MacPherson Builders Limited Privacy Policy

Philosophy Surrounding Privacy:

We, at MacPherson Builders Limited ("MacPherson", “we” or “us”), value the trust that you have shown in our business and, in turn, we are committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of your personal information.   To that end, we have adopted this privacy policy.

This policy explains how MacPherson collects, uses, discloses and safeguards the personal information provided to us either directly by you or by a third party.

By providing personal information to us or authorizing a third party to provide your personal information to us, you signify your consent to MacPherson’s collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy.  

For purposes of this privacy policy, “personal information” shall mean any information that can identify an individual directly or through other reasonably available means, and will not include information deemed not to be personal information in accordance with applicable law.

As part of our commitment to treat your personal information with respect, we operate in accordance with the following ten principles (the “Principles”):

Principle 1 - Accountability
Principle 2 - Identifying Purposes
Principle 3 - Consent
Principle 4 - Limiting Collection
Principle 5 - Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention
Principle 6 - Accuracy
Principle 7 - Safeguarding Customer Information
Principle 8 - Openness
Principle 9 - Customer Access
Principle 10 - Handling Customer Complaints and Suggestions

Principle 1 - Accountability

We are responsible for personal information in our possession or custody, including personal information that we may transfer to third parties for processing.  The overall responsibility for ensuring our compliance with data privacy laws and this privacy policy rests with Irv Teper, who is our Privacy Officer, although other individuals within MacPherson have responsibility for the day-to-day collection and processing of personal information and may be delegated to act on behalf of the Privacy Officer.   Please see below for the contact information of our Privacy Officer.

Principle 2 - Identifying Purposes

The purposes for which personal information is collected by us will be identified to you before or at the time the information is collected.

Principle 3 - Consent

Personal information will only be collected, used, or disclosed with the consent of the individual, except in certain circumstances permitted or required by law. The way in which we seek consent may vary depending upon the sensitivity of the information. 
Typically, we will seek consent for the use or disclosure of personal information at the time of collection. However, additional consent will be sought after the personal information has been collected, if it is required for a new purpose.
In certain circumstances, obtaining consent would be inappropriate. The federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act and provincial privacy laws provide for exceptions where it is impossible or impractical to obtain consent.  

Principle 4 - Limiting Collection

The personal information collected by us shall be limited to those details necessary for the purposes identified to you.

Principle 5 - Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention

We will not use or disclose personal information for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required or permitted by law. MacPherson does not sell and/or trade customer lists to selected third-party companies and organizations. Subject to any applicable business, legal, or regulatory requirements, we will ensure that the personal information is destroyed in a secure manner, erased, or made anonymous when it is no longer required to fulfil our services and commitments to you or to enforce our rights or meet our obligations.

Principle 6 - Accuracy

We shall make every reasonable effort to ensure your personal information is maintained in an accurate, complete and up-to-date form.

Principle 7 - Safeguarding Customer Information

We shall utilize no less than industry standards security safeguards to protect your personal information.

Principle 8 - Openness

If you would like a copy of our privacy policies we would be more than happy to provide one to you and if you have any questions regarding same, we are more than happy to discuss the merits with you.

Principle 9 – Individual Access

Upon your request, we shall inform you of: (i) the type of personal information we have collected; (ii) how we have used your personal information in the past, and how we may in the future; and (iii) whether or not we have disclosed your personal information to any third parties (and, if so, to whom).  Individuals may verify the accuracy and completeness of their personal information, and may request that it be amended, if appropriate.
There may be circumstances where we are unable to provide access to your personal information.   We may deny access for legally permissible reasons, such as situations where the information contains references to other individuals and is not reasonably severable, or where it cannot be disclosed for legal, security, or commercial proprietary reasons. We will advise the individual of any reason for denying an access request.
When an individual successfully demonstrates the inaccuracy or incompleteness of personal information held by us, we will correct or update the information as required.
Please note that before we are able to provide you with any information or correct any inaccuracies we may ask you to verify your identity and to provide other details to help us to respond to your request.

Principle 10 - Handling Customer Complaints and Suggestions

Customers may direct any questions or enquiries with respect to the Principles or about our information handling practices by contacting:

MacPherson Builders Limited
Privacy Officer
125 Edilcan Drive
Concord, Ontario
Phone: 905-738-5332
Fax: 905-738-1297
Email: irv@macphersonbuilders.com

SPECIFIC HANDLING PRACTICES

Why We Gather Personal Information:

At MacPherson, we gather and use personal information to:

to ship product information or provide services to our customers;
to provide customers with access to MacPherson products;
to respond to customer inquiries about products and services;
to understand our customers, and prospective customers’ needs, and to offer products and services to meet those needs;
to inform you of upcoming sales and launch events;
to make sales connections with potential customers in order to provide information with respect to homes built by MacPherson;
to complete the transaction of purchase and sale; post-closing and after-sales customer care purposes;
marketing other projects to you;
property management purposes; and
to meet legal requirements.

We also use the personal information you have provided to us to communicate with you and safeguard your interests. We will send you important notices, and respond to any special needs or enquiries you may have. We may also send you information about other products and services in which we believe you may be interested.  You may opt-out of receiving this information by sending us an email specifying that you do not wish to receive such information, using the contact information provided above.

We only use personal information for the purposes that we have disclosed to you. If for any reason your information is required to fulfill a different purpose, we will obtain your consent before we proceed.

Types of Information We Collect:

The type of personal information we may ask for depends on and is related to the reason (or purpose) such personal information was provided to us.  For instance, for the purposes of providing you with goods and services in respect of our homes and communities, we will collect information in respect of, and for the purposes, of providing you with that information.   In addition to the foregoing, the following is a description of the type of personal information that we may ask for:

name
daytime telephone number
evening telephone number
residential address
email address
facsimile number
occupation
employment status
current home ownership details, address of the same and intention regarding rental or owner occupation of the Real Property (as defined in the Agreement of Purchase and Sale between you and MacPherson)
residency status
business identification number
GST registration number
financial information
desired suite design and colour/finish selections
copies of personal identification provided by you  or other personal identification of principals of your business entity.

The choice to provide us with your personal information, either directly or through a third party, is always yours.  However, your decision to withhold particular information may result in limiting our ability to provide you with the services or products you requested. 

How We Collect Such Personal Information:

We may gather such personal information from you in person, via the Internet, via email, over the telephone or by corresponding with you via mail, facsimile, or from third parties  who have your authority to disclose such personal information to us.

Through the use of website cookies (very small text file that is added to your hard drive from a web page), we monitor the ads you see and the number of times these ads are seen.  Through the use of these cookies, we are able to capture standard web traffic information such as time, date, IP address and browser, but in most circumstances the information captured cannot identify you as an individual.

WHILE WE TRY TO ENSURE THAT EVERY THIRD PARTY WHO DISCLOSES PERSONAL INFORMATION TO US HAS YOUR CONSENT TO DO SO, IF YOU BELIEVE THAT A THIRD PARTY HAS INAPPROPRIATELY DISCLOSED YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION TO US, PLEASE CONTACT THAT THIRD PARTY. IF THEY DO NOT ADEQUATELY RESPOND TO YOUR INQUIRIES, PLEASE LET US KNOW IMMEDIATELY.

When Information May be Disclosed to Outside Parties:

Except as specifically provided for in this privacy policy, we do not disclose any personal information to third parties.  The following are the limited instances where we may disclose your personal information to third parties, and for what purposes;

• to offer you related products and services that might benefit you;
• to companies or legal entities that are associated with, related to or affiliated with MacPherson for the purposes of construction of the applicable project, property management (including, without limitation, leasing the dwelling real property on your behalf);
• to third party marketing or data processing companies which handle or process marketing campaigns on MacPherson’s behalf or other companies that are associated with, related to or affiliated with MacPherson, and who may send (by e-mail or other means) promotional information about new condominiums and/or related services to you;
• to financial institutions providing (or wishing to provide) mortgage financing, banking and/or other financial or related services to you;
• to lawyers providing (or wishing to provide) legal services to you;
• to title insurance companies providing (or wishing to provide) title insurance to you;
• to MacPherson’s construction lender, the project monitor, MacPherson’s designated take-out lender, the Tarion Warranty Corporation and/or any insurer engaged in connection with the development and/or construction financing of the applicable project;
• to insurance companies providing (or wishing to provide) insurance coverage with respect to the applicable project (or any portion thereof), including without limitation, any title insurance companies providing (or wishing to provide) title insurance to you or your mortgage lender in connection with the completion of a transaction;
• to trades/suppliers or sub-trades/suppliers who have been retained by or on behalf of MacPherson (or who are otherwise dealing with MacPherson) to facilitate the completion and finishing of the applicable real property and the installation of any extras or upgrades ordered or requested by you;
• to providers of cable television, telephone, telecommunications, hydro-electricity, gas and/or other similar or related services to the property (or any portion thereof) and/or a particular unit in a condominium development;
• to relevant governmental authorities or agencies including without limitation, the Land Registry Office, the Ministry of Finance for the Province of Ontario (ie. with respect to Land Transfer Tax) and Canada Customers & Revenue Agency (ie. with respect to GST);
• to Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, to whose attention the T-5 interest income tax information return and/or the NR4 non-resident withholding tax information return is submitted (where applicable), which will contain or refer to your social insurance number or business registration number (as the case may be), as required by Regulation 201(1)(b)(ii) of the Income Tax Act;
• to MacPherson’s solicitor or your solicitor to facilitate Closing, including the closing by electronic means via the Teraview Electronic Registration System and electronic delivery of documentation via the Internet; and
• to a condominium corporation for purposes of facilitating the completion of the corporation’s voting, leasing and/or other relevant records, and to the condominium’s property manager for the purposes of facilitating the issuance of notices, the collection of common expenses and/or implementing other condominium management/administration functions; and
• when required or permitted by law.

In the event we disclose personal information to our service providers, we require our service providers to agree to contractual requirements that are consistent with our privacy and security policies. We require that our service providers are prohibited from using personal information, except for the specific purpose for which we supply it to them. 

You also understand that MacPherson may use your personal information and disclose your personal information to third parties in connection with the proposed or actual financing, insuring, sale, securitization, assignment or other disposal of all or part of our business or assets (including accounts) for the purposes of evaluating and/or performing the proposed transaction, and you consent to such disclosure.  These purposes may include, as examples, permitting such parties to determine whether to proceed or continue with the transaction, fulfilling any reporting or audit requirements to such parties, and/or disclosing personal information as part of concluding a sale or transfer of assets.  Our successors and assigns may collect, use and disclose your personal information for substantially the same purposes as described in this privacy policy.  In the event the transaction does not go through, we will require, by contract, the other party(ies) to the transaction not use or disclose your personal information in any manner whatsoever for any purpose, and to return or destroy such personal information.

The type of information we are legally required to disclose may relate to criminal investigations or government tax reporting requirements. In some instances such as a legal proceeding or court order, we may also be required to disclose certain information to authorities. Only the information specifically requested is disclosed and we take precautions to satisfy ourselves that the authorities that are making the request have legitimate grounds to do so.

There are some situations where we are legally permitted to disclose personal information such as employing reasonable and legal methods to enforce our rights or to investigate suspicion of illegal activities.

Our Employees and your Personal Information:

In the course of daily operations, access to private, sensitive and confidential information is restricted to authorized employees who have a legitimate business purpose and reason for accessing it.  For example, when you call us, our designated employees will access your information to verify who you are and to assist you in fulfilling your requests.

As a condition of their employment, all employees of MacPherson are required to abide by the privacy standards we have established. Unauthorized access to and/or disclosure of personal information by an employee of MacPherson is strictly prohibited. All employees are expected to maintain the confidentiality of personal information at all times and failing to do so will result in appropriate disciplinary measures, which may include dismissal.

How We Safeguard Your Information:
We use industry standard technologies and maintain current security standards to ensure that your personal information is protected against unauthorized access, disclosure, inappropriate alteration or misuse.

Electronic customer files are kept in a highly secured environment with restricted access. Paper-based files are stored in locked filing cabinets. Access is also restricted.

We manage our server environment appropriately and our firewall infrastructure is strictly adhered to. Our security practices are reviewed on a regular basis and we routinely employ current technologies to ensure that the confidentiality and privacy of your information is not compromised.

When you call our customer service centre you will be required to verify your identity by providing some personally identifying information.

Accessing and Amending Your Information:

You have the right to access, verify and amend the personal information we hold about you.  You may access and verify any of your information by calling our head office at 905-738-5332.

To help us keep your personal information up-to-date, we encourage you to amend inaccuracies and make corrections as often as necessary. Despite our efforts, errors sometimes do occur. Should you identify any incorrect or out-of-date information in your file(s), we will make the proper changes. Where appropriate, we will communicate these changes to other parties who may have unintentionally received incorrect information from us.

Questions, Concerns and Complaints:

If you have a question about the privacy policies stated on this site, please call us at 905-738-5332.

If you have a concern or complaint about privacy, confidentiality or the personal information handling practices of MacPherson, our employees or service suppliers, please contact:

MacPherson Builders Limited
125 Edilcan Drive
Concord, ON  L4K 3S6
Phone: 905-738-5332
Fax: 905-738-1297
Email: irv@macphersonbuilders.com

Before MacPherson is able to provide you with any information or correct any inaccuracies, however, we may ask you to verify your identity and to provide other details to help us to respond to your request. We will endeavor to respond within an appropriate timeframe.

Updating this Privacy Policy:

Any changes to our privacy policy and information handling practices will be acknowledged in this policy in a timely manner. We may add, modify or remove portions of this policy when we feel it is appropriate to do so. You may determine when this policy was last updated by referring to the modification date found at the bottom of this privacy policy, however we will provide you with notice of a change on our website, and we will identify what changes have been made.

Web Sites Governed by this Privacy Policy:

The web site that is governed by the provisions and practices stated in this privacy policy is: www.Macphersonbuilders.com.

The MacPherson’s web site may contain links to other third party sites that are not governed by this privacy policy. Although we endeavor to only link to sites with high privacy standards, our privacy policy will no longer apply once you leave the MacPherson web site. Additionally, we are not responsible for the privacy practices employed by other third party web sites. Therefore, we suggest that you examine the privacy statements of those sites to learn how your information may be collected, used, shared and disclosed.

GOVERNING LAW AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION

This Privacy Policy, and all related matters are governed solely by the laws of the Ontario, Canada and applicable federal laws of Canada, excluding any rules of private international law or the conflict of laws which would lead to the application of any other laws.

Any claim or cause of action you may have arising from, connected with, or relating to this privacy policy or MacPherson’s handling of your personal information, or any related matters must be commenced within six (6) months after the claim or cause of action arises, after which time the claim or cause of action is forever barred, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary.

From time to time, we may be required to provide personal information in response to a valid court order, subpoena, government investigation, or as otherwise required by law.  We also reserve the right to report to law enforcement agencies any activities that we, in good faith, believe to be unlawful.  We may release certain personal information when we believe that such release is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, and safety of others and ourselves.

Last revised Monday, July 12, 2010.