Anti-Spam Policy

Purpose of the Policy

For administrative reasons, it is the policy of the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards (CAREB-ACCER) to communicate primarily through e-mail.

The purpose of this policy is to establish rules that govern the creation and distribution of commercial electronic messages (CEMs) by CAREB-ACCER in accordance with Canada’s anti-spam legislation (CASL).

A CEM is defined in CASL as a message that encourages the recipient to engage in commercial activity, is sent by any means of telecommunication (including a text, sound, voice, or image message), and is sent to an electronic address (e.g. e-mail account, instant messaging account, telephonic account, or any similar account).

Policy

CAREB-ACCER is committed to ensuring that all CEMs are sent in accordance with CASL and that the distribution of CEMs by CAREB-ACCER is minimized to the furthest extent possible.

CAREB-ACCER will only use your contact information, and will only distribute your contact information to third parties, in order for CAREB-ACCER to provide its services or for licensing or legal purposes. 

CAREB-ACCER’s key principles are:

Consent

Express Consent

When contact information is collected from you, CAREB-ACCER will explain to you, at such time, that it may be used to send you CEMs.  You will have the option, at such time, to provide your express consent to CAREB-ACCER to send you CEMs, or to state that you do not wish to receive CEMs from CAREB-ACCER.

You will be able to withdraw your consent at any time (see “Opt-Out Procedure” below).

Assumed Consent

The following are situations where you are assumed to have given express consent to CAREB-ACCER to send you CEMS:

  • you are an employee of an organization that has a relationship with CAREB-ACCER; or
  • you are a director or officer of CAREB-ACCER.

CASL does not apply in these situations; therefore, you cannot opt-out of receiving CEMs from CAREB-ACCER.

Implied Consent

The following are situations where you are deemed to have given implied consent to CAREB-ACCER to send you CEMs:

  • you are currently, or have been in the past 2 years, a member of CAREB-ACCER;
  • you have conspicuously published your business contact information, without stating “No CEMs”, and CAREB-ACCER’s CEM relates to your business function;
  • you gave your e-mail address to CAREB-ACCER, without stating “No CEMs”, and CAREB-ACCER’s CEM relates to your business function;
  • you have requested information from CAREB-ACCER about its services in the past 6 months; or
  • your name has been referred to CAREB-ACCER by someone that has a business or non-business relationship with you and with CAREB-ACCER. 

If CAREB-ACCER sends you a CEM, and your consent was implied, the CEM will identify CAREB-ACCER and will explain how to unsubscribe from receiving CEMs (see “Opt-Out Procedure” below). The contact information of CAREB-ACCER given in the CEM will be valid for at least 60 days after the CEM is sent.

Limiting CEMs

CAREB-ACCER will only use your contact information to send you CEMs if CAREB-ACCER has express, assumed, or implied consent to send you CEMs. 

Protecting Information

CAREB-ACCER will protect your contact information with appropriate procedures and security measures and dispose of it by means of shredding, or other methods, to protect the security of the information no longer required. 

Providing Information Access and Accuracy

You will be responsible for ensuring that CAREB-ACCER has your up-to-date contact information in its records. Upon written request, and proof of identification, CAREB-ACCER will provide you with the personal information that it has on file about you.

Opt-Out Procedure

If you would like more information about CAREB `s policies, to see exactly what contact information CAREB has about you in its records, or to register a complaint in relation to this Anti-Spam Policy, please contact:  memberservices@careb-accer.org

At any point in time, if you had given express consent to receive CEMs from CAREB-ACCER, or your consent was implied, you may opt out from receiving CEMs from CAREB-ACCER by updating your profile or contacting memberservices@careb-accer.org. You will be removed from the appropriate contact list within 10 business days of receipt of your request.

CAREB-ACCER will post and explain any changes to this Anti-Spam Policy as soon as they go into effect. CAREB-ACCER is not responsible for the content or anti-spam policies of the websites to which CAREB-ACCER’s website may link.