As of January 1, 2004, the Government of Canada has instituted new legislation relating to an individual's privacy on the Internet - the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act.

The Type of Information We Collect

Advance Group collects information for our own marketing, as well as information for registration and hotel reservation purposes on behalf of our clients. This information may include the following (depending on the requirements of the specific event/purpose the information is being collected for):

Name
Company
Address
Telephone Number
Fax Number
Email Address
Credit Card Number & Expiration Date
Dietary Preferences
Information on the Delegate's Spouse and Children
Abstract Data
Details relating to the specific event (e.g. choice of workshop to attend, attendance at Welcome Reception, hotel preferences, etc.)

Why We Collect This Information

Advance Group collects potential client information through our home website – www.advance-group.com – for marketing purposes through the "Contact Us" form. Information submitted on this site is used by our sales team to market and solicit our company's services to an individual/organization. Advance Group will only use this information for the above-stated purpose - we never sell our clients' information.

Advance Group, by way of our registration and hotel reservation sites, also collects delegate information for use in various functions relating to an event: event registration, delegate hotel reservations, submission of an abstract, and expression of interest in the event. This information is collected on behalf of our clients, and is the sole property of the client. As such, our company provides this information to the client; we do not provide it to any other third party. The exception to this is in information collected for making and processing hotel reservations requested by delegates. This information is collected on behalf of our clients and hotels designated for the event. As such, delegate hotel accommodation information alone is provided to the client and the delegate's chosen hotel so they may supply delegates with their requested accommodation. We do not distribute personal data to any other third party except those listed above unless the individual has previously agreed to the distribution. Advance Group cannot be held liable, in any way, with regards to the use of the data once it has been provided to our clients.

As this information is stored on the server of the registration, hotel reservation, abstract management, database management or e-commerce service supplier, access to the information is available to that particular supplier, however the supplier does not use the information for purposes other than what is required for the event itself, and the information is also protected by their privacy policy. We do not work with suppliers that do not have similar privacy policies to our own. Please contact us if you wish to view our suppliers'privacy policies.

The information collected by our Internet Service Provider when you visit one of our websites is supplied to us in a statistical package for our analysis. We use this information to understand the demographic information of visitors to the websites and to improve the effectiveness of our website and our clients' websites.

Please be assured that Advance Group does not collect information indiscriminately – all information collected is necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it is being used as described above.

Consent to the Use of Information

By submitting an information form, registration form, hotel reservation form, abstract, or expression of interest, the individual is giving consent to the collection and specified uses of their information. This applies to forms submitted electronically, or by fax or mail. Should an individual choose not to submit certain essential information, they may be unable to participate in the event should that essential information be necessary to complete their registration, hotel reservation, or abstract processing. If the previously stated purposes of the information are changed, the individual will be contacted to secure consent before their information is used for the revised purpose(s).

Protection of Personal Information

Personal information submitted to Advance Group is protected through the following physical and technological measures:

our office is locked and alarmed after hours

all computers in our office are password-protected, located in Canada, and backed-up daily

access to an individual's information is limited to those members of our staff that must have access

the servers that host our websites are secure, encrypted, password-protected, as well as backed-up daily

Access to Personal Information

Individuals requiring access to their personal information in our possession are asked to contact the Privacy Manager.

Individuals that do not agree with these policies are asked to contact our Privacy Manager.

Please note, a succinct copy of this Privacy Policy is posted on each of our clients' event websites in the appropriate area.

Destruction of Personal Information

Advance Group does not retain your personal information for an indiscriminate amount of time. All personal information collected is destroyed three years after the end of the event the information had been collected for. Destruction of your personal information includes shredding any paper documents and deleting any electronic files. Please contact us should you have concerns surrounding the destruction of your personal information.

Our Commitment to Privacy

Advance Group is committed to ensuring the privacy of all individuals that our company comes into contact with. As such, we have appointed a manager to be responsible for the implementation of our privacy policy. The Privacy Manager's role is to ensure the personal information entrusted to us is protected and is not used for purposes other than what is stated and necessary to offer our clients and their delegates the service they deserve. For questions or concerns about our policy, the Privacy Manager may be contacted at:

Attention: Privacy Manager
Suite 101 – 1444 Alberni Street Vancouver, BC V6G 2Z4
Tel 604.688.9655 Fax 604.685.3521
Email privacy@advance-group.com