BC Summer Reading Club (BC SRC) Privacy Policy
Effective date: May 8, 2022

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the BC Summer Reading Club (BC SRC). The BC SRC is a free literacy program designed to engage school-aged children, ages 5-14, with libraries and reading, throughout the summer. We strive to do so in a way that is fun, educational, inclusive and community-oriented. The BC SRC is operated by the BC Library Association (collectively, weourus).   This Privacy Policy describes what personal information the BC SRC collects through our online registration site, our Submissions site, our Tween page and activity pages (collectively, the “SRC Sites”),  how we may use and disclose information, and the steps we take to keep it secure.

We have designed the BC SRC program to minimize the collection of personal information.  There are parts of our BC SRC site that you can use without providing any information, but to participate in  the BC SRC we do require some personal information.

By registering for the BC SRC, you consent to the collection and use of your personal information and the personal information of your child/children, by the BC SRC in accordance with this Privacy Policy. We may change this Privacy Policy at any time, and your continued use of our BC SRC sites indicates your agreement to the revised terms. The most recent date of revision will be indicated at the top of the Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy applies to the BC SRC.   This Privacy Policy does not apply to other BC Library Association websites or programs, or websites operated by third parties, nor to websites or programs of our funders or partners (including local libraries). The BC SRC webpages may contain links to other BC Library Association sites and to third party sites.  Please read the  terms of use and policies of such third party sites or applications when you access them

Please also read the BC SRC’s Terms of Use. By registering for the BC SRC,  you agree to this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. If you do not agree, please do not register as a user on our registration Site.

Throughout this Privacy Policy, references to “you” and “your” refer to the user as supervised by their parent or guardian.

PRIVACY OF CHILDREN

The BC Library Association encourages parents and guardians to be aware of and participate in their children’s online activities. Minors (persons under the age of majority in their province or territory of residence; in BC, the age of majority is 19) may not use the Site without the permission of their parent or guardian.

For more information and tips on how to protect your children’s privacy, please visit the BC Government’s page Online Safety.

WHAT INFORMATION DO WE COLLECT?

We collect the following types of Personal Information (information about an identifiable individual) .

    • To register your child for the BC Summer Reading Club, you will be asked to provide your name and email address, the library system (city) and branch you use most often, a “nickname” for your child, their school name and their grade.  You may also choose to accept communications from us from time to time.  We don’t collect the child’s real name, email address or photo for registration purposes.  Instead, the registration page gives you an avatar for the child, from a selection provided by the BC SRC.
    • The BC SRC site enables you and your child to set reading goals, track their progress and get badges for each week.  We collect that information and when seven weeks of reading is reached, you will be directed to a page where you or your child can fill in a completion certificate and be invited to call your local library branch to see whether the library is handing out medals.
    • Parent’s Dashboard: You can monitor each of your registered child’s reading progress, track badges earned and change or update your account information from the Parent’s Dashboard.  This dashboard is protected by a password chosen by you.  This password should be different from your login password.
    • Weekly At Home Activities: The BC SRC provides a number of weekly at-home age-appropriate activities for children, including access to a selection of reading suggestions, self-directed activities, crafts, and experiments.  We do not collect personal information about use of these activities.  Older children can also play the Mission Control Card Game, submit captions based on some of this year’s images and potentially win a prize. From time to time we may run a contest.  We may collect personal information for any of these purposes.
    • Submissions: As part of the BC SRC, children can write and upload original stories, descriptions, essays, jokes or drawings.  For that purpose we collect the child’s first name, local library, parent’s name and email address, and the story.  We may publish a child’s story, but before that happens, the submission is reviewed so we can ensure that no last names are disclosed.  We will attempt to remove any other obviously identifying information such as sibling names or schools, cities, etc.
    • Social Media: Our BC SRC social media channels enable us to connect with the BC SRC community and to promote the BC SRC.  From time to time we may  share or promote users original creative content through social media.  For these purposes, including to curate submissions and confirm permission from parents/guardians, we may collect and use personal information.
    • The BC SRC sometimes offers trading card games for purchase. For these purposes we may collect personal information.  If you purchase a trading card game, our payment processor collects personal information as necessary to process the purchaseWe collect your name and what you purchased.  We do not link it to your registration information.
    • If you send an e-mail to us, or fill out a “feedback” form or survey through our Site, we will collect your e-mail address and the full content of your e-mail, including attached files, and any other information you provide.

More information about how and why we use personal information is below in the next section.

WHY DO WE COLLECT, USE OR DISCLOSE PERSONAL INFORMATION?

As explained below, we collect personal information to enable users to participate in the BC SRC, to better understand user needs and preferences;  to improve the content and format of the BC SRC program; to administer individual accounts; to provide customer support; for business administrative purposes, and as required by law.

We collect personal information at registration to enable parents and children to use the BC SRC reading tracking application.  We use the logging information to track progress and award digital badges.   We use personal information collected through the Activities, Tween and Submissions pages for the purposes of those activities.  We do not link that information to the registration information.   We may also derive aggregate statistical information about the activities including such information as what activities are most popular, to help us improve the BC SRC.

We also use registration information to create aggregate statistical reports for each library and school that participants include in their registration. This helps us and those libraries and schools understand how the BC SRC is used and how we can improve it.   It also helps those libraries and schools better understand how their services are being used, so they can make budgeting and planning decisions.   We do not disclose identifiable information about you or your children in those reports.

If you opt-in to receive communications from the BC SRC, we will use your personal  information to send you information about contests, special events, surveys, and reminders to re-register next year.

If you register for a special event we will use that personal information for to administer the event, unless otherwise specified when you register for that event.

If you enter a contest, unless otherwise specified in the applicable contest rules, any personal information collected is used solely for the purpose of awarding contest prizes, tracking compliance with the official rules and regulations and for internal feedback purposes. We will only use and disclose a contest winner’s name and photograph after receiving prior written consent from the winner’s parent or guardian, and the appropriate release forms are fully completed and returned to us.

If a survey collects personal information we will tell you at the time of the survey what the purpose of the collection are.   If necessary, we may use or disclose personal  information to comply with applicable law, enforce our Site policies, or protect ours or others’ rights, property, or safety. User consent to use Personal Information can be updated or changed by logging in to your account at any time.

COOKIES 

Cookies are small pieces of information that are stored by your browser on your computer’s hard drive. Cookies used for tracking are anonymous. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but you can control cookies through your browser preference settings, however please be aware that your settings choices may affect how you can use the site.

We use cookies to allow us to automatically collect your domain name and keep track of the pages on our sites that you access or visit, the number of times you visit the Site, the average length of time you spend each visit.   This information is not connected to your name or registration information.  We use the information to track overall usage behaviour patterns that will allow content and service improvement. We use Google analytics to collect these aggregate statistics. No Personal Information is stored in or gathered from these methods and there is no connection to display ads.

WITH WHOM DO WE SHARE INFORMATION?

We do not sell or trade your personally identifiable information for marketing, advertising, or promotional purposes.  We do not disclose personal information to third parties other than our contractors and service providers who assist us in delivering services for the BC SRC, including our hosting provider the Spin Key Media.  We use contracts to ensure that  those parties agree to keep this information secure and use it only for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.

SECURITY

We use technical and administrative safeguards to protect personal information.  Access to personal information is limited to those employees and contractors who need access to carry out the purposes for which the information was collected and otherwise as described in this Privacy Policy. All Personal Information is stored on secure servers, behind a firewall at a data center with access to data strictly controlled. We ensure our employees are trained and our service providers protect personal information with appropriate security safeguards.

Your password controls access to your registration information and your Dashboard password controls access to the reading goals and tracking information of each child you register for the BC SRC.  You are responsible for protecting the security of your passwords.   Please be aware that, despite our best efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable. To help ensure the privacy of your information, we strongly recommend you store your password in a safe place, change it frequently, and not share your user name and password with others.

ACCURACY

We take reasonable efforts to ensure that we maintain the accuracy of the tracking information and that it is up to date, but we rely on you to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the personal information you provide.  If you believe that information we have about you is inaccurate please contact the privacy officer at the address below.

STORAGE, RETENTION AND DISPOSAL

Our data is hosted in British Columbia.   Each year, our database will be emptied, and the information is archived for a one year. We do not keep any registration information for use in subsequent years;  each year participants will be required to re-register.  However, if you have consented to receiving communications and reminders from us, we will retain your name and email address for that purpose.  We dispose of archived personal information in a secure manner.

ACCESS, CORRECTION, WITHDRAWAL OF CONSENT

Individuals have the right to request access to the personal information that the BC SRC holds about them, and to request that any information you consider to be inaccurate be corrected.  Individuals also have the right to withdraw consent, and the right to ask us to delete your personal information, subject to certain legal limitations.   You may exercise these rights by writing to our privacy officer at the address below.

LINKING TO THIRD PARTY CONTENT/WEBSITES

Please keep in mind that this Privacy Policy applies only to the BC SRC websites. The Site may contain links from and to sites independent third parties whose privacy practices may be different from ours. Once you leave our BC SRC site, our Privacy Policy does not apply.   Please review the linked website’s and third party content provider’s privacy policies, and do not use or further visit these sites if you do not agree with the terms of these policies. We are not responsible for the privacy policies and practices or the content of the websites operated by third parties or of any linked site or subsequent links from that website.

For information about online safety and tips on how to protect your children’s privacy, please visit the BC Government’s page Online Safety.

CONTACT OUR PRIVACY OFFICE

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or our information management practices, or if you wish to exercise your rights, please write to us at:

Privacy Officer, BC SRC
British Columbia Library Association
PO BOX 19008 Rocky Point PO
Port Moody, BC V3H 0J1
Or email us at [email protected]