Privacy Policy

To ensure a safe and appropriate treatment Registered Massage Therapists (RMT) must collect specific personal information. This information is be collected, maintained safely and only disclosed with your written consent. Your rights regarding your personal information will be detailed below:

WHAT IS PERSONAL INFORMATION?

Personal information is any information relating to an identifiable person.

Personal information includes information that relates to:

• An individual’s personal characteristics (e.g., gender, age, home address or telephone number, ethnic background, family status)
• Health (e.g., health history, health conditions, health services received by them)
• Activities and views (e.g., opinions expressed by an individual, an opinion or evaluation of an individual)

WHO CAN SEE YOUR HEALTH INFORMATION?

The collection, maintenance and use of your personal information will only be done by Ann Oaks, RMT. Other agencies or companies may need to see part of your health care information, such as your insurance company. However, your information cannot be shared without your written permission. 

WHEN YOUR CONSENT IS NOT REQUIRED

As a Registered Massage Therapist, I may be required to use and/or give out some of your personal health information without consent in the following situations:

• To obtain payment for services or goods provided. Payment may be obtained from the individual, WSIB, private insurers or others
• To report certain information, such as to report certain diseases to public health authorities
• Suspected certain types of abuse
• To reduce a significant risk of serious bodily harm to a person or the public
• For risk management and legal purposes
• To assess a person’s ability to make health care and other important decisions
• For administration or enforcement of laws related to the practices of health care providers by a Regulatory Body (The College of Massage Therapists of Ontario)
• For the purpose of a legal proceeding or complying with a court order, or other legal requirement

MARKETING AND PERSONAL INFORMATION

Your personal information will never be provided to anyone for marketing purposes. 

SECURITY

We understand the importance of protecting your personal information. For that reason, we have taken the following steps:‍

• Paper information is secured in a locked cabinet.
• Computers and backups are secure in a locked area. In addition, 2 factor authentication is required, and screens are locked when not in use.
• Electronic information is transmitted either through a direct line, or has identifiers removed, or is strongly encrypted.

RETENTION OF PERSONAL INFORMATION

RMTs are required to retain personal information for some time to ensure that we can answer any question you may have about the services provided and for our own accountability to The College of Massage Therapist of Ontario (CMTO), our regulatory body. Client files are retained for 10 years after last contact (or 10 years after turning 18), as required by the CMTO. We destroy paper files containing personal information by shredding. We destroy electronic information by deleting it and, when the hardware is discarded, physically destroying the hard drive.

VIEWING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

With only a few exceptions, you have the right to see what personal information we hold about you. If you would like a copy of your personal information, please make your request in writing. I will respond to your request as soon as possible within 30 days. ‍

‍IF THERE IS A PRIVACY BREACH

While we will take precautions to avoid any breach of your privacy, if there is a loss, theft or unauthorized access of your personal health information we will notify you. Upon learning of a possible or known breach, we will take the following steps:

We will contain the breach to the best of our ability, including by taking the following steps if applicable.

• Retrieving hard copies of personal health information that have been disclosed
• Ensuring no copies have been made
• Taking steps to prevent unauthorized access to electronic information (e.g., change passwords, restrict access, temporarily shut down system) · We will notify affected individuals
• We will provide our contact information in case the individual has further questions
• We will provide the Commissioner’s contact information and advise the affected individual of their right to complain to the Commissioner‍

We will investigate and remediate the problem, by:

• Conducting an internal investigation
• Determining what steps should be taken to prevent future breaches (e.g. changes to policies, additional safeguards)
• Depending on the circumstances of the breach, we may notify and work with the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. 

QUESTIONS?

You may reach out to Ann Oaks, RMT if you have any questions, or you may reach out to the Privacy Commissioner of Ontario. This must be done within one year of the matter for which you have a complaint.

 Contact details:

Ann Oaks, RMT

Ann.h.oaks@gmail.com

519-574-4428

or

‍Information and Privacy Commissioner/Ontario

2 Bloor Street East, Suite 1400

Toronto, Ontario M4W 1A8

Telephone: 416 326 3333

or 1 800 387 0073

Facsimile: 416 325 9195

TTY: 416 325 7539

Website: www.ipc.on.ca

Email address: info@ipc.on.ca