CHERP Privacy Policy

Policy version: 1.0
Last updated: March 21, 2021

1. Privacy Statement

The University of British Columbia, our research team, and research partners are committed to protecting the privacy of your personal information. This privacy policy describes the information that may be collected by the CHERP mobile app and how that information may be shared with our research team, our research partners, and other third parties.

“Personal information” means any recorded information about an identifiable individual or household. Examples of personal information include: names; ages; home addresses; email addresses; and identifiable photographs or videos.

“Anonymized information” means any recorded information about an individual or household that cannot be linked back to that individual or household. “Aggregate data” means the collection of information from many individuals or households—by geographic region, shared characteristics, or as a whole—in such a way that the information cannot be linked back to that individual or household.

If you have any questions about our privacy policy or require additional information, please contact the lead researcher by email at ryan@ryanreynolds.ca.

2. Information We Collect

The CHERP mobile app requests personal information in order to provide you with emergency preparedness and response planning information relevant to local hazards risk and specific household characteristics. All personal information is stored in an encrypted form, either on the user’s device(s) and/or in their personal Apple iCloud account. No personally identifiable information (e.g., names, ages, home addresses, or email addresses) are shared with UBC, the CHERP research team, or third parties, except where permission is specifically granted by users as part of optional opt-in research surveys (see section 4. CHERP Research Surveys, below).

The CHERP mobile app does collect and share anonymized information with the CHERP research team at regular periods. This information includes the following:

Household demographic information

  • The household’s community of residence;

  • Number of household residents, by broad age categories (e.g., infant, child, youth, adult, older adult);

  • Number of household residents who are fluent in their community’s official language(s) (e.g., English, French, or local Indigenous language);

  • Number of household residents who require regular medication;

  • Number of household residents with disabilities, by broad categories (e.g., mobility, visual, hearing, or cognitive);

  • Number of household residents that require assistive medical or mobility devices (e.g., hearing aids, prescription glasses, wheelchair);

  • Number of household residents who are reliant upon public transit (e.g., buses, light rail, taxis) to meet their transportation needs;

  • Number of household pets by broad categories (e.g., cat, dog, fish, rabbit);

  • The type of structure the household resides in (e.g., detached home, duplex, row house, multi-level apartment building); and

  • The household’s proximity to identified local hazard zones (e.g., tsunami inundation zone, flood zones, unstable slopes).

Emergency planning information

  • Number and approximate completion level of personal, vehicle, household, and pet emergency kits (i.e., “go bags”); and

  • Emergency response plans activated and duration of the activation, by hazard type (e.g., earthquake, tsunami, flooding, hurricane).

App usage information

  • Number of app sessions;

  • Number of app crashes; and

  • Date and time of most recent app session.

Our purpose in collecting this information is to better understand the needs of CHERP mobile app users, to help us improve the service we provide to users, and to assist hazards researchers understand household emergency preparedness and response planning at the household level.

3. How Information is Shared

From time to time we may share the information we collect with trusted third parties following guidance from the UBC Office of Research Ethics. Only aggregate data is shared with third parties, and this information does not contain any personally identifiable information. We have identified the following trusted partners, and will update this list should new partners be added:

Within your household:

When you opt to share your household’s information with other members of your family or household, we connect your CHERP account information to their Apple iCloud account and all related information is securely shared from your account. This is optional and opt-in within the CHERP mobile app. You may revoke access to this information sharing at any time from within the CHERP mobile app, but doing so will prevent those who previously had access to your information from being able to access shared emergency planning information. Information sharing or revocation will occur the next time the user’s device(s) sync with their iCloud account through the internet.

Within UBC:

We may share aggregate data from all users with related academic units and oversight bodies at the University of British Columbia, including the School of Community and Regional Planning, the Faculty of Applied Sciences, UBC Media, and/or the Office of Research Ethics. Any disclosure within UBC is governed by internal policies on data and privacy protection, and would be performed to ensure our research program is being operated in an appropriate, respectful, and responsible manner. This information may also be shared to assist with research funding efforts within UBC. No personally identifiable information is shared with other units at UBC.

Our community partners:

We may share aggregate data for all households in a given community or as a whole with our community partners to assist them in their emergency planning, preparedness, and risk communication efforts. No personally identifiable information is shared with municipal or Indigenous community representatives.

Our research partners:

We may share aggregate data from all users with our research partners to help fund, manage, or execute the tasks necessary for our ongoing research program or to assist related hazards research in Canada or abroad. This information may be used to demonstrate how research funding is being used, to demonstrate the efficacy of the CHERP mobile app, to seek new community partnerships, to conduct research collaborations, and/or to seek new funding opportunities. No personally identifiable information is shared with our research partners.

Academic research community:

We may share aggregate data from all users with other hazards-focused researchers as part of the disclosure related to academic research projects. This includes, but is not limited to, presentation of broad household statistics at academic conferences, in published research papers, and/or as part of Open Data initiatives.

Journalists/news media:

We may share aggregate data from all users in the form of broad household statistics with recognized members of the print, television, radio, or online media in Canada or abroad. This information would be used to highlight the efficacy of the CHERP mobile app to the public in general, hazards-related, or science-related media stories and/or profiles. No personally identifiable information is shared with members of the media.

4. CHERP Research Surveys

Our research team may partner with third parties to conduct research surveys. CHERP mobile app users will only be presented with surveys that are relevant to them based on the community in which they reside, their household hazard exposure, or household characteristics. All research surveys are optional and opt-in. All research surveys are conducted in partnership with the CHERP research team and only with our approval. All research surveys require the completion of a research ethics application from the UBC Office of Research Ethics or a similar research oversight body.

Research surveys will describe the specific information they are requesting from users. In all cases, survey users will be able to see and approve the information they provide prior to submitting that information. In all cases, users will be able to review the information they have provided on active surveys, and will be able to modify or revoke consent for information sharing while the survey remains active. Once a survey concludes, it will no longer be possible to modify or revoke permission to share the information with the third parties conducting the surveys.

All information shared as part of CHERP research surveys will be governed by the data sharing agreement users agree to at the time of taking the survey. All information shared as part of CHERP research surveys will be kept in a secure form for a minimum of five years from the completion of the associated research.

5. Third Party Services – Apple Inc.

The CHERP mobile app makes use of services provided by Apple Inc. as part of their iOS and iPadOS operating systems. This includes, but is not limited to, mapping services, location services, address geocoding, internet connectivity, web browsing, cloud data storage, and machine learning. These services are generally conducted on-device and are subject to Apple’s data collection and disclosure policies.

6. Privacy Policy Changes

The CHERP research team is committed to protecting your privacy and will update our privacy policy from time to time to keep you informed about how your personal information is collected, used, and shared. We will let you know within the CHERP mobile app whenever significant changes to this privacy policy occur. Your continued use of the CHERP mobile app will constitute your acceptance of any such change(s).