Privacy

Tikinagan Child & Family Services is required to follow the privacy rules under the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. We are required to keep your personal information relating to services that you receive from us safe and secure. Tikinagan is committed to protecting client confidentiality and your privacy.

Your Privacy, Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Ask to see and get a copy of your personal information in your file
• Ask for corrections to wrong or missing information in your file
• Know if your personal information is lost, shared, stolen or viewed when it shouldn’t be
• To file a complaint with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

Our approach to protecting your privacy is guided by our Values.

Trust

We understand that trust is essential to building effective relationships and we know that trust must be earned through consistency and dependability. We are committed to being trustworthy in fulfilling the responsibilities inherent in our mandate as an Indigenous child wellbeing organization.

Accountability

Through our First Nations mandate, we are entrusted with the responsibility of providing child wellbeing services. We are accountable to provide high quality services to children and families. We are committed to excellence and dependability in all aspects of service delivery.

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Tikinagan respects the rights of individuals to control their own personal information, subject to certain limits that are permitted or required by law. Consent is a key principle of privacy and confidentiality.

Tikinagan does not need consent to fulfill its primary role as a child protection agency, to protect children, where we are required by law to collect, use and disclose personal information.

Tikinagan is required to have an individual’s consent to collect, use or disclose their personal information.

Consent is needed for permission to share personal information, when not permitted or required by law.

Individuals have the right to limit what they wish Tikinagan to do with their information, may choose to withhold their permission or may change their mind and withdraw their permission once given on a go-forward basis.

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Part X is a new section of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act. It sets out a legislative privacy framework for Ontario’s child and youth sector. Effective January 1, 2020, it sets rules for the collection, use, and disclosure of, and access to, personal information held by ministry-funded and licensed service providers.

Part X outlines:

• New privacy rights for clients.
• New obligations for service providers.
• Clarified authorities for the ministry for using personal information for research and service system planning, and
• Provides oversight by the Information and Privacy Commissioner.

For clients, Part X will provide:

• The right to request access and correction to their records of personal information.
• More control over how their personal information is shared among service providers, with the ability to provide consent based on capacity, not age.
• The right to a complaints process and an independent review mechanism related to the collection, use and sharing of personal information, and
• More transparency in how their personal information is handled by service providers.

Under Part X, Tikinagan Child & Family Services will have:

• Clear rules for collecting, using and sharing clients’ personal information.
• Requirements to protect clients’ privacy.
• Requirements for improved transparency and accountability (e.g. breach notifications).
• Oversight from the Information and Privacy Commissioner with respect to how service providers handle and share clients’ personal information.

For the ministry, Part X will include:

• Clarified authority to access, use and share data including personal information, for system planning, managing, evaluating, and delivering ministry-funded or provided services.
• Requirements to protect privacy when collecting, using or disclosing personal information.

Why does the child and youth sector need Part X?

Part X fills the ‘legislative gap’ in the child and youth service sector. It provides more consistent protections and rights for children, youth, and families related to their personal information. Part X does not replace privacy provisions in existing legislation currently governing ministry service providers.

Who does Part X affect?

Part X applies to service providers funded or licensed by the ministry and are not already subject to existing privacy legislation (e.g. the health sector, government institutions, and youth justice).

Source: Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services (Part X) Children, Community and Social Services (Part X)

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Under Part X of the Child, Youth and Family Services Act, Tikinagan follows the legislative privacy framework for Ontario’s child and youth sector. It sets rules for the collection, use, and disclosure of, and access to, personal information held by ministry-funded and licensed service providers.

Tikinagan is required to let you know how your personal information will be used and tell you how they might share it. Tikinagan must also make sure any personal information they get from you stays private and let you know if it has been lost, shared, stolen or viewed when it shouldn’t be.

When it comes to your privacy, you can trust we’ve taken the necessary measures to protect your information. Some of the Safe Guard Measures at Tikinagan include:

• Staff training on privacy and security
• Confidentiality agreements
• Maintaining up-to-date software by applying the latest security
• Strong authentication and access controls
• Controlled access to locations where personal information is stored
• Identification, screening and supervision of visitors

Under the provincial framework, Tikinagan will have:

• Clear rules for collecting, using and sharing clients’ personal information.
• Requirements to protect clients’ privacy.
• Requirements for improved transparency and accountability (e.g. breach notifications).
• Oversight from the Information and Privacy Commissioner with respect to how service providers handle and share clients’ personal information.

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Download Privacy Brochure