Privacy Policy

Who we are

The Verna J. Kirkness Education Foundation (“VJKF”, “we”, “us”, or “our”) is a registered Canadian charity, registration number 82284 3629 RR 0001, with offices at #332–1641 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, BC V7M 2J5.

This policy describes how we handle personal information collected through this website, www.vernajkirkness.org, and through our program and scholarship applications.

Information we collect

Information you give us

When you contact us, apply to a program, apply for a scholarship, or make a donation, we may collect:

Your name and contact details, including email address, phone number, and mailing address
Information relevant to a program or scholarship application, including your school, grade, community, essays, and letters of recommendation
Where you are under 18, the name and contact details of a parent or guardian, and their signed consent
Travel, dietary, accessibility, and medical information necessary to host you safely during a program week
If you identify as First Nations, Métis, or Inuit, how you self-identify and, optionally, whether you hold documentation of that identity

We collect only what the application or your message asks for. Questions marked as optional can be left blank.

Information collected automatically

Like almost every website, our web host keeps standard server logs: the IP address a request came from, the page or file requested, the browser type, and the date and time. We use them only to keep the site secure and working, for example to stop automated spam, and they are kept for a limited period. We do not use them to build a profile of you.

Our application and contact forms also keep a short-lived, scrambled (one-way encoded) version of the connection’s IP address to limit how many submissions can come from one place, which protects the forms from abuse.

How we use your information

To assess and administer program and scholarship applications
To arrange travel, accommodation, meals, and mentorship for accepted students
To keep students, parents, guardians, schools, and mentors informed
To process donations and issue tax receipts
To send updates about our work where you have asked to receive them
To keep this website secure and working
To meet our legal, regulatory, and charitable reporting obligations

Sensitive information about minors

Our programs serve high school students, many of whom are under the age of majority. We collect information about minors only with the consent of a parent or guardian, use it solely to deliver and safeguard the program, and share it only with the university partners and staff who need it to host the student safely.

If you are a parent or guardian and wish to review, correct, or withdraw information about your child, contact us at info@vjkf.org.

How applications and messages are handled

When you submit a program application, it travels over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection and is saved on our secure server, outside the public part of the website, before being added to our constituent database (Salesforce). We then send a confirmation email to you and, where you have given one, to your parent or guardian. Documents you choose to email instead go to our Program Director.

Paper applications are sent to us by email. Our staff enter them into the same online system on the applicant’s behalf, with the applicant’s agreement, so they are handled exactly like an online application.

Messages sent through our contact form are saved on the same secure server and emailed to our staff so we can reply. They are not added to Salesforce.

What this website stores in your browser

This website does not use cookies or any advertising or analytics tracking. It uses your browser’s own storage for a few things that make the site work, all of which stay on your device and are never sent to us:

Your application in progress. As you fill in the application, your answers are saved in your browser so you can come back to them on the same device. They are removed when you submit, when you press “Clear my answers from this device”, or after 90 days. Uploaded documents are never stored this way. On a shared or public computer, please use “Clear my answers” when you’re done.
Your light or dark theme choice, if you change it.
Whether you have visited the Student Experience page, so the site knows not to suggest it again when you click Apply.

You can remove all of these at any time by clearing this site’s data in your browser settings.

Our donation page shows a form operated by our donation platform. When you use it, that platform’s own privacy policy applies to the information you give it.

Service providers

We share personal information with third parties only where necessary to operate our programs and organization. These include:

Salesforce — our constituent database, used to manage applications, scholars, mentors, and supporters
DreamHost — our web host, which runs this website and the secure server where applications and messages are first saved
Google Workspace — our email, used to send confirmations and to correspond with applicants, families, and schools
Our donation platform — used to process gifts and issue tax receipts
University partners — who receive the student information required to host a program week
Travel providers — airlines and accommodation providers, where travel is arranged on a student’s behalf

We do not sell your personal information.

How long we keep it

We retain personal information only as long as necessary for the purposes described here, including to meet legal obligations such as charitable receipting and reporting requirements, to resolve disputes, and to enforce our agreements. Alumni records are retained so that we can track long-term program outcomes and remain in contact with Kirkness Scholars.

Where your information is held

Your information may be processed and stored on servers located outside your province or country, including in the United States, where data protection laws may differ from those in your jurisdiction. Our website host’s servers, for example, are in the United States. We take reasonable steps to ensure your data is treated securely and in accordance with this policy.

Your rights

You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of the personal information we hold about you. You may also withdraw consent to receive communications at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email, or by contacting us directly.

We may need to retain certain information where we have a legal obligation or other lawful basis to do so.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your personal information. This website is served only over encrypted connections, applications and messages are stored outside the public website with access limited to our staff, and our website connects to Salesforce through its own restricted account. However, no method of transmission over the internet or method of electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Links to other websites

This site contains links to websites we do not operate, including our donation platform and our university partners. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those sites, and encourage you to review their policies.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Changes take effect when posted on this page, and we will update the “last updated” date above.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or about the information we hold:

Email: info@vjkf.org
Phone: (587) 814-0444
Mail: The Verna J. Kirkness Education Foundation, #332–1641 Lonsdale Avenue, North Vancouver, BC V7M 2J5