Introduction
Through responsible information management practices, BC Assessment is committed to protecting the privacy of people whose personal information is held by us. Any personal information provided to BC Assessment is collected, used, and disclosed in accordance with the
Assessment Act and the
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the purposes set out in the Assessment Act and
Regulations, the Assessment Authority Act, and related purposes.
What is personal information?
Personal information is recorded information about an identifiable individual. Personal information includes such things as an individual's name, address, birth date, e-mail address, or phone number. When BC Assessment collects personal information it must identify:
- the purpose for collecting the personal information;
- the legal authority for collecting it; and,
- the title, business address, and business telephone number of an employee of BC Assessment who can answer your questions about the collection of that information.
What kind of information is automatically collected?
If you visit BC Assessment's website to browse, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about the visit. The following information is automatically collected and stored:
- The Internet Protocol (IP) address and domain name used. The IP address is a numerical identifier assigned either to your Internet Service Provider or directly to your computer. This address can be translated to determine the domain name of your service provider (e.g. gov.bc.ca, xcompany.com or yourschool.edu).
- The type of browser and operating system.
- The date and time of the visit.
The information which is automatically collected is used for purposes such as assessing system performance, improving online services, and website management. BC Assessment does not use this data to determine your identity unless required to do so as part of an internal investigation or other law enforcement purpose.
BC Assessment uses the following services to support bcassessment.ca: Google Maps, Google Analytics, MozPro, and Google reCAPTCHA. More information about how BC Assessment uses these services is set out below.
BC Assessment web analytics
BC Assessment uses Google Analytics ("GA"), a third-party service, to analyze non-personally identifiable website traffic to the bcassessment.ca service for the purpose of evaluating and improving this service. BC Assessment will provide GA the following user information: browser details, operating system, pages visited, device, masked IP, language settings (browser/operating system), and screen resolution. Consequently, the IP address is anonymized. This allows GA to provide BC Assessment with web analytics based upon nonidentifiable user data.
BC Assessment also tracks usage in order to monitor user property views. This usage tracking keeps track of each user's property visit count. When a threshold limit for the number of property views is reached, the end user details set out below are stored in the bcassessment.ca database. When a threshold for property visit count is reached, the user is redirected to a reCAPTCHA validation page. The user must agree to the bcassessment.ca
Terms of Use and complete the Google reCAPTCHA validation in order to continue to use the bcassessment.ca database.
The following information is sent to the Google reCAPTCHA service: BC Assessment secret key, referrer (URL/host), encrypted validation response of the end user, and encrypted tracking cookies. In order to ensure that the information sent to Google cannot be traced back to the user, BC Assessment has chosen to remove the Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with every response prior to the information being sent to Google.
MozPro is a tool that will crawl the BC Assessment website to determine if there are items such as broken links, poor programming practices (e.g., missing ALT text from an image), and will help BC Assessment determine the ranking of the BC Assessment website on various search engines. No personal data regarding usage of the website is gathered by
MozPro.
Bcassessment.ca usage tracking
BC Assessment tracks the number of requests coming to the property details page of the assessment database service. Initially, the tracking data is stored in the memory of our web server and on the user's computer through the use of a cookie. Once a threshold is reached, the information below is stored in the bcassessment.ca database:
- User IP Address: the IP address of the user who made the request.
- Browser Details: the user's computer browser type.
- Date (date): the date on which the request occurred.
- Time (time): the time, in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), at which the request occurred.
- URL/URI: the resource (page, image, file, et cetera) the user requested.
- Visit count: total number of property detail requests captured with a cookie.
- Cookie content: the content of the cookie sent or received.
- Boolean Flag: value is set to "true" if the source has passed the reCAPTCHA request; otherwise, it is null.
BC Assessment stores this data on our secure web server. The collected data will not be shared with any other party for any other purpose.
BC Assessment web analytics will not support any "do not track" setting on your browser.
Does the BC Assessment website use cookies to collect my personal information?
No. BC Assessment does not use cookies to collect or to store your personal information.
A cookie is a small file stored on your computer by your web browser when using some internet sites. There are two types of cookies:
- Persistent Cookies: can store personal information such as your name, e-mail address, home or work address, or telephone number. Persistent Cookies can use this type of personal information to identify you whenever you access a website.
- Sessional Cookies: do not store personal information, are used to help you move around a website and, as such, are valid only during the time you are actually using the website.
Consequently, while the BC Assessment website may use Sessional Cookies (which do not store personal information), we do not use Persistent Cookies (which may store personal information).
Is personal information disclosed to Google Maps API?
No. BC Assessment does not disclose personal information to any other entity through the use of Google Maps API in bcassessment.ca, nor does Google Maps API collect personal information from bcassessment.ca customers.
What policy governs the use of Google Maps API?
The use of Google Maps API(s) is governed by Google's privacy policy (as amended from time to time), incorporated herein by reference and available on
Google's privacy policypage.
If you find that personal information is shown in a Google Maps API image, there are two points of contact: you may contact Google, as set out in their privacy policy, or you may contact BC Assessment.
Is personal information disclosed to Google Analytics?
No. BC Assessment uses Google Analytics ("GA"), a third party service, to analyze nonpersonally identifiable web traffic to bcassessment.ca for the purpose of evaluating and improving this service. BC Assessment will provide GA the following user information: browser details, operating system, pages visited, device, masked IP address, language settings (browser/operating system), and screen resolution. Consequently, the IP address is anonymized. This allows GA to provide BC Assessment with web analytics based upon nonidentifiable user data.
What policy governs the use of Google Analytics?
The use of GA is governed by Google's privacy policy (as amended from time to time), incorporated herein by reference and available on their
Safeguarding your data page.
Is personal information disclosed to Google reCAPTCHA?
No. The following information is sent to the Google reCAPTCHA service for the purpose of validating that the user of the bcassessment.ca service is a human, not a bot: BC Assessment secret key, referrer (URL/host), encrypted validation response of the end user, and encrypted tracking cookies. In order to ensure that the information sent to Google cannot be traced back to the user, BC Assessment has chosen to remove the IP address associated with every response, prior to the information being sent to Google.
What policy governs the use of Google reCAPTCHA?
The use of Google reCAPTCHA is governed by Google's privacy policy (as amended from time to time), incorporated herein by reference and available on
Google's privacy policy page.
BC Assessment's licensing agreement for the Google reCAPTCHA tool is the standard licensing agreement available online on
Google's Terms of Service page.
Under what authority does BC Assessment collect personal information?
Personal information will only be used by authorized employees to fulfil the purpose for which it was originally collected, or for a use consistent with that purpose, unless you expressly consent otherwise. We do not disclose your information to other public bodies or individuals except as authorized by the FIPPA.
Other than the usage tracking data for the assessment search service, BC Assessment does not collect personal information about you unless you voluntarily provide it. If you choose not to use the online services or to provide the information required to access online services, you may still be able to access BC Assessment's services by traditional methods, such as personal contact, fax, or mail. Your decision not to participate in electronic service delivery activities will not impair your ability to browse the website (other than assessment search services), read, or download any information provided on the site.
BC Assessment's Collection Notice may be found here.
What safeguards are in place?
BC Assessment protects your personal information by making reasonable security arrangements against such risks as unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, or disposal. Security measures have been integrated into the design, implementation, and day-to-day operating practices as part of our continuing commitment to the protection of your personal information.
How long is information retained?
The length of retention will vary in relation to the nature of the service. If BC Assessment uses your personal information to make a decision that directly affects you, it must retain that information for at least one year so that you have a reasonable opportunity to obtain access to it. Information collected or created by BC Assessment is maintained in accordance with our records management policy and other legislative requirements.
What are cookies and does BC Assessment's website use them?
A cookie is a small file stored on your computer by your web browser when using some internet sites. Cookies can also store personal information such as your name, e-mail address, home or work address, or telephone number. There are two types of cookies. Persistent Cookies remain on the end user computer over a period of time. The expiry of these cookies depends upon the settings applied. Session Cookies remain only during the usage of the application and expire when the user closes the browser.
The BC Assessment website does use Persistent Cookies and Session Cookies, but these cookies do not store any personal information, as the information is not linked to a personal identifier such as an IP address. For instance, the assessment search service saves cookies on the user's computer to store recent properties the user has searched, favourite properties of the user, the number of properties visited, and hit count on any property. Bcassessment.ca will store an additional cookie on the user's computer for storing the number of requests and whether an existing captcha validation is pending.
Social Media Disclaimer
BC Assessment has social media accounts on third party platforms. The platforms may provide social media features, such as the X Tweet button, Facebook Like button, or Instagram heart icon. Your interactions with these features and platforms are governed by the Privacy Notice of the third party platform providing the feature. BC Assessment encourages you to examine each platform's Privacy Notice to understand how the sites may collect, use, or disclose your personal information.
To protect your own privacy and the privacy of others, please do not include personal information relating to you or other individuals when utilizing the third party platforms. If you do provide personal information on the third party platforms, the personal information you provide may be collected by BC Assessment under section 26(c) of BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act for the purposes of engaging and consulting with the public.
If you have any questions about the collection of your personal information, please contact BC Assessment's Privacy Officer at 1.866.825.8322, or access.privacy@bcassessment.ca.
Who do I contact for more information about this Privacy Policy?
Any questions regarding this privacy policy may be directed to:
Privacy Officer
BC Assessment
200 – 2925 Virtual Way
Vancouver, BC V5M 4X5
Phone: 1.866.825.8322
Email:
access.privacy@bcassessment.ca
