Policy on Confidentiality and Information Technology

All documents and information provided to and by McGill University and Affiliated Hospital Research Institutes’ Animal Care Committees or Offices for the purpose of reviewing the institutional animal care and use program as well as all information obtained during protocol review, site visits, and all notes and reports related to the review, assessment process and visits, requires permission to use or share outside the institution/institutes and are subject to applicable privacy protection legislation.

Therefore, these documents and information, and any discussions thereof, must be treated as strictly confidential and may not be used for any purpose beyond that for which they were originally intended as defined in the Policies on the Study and Care of Animals and the Animal Care Committee’s Terms of Reference. 

All materials related to the review process must be stored in a secure manner to prevent unauthorized access. They must be transmitted using secure carriers and technologies. When documentation is no longer required, it must be destroyed using a secure method such as burning or shredding or returned to the committee for destruction. All inquiries received should be referred to the Animal Care Committee’s Chair or the McGill Animal Compliance Office.

This also applied to the on-line software Darwin in addition to the standard Information Technology policy.