Privacy Notice

Updated July 2024

Introduction

This privacy notice describes Alberta Pensions Services Corporation's (APS) privacy policies and practices regarding the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal data. It sets forth your privacy rights, including but not limited to, the administration of your pension and use of this website. We recognize that information privacy is an ongoing responsibility; therefore, we will periodically update this privacy notice as we undertake new personal data practices or adopt new privacy policies.

Accountability

APS is the designated pension benefit service provider for multiple pension plans and administers the pensions of their respective members. We are committed to respecting the personal privacy of pension plan members by protecting the personal and financial information entrusted by their pension plans to us and providing responsive and focused member services. APS’ Privacy Office is responsible for APS’ overall privacy governance, and all employees are trained about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your personal information. That commitment is fundamental to the way we do business.

Personal Information Collection Notice

Personal information collected within this website and by APS (for the pension plans we administer) is collected for pension administration purposes. It may be used for member communications, quality assurance surveys, voluntary focus groups, and improving the member experience. Social insurance numbers will be collected and used for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) and identification purposes relating to your pension administration. This information is collected under the authority of the following legislative provisions dependent upon your pension plan:

  • Alberta Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP), section 33 [Provincial Judges and Applications Judges Registered and Unregistered Pension Plans (Judges Pension Plan), Management Employee Pension Plan (MEPP), Public Service Management (Closed Membership) Pension Plan (PSM(CM)PP) and Members of the Legislative Assembly Pension Plan];
  • Alberta Public Sector Pension Plans Act, section 9.2 [MEPP, PSM(CM)PP];
  • Alberta Joint Governance of Public Sector Pension Plans Act, section 39 of Schedule 3 (Special Forces Pension Plan);
  • Alberta Joint Governance of Public Sector Pension Plans Act, section 40 of Schedule 1 (Local Authorities Pension Plan);
  • Alberta Joint Governance of Public Sector Pension Plans Act, section 40 of Schedule 2 (Public Service Pension Plan);
  • Alberta Provincial Judges and Applications Judges Registered and Unregistered Pension Plans Regulation, section 5 (Judges Pension Plan).

If you have any questions regarding the collection of this information, contact the Member Services Centre at 1-800-358-0840 or write to 5103 Windermere Blvd. SW, Edmonton, AB T6W 0S9.

What Information We Collect

APS collects information provided by you, your pension plan, and your employer. In general, we collect and use information about you for pension administration purposes, to deliver member and pensioner (hereafter called “member”) benefits, and to keep you informed about your specific pension (e.g., member annual statements).

This website also collects information about the device you use to access our website, such as the operating system, screen resolution, internet browser type and version, the webpage address from which you arrived, the date and time you accessed this website, and the Internet Protocol (IP) address of your device. Information about your device does not identify you. Still, it helps us improve the website's functionality, meet our members' needs, measure the effectiveness of our services, enhance security measures, and protect your data.

Does this website use cookies?

Like many other websites, we collect information about our users' utilization and navigation of our website. This website uses simple text files, called 'cookies', to identify visitors who access it and track their use. This information will help us better design our website to suit users' needs. When you access this website, cookies are created and temporarily placed on your computer. The cookie stores basic information about you and your use of this website. APS does not retain any information from the cookie that can be used to identify you other than an IP address and aggregate level data.

Cookies help gather statistical data, such as the average time spent on a webpage. This information provides insight into how to improve our website's design, content, and navigation.

What do we use the IP Address for?

We may also use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server and administer our website, analyze trends, track visitor movements around the website, and gather broad demographic information that assists us in identifying visitor preferences.

Does APS collect information about a physical location?

APS automatically collects information about your device's approximate physical location to track website use by general geographic region.

How We Use Your Information

We use your personal and financial information for purposes consistent with managing your pension, for example, including but not limited to:

  • Verifying your identity;
  • Providing you with requested services;
  • Providing information to you about your benefit, and any other information about your pension;
  • Responding to any special needs or inquiries that you may have;
  • For internal quality assurance purposes, voluntary focus groups and member engagement;
  • Managing our risks and operations;
  • Meeting regulatory and legal requirements; and
  • Using your social insurance number for income tax-related purposes as required by CRA, and for identification purposes related to your pension administration.

How long is personal information about Plan members retained?

Personal information relating to the administration of a member's pension and benefits is retained for the life of the pension benefit (enrollment to last payment), plus six years (pursuant to the Alberta Records Management Regulation approved schedule.)

Sharing Your Information

Our employees

APS is subject to the legislative requirements under FOIP. Access to your information is restricted to employees who have a legitimate business purpose for accessing it.

Unauthorized access to and/or disclosure of member and pensioner information by an employee of APS is strictly prohibited. All employees are required to maintain the confidentiality of member information, and failing to do so will result in appropriate disciplinary measures, which may include dismissal.

Outside service suppliers

We may use service providers to perform specialized services on our behalf. Our service providers may process or handle personal information and they are contractually obligated to protect the information in a manner that is consistent with Alberta privacy legislation, our privacy policies, and security practices. They are provided only the information necessary to perform these services.

Where possible, APS keeps all member data in Canada. There may be some cases where personal information is stored outside of Canada. To obtain specifics, please contact privacy@apsc.ca.

Other third parties

We are committed to keeping your personal information confidential. We do not sell or rent your personal information and will only share it as permitted or required by law, to comply with laws, regulations, subpoena(s) or court order(s).

How We Protect You

Safeguarding your information

To help protect the privacy of data and personally identifiable information, we maintain physical, technical, and administrative safeguards. We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis. We restrict access to your personally identifiable information to those employees who need to know that information to provide benefits or services to you. In addition, we train our employees about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your information. We commit to taking appropriate disciplinary measures to enforce our employees' privacy responsibilities.

Keeping Your Information Accurate

You have the right to ask us to correct information that you think is inaccurate or incomplete.

We do our utmost to ensure that information about you is accurate and complete. As pension-related decisions are made based on the information within your member file, we encourage you to keep your information current. Information relating to your contact information (mailing address, email address, and telephone numbers), beneficiaries, and bank account information can be updated online within your secure member portal. If you require additional assistance, please inform us that you are challenging the accuracy of your data and want it corrected. You should:

  • state clearly what you believe is inaccurate or incomplete,
  • explain how it should be corrected, and
  • where available, provide evidence of the inaccuracies.

Your Right to Access Your Personal Information

Your pension plan will send you an annual member statement and may periodically send plan-related newsletters. Should you wish to obtain additional information, you may request a copy of your pension file (or specific portions of it) at any time, by making your request in writing to the APS Privacy Office at the address noted below.

Your request may have associated costs depending on the information you seek. To avoid delays in obtaining your information, please provide sufficient detail to permit us to identify you and provide the specific information that you request. Note that there may be instances where access is restricted as permitted or required by privacy legislation. Examples can include information that relates to a third party, information subject to legal privilege, and/or information containing confidential commercial information. If applicable, you will be advised of the reasons for the access restriction.

Limitation of Liability

Although extensive precautions have been taken to provide a secure internet environment, APS cannot guarantee the privacy or security of information that is sent or received using this website. APS will not be liable for any damages, losses, costs or expenses, including, without limitation, direct, special, incidental, punitive or consequential damages, incurred by any person as a result of, or in any way connected with, any person's use of this website.

Inapplicability of Privacy Notices/Statements of Any Linked Websites or Other Third Parties

This privacy notice only addresses APS’ use and disclosure of your personally identifiable information. As this website may contain links to other websites, please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other websites and are not liable for their misuse of personally identifiable information. When you go to another website, we encourage you to read its privacy statement carefully.

Privacy Contact Information

For more information about any of the policies described above, please contact us:

By mail: Privacy Office
Alberta Pensions Services Corporation 5103 Windermere Blvd SW, Edmonton, AB T6W0S9
By e-mail: privacy@apsc.ca
By telephone: 1-780-391-3799