On January 1, 2004, the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) came into force for all organizations in Canada not otherwise covered by provincial legislation. This Act deals with the collection, disclosure and storage of personal information and how organizations deal with it. The Guild of Canadian Weavers (also referred to as GCW) respects the privacy of its members and in order to protect their privacy, the Board of Management approved the following Privacy Policy:

The Guild of Canadian Weavers examined PIPEDA and determined that it adheres to the current legislation. The information collected is used solely for the delivery of services to the members of the Guild and within those parameters the GCW protects the privacy of its members.

The information that is required to deliver our services is the member’s name and address. Optional information collected is telephone number(s) and email addresses. This information is kept as accurately as possible and under controlled circulation. The services for which it is used are:

• Publication and delivery of a quarterly magazine, The Bulletin

• Maintenance of a membership list which is circulated to members of good standing, as defined by the constitution, for their personal use only

• Provision of a circulating library to members of good standing, as defined by the constitution

• Provision of scholarships and awards to members of good standing, as defined by the constitution

• Provision of an anonymous test program to members of good standing, as defined by the constitution

Members are provided with a membership number for "life", which is used to ensure anonymity in the test program. For this reason membership information is kept on file indefinitely, although information pertaining to non-renewed members is kept in a dormant file, for retrieval if and when the membership is re-activated.

Members are given the option of having any or all of their membership information suppressed from the membership list, with the exception of name and province of residence.

The GCW will honour any request by a member to review his or her data currently held in the database and will correct any errors. Members who have questions regarding their personal information or the way that personal information is collected, stored and used may contact the Membership Convenor. Please direct concerns or questions for further information regarding the GCW Privacy Policy to the Board of Management.

Copies of this Privacy Policy may be obtained from the Membership Convenor and it will be published on our website,

www.the-gcw.org, and printed on membership application forms.