Privacy Statement and Terms of Use
Effective: November 18, 2022
Privacy Statement
REACH BC is a provincial platform operating under the governance of Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research BC (operating as Michael Smith Health Research BC), “Health Research BC”. Health Research BC is committed to maintaining confidentiality, respecting personal privacy, and protecting Personal Information as outlined in the BC Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA).
Your acceptance of these terms: This Statement of Privacy applies to the REACH BC website and platform, and governs the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information by Health Research BC. Personal Information is any recorded information about an identifiable individual, such as name, email address, IP address, phone number, date of birth, gender, and ethnicity. By using the REACH BC website/platform you acknowledge reading this Privacy Statement and confirm your agreement with these terms and conditions.
The purpose of the REACH BC website/platform is to connect individuals interested in participating in research studies/patient partner research opportunities with Researchers leading those studies/opportunities. There are two kinds of REACH BC user accounts:
- By creating a Volunteer Account, you agree to maintain the accuracy of your REACH BC Profile and to the use of your Personal Information in matching you with research studies/opportunities and Researchers. Volunteers may also choose to be a Patient Partner in research. A Volunteer is defined as an individual who is interested in participating in a health research study or patient partner research opportunity.
- By creating a Researcher Account, you agree to maintain the accuracy of your REACH BC Profile and any Study Information for those research studies/opportunities for which you are affiliated and responsible. A Researcher is defined as an authorized individual responsible for leading, coordinating and administering a research study or patient partner research opportunity posted on REACH BC.
How your information is used: Health Research BC will use Personal Information provided through the REACH BC website/platform to:
- Enable the creation of secure user accounts on the REACH BC website/platform.
- Match a REACH BC Volunteer profile to actively recruiting studies/opportunities in categories they have expressed an interest in and may be eligible for.
- Send to the REACH BC Volunteer, via email or other method as agreed to, a list of studies/opportunities currently recruiting in categories they have expressed interest in and may be eligible for.
- Enable a REACH BC Volunteer, through their user account, to expressly select specific research studies/ opportunities by clicking “I’m Interested” and allow follow up by Researchers regarding eligibility and recruitment.
- Provide REACH BC Researcher contact information as part of the study/opportunity description, enabling Volunteers to directly contact Researchers for further inquiry if they so choose.
- Manage Volunteer user preferences for notifications and emails.
How your information will be disclosed: REACH BC will send to REACH BC Researchers leading selected studies/opportunities, via their Researcher’s REACH BC dashboard, the Volunteer’s Personal Information (name, date of birth, gender, email address, and phone number) for which a Volunteer has expressed specified interest by clicking the “I’m Interested” button.This disclosure is necessary to enable the Researcher to communicate with the Volunteer to provide more information about the research study/opportunity, to confirm study eligibility, and to facilitate enrollment.Other Volunteer profile information is not disclosed to Researchers.
Volunteers may choose to be matched to studies/opportunities from more than one geographical region. REACH BC may partner with health centres, clinics, and/or hospitals to create ‘Registration Sites’ to sign patients up as REACH BC Volunteers. Each Registration Site will have an assigned site administrator to track who has been registered in REACH BC and will only have access to Volunteer name, date of birth, phone number, and email address.
From time to time, Health Research BC may communicate with you regarding management of your account and request your opinion about the REACH BC website/platform and its services.
Health Research BC may use anonymized data from the REACH BC website/platform for statistical purposes and program planning. These reports may be publicly shared with other interested entities, the general public, or institutes who monitor and support research activities in BC. Regional Registration Sites may use anonymized, aggregated data for statistical purposes in their region.
Health Research BC will not sell, rent, or lease its user or visitor lists to third parties. Any Personal Information that you provide in REACH BC will only be used and disclosed as outlined above to fulfill the specific purposes for which you provided the information, or where required by law.
Collection, Use, Disclosure by Researcher: All research studies posted on REACH BC have been approved by a Research Ethics Board, and the leading Researchers authorized by REACH BC to participate in recruitment. Once data is disclosed to Researchers, the data will be under the Researcher's control and the institute in which they are employed. The Privacy Policy of the Researcher's affiliated institute (e.g., Health Authority, University), may be amended from time to time, concerning the collection, use and disclosure of Personal Information in accordance with Privacy laws of the Province of BC. The Researcher is also responsible for the protection and security of the Volunteer's Personal Information disclosed to them by REACH BC and for any additional information they collect from the Volunteer outside of the REACH BC website/platform.
Information Storage and Retention: REACH BC stores Personal Information in secure servers at Amazon Web Services in Canada. System administrators at Health Research BC use many security safeguards to protect your Personal Information including administrative, technical, and physical controls, security audits, staff privacy awareness training, and information access controls limited to 'need to know'. Individuals who are permitted to handle Personal Information must adhere to confidentiality obligations. Data are encrypted in transit and at rest, where appropriate, to ensure that Personal Information is kept confidential. If you wish to report a problem with the security of this website/platform, please contact REACH BC system administrator at info@reachbc.ca
Health Research BC retains Volunteer and Researcher user account information indefinitely, unless instructed to delete the account by the account holder. Anonymized data used for statistical purposes and program planning will be retained for as long as required, then disposed in a secure manner.
Updating your information: You may change your preferences, update your profile, and correct your information at any time by logging into your account to edit your profile. You may disable or delete your account at any time by contacting the system administrator at info@reachbc.ca. Deletion of your REACH BC account will not result in any changes to, or negatively impact, your participation in research studies or have consequences to current or future healthcare needs. The purpose of the REACH BC website/platform is to enable Volunteer awareness of recruiting research studies and to facilitate connecting Volunteers with Researchers. Health Research BC may retain some information formerly associated with your account in our systems for a time, as required by law as well as for business purposes.
Web analytics: Health Research BC uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google, Inc. (" Google"). Google Analytics uses first-party cookies to track visitor interactions.Cookies are a small file stored on a user's computer, that is created and subsequently read by a website server and contains Personal Information (such as a user identification code, customized preferences, or a record of pages visited).The information generated by the cookie about your use of the REACH BC website/platform (including your IP address) will be transmitted to and stored by Google on servers in the United States.Google will use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of REACH BC, compiling reports on website activity for website operators to provide other services relating to website activity and Internet usage.Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law or where such third parties process the information on Google's behalf.
Modifying cookie preferences in your browser: You may accept or decline cookies by modifying the settings in your browser.However, you may not be able to use all the interactive features on the REACH BC website/platform if cookies are disabled.Health Research BC uses IP masking within Google Analytics to anonymize Personal Information collected by Google.IP masking is a customization which removes the last octet of the visitor's IP address prior to its use and storage by Google. Website visitors who do not want to be tracked by Google Analytics can download the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-on by accepting their Terms of Use
Health Research BC uses website/platform cookies to enhance your user experience and to arrange content according to your interests and viewing preferences. Cookies also help us understand traffic patterns so that we can improve site navigation. Cookies cannot be used by themselves to identify you and do not hold or track any Personal Information about you.
Request access to your information: You can always look at the information you have submitted to REACH BC through your profile. You may request access to Personal Information that Health Research BC has collected about you or address a challenge concerning compliance with this Privacy Statement. You can also ask us questions about how to submit a privacy complaint and we will endeavor to help. If you have questions about REACH BC’s Privacy Statement or privacy practices, or would like to submit a complaint, you may contact us at info@reachbc.ca.
Health Research BC reserves the right to update this Privacy Statement at any time, and REACH BC website/platform users are responsible for reviewing this document periodically for changes.
Terms of Use
The REACH BC Terms of Use describes the acceptable use and limitation of liability of the website/platform. While Health Research BC undertakes reasonable efforts to provide current information on the REACH BC website/platform, the accuracy or completeness of the information, or the availability of the website/platform is not guaranteed. The information on this website is provided on an 'as is' and 'as available' basis. Health Research BC makes no representation regarding the content on the REACH BC website/platform or its suitability for any purpose.
As a Volunteer or Researcher user of the REACH BC website/platform, you will take reasonable security precautions to protect your account password, and to protect the website/platform and the Information against unauthorized access, collection, use, disclosure, or disposal.
You agree that you will not use any device, software, or routine to interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of REACH BC, or to bypass or defeat any security controls of the website/platform.
Website links: Health Research BC does not endorse third-party information or links that may be listed in research studies on the REACH BC website/platform. The listing of third-party products, services or websites on the REACH BC website/platform does not constitute or imply our recommendation or endorsement of these services, products, or points of view. Users are responsible to review external website privacy statements and terms of use. Health Research BC is not responsible for the privacy practices, content, transactions, and the functioning of those external websites.
The information on the REACH BC website/platform is not intended as medical advice or a substitute for obtaining medical or other professional advice. If Volunteers have specific questions or concerns about their health, they are advised to consult their physician.
Volunteer and Researcher users of REACH BC website/platform MAY NOT use any link or reference to Health Research BC or REACH BC to suggest sponsorship, endorsement, approval or affiliation with the account user, their business or website without the strict and written permission of Health Research BC.
Copyright and permissions to reproduce: The content of this website/platform is for your personal and non-commercial use only. The names, logos, symbols, trademarks, photographs and/or likeness, graphics, illustrations, video, music, sound, images, and other materials available are protected by copyright and trademark laws and may not be used or reproduced without the prior written approval the party to whom they belong. Unless otherwise stated, text on this website/platform may be reproduced for non-commercial personal purposes only, provided any copyright and other notices are retained. Further, any reproductions may not be represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, or as having been made in affiliation with or as endorsed by Health Research BC or REACH BC. Downloading, copying, selling, or distributing any content from this website/platform is prohibited except as provided above. Contact us at info@reachbc.ca for more information on authorization and release policies.
Disclaimer of warranties and liabilities: Health Research BC disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including warranties related to merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement. In no event shall Health Research BC be liable to any person, business, or organization of any kind, for any claims of direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, or other damages based on or arising from any use of the REACH BC website/platform or any other website and their contents to which this site is linked, whether arising in contract, or otherwise.
Health Research BC reserves the right to update this Terms of Use at any time, and REACH BC website/platform users are responsible for reviewing this document periodically for changes. Access to and use of the REACH BC website/platform and its content, and any proceedings arising out of that access or use, will be governed by the laws of the Province of British Columbia.
REACH BC welcomes your comments and questions.You may contact us at info@reachbc.ca.
Are you a researcher?
REACH BC can help you connect with volunteers for your research studies.
Privacy and Security
REACH BC will not release any of your personal information to third parties, participating organizations and/or other institutions. Your information will only be available to the researcher(s) after you indicate interest in being contacted about a particular study.
If you have questions or concerns, please
or view our
© Copyright 2022 REACH BC