Privacy Policy
Our Commitment
At Berkeley, we are committed to protecting your privacy and confidential information while maintaining strong practices in the handling of all Personal Information.
This Privacy Policy sets out how Berkeley Payment Solutions Inc. (“Berkeley”) uses and protects all information that you provide to us (“your information”) in accordance with the applicable privacy legislation. Berkeley is committed to ensuring that your information is protected, and we are aware of our responsibilities under federal, state and provincial laws in both the USA and Canada, including but not limited to the Personal Information Protection and Electronics Document Act (PIPEDA) and California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). By visiting the Berkeley website (“the site”) and providing your Personal Information, you consent to Berkeley collecting, storing, using and disclosing your Personal Information in accordance with the terms of this Policy. This Policy applies to the Personal Information of Berkeley’s customers and other individuals we may have a business relationship with.
This Privacy Policy may be updated periodically to reflect changes to our Personal Information practices. We strongly encourage you to refer to this Privacy Policy often for the latest information about our Personal Information practices.
What is Personal Information?
“Personal Information” means “information about an identifiable individual”. Personal Information includes any factual or subjective information, recorded or not, about an identifiable individual.
This Policy applies to the personal information of Berkeley’s customers and other individuals we deal with. This Policy does not apply to Personal Information of our employees or employee applicants, or to information that is not Personal Information. Personal Information does not include information that is anonymous, aggregated, or is no longer identifiable to a specific person.
The following types of information about individuals are not considered Personal Information:
Business contact information (e.g. business phone and fax number, address and e-mail) (except in Quebec);
Public telephone directory information, where the subscriber can refuse to be listed;
Professional and business directories available to the public;
Certain public registries and court records;
Certain other publicly available printed and electronic publications.
Data Collected by Berkeley
Berkeley receives information from individuals in order to provide information in relation to Berkeley products or opening of an account. Personal Information is provided by customers so they can benefit from Berkeley services. The Personal Information you provide to Berkeley is stored on the servers that are located in the United States. The backup copy of this data is being stored in the United States.
Information we may collect includes the following, but is not limited to:
Name, date of birth, occupation, phone number, email address and other contact particulars for client contacts, such as driver’s license, passport;
Company incorporation documents, banking information, beneficial ownership information (with relevant documentation) and tax identification information;
Credit card information including card number, expiry date, security code, billing address, account balances, transaction history and similar information;
Information relating to ongoing transactions with Berkeley, including payment history, inquiries or complaints and similar information; and
Other information with your consent (written or implied) or as permitted or required by law.
Why do we collect this data?
All the data collected by us is required in order for Berkeley to provide you with a trusted service. We may collect data for internal record keeping, to use as feedback to improve our products and services delivered to you. Berkeley will not sell or share your Personal Information to third parties for promotional purposes.
We ask you for your Personal Information for the following reasons:
To verify your identity and protect against fraud;
To understand your financial service requirements;
To determine the suitability of products and services for you;
To set up and manage products and services you have requested, and
To comply with legal, regulatory and contractual requirements.
Berkeley will retain your information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.
Sharing Personal Information
Berkeley will share your Personal Information only for everyday business purposes. The below lists the circumstances in which Berkeley may share the customer’s Personal Information:
Berkeley may share your information for everyday business purposes, such as processing your transactions, maintaining your account(s), providing services, etc.
Berkeley may use third party service providers to provide certain services and we may share your Personal Information with such service providers. We require any company with which we may share your Personal Information to protect that data in a manner consistent with this policy and to limit the use of such Personal Information to the performance of services of Berkeley.
Berkeley may disclose your Personal Information under the special circumstances, such as to comply with respond to court orders and legal investigations requiring us to do so.
Berkeley may use your Personal Information for marketing purposes to offer our products and services to you.
Berkeley does not sell or otherwise provide information to the third-party companies for the marketing and promotional purposes of their own products and services.
Under the United States Federal and State regulations as well as Canadian privacy regulations, Berkeley will not share information we collect about you and your company with any organization outside of Berkeley, unless the law allows. For example, we may share information to service your accounts, or to provide rewards or benefits you are entitled to. We will limit sharing among our companies and partners to the extent required by the regulations.
Consent and Security
We will seek consent before collecting any Personal Information from you. Generally, you will be asked to provide written or electronic consent, however in some circumstances we may accept verbal consent or determine that consent is implied through your conduct.
Once we have obtained your consent, Berkeley is committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorized access or disclosure, we have implemented suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online. During the receipt of your Personal Information by Berkeley to its service providers, we will apply privacy safeguards and will only conduct business with companies who have committed to safeguarding Personal Information at a similar standard applied by Berkeley.
Subject to legal, regulatory and contractual requirements, you can refuse to consent to our collection, use or disclosure of information about you. Depending on the circumstances, however, withdrawal of your consent may prevent us from providing you or continuing to provide you with some services or information that may be of value to you. If you are under eighteen years of age, you may not submit Personal Information to Berkeley. If it is implied that Personal Information is submitted to Berkeley from persons under the age of eighteen, the information will be discarded.
Privacy Principles
To fulfill our commitment to you, we observe the following 10 principles when dealing with your Personal Information.
Principle #1: We are Accountable to You
Berkeley is responsible for all Personal Information in its possession or custody, including any Personal Information disclosed to third parties for processing or other administrative functions. We have a Chief Compliance Officer, who oversees the implementation of our privacy program. To contact the Chief Compliance Officer please refer to the; Contact Berkeley’ section below.
Principle #2: We will Identify the Purpose for Collecting your Personal Information
Berkeley will identify and document the purposes for which we collect your Personal Information, before or at the time of collection.
Principle #3: We will Obtain Consent to Manage Personal Information
Berkeley will make a reasonable effort to make sure you understand how your Personal Information will be used and will obtain your consent before or at the time we collect or use the Personal Information. Your consent can be express, implied, or given through an authorized representative:
Berkeley will collect your express consent (verbal, written or electronic) when the Personal Information is sensitive or its collection, use or disclosure is outside of the reasonable expectations of you providing it, or that creates a meaningful risk of significant harm that is not otherwise mitigated.
Berkeley may rely on implied consent in the following scenarios:
1. a customer relationship already exists;
2. express consent has previously been given for the same or similar use of the Personal Information; and
3. where the intended use of the information is reasonably obvious from the context in which it is obtained and you provide the information voluntarily.
Subject to legal, regulatory and contractual requirements, you may withdraw your consent to our collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Information. However, depending on the circumstances, the withdrawal of your consent may prevent us from providing you or continuing to provide you with some services or information that may be of value to you. In addition, you should be aware that we may collect, use or share your Personal Information without your knowledge or consent in exceptional circumstances where such collection, use or disclosure is permitted or required by law. For example, we may collect, use or share your Personal Information to investigate a breach of an agreement or law, in response to a demand, search warrant or court order we believe to be valid, to realize on security pledged, or to investigate and deter fraud.
Principle #4: We will Limit the Collection of Your Personal Information
Berkeley limits the amount and type of Personal Information we collect to what is necessary for the purposes we have identified to you. We will only collect Personal Information using practices that are fair and lawful, and as described in this Code.
Principle #5: We will Limit the Use, Disclosure and Retention of Your Personal Information
Berkeley will use or disclose Personal Information only for the purposes it was collected, unless you give consent to use or disclose it for another reason, or it is permitted or required by law. Under certain exceptional circumstances, Berkeley has a legal duty or right to share your Personal Information without your consent to protect Berkeley’s and/or the public interest. Berkeley will only keep your Personal Information as long as necessary for the purposes identified at the time of collection.
Principle #6: We will Keep Your Personal Information Accurate
Berkeley will make a reasonable effort to keep your Personal Information up to date, accurate and relevant for its intended use. However, we also rely on you to tell us when your information changes. You may, in writing, request access to your Personal Information to verify the accuracy and completeness and request that it be amended as appropriate. To access your Personal Information, please contact the Compliance Department as directed in the 'Contact Berkeley’ section below.
Principle #7: We will Safeguard Your Personal Information
Berkeley maintains reasonable administrative, technical and physical safeguards in an effort to protect the Personal Information in our custody and control against unauthorized access, use, modification and disclosure of. We train our employees to keep clients’ Personal Information strictly private and confidential. We require all of our staff to sign our privacy document that obliges them to respect and protect clients’ Personal Information. We ensure that departing staff understand they remain contractually obliged to respect the privacy of clients’ Personal Information. We have Personal Information retention processes designed to retain Personal Information of our clients and prospective clients for no longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy or to otherwise meet legal requirements.
Principle #8: We will Make Information about Our Privacy Program Available to You
Berkeley is open about the way we manage your Personal Information. You may request access to more information about our privacy practices, and we will make it available to you in a manner that is easy to understand.
Principle #9: We will Give You Access to Your Personal Information
You may make a request in writing for access to your Personal Information. After verifying your identity, we will, within a reasonable timeframe, tell you what Personal Information we have, what it is being used for, and to whom it has been disclosed. In certain situations, however, we may not be able to give you access to all your Personal Information. In these situations, we will, except where prohibited by law, explain the reasons for this lack of access and advise you of any recourse you may have.
Principle #10: We will Respond to Your Questions, Concerns and Complaints about Privacy
Berkeley will respond to your questions, concerns and complaints about the protection of your Personal Information in a timely manner, typically within thirty (30) days. If we need to extend the time, or if we refuse your request, we will tell you why and notify you of the new deadline.
Links to External Websites
The Berkeley website may contain links to external websites which are not supported by Berkeley. Once you have been directed to an external website, Berkeley does not have control over the contents and information that you share. We cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting an external website as those sites are not governed by this Privacy Policy.
Berkeley takes your privacy and the protection of your information seriously and takes commercially reasonable measures to ensure its security. However, no transmission of information over the internet can be guaranteed to be uninterrupted or completely secure. Accordingly, Berkeley cannot guarantee that your information will not be unlawfully accessed by a third party and any external website visited is at your own risk.
Contact Berkeley Payments Solutions
Individuals have the right to access, update, correct inaccuracies and request deletion of his/her Personal Information in Berkeley’s custody and control, subject to certain exceptions prescribed by law. Otherwise, an individual wishing to request access, updating, correct inaccuracies and request deletion of his or her Personal Information in our possession or control may send a written request to this effect to Berkeley’s Chief Compliance Officer at the contact information below. We may request certain Personal Information for the purposes of verifying the identity of the individual seeking access to their Personal Information records. Additionally, Berkeley does not discriminate our pricing or services when an individual exercises these rights. If you have a question or concern about our processes to use, protect and disclose your Personal Information, or if you want to report a privacy breach, please contact us at:
Berkeley Payment Solutions
Attention: Compliance Department
221 Lakeshore Road E, Suite 300
Oakville ON, L6J 1H7
Email: info@berkeleypayment.com
If your concern remains unresolved by the Compliance Department, you may contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at:
Office of the Privacy Commissioner
30 Victoria Street
Gatineau, Quebec, K1A 1H3
Toll Free: 1-800-282-1376