Privacy Notice
Veterans Advocacy and Navigation Canada Association (VANCA) respects the privacy of veterans, family members, caregivers, volunteers and community members who contact us online.
Effective date and last updated
This Privacy Notice was last updated on August 26, 2026. It describes how VANCA handles information based on the forms, systems and services currently in use. We will update it when our practices or systems change.
Responsibility for privacy
VANCA leadership is currently responsible for how information is collected, used and protected. A dedicated privacy officer role and a formal retention schedule have not yet been assigned; both are pending and will be confirmed here once established.
Information VANCA collects
Through our online forms and account features, VANCA may collect:
- Name and preferred name
- Email address and, where you choose to provide it, phone number
- Province or territory
- General connection to the military/veteran community (for example: veteran, serving member, family member, caregiver, survivor, community partner)
- Support request details you choose to share
- Benefit or referral questions
- Volunteer, board, collaboration or donation inquiry details
- Account email address used for website authentication
Information VANCA asks people not to submit
Why information is collected
Information is collected to understand the type of support or inquiry you are seeking, to respond, to provide navigation and educational support, to manage volunteer, board or collaboration inquiries, and to improve resources and website tools.
Consent and withdrawal of consent
Where we collect personal information through a form, you confirm consent before submitting. You may decline optional questions. You can withdraw consent or ask us to stop using your information by contacting us using the contact details below; withdrawal does not affect processing already completed.
How information may be used
- Respond to online inquiries and support requests
- Provide navigation and educational support
- Understand what type of support or referral may be appropriate
- Manage volunteer, board, collaboration or donation inquiries
- Improve resources and website tools
- Identify anonymized, non-identifying trends for advocacy and system improvement
When information may be disclosed
VANCA does not sell personal information and will not publish identifying personal information without clear consent. VANCA may share information only when needed to respond to an inquiry, with your consent, to manage a safety concern, or to comply with a legal obligation. A referral to an external organization is made with your consent and is not complete until the receiving organization confirms whether it can assist.
Service providers and technology systems
VANCA uses the following services to operate:
- Base44 — the platform that hosts this website, its database, user authentication (including optional Google sign-in) and backend functions.
- Resend — an email delivery service used to send acknowledgements and internal notifications.
- Ordinary email — public correspondence is handled through support@vanca.org; internal support notifications are routed to a separate VANCA mailbox.
If a Notion data sync is active, only summary information is shared with it for internal coordination; this is pending confirmation and will be updated here once verified. We do not knowingly share personal information with advertising networks.
Storage and possible processing locations
Information entered through this website is stored on the Base44 platform and its supporting services. We have not confirmed that all processing occurs within Canada. Do not assume Canadian-only data hosting. We will update this section once the hosting and processing locations are verified.
Access and correction requests
You can request access to the personal information you have provided, or ask us to correct it, by contacting us using the contact details below.
Retention and secure destruction
A formal retention schedule has not yet been adopted. We keep information only as long as needed for the purpose it was collected and then delete or anonymize it. Specific retention periods will be published here once established.
Safeguards and access controls
Access to personal information is restricted to authorized administrators through authenticated accounts. Administrative access to support records is limited to users with the admin role. We use the access controls provided by our hosting and email providers.
Privacy complaints
If you have a concern about how your information is handled, contact us using the details below. If a concern cannot be resolved internally, we will help direct you to the appropriate oversight body.
Privacy incidents and breach response
If we become aware of a privacy incident affecting personal information, we will take reasonable steps to contain it, assess the impact, and notify affected individuals where appropriate. A formal breach-response protocol will be adopted as governance matures.
Changes to this notice
We will update this Privacy Notice when our practices, systems or services change. The “last updated” date above will reflect the most recent revision.
Contact for privacy questions
For privacy questions, access or correction requests, or concerns about how information is handled, email support@vanca.org with “Privacy Request” in the subject line.
VANCA is based in British Columbia. As an initial compliance reference, we review guidance from the BC Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (oipc.bc.ca). This reference does not by itself resolve every privacy obligation associated with serving people across Canada.