Privacy Policy

In fulfillment of this mandate, COA collects personal information about its members and other individuals with whom it interacts, which may include potential members, users of COA services and/or products, as well as any other additional person named on a membership account or participating in the COA activities, such as events, meetings and webinars.

This Privacy Policy also governs the personal information that we collect from people who visit or otherwise interact with our website located at https://www.coa-aco.org, and our websites created specifically for the purpose of our annual events, located at http://www.coaannualmeeting.ca and https://coa-aco.org/meetings-education/annual-meeting/ (each hereinafter referred to as a “Website”).

Personal information means any information pertaining to an identifiable individual. We usually collect your personal information when you apply for a membership, subscribe to become a member, register for our annual conference, participate in some of COA’s activities, purchase some of our products and services or contact us with inquiries.

The type of information collected will usually include your name, mailing address, e-mail address, and phone number, your education history, training background, work history and your practice, your professional affiliations, your year of birth, gender, and language, your membership type and status, your payment information and history, information you communicate through e-mail, faxes, letters, and phone calls, and other personal information collected to provide a specific service or to research our membership. We collect most of our information about you directly from you, with your consent.

The main reason we collect personal information is to provide services to members, affiliates and other non-member users. The COA generally collects personal information from or about its members and other individuals with whom it deals for the following purposes:

• to create, establish and administer your membership account and confirm your ongoing membership;
• to provide services and support to our members, as well as publications, events, services and products to members as well as non-members;
• to respond to members or other inquiries and properly report membership account status to you;
• to provide access to information about the COA’s services and/or products;
• to establish your identity and ensure our records are accurate;
• to understand the needs of members and prospective members so as to offer products and services that meet those needs;
• subject to our members’ Right to Withdraw Consent, to promote products and services which may be of interest to our members and to conduct surveys undertaken in order to better understand the characteristics and needs of our membership. Data derived from these surveys will be used and shared publicly in the aggregate and not in a way that identifies any individual survey participant.

Unless required or authorized by law, the COA will not collect or use personal information for any other or new purpose without obtaining further consent. For details on the type of information that we collect via our Website and on how we use and share this information, please refer to the Website section of this Privacy Policy.

By becoming a member, interacting with the COA, participating in our meetings and events, or by submitting information to us in connection with our products, services or activities, you are indicating your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information in the manner described in this Privacy Policy. Moreover, by visiting, interacting with and/or using the Website, you agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Privacy Policy.

You may withdraw your consent at any time, subject to legal or contractual restrictions and reasonable notice, by contacting the person designated in the How to Contact Us section of this Privacy Policy.

• Opting-Out of Communications and Information Sharing. You can opt-out of the following member services: (i) voluntary mail communications, such as periodicals and third-party advertising; (ii) voluntary e-mail communications, such as COA news; (iii) surveys that the COA may conduct from time to time; and (iv) the publishing of your name and contact information in our online Membership Directory. You can opt out of these services by calling the COA membership coordinator at 514-874-9003 ext. 3. Even if you opt out of voluntary communications and information sharing, COA retains the ability to contact you on non-voluntary communications such as membership renewal notices.
• Cancelling Membership. You may opt out of membership entirely by contacting our membership department. We may retain any personal information you have provided us for a reasonable period of time in the event, for example, you decide to re-join at a later date, at all times in compliance with applicable privacy laws.

Only those employees of the COA who need access for business reasons, or whose duties reasonably so require, will be granted access to your personal information. The COA will not sell, rent, share or trade your personal information to any third party, except as follows:

• Service providers. We may hire service providers to perform services on our behalf. This may include, without limitation, a person retained by the COA to perform work on its behalf. We provide them with a limited amount of information necessary in order for them to provide the services. They are prohibited from using the information for purposes other than to facilitate and carry out the services they have been engaged to provide.
• Public Sharing. The only personal information that COA will make known to any member of the public is confirmation of whether or not an individual is a member of COA. We publicly announce the names and contact information of the board of directors and committee members.
• Members and Affiliates. We provide an online Membership Directory as a service to our active members and affiliates. The Directory is not available to the public. By default, members can view your name, membership type, mailing address, work phone number and e-mail address. You can prevent other members and affiliates from viewing any or all of this personal information by logging into the Membership Directory and recording these preferences on-line or by calling our membership department to record these preferences on your behalf.
• Surveys. When we conduct surveys on behalf of a third party, such as researchers involved in orthopaedic surgery or other academic researchers, we retain the survey data and only allow that third party to retrieve and use aggregated data which does not identity you. If you agree to participate in a survey hosted by COA, it will be clearly disclosed to you who is conducting the survey and who will have access to any information collected.
• Government Requests and Legal Proceedings. We will provide personal information as is reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, regulation, legal process or enforceable government request.
• Merger and Acquisition. In the event that the COA is merged, acquired, or dissolved, we will provide notice before personal information is transferred, in compliance with applicable privacy laws.

For information on how you can limit the type of information that we collect, use or share about you when you visit and/or use our Website, please refer to the Website section of this Privacy Policy.

The COA generally collects and uses Personal Information from or about its Website visitors and members as follows:

• Information you provide. In many cases, we collect Personal Information directly from you when you visit or use our Website. For instance, we may collect the following type of information:
  • Inquiries and subscriptions. We may collect your name, contact information, e-mail address and any information you provide us when you make an inquiry or contact us through our Website. We will only use this information to provide you with the information requested or to contact you in order to answer your question and/or request. We may collect your name, contact information, e-mail address and any other information provided to us when you sign up to receive our newsletter, or when you submit a request or an order for an COA product and/or service, such as registering for our events. We will only use this information to process and answer your request or to manage our everyday business needs in connection with such request.
  • Your account. We may collect your information when you log-in on our Website and interact with us through your account. For instance, you may decide to subscribe to pre-authorized payments and modify your account information or other preference settings. We will only use the information that you provide us in accordance with this Privacy Policy.
• Technical information. When you visit our Website, we may collect, using electronic means such as cookies, technical information. This information may include information about your visit to our Website, including the IP address of your computer and which browser you used to view our Website, your operating system, resolution of screen, location, language settings in browsers, the site you came from, keywords searched (if arriving from a search engine), the number of page views, information you entered, advertisements you have seen, etc. This data is used to measure and improve the effectiveness of our Website. We treat this information as personal information when it is associated with your account or contact information. You can block the use of cookies by activating the settings in your browser. The Help feature on most browsers will tell you how to prevent your browser from accepting new cookies, how to have the browser notify you when you receive a new cookie, or how to disable cookies altogether. If you choose to withhold consent, or subsequently block cookies, you may not be able to access all or part of the content of our Website.
• Privacy Policies of Third Parties. This Privacy Policy only addresses the use and disclosure of information by the COA. Advertisers and partners may place ads on our Website, and by following a link to their site, you may reveal technical data to them. While these websites may be accessible through the COA’s Website, they have their own privacy policies and data collection, use and disclosure practices. We therefore encourage you to familiarize yourself with the privacy statements provided by all third parties prior to providing them with information or taking advantage of an offer or promotion.

Information contained at coa-aco.org and its links are made available under the following conditions:

1. Changes may occur, since the last update, which affect the accuracy and availability of the information presented.
   Visitors are advised when making use or any decision based on information obtained from the Internet, to verify the information independently.
2. The Canadian Orthopaedic Association shall not be held liable for any damages caused as a result of the use of the information contained herein.
3. Accessibility of services, documents, programs, information, and any other material through this Website does not imply suitability or endorsement for any purpose whatsoever by any parties.
4. Specific medical advice will not be provided, and the Canadian Orthopaedic Association urges patients to consult with a qualified physician for diagnosis and for answers to their personal questions.
5. The Canadian Orthopaedic Association (COA) controls the “right to copy” for all information we develop or publish in any format, including in print or on this website. The COA also holds copyright for material published under our logo in our member’s publication The Bulletin. Please see our Copyright Policy.
6. The Canadian Orthopaedic Association cannot and does not guarantee users protection against possible infections and viruses transmitted when downloading files from this site and thus DISCLAIMS ALL LIABILITY ASSOCIATED WITH LITIGATION PERTAINING TO THE CONTRACTION OF VIRUSES AND INFECTIONS.
7. If you are not willing to accept the terms and conditions in the disclaimer, we ask that you do not use the Web Site.

In some cases and to the extent permitted by law, personal information that we manage may be disclosed, processed and stored outside Canada, and therefore may be available to government authorities under lawful orders and laws applicable there. The COA will strive to protect personal information disclosed to third parties by contractual agreements requiring that those third parties adhere to confidentiality and security procedures and protections.

We will use reasonable security measures to protect your personal information against unauthorized access. Personal Information will be retained only as long as necessary for the fulfilment of the purposes for which it was collected and for which consent was received, unless otherwise required by law. Personal Information that is no longer required to fulfil the identified purposes will be destroyed, erased or made anonymous.

The COA respects your right to access and correct your personal information. If you have an online account with us, you can log into your account at any time to access and update the information you have provided to us. Additionally, the COA complies with all laws regarding access and correction. If you need assistance updating your personal information, please contact us using the contact information detailed in the How to Contact Us section below.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this Privacy Policy or the personal information that the COA has about you, or if you wish to address a challenge concerning compliance with this Privacy Policy to the designated individual or individuals accountable for the COA’s compliance with this Privacy Policy, please contact: privacy@canorth.org.

The COA will review and update its policies as required to keep current with rules and regulations, new technologies, standards and member and/or user concerns. Our Privacy Policy may therefore change from time to time. We will post any changes to this Privacy Policy on our Website and, if the changes are significant, we will provide a more prominent notice.