Consent

Why consent is necessary

When Concordia collects Personal Information, the individual is informed, through a Privacy Notice or by other means, of the purposes the information is collected for and the consequences of refusing to provide the information. Any other use of the Personal Information collected must be explicitly consented to by the individual.

For consent to be valid it must be:

• Clear, free and informed;
• Given for specific named and described purposes;
• Given for a set period of time;
• Communicated in clear and simple language;
• Requested on a document separate from any other written information given to the person concerned.

Sensitive Personal Information is information of a highly personal or intimate nature that requires a higher level of confidentiality. Examples include medical information, financial information, and biometric data (like fingerprints). Explicit consent is always required to share sensitive Personal Information.

Collection of Personal Information from the participants of research projects must be approved by the University Human Research Ethics Committee. Documentation and guidelines are available for the process of obtaining informed consent from participants.

Exceptions

In certain instances, the law allows Concordia to use or communicate Personal Information without specific consent. These include circumstances in which the use of the Personal Information is compatible with the purposes it was collected for, and when its use is clearly for the benefit of the person concerned.