep our insolvency and restructuring case files for about
five years. Our contact directories are much more difficult to
systematically destroy, so we remove such information when we
can if does not appear that we will be contacting you again. However,
if you ask, we will remove such contact information right away.
We keep any personal information relating to our general correspondence,
newsletters, seminars and marketing activities for about two years
after the contact or event is over.
We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding.
We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the
hardware is discarded, we ensure that the hard drive is physically
destroyed or reformatted.
You can look at your information
With some exceptions, you have the right to see what personal
information we hold about you. Often all you have to do is ask.
We can help you identify what records we might have about you.
We will also try to help you understand any information you do
not understand (e.g., short forms, technical language, etc.).
We will need to confirm your identity, if we do not know you,
before providing you with this access. We reserve the right to
charge a nominal fee for such requests.
If there is a problem, we may ask you to put your request in
writing. If we cannot give you access, we will tell you within
30 days if at all possible and tell you the reason, as best we
can, as to why we cannot give you access.
If you believe there is a mistake in the information, you have
the right to ask for it to be corrected. This applies to factual
information and not to any professional opinions we may have formed.
We may ask you to provide documentation that our files are wrong.
Where we agree that we made a mistake, we will make the correction
and notify anyone to whom we sent this information. If we do not
agree that we have made a mistake, we will still agree to include
in our file a brief statement from you on the point and we will
forward that statement to anyone else who received the earlier
information.
Do you have a question?
Our Privacy Officer is Frank Zielski, can be reached at:
Frank Zielski
F.J. Zielski & Associates Inc.
Trustee in Bankruptcy
298 Coleman Street
P.O. Box 1538
Belleville, Ontario
K8N 5J2
He will attempt to answer any questions or concerns you might
have.
If you wish to make a formal complaint about our privacy practices,
you may make it in writing to our Human Resources Manager. He
will acknowledge receipt of your complaint, ensure that it is
investigated promptly and that you are provided with a formal
decision and reasons in writing.
This policy is made under the Personal Information Protection
and Electronic Documents Act. It is a complex Act and provides
some additional exceptions to the privacy principles that are
too detailed to set out here. There are some rare exceptions to
the commitments set out above.
For more general inquiries, the Information and Privacy Commissioner
of Canada oversees the administration of the privacy legislation
in the private sector. The Commissioner also acts as a kind of
ombudsman for privacy disputes. The Information and Privacy Commissioner
can be reached at:
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1H3
Phone: (613) 995-8210
Toll-free: 1-800-282-1376
Fax: (613) 947-6850
TTY: (613) 992-9190
www.privcom.gc.ca
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER
