Privacy Policy

1. Who are we?
2. AMQ® website
3. Basic knowledge
   • What is personal information?
   • What is a privacy policy?
   • What is a privacy policy?
4. Your consent
   • What is explicit consent?
   • What is implied consent?
5. Less information for more security
6. AMQ® commitments
7. The reasons for collecting, processing and communicating personal information and how it is done
   • Legal reasons
   • Service providers part of the AMQ® management team
   • Content Management System
   • No installation of Google Analytics
   • AMQ® electronic mailbox
   • Contact form
   • Publication request
   • Conversation with AMQ® employees
   • I am a member of the AMQ® / I am applying to (re)member the AMQ®
     • Membership & Re-membership
     • Insurance companies
     • Referencing on the AMQ® website
     • Your personal profile
     • Conferences & Workshops on your personal profile
     • AMQ® training on your personal profile
     • Creating electronic receipts on your personal profile
     • Order paper receipts on your personal profile
     • Sending development documents via your personal profile
     • Miscellaneous payments
     • Newsletter
   • I am an insurance agent
     • Creation of a personal profile at the AMQ®
     • Confidentiality, protection and security of personal information
   • I am the client of an AMQ® massage therapist
8. The retention period of information (of any type) collected and its deletion/destruction
   • Obligations
     • The AMQ®
       • The retention period of information (of any type)
       • Deletion/Destruction of information (of any type)
     • The massage therapist
       • The retention period of information (of any type)
       • Deletion/Destruction of information (of any type)
9. Security measures taken to secure/protect any information (of any type)
   • A common interest
   • A thoughtful team
     • Trusted managers
     • A dedicated management team
     • An attentive Administrative Council
   • Digital security measures
   • Other security measures
   • Measures related to the use of personal information factor assessments
   • Limitations
10. Your rights of access and control over your personal information
    • The right to data portability
    • The right to be forgotten
11. Responsible for the protection of personal information

Personal information, also called personal data or personal information, allows, according to the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec, “to identify a natural person, directly or indirectly. Personal information is confidential. Their confidentiality arises from the right to privacy, allowing any person to exercise control over the use and circulation of their information” (this quote was translated). Here are some examples :

• First name;
• Name;
• Date of birth;
• Address;
• Phone number;
• E-mail;
• Credit card numbers.

To find out more about the subject of personal information, you may visit the website of the Commission d’accès à l’information du Québec and read the Citoyens page.

Bill 25 is the law modernizing legislative provisions regarding the protection of personal information. According to the Gouvernement du Québec, this “reform modernizes the rules protecting personal information in Quebec so that they are better adapted to the new challenges posed by the current digital and technological environment” (this quote was translated).

It is important to know that Law 25 refers digital as much as paper.

For more information on Bill 25, you may visit the Government of Quebec website and read the Modernisation de la protection des renseignements personnels page.

The confidentiality policy, also called confidentiality charter or personal data protection charter, is a contract between the company/association or others and the user/user.

This concerns the commitments of the company/association or others in the collection, processing and communication of the user’s/user’s personal data.

In this case, said confidentiality policy is between you and the Association des Massothérapeutes du Québec, which includes any person acting on its behalf.

It is a verbal, electronic or written agreement that is clear and specific. Here are some examples :

• Verbal agreement: an AMQ® employee asks a member by telephone if they wish to be listed on the site and that person agrees;
• Electronic consent: a prospective member completes an online membership form and checks “I accept” to a specific consent request;
• Agreement in writing: a customer sends by post a complaint form where he has completed and signed by hand the solemn declaration of the truth of the facts.

It is an agreement that can be reasonably inferred from a person’s action or inaction. Here are some examples :

• A member provides credit card information to an AMQ® employee by telephone in order to pay for any service;
• A customer provides his name and telephone number by email to publish an ad on the AMQ® website;
• A member sends their new CV by mail to update their file.

To determine the appropriate type of consent, we consider the sensitivity of the personal information involved, the purposes for which it is collected, and the reasonable expectations of an individual in a similar situation.

Membership & Re-membership

In order to offer you various services as well as to open and update your file as a massage therapist member of the AMQ®, we must collect, process and communicate some of your personal information. To do so, we create :

• A paper file in your name preserved in a secure location;
• A virtual file in your name in the AMQ® secure database;
• A personal profile in your name on the AMQ® website to which you have access.

By initiating a membership or re-membership request, you therefore accept that any information (of any type) entered in the paper or online form as well as documents of all types and containing various information (of any type) that you send by post, email or any other means may be :

• Transferred directly to the virtual file in your name in the secure AMQ® database;
• Processed and analyzed by AMQ® employees;
• Printed and added to your paper file preserved in a secure location.

Insurance companies

As an AMQ® massage therapist, you agree that insurance company agents may access some of your personal information to reimburse all or part of your clients’ claims. In order to obtain the necessary information (of any type), they can :

• Call the AMQ® directly;
• Write by email to the AMQ®;
• Log in to their personal AMQ® profile.

Referencing on the AMQ® website

If you wish to be listed on the AMQ® website, a request can be made. This will allow you to be publicly displayed as a massage therapist so that potential clients can contact you.

By making a reference request on the AMQ® website, you accept that some of your personal information, decided by you, is accessible to everyone. The information that can be displayed is as follows :

• First name;
• Name;
• City(s);
• Techniques);
• Phone numbers;
• E-mail;
• Website.

You can, at any time, contact us to :

• Modify/Delete certain displayed information;
• Withdraw your reference request from the AMQ® website.

Your personal profile

By accessing your personal profile, you have the right to modify, add and delete certain information (of any type) concerning you.

Conferences & Workshops on your personal profile

In the “Conferences & Workshops” tab of your personal profile, you have access to a showcase of paid (payable directly to the trainer) and non-paid conferences and workshops. When you request registration, whether paid or not, some of your personal information may be given to the trainer.

• If the clickable button at the bottom of the conference or workshop is “I’m registering!”, you accept, by registering, that the trainer automatically receives your first name, your last name and your email so that he can contact you.
• If the clickable button at the bottom of the conference or workshop is “Access the conference or workshop”, you agree, by accessing the trainer’s website, to continue your registration on another platform whose policy confidentiality is not ours. Personal information about you will therefore be requested via this website and not ours.

By registering for a conference or workshop on your personal profile, you therefore agree to be redirected to the functionalities and policies of the trainer in question and not ours.

AMQ® training on your personal profile

In the “AMQ® Training” tab of your personal profile, you have access to a showcase of training offered by the AMQ® and its collaborators, the subject of which is their specialty. After registration and completion of the training, a compulsory test must be passed (for a maximum of three times) in order to pass the study.

By registering for the training as well as completing the test, you accept that your grade (or your grades if one or more retakes are required) is :

• Transferred to the virtual file in your name in the secure AMQ® database;
• Processed by AMQ® employees;
• Printed and added to your paper file preserved in a secure location.

This is necessary for the proper follow-up of your file.

Creating electronic receipts on your personal profile

By creating electronic receipts and/or registering customers in your directory, you agree to keep confidential (unless you are required to do so by law) any information (of any type) received, written and/or heard by them and/or linked to tehm and, therefore, to respect the Code of Ethics as well as the Book of General Regulations of the AMQ®.

Along the same lines, it is your responsibility to ensure :

• Regularly change the password for your personal profile in order to keep your account secure and therefore accessible only to you;
• Contact us at the AMQ® as soon as possible if you no longer use the same email, you no longer have access to it, it has been hacked or others so that we can delete the old one (from our database as well as your personal profile) and replace it.

For verification and/or tracking purposes, we may access the history of the last ten electronic receipts you have issued.

Order paper receipts on your personal profile

When you place an order for paper receipts, you agree to make payment via a platform recognized worldwide in this field. The processing of your purchase is protected by the that platform.

Your order is sent with Canada Post. It is therefore important to read their privacy policy regarding your personal information.

For the purposes of preparing, verifying and tracking your order, we have access to some of your personal information.

Sending development documents via your personal profile

By sending us documents of all types and containing various information (of any type), you agree that everything is :

• Transferred to the virtual file in your name in the secure AMQ® database;
• Processed and analyzed by AMQ® employees;
• Printed and added to your paper file preserved in a secure location.

Miscellaneous payments

Payments made to the AMQ®, for any service whatsoever, can be made, depending on the circumstances, via :

• A payment terminal;
• A payment platform on your personal profile;
• A Bank transfer;
• Cash;
• A check.

When you give us personal information related to payments, whether by telephone, by email, in person or by any other means, we ensure, according to the processes and devices made available to us for this purpose, that everything remains confidential. (unless we are required to do so by law), be protected and, depending on the circumstances, be deleted/destroyed.

Newsletter

By becoming a member of the AMQ®, you agree to receive our newsletter which brings together important and detailed information on the profession as well as the association.

To limit mailings, the AMQ® preserves the newsletter for information that concerns the majority of members.

Since the AMQ® brings together a large number of massage therapists, we have to do a mass mailing. By becoming a member, you therefore accept that the newsletter is sent via a leading email platform.

You have the option, at any time, to unsubscribe from the newsletter by clicking on “unsubscribe” at the bottom of the email received. However, we do not recommend you to do this, as this is our primary communication platform to keep you up to date with any essential information about the profession as well as the association.

Creation of a personal profile at the AMQ®

Creating a personal profile in your name on the AMQ® website is essential to help you do your work, namely :

• Check if the receipt you have in hand matches one of our active massage therapist members of the AMQ®;
• Refund the customer’s receipt in whole or in part.

In order to provide you with this service and verify your identity, we need to collect, process and communicate some of your personal information. To this end, we create :

• A virtual file in your name in the AMQ® secure database;
• A personal profile in your name on the AMQ® website to which you have access.

By requesting the creation of a personal profile at the AMQ®, you therefore accept that the information (of any type) that you have provided to us about you is :

• Transferred to the virtual file in your name in the secure AMQ® database;
• Processed and analyzed by AMQ® employees.

Confidentiality, protection and security of personal information

By accessing your personal profile, you agree to keep confidential (unless you are required to do so by law) any information (of any type) received, written and/or heard by members of the AMQ® and/or linked to them and, therefore, to respect this confidentiality policy while respecting yours.

By agreeing to receive a massage from an AMQ® massage therapist member, you consent to the fact that personal information about you may be collected, processed and communicated via :

• A customer file;
• A follow-up plan for massage therapy care;
• Any other means of writing down or dictating notes;
• A paper receipt;
• An electronic receipt;
• The massage therapist’s virtual client directory, linked to electronic receipts.

This is essential in order to :

• To ensure the proper follow-up of your file;
• To know your condition and, therefore, the contraindications related to the massage if there are any;
• To improve the care of the massage therapist.

The retention period of information (of any type)

The purpose of the retention period of several pieces of information (of any type) collected by the AMQ® cannot be accomplished, since the association :

1. Brings together, informs and represents its massage therapists…
2. With the aim of promoting the art of massage with respect for the person, the public and the profession…
3. While ensuring the link between its massage therapist members, their clients and insurance company agents.

The AMQ® must therefore, at all times, access the information (of all types) of its massage therapists, members or former members, retired or not, deceased or not, in order to respect its mandate if any situation in this sense happens :

• A formal complaint;
• A request for access, mandatory by law, to information (of any type) from one of its massage therapists;
• A request made by an insurance company agent to verify the identity of a massage therapist;
• Etc.

Deletion/Destruction of information (of any type)

Certain information (of any type) may still become non-essential (purpose accomplished), depending on the circumstances. Here are some examples :

• A document sent in error by a member;
• A handwritten note regarding a voicemail message left by an insurance agent;
• An uncompleted paper or virtual membership application (after six months of waiting).

In these circumstances, option 1, i.e. deletion/destruction of information (of any type) is mandatory. It is applied by the AMQ® or, if necessary, by a service provider who is part of the AMQ® management team. We ensure, according to the processes and devices made available to us for this purpose, that everything is permanently deleted/destroyed.

The retention period of information (of any type)

The purpose of the retention period of any information (of any type) collected about clients by the massage therapist can only be accomplished five years after the he/she has retired from massage therapy.

Indeed, the massage therapist must access information (of all types) from his clients if any situation in this sense happens :

• A formal complaint;
• A request for access, mandatory by law, to the information (of any type) of one of its clients;
• An access request made by one of its clients concerning any information (of any type) taken from thme;
• Etc.

Deletion/Destruction of information (of any type)

When the purpose of the retention period of any information (of any type) collected on clients by the massage therapist is fulfilled (i.e. five years after the he/she has retired from massage therapy), option 1, i.e. deletion /destruction of information (of any type) is mandatory. The massage therapist must, according to the processes and devices made available to him for this purpose, permanently delete/destroy everything.

The AMQ® is supervised by trusted managers in the field of IT, management and protection of physical and/or digital personal information. Below are four of our managers.

• Adsum Technologies Inc. support for the AMQ®. Its mission is to support “small and medium-sized businesses in Canada and internationally in the planning, use, integration and development of IT solutions, while maximizing their technological investment” (this quote was translated).
• Imédia Firme Créative is behind the creation of the current AMQ® site. Its services are numerous: “strategic planning, media booking, advertising design, design, web, social networks and digital strategy” (this quote was translated).
• Marie Bélanger, general director and treasurer on the Board of Directors, has a legal background.
• Art Abarzua, deputy director and president of the Board of Directors, has training in office automation and management, including several courses on labor laws.
• Marie-Eve Abarzua, administrative assistant, support assistant and responsible for the protection of personal information, holds a bachelor’s degree in teaching as well as several training courses in the digital field.

The AMQ® management team is made up of professional massage therapists as well as employees with the skills and qualifications necessary to properly serve its members and the public.

Employees dealing with AMQ® members :

• Have mandatory training on how to secure and protect any personal information;
• Have mandatory meetings in order to be up to date on any news, developments and/or obligations regarding the security and protection of any personal information.

The Board of Directors is made up of 4 people who must have been active members of the AMQ® for at least 10 consecutive years. Lasting 2 years, their mandate is :

• Evaluate management performance;
• To establish the various committees and to appoint the people who compose them;
• To ensure that the Code of Ethics and the Book of General Regulations are kept up to date;
• To approve budgets.

Close monitoring of the AMQ® team is therefore in place to ensure its proper functioning.

You have the right to request :

• Access to your personal information for verification purposes or for any other reason;
• That we transmit your personal information to another organization authorized to collect it;
• To have your personal information corrected if it is inaccurate.

To do so, you can make a request using the contact details provided at the end of this privacy policy, in the “Privacy Officer” section.

For security reasons, we will take the necessary steps to verify your identity. Following which we will provide you with your personal information in a structured and commonly used technological format within 30 days of your request.

You have the right to request :

• Deletion of some of your personal information;
• The cessation of dissemination of some of your personal information;
• The deindexing of certain hyperlinks linked to your personal information.

To this end, you can make a request using the contact details provided at the end of this privacy policy, in the “Privacy Officer” section.

For security reasons, we will take the necessary steps to verify your identity.

The AMQ® must, at anytime, access the information (of any type) of its massage therapists, members or former members, retired or not, deceased or not, in order to respect its mandate (for this purpose, see the obligations of the AMQ® in the section “The retention period of information (of any type) collected and its deletion/destruction” in this confidentiality policy).

This is the reason why only certain personal information can be deleted, stopped being disseminated and/or only certain hyperlinks linked to your personal information can be deindexed.