Alberta Dental Service Corporation (“ADSC” “we” “us” and “our”) provides services to the Government of Alberta in connection with the administration of various government funded social benefit programs. We provide these services from our head office in Edmonton, Alberta. As such, the collection, use and disclosure of personal information are critical parts of ADSC’s business and is made on behalf of the Government of Alberta pursuant to sections 33(c) and 34(1)(k) of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Alberta).
In the course of its business, ADSC collects, uses, retains and in some instances when required, discloses personal information about individuals. Typically the individuals about whom we collect information are either program participants or health care practitioners who provide services that are covered by the programs we administer.
This Privacy Policy describes why we collect, use, disclose and maintain personal information about these individuals. This Privacy Policy may be amended from time to time. Notice of changes is given by positing our revised Privacy Policy on our website. An up-to-date version of this Privacy Policy may be obtained on our website or by contacting us as indicated in the section below – Contacting the ADSC Privacy Officer.
We collect, use and disclose personal information for benefit administration purposes.
Benefit administration purposes include:
Subject to legal and contractual restrictions an individual may decline to consent, or revoke his or her consent, to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information for these benefit administration purposes but in that case we may decline to process claims for program benefits.
At ADSC we obtain consent from individuals for the collection, use and disclosure of their personal information, unless inappropriate.
We may rely on express consent or implied consent, depending on the circumstances. Express consent may be given verbally, in writing or by electronic means. Implied consent is consent that is inferred from a person’s actions. For example, when an individual submits a claim for reimbursement, that individual is presumed to consent to the personal information practices described in this Privacy Policy, unless the individual informs us otherwise.
We try to obtain consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information directly from the individual to whom information relates. However, when a claim for reimbursement under a program is made by a trustee in connection with services provided to a family member who is a program participant, we may have to rely on the trustee to provide consent on behalf of such family member. When a trustee gives consent, whether express or implied, on behalf of a family member, the trustee is presumed to act on behalf of, and is representing that he or she has the authority to act on behalf of, the family member.
We collect, use and disclose personal information in accordance with the consent provided, in accordance with this Privacy Policy, our contractual rights and obligations, those that apply to any program we administer, and the law.
We collect information from and about participants for benefit administration purposes. We also collect information from other sources, such as health care professionals, facilities and providers, other private and government benefit program administrators, and insurers. We also disclose information to these other sources for benefit administration purposes.
We also share information to combat and deter fraud and abuse, when permitted or required by law; or at the request of governmental authorities.
We restrict access to personal information to those of our employees, authorized administrators, and consultants who need to know that information for legitimate business purposes. We protect personal information by applying physical security measures and barriers to our premises, by adopting policies and procedures to protect information, and technologically, where appropriate, by the use of security measures, including passwords, encryption, firewalls and other software security solutions.
In many cases our benefits administration platform is software supported and Internet-based. The Internet is not an entirely secure medium where absolute security can be guaranteed. Individuals acknowledge the reality of this risk and agree to accept it when they enroll in a program or submit a claim.
We only keep personal information for so long as it is required to fulfill the purposes described in this Privacy Policy or as required or permitted by law. We attempt to collect and use information that is accurate, up-to-date, and as complete as possible. However, we rely on individuals to disclose all material information to us and to inform us of any changes.
You may request deletion of your personal information at any time by contacting our Chief Privacy Officer. Following such request, we delete the information that we are not required to retain in order to perform our obligations to you. If we cannot comply with your request, we will let you know why. We may also retain certain information if necessary, for our legitimate business interests, including for fraud prevention.
With satisfactory identification and proof of entitlement, an individual may request to access and, if applicable, request that we correct, personal information about them in our possession. You may also request that we sent to you, or to another organization that you choose, a copy of your personal information in a commonly used machine readable format.
An individual must make this request in writing. Requests should be directed to our Chief Privacy Officer as indicated in the section below – Contacting the ADSC Privacy Officer.
Individuals should be aware that the right to access the personal information we hold about them is not absolute. For example there is no right to access and we may decline a request for access, if the information requested is subject to a legal privilege. We may also decline a request for access if the information contains personal information of other individuals, and such information cannot be redacted.
We do not provide personal health information directly to individuals unless the individual provided it directly to us. Instead we provide access to personal health information through the individual’s health care professional.
We may charge a reasonable fee in advance for copying and sending information requested and to which there is a right of access.
We may collect information about your computer or other device from which you access our Website, including your IP address. This is statistical data about our users’ browsing actions and patterns, and does not identify any individual. We may, however, use such information in conjunction with the data we have about you in order to track your usage of our services.
Our Website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our Website. This helps us to provide you with a good Website experience and also allows us to improve the Website. By using our Website you agree to our use of cookies as more specifically set out below.
A cookie is a small file that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer’s hard drive.
The cookies we use include:
“Analytical” cookies. They allow us to recognize and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around the Website. This helps us to improve the way our Website works
“Strictly necessary” cookies. These are cookies that are required for the operation of our Website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our Website.
“Functionality” cookies. These are used to recognize you when you return to our Website. This allows us to personalize our content for you and remember your preferences (for example, your choice of language).
“Targeting” cookies. These cookies record your visit to our Website, the pages you have visited and the links you have followed. We will use this information to make our Website more relevant to your interests.
Most internet browsers are automatically set up to accept cookies. However, you may block cookies by activating the setting on your browser that allows you to refuse the setting of some or all cookies. If you use your browser settings to block all cookies (including essential cookies) you may not be able to access all or parts of the Website. Unless you have adjusted your browser setting so that it will refuse cookies, our system will issue cookies as soon as you visit our Website.
We use Google Analytics to collect information about how you use the public sections of the website in order to improve the website experience. Google Analytics does not collect or store information that will identify you. Your IP address is anonymized prior to being stored on Google’s servers in order to help safeguard your privacy. You may block the use of Google Analytics by installing the opt-out tool found here – https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.
If an individual:
Write to:
ADSC Privacy Officer
Alberta Dental Service Corporation
200, 17010 – 103 Avenue
Or e-mail us at: privacy@adsc.org
Or Call Toll Free: (800) 232-1997
Alberta Dental Service Corporation (ADSC) has been the proud dental benefits administrator for various Government of Alberta programs for over 25 years. DASP is an income-based program providing low-moderate income seniors with financial assistance for basic dental services. Alberta Dental Service Corporation also administers other Low Income Programs for the Alberta Government.