Privacy Policy

Victoria Symphony Society (“VSS”, “we” or “us”) is a British Columbia society.

As part of our business, we collect, use and disclose information about our patrons, including concert-goers, members, donors, sponsors and volunteers. In doing so, we observe applicable Canadian privacy legislation and endeavour to protect our patrons’ personal information. We created this Privacy Policy to comply with British Columbia’s Personal Information Protection Act (“PIPA”) and to outline how we collect, use and disclose personal information.

In this Privacy Policy, “personal information” means information about you as an identifiable individual and includes such things as your name, address, e-mail address, phone number and credit card information.  Personal information does not include business contact information.

Collection of Personal Information

We collect personal information from patrons directly, for example when you call our office to purchase tickets for concerts or other VSS events or you respond to our mail-outs, and indirectly, for example when you book concert tickets through the operator of one of our concert venues. VSS and the operators of our concert venues, including Royal & McPherson Theatres Society and University of Victoria as operators of Farquhar Auditorium, use third-party booking platforms to process ticket sales. In doing so, VSS and these operators collect your personal information and may collect and store your credit card information. VSS has access to your name, contact details and your booking history through these booking platforms. While VSS may, at your request, process future purchases or donations using encrypted credit card information stored by these booking platforms with your account information, we do not have access to complete credit card information and we do not retain credit card information that you provide directly to VSS over the phone.

Use and Disclosure of Personal Information

Unless the purposes for collecting personal information are obvious and you voluntarily provide your personal information for those purposes (for example, providing your name and address so we can mail you concert tickets), we only collect, use and disclose your personal information for the following purposes:

• To communicate with you about and otherwise manage your membership, ticket purchases, subscriptions, donations and sponsorships.
• To process financial transactions executed directly through VSS rather than through a venue operators’ booking platform, including direct ticket sales, subscription orders and donations.
• To provide you with updates regarding concerts, programs, events, promotions, special offers and news about VSS, unless you have asked us not to do so.
• To thank you for your support of VSS.

Your personal information is accessible by VSS and the operators of our concert venues. By providing VSS or a venue operator with personal information, you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may also use your personal information without your consent if authorized to do so under PIPA, including:

• 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 the personal information is available from a public source, such as a telephone directory.
• For the purposes of collecting a debt.

We will not collect, use or disclose your personal information for any other purposes unless we obtain your consent to do so. We do not sell patron lists or personal information to other parties.

Retention and Accuracy of Personal Information

Subject to compliance with PIPA, we will retain your personal information only as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes contemplated in this Privacy Policy. We will make reasonable efforts to ensure that your personal information is accurate and complete.  We would ask that you provide us with updated information when your personal information changes.

Securing Personal Information

We are committed to ensuring the security of your personal information in order to protect it from unauthorized access, use and disclosure. Personal information is stored in a computer database as well as hard copy files. Only authorized VSS personnel has access to this information for the purpose of performing their work. VSS takes reasonable measures to maintain the security of this information. When VSS discloses information to a third party for a purpose contemplated under this Privacy Policy, we will disclose only what is necessary to accomplish the particular purpose. Financial transactions cannot be transmitted over the Internet or any wireless network and be guaranteed to be absolutely secure. While we endeavour to protect your personal information, VSS does not guarantee the security of information transmitted by email or through victoriasymphony.ca or third-party websites or booking platforms.

Our website may distribute small pieces of information called “cookies” to your computer to assist you when you return to specific areas of our site. If you have concerns about this you may set your browser to refuse cookies or to display a warning when a cookie is about to be placed. Refusing to accept cookies may affect your ability to access some functionality of our site.

Third-Party Links

Certain links on our website lead to other websites. These sites are maintained by independent parties over which VSS has no control. We suggest that you review the privacy policies of each website you visit.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

We will update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Unless we state otherwise, each update is automatically effective when it is posted to our website here. By continuing to be a patron of the Victoria Symphony Society, you agree to be bound by our Privacy Policy, as amended from time to time.

Questions and Requests

If you have any questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy, our compliance or the information we collect or hold about you, or if you do not wish to receive updates and information from VSS, please contact our Privacy Officer, Jennifer Paget by e-mail at: jennifer@victoriasymphony.ca or by telephone at: 250.385.9771.

Effective Date: September, 2020