Our Policies

As a “45(1) entity,” under Ontario’s Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA), 2004, POGO values and protects the personal health information of individuals. With this status, we balance preserving the privacy of children, families and survivors with collecting and using health information to support innovative research and health care planning. This includes the allocation of resources and service delivery to help build a better childhood cancer and survivor care system for everyone. Learn more about privacy and protecting personal health information at POGO on our FAQ page.

POGO respects personal privacy, safeguards the confidentiality of personal health information and ensures a secure database environment.

We achieve this through:

• Upholding principles for the protection of personal health data
• Enforcing strict policies which limit access to data
• Maintaining organizational, technological and physical security measures
• Mandatory privacy training and signed confidentiality agreements for all agents (e.g., employees, researchers, third parties, etc.)
• Entering into data sharing agreements with our hospital partners, researchers and other 45 entities
• A strict approval process for research proposals
• Implementing processes for the review of privacy and security policies and procedures by the POGO Privacy and Data Security Committee
• Regularly reviewing our policies to ensure they are compliant with current health information legislation and protection practices
• Maintaining a privacy and security audit program

The POGO Privacy and Data Security Committee is made up of the following POGO staff:

Chief Executive Officer
Medical Director
Privacy Officer
Program Coordinator, Data, Analytics, and Privacy

Find answers to frequently asked questions about protecting personal health information at POGO.
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Read our privacy brochure and access our triennial review and approval documentation on the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario website.
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Questions or concerns? Contact our Privacy Officer.
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