TERRA LIFE privacy policy
As a naturopathic physician, mother and socially engaged Canadian committed to healthy living, a sustainable planet and holistic approaches to healthcare, I view patient confidentiality and the protection of individual privacy rights as a matter of utmost importance.
As a doctor, I am bound in my practice and fully adhere to the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics of the College of Naturopathic Physicians of British Columbia (CNPBC).
As the owner/operator of Terra Life and the Terra Life website, I am also bound by and fully adhere to the British Columbia Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) as well as Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).
My privacy policy follows the 10 fundamental privacy principles that form the basis of the BC and federal privacy laws as well as numerous medical privacy codes of practice in Canada.
1. My accountability for protecting your personal information
I am accountable for all personal information under my control or in my custody. This includes any information about you, including your name, address, phone numbers, email address, age, gender, information about your health, financial information about you, pictorial or descriptive information, or any other type of information about you that I receive by any means in a professional or commercial capacity.
I also remain accountable should any information about you be collected by or transmitted to another person or organization for processing under my guidance or direction. This includes health information as well as any other type of personal information.
I have developed policies and procedures to protect your personal information, including detailed procedures to receive and respond to access requests for your information or to respond to inquiries or complaints. I also have clear rules on information collection, use, disclosure and retention. In addition, I have also established and will maintain appropriate data security safeguards.
2. I will always identify my purposes for personal information collection
At or before the time I collect any personal information about you, I will document the purposes for doing so and explain these purposes to you.
Personal information collected about you in the course of providing you with individual health services will only be used for that purpose, except where authorized or required by law. Please contact me if you would like more information specifically on my practitioner privacy policy.
Personal information collected from you concerning the service or products available through Terra Life will only be used to provide those services or products to you, and to enhance and improve your experience using the Terra Life website. I will never disclose your personal information to any other third party for commercial purposes, and I will only ever use your email address to correspond with you.
3. I will only collect your personal information with your knowledge and consent
I treat all information related to your personal health as sensitive information. Where I collect such information directly from you, including through any agents authorized by me, I will only ever collect, use or disclose it with your express consent. This includes information about your visits and use of the Terra Life web site.
In obtaining your consent, I will make every reasonable effort to ensure that you fully understand the nature, purpose and consequences of the information collection.
You also have the right to withdraw your consent, at any time, to my continued collection, use or disclosure of your personal information, subject to legal or contractual obligations, and subject to reasonable notice. If you choose to withdraw consent, I will inform you of the consequences of doing so, if any.
4. I will limit personal information collection to what is necessary for identified purposes.
I do not collect any personal information about individuals visiting this site without either their explicit knowledge and consent, or their implicit consent.
For example, if you sent me a question by email and wished me to respond by email (i.e. I have your implicit consent to contact you), I will collect and use your email address for that purpose.
If you post comments concerning Terra Life or the services of Dr. Jocelyn Land Murphy or personal information, including personal health information, on the Terra Life website, I will assume you have provided your consent for that information to be displayed on the website, and/collected and used for any other related purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances. You may, of course, withdraw that consent at any time, subject to reasonable notice.
Analytical information about the use of this website is collected and used on an anonymous basis and will not be linked to any individual person, except in very limited circumstances as permitted or required by law.
5. I will limit use, disclosure and retention of your personal information
Should I collect any personal information about you, I will never use it for any new purpose except with your consent or as permitted or required by law. I will never disclose your personal information to a third party, except with your consent or as required by law. I will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil purposes to which you have agreed, or as required by law.
I have developed and maintain guidelines and procedures with respect to the retention of personal information. These guidelines set minimum and maximum retention periods, including as required by law. If personal information has been used to make a decision about you, I will retain it long enough to allow you to have access to the information after the decision has been made.
When personal information is no longer required to fulfil the identified purposes it will be destroyed, erased, or made anonymous. I have developed guidelines and implemented procedures with respect to the destruction of personal information.
6. I will take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of personal information
If I collect or use personal information about you for any purpose, I will take reasonable steps to ensure the information is as accurate, complete, and up-to-date as is necessary for that purpose. I will never use personal information to make a decision about you without taking steps to ensure the relevance, accuracy and appropriateness of the information.
If you provide me with your personal information or post it on the Terra Life website, I will presume it is as accurate, complete and up to date as you wish it to be. You, of course, have the right to amend or update the information.
I do not disclose personal information I have collected to third parties. In the event this should ever occur, I will take steps to ensure the information to be disclosed is as accurate and up-to-date as necessary for the intended purposes and will inform the third party of any limits to the accuracy.
7. I will protect personal information with appropriate safeguards
I consider all personal health information to be extremely sensitive and take appropriate steps to protect such information in every format. These steps include protection against loss or theft, as well as unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification.
All personal information collected, used or disclosed in the operation of Terra life and the Terra life website will also be protected with appropriate safeguards.
I will take care in the disposal or destruction of personal information, to prevent unauthorized parties from gaining access to the information.
8. I will be open about my policies and practices relating to the management of your personal information
I and Terra Life are committed to complete openness and transparency with regard to our privacy policies and procedures; including making more detailed non-confidential and non-proprietary information available to you upon request. I will make every effort to make such information available to you without unreasonable effort on your part and in a form that is readily understandable.
Much of this information is already incorporated into this privacy policy, including the name of the person accountable, the means of obtaining access to your personal information, a description of the type of personal information held by Terra Life, and how this information is used, retained and secured.
9. You have a right of access to your personal information
Upon written request, and reasonable proof of your identity and/or right of access to the information, I will inform you if I or Terra Life have collected any personal information about you as an individual, and will provide you with access to that information.
In most cases, access, including an account of how the information was used and if it was disclosed to any third parties, will be provided within the 30 day period specified by law, and at no cost to you. I will notify you if there will any delay beyond the 30 day period and the reasons why. I will also notify you if I cannot provide the information you have requested due to any exceptions to access set out in either PIPA or PIPEDA.
If information I have about you is inaccurate or incomplete I will amend the information as required. With your knowledge and consent I will also notify any third parties where having access to this amended information would be appropriate and in your interests.
Where a challenge to the accuracy or completeness of your personal information cannot be resolved to your satisfaction, I will record the substance of the unresolved challenge and where appropriate, notify third parties having access to the information in question about the existence of the unresolved challenge.
10. You have a right to challenge my compliance with these privacy principles
You are legally entitled to make inquiries about my policies or practices relating to the handling of your personal information or to challenge my compliance with the above privacy principles or any obligation to protect your personal information set out in either the B.C. PIPA or PIPEDA.
You can address a compliance challenge directly to me in writing or you can make a formal complaint either to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of B.C. or the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. Generally, privacy commissioners expect individuals to make efforts to resolve complaints directly with an organization before making a formal complaint to their offices. I am equally committed to investigating all complaints, and if a complaint is found to be justified, taking appropriate measures, including, if necessary, amending my policies and practices. You can make an inquiry or complaint to me directly in writing or by email at:
Dr. Jocelyn Land-Murphy
237 Tenth St, New Westminster BC, CANADA, V3M3Y1
If a matter cannot be resolved to your satisfaction, you can make a formal complaint under either the B.C. PIPA or PIPEDA.
If you are a resident of B.C., you should address a complaint to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia, using the process described under How do I make a complaint?
If you live elsewhere in Canada or outside Canada, you should address a complaint to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, using the forms available on the Commissioner’s website. See File a Complaint under PIPEDA.
If a complaint is about medical records or medical practice, you can make a complaint to the College of Naturopathic Physicians of BC. See: How to make a complaint.
Privacy policy updated November 2016