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PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION POLICY
At Sunstone Realty Advisors Inc. and its affiliates, we are committed to providing our investors and their brokers with exceptional service. As providing this service involves the collection, use and disclosure of some personal information about our investors and their brokers, protecting their personal information is one of our highest priorities.
While we have always respected our investors’, and their brokers’, privacy and safeguarded their personal information, we have strengthened our commitment to protecting personal information as a result of British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). PIPA, which came into effect on January 1, 2004, sets out the ground rules for how B.C. businesses and not-for-profit organizations may collect, use and disclose personal information.
We will inform our investors of why and how we collect, use and disclose their personal information upon request, obtain their consent where required, and only handle their personal information in a manner that a reasonable person would consider appropriate in the circumstances.
This Personal Information Protection Policy, in compliance with PIPA, outlines the principles and practices we will follow in protecting investors’ personal information. Our privacy commitment includes ensuring the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of our investors’ personal information and allowing our investors to request access to, and correction of, their personal information.
Scope of this Policy
This Personal Information Protection Policy applies to Sunstone Realty Advisors and its subsidiaries, Sunstone Opportunity Fund Limited Partnership, Sunstone Opportunity Fund (2004) Limited Partnership, and Sunstone Opportunity Fund (2005) Limited Partnership.
This policy also applies to any service providers collecting, using or disclosing personal information on behalf of Sunstone Realty Advisors.
Definitions
Personal Information – means information about an identifiable individual e.g. name, mailing address, social insurance number, marital status, number of units purchased, investment advisor, and investment dealer.
Contact information – means information that would enable an investor(s) to be contacted at the mailing address in personal information and includes the name of the investor(s). Contact information is not covered by this policy or PIPA.
Privacy Officer – means the individual designated responsibility for ensuring that Sunstone Realty Advisors complies with this policy and PIPA.
Policy 1 – Collecting Personal Information
1.1 Unless the purposes for collecting personal information are obvious and the investor(s) voluntarily provides his or her personal information for those purposes, we will communicate the purposes for which personal information is being collected, either orally or in writing, before or at the time of collection.
1.2 We will only collect investor information that is necessary to fulfill the following purposes:
- To communicate with our investors on a quarterly basis regarding distribution information;
- To communicate with our investors with respect to a material change, or significant event;
- To send out relevant tax information to our investors and relevant tax authorities;
- To ensure a high standard of service to our investors;
- To meet regulatory requirements;
- To verify identity.
Policy 2 – Consent
2.1 We will obtain investors’ consent to collect, use or disclose personal information (except where, as noted below, we are authorized to do so without consent).
2.2 Consent can be provided in writing, electronically, through an authorized representative or it can be implied where the purpose for collecting using or disclosing the personal information would be considered obvious and the investor voluntarily provides personal information for that purpose.
2.3 Consent may also be implied where an investor is given notice and a reasonable opportunity to opt-out of his or her personal information being used for mail-outs, the marketing of new services or products, or fundraising and the investor does not opt-out.
2.4 Subject to certain exceptions (e.g. the personal information is necessary to provide the service or product, or the withdrawal of consent would frustrate the performance of a legal obligation), investors can withhold or withdraw their consent for Sunstone Realty Advisors (or its affiliates) to use their personal information in certain ways. An investor’s decision to withhold or withdraw their consent to certain uses of personal information may restrict our ability to provide a particular service or product. If so, we will explain the situation to assist the investors’ in making the decision.
2.5 We may collect, use or disclose personal information without the investors’ knowledge or consent in the following limited circumstances:
- When the collection, use or disclosure of personal information is permitted or required by law;
- In an emergency that threatens an individual's life, health, or personal security;
- When we require legal advice from a lawyer;
- For the purposes of collecting a debt;
- To protect ourselves from fraud;
- To investigate an anticipated breach of an agreement or a contravention of law.
Policy 3 – Using and Disclosing Personal Information
3.1 We will only use or disclose investors’ personal information where necessary to fulfill the purposes identified at the time of collection [or for a purpose reasonably related to those purposes such as, but not limited to]:
- To provide tax information to our investors and relevant tax authorities;
- To contact our investors directly about distributions and/or material events.
3.2 We will not use or disclose investors’ personal information for any additional purpose unless we obtain consent to do so.
3.3 We will not sell investor lists or personal information to other parties.
Policy 4 – Retaining Personal Information
4.1 If we use investors’ personal information to make a decision that directly affects the investors, we will retain that personal information for at least one year so that the investors have a reasonable opportunity to request access to it.
4.2 Subject to policy 4.1, we will retain investors’ personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the identified purposes or a legal or business purpose.
Policy 5 – Ensuring Accuracy of Personal Information
5.1 We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that investor(s) personal information is accurate and complete where it may be used to make a decision about the investors or disclosed to another organization.
5.2 Investor(s) may request correction to their personal information in order to ensure its accuracy and completeness. A request to correct personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information and the correction being sought.
5.3 If the personal information is demonstrated to be inaccurate or incomplete, we will correct the information as required and send the corrected information to any organization to which we disclosed the personal information in the previous year. If the correction is not made, we will note the investor correction request in the file.
Policy 6 – Securing Personal Information
6.1 We are committed to ensuring the security of the investor(s)’ personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, copying, modification or disposal or similar risks.
6.2 The following security measures will be followed to ensure that the investor(s)’ personal information is appropriately protected: the use of locked filing cabinets; the use of user IDs, passwords, firewalls; restricting employee access to personal information as appropriate (i.e., only those that need to know will have access; contractually requiring any service providers to provide comparable security measures).
6.3 We will use appropriate security measures when destroying the investor(s)’ personal information such as shredding documents, and deleting electronically stored information.
6.4 We will continually review and update our security policies and controls as technology changes to ensure ongoing personal information security.
Policy 7 – Providing Investors’ Access to Personal Information
7.1 Investors have a right to access their personal information, subject to limited exceptions.
7.2 A request to access personal information must be made in writing and provide sufficient detail to identify the personal information being sought.
7.3 Upon request, we will also tell the investor(s) how we use their personal information and to whom it has been disclosed if applicable.
7.4 We will make the requested information available within 30 business days, or provide written notice of an extension where additional time is required to fulfill the request.
7.5 If a request is refused in full or in part, we will notify the investor(s) in writing, providing the reasons for refusal and the recourse available to the investor(s).
Policy 8 – Questions and Complaints: The Role of the Privacy Officer
8.1 The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring Sunstone Realty Advisors Inc. compliance with this policy and the Personal Information Protection Act.
8.2 Investors should direct any complaints, concerns or questions regarding Sunstone Realty Advisors Inc. compliance in writing to the Privacy Officer. If the Privacy Officer is unable to resolve the concern, the investors may also write to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia.
Contact information for Sunstone Realty Advisors Inc. Privacy Officer:
910-925 West Georgia Street
Vancouver, BC V6C 3L2
Tel: 604-681-5959
Fax: 604-681-5969
Attn: Privacy Officer |
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