PatientAdvocates.ca — Privacy Policy
Last Updated: August 14, 2026
Introduction
PatientAdvocates.ca ("PatientAdvocates", "we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting your personal information and complying with applicable data protection and privacy laws. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and disclose personal information when you interact with us, whether in person or through our website at PatientAdvocates.ca (the "Website") and any associated online services (together, the "Services").
Personal information means any information that can be used to identify an individual. Because our work as a patient advocate may involve health-related information, this policy also addresses how we handle such information. We are a patient advocacy service and are not a health care provider or a "custodian" under Alberta's Health Information Act (HIA). Accordingly, the health-related information we collect is treated as personal information governed by Alberta's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA), which regulates how private sector organizations in Alberta collect, use and disclose personal information. Where personal information is collected in the course of commercial activity that crosses provincial or national borders, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) may also apply.
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Please check it regularly, as we will update this Privacy Policy as necessary.
1. What Information Do We Collect?
Website – Cookies and automatic data collection. Unless you opt-out, our Website uses "Cookies" and other automatic data collection technologies with your consent to collect personal information whenever you visit or interact with the Website, including unique identifiers and preference information such as IP address, technical usage, browser type, time zone settings, language preferences, operating system, unique device identifiers, search history, page response times and length of visit, pages viewed, marketing preferences or navigation and clickstream behavior. You can opt-out of Cookies or prevent third-party websites from accessing our Cookies through the privacy settings on your browser. However, opting-out of our Cookies may disable some of the Website's features, and may prevent us from providing you with the information and services you have requested.
Contact and inquiries. When you submit a form on the Website, use our customer service chat messenger, or e-mail us with a question, we will collect personal information about you like your name, e-mail, phone number, and company name. This information will be used to communicate with you, provide you with the information you requested, and conduct appropriate follow-up.
In-person and service-related information. When you engage us for patient advocacy services, whether in person or online, we may collect information such as your name, contact details, date of birth, and relevant health history, present condition or symptoms, and information about your care and treatment that is necessary to provide our Services to you.
2. Why Do We Use Personal Information?
We use your personal information to:
manage our relationship with you and provide you with the information or services you request;
deliver our patient advocacy Services, whether in person or online, and maintain appropriate records;
communicate with you regarding inquiries, service requests, or employment opportunities;
conduct research and evaluate and improve our Website and Services;
detect, prevent, or investigate security breaches;
process payment information; and
maintain appropriate records for internal administrative purposes.
You are generally deemed to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information you voluntarily provide for a clear purpose. Under applicable privacy legislation, you are deemed to consent to the collection, use or disclosure of personal information about yourself for a particular purpose if you voluntarily provide the information for that purpose, and it is reasonable that you would voluntarily provide that information. Because health information is sensitive, we obtain your express consent to collect, use or disclose your personal health information, except where the law permits or requires us to do so without consent.
3. Who Do We Share Personal Information With?
We may share some of your personal information, including personal health information, with third-party service providers in order to operate the Website and Services, or to provide you with the information you request. We only use service providers that ensure a comparable level of protection for your information, as provided in this Privacy Policy. Our contracts with our service providers ensure they comply with that obligation and use your personal information only for the services requested.
Exceptionally, we may collect, use or disclose personal information without your consent in the following limited circumstances:
when the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law or by regulatory proceedings,
in an emergency that threatens an individual's life, health, or personal security,
when we require legal advice from a lawyer,
to protect ourselves from fraud,
to a collection agency in order to collect our unpaid accounts, or
to investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law.
If we merge with another business, we will inform you of any impact on your personal information.
4. How Long Do We Keep Personal Information?
We retain personal information for as long as required to provide the services for which it was collected, otherwise, in accordance with applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Where our Services involve personal health information subject to professional retention rules, we retain that information for the minimum periods required under applicable law. After the applicable retention period, we will destroy your personal information or otherwise render it void of any identifying information.
5. How Do We Keep Personal Information Accurate?
We take reasonable steps to ensure that any personal information in our custody is accurate and up-to-date but we mostly rely on you to notify us of any changes to personal information you provided us.
6. How Do We Protect Your Personal Information?
We use reasonable and appropriate physical, administrative and technical measures (including encryption) designed to help secure your personal information against accidental or unlawful loss, access or disclosure. Only staff and service providers who have a legitimate business purpose for accessing the personal information collected by us are authorized to do so. Unauthorized use of personal information by anyone affiliated with us is prohibited and constitutes grounds for disciplinary action.
Even though we take all necessary steps to protect your personal information, security breaches cannot be eliminated and we cannot guarantee no breach will ever occur. In the event of a breach involving a real risk of significant harm to an affected individual, we will notify the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta and will notify affected individuals where required by the Commissioner or otherwise in accordance with applicable law.
7. Where Do We Store Personal Information?
All personal information we collect is stored on secure servers in [Canada]. However, personal information processed by our third-party service providers may be done outside of the jurisdiction where the data is stored. While being processed in another jurisdiction, such personal information is subject to that jurisdiction's laws, which may permit governmental authorities the right to access your personal information.
8. Links to Third-Party Sites
Our Website may lead you to third-party websites, including websites advertising products or services. These websites are separate and distinct from us and have their own separate privacy policies. We are not responsible in any way for how these websites collect, use or disclose your personal information, so it is important to familiarize yourself with the privacy policies before providing your personal information to them.
9. Direct Marketing
Where you have expressly consented, we may use your personal information to inform you about us and our products and services, including promotional offers and events. If you no longer wish to receive marketing or promotional communications from us, you can opt-out at any time by using the unsubscribe feature found in our emails and other electronic communications, or by contacting us at [EMAIL]. We remove your contact information from our distribution list as soon as you unsubscribe.
10. Your Rights
Under PIPA, you have the right to request access to the personal information we hold about you and to request correction of that information. In addition, subject to applicable law and our legal and professional obligations, and where we are reasonably able to do so, we will also consider requests to:
make a written request to access your personal information,
request that we correct your personal information,
object to our use or disclosure of your personal information,
request that we transfer to another organization the personal information you have provided us,
request us to delete the personal information we hold about you, and
request we delete your account.
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at corinne@patientadvocates.ca. In order to confirm your identity, we may require you to answer some security questions or provide proof of identity. We will respond within 45 days, subject to any extension permitted under applicable law. If we cannot grant your request, for example if you make an access request and providing you access would disclose personal information about another person, we will give reasons. We may charge a reasonable fee for fulfilling a request for access to personal information, and where we do, we will provide you with an estimate in advance.
If we determine a correction to your personal information is required, we will make it as soon as reasonably possible and notify any other organization to whom we have provided the incorrect information.
11. Contacting Us
Accountability with respect to your personal information is important to us. In the event that you have any questions, complaints or concerns about this Privacy Policy, or if you have reason to believe that we may have failed to adhere to it, please contact our Privacy Officer Corinne Hewko at corinne@patientadvocates.ca.
If after contacting us you are still not satisfied, you have the right to file a complaint with your local privacy authority.