At the Canadian Cancer Society (the "Society" or "CCS"), we recognize the importance of privacy and are committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality and security of your personal information. This privacy policy describes the personal information that the Society collects related to the Online Community, how we manage that information and the circumstances under which we may disclose that information.
The Society's privacy policy is based upon the Ethical Fundraising and Financial Accountability Code of Imagine Canada (formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy), the Canadian Standards Association's Model Code as well as the requirements of applicable privacy legislation. As this policy is subject to change due to legal and regulatory requirements, we encourage you to periodically check our website for updates to this policy.
"CancerConnection/ParlonsCancer.ca", or "we", "us" or "our", as used in this Privacy Policy, means the online community owned and operated by the Canadian Cancer Society ("Online Community").
Personal information is any information that can identify an individual, such as their name, address, or age. It includes information which relates to an "identifiable individual" where the individual could be identified through the use of that information, either alone or in combination with other information. Some business contact information, such as the name, title, or business address of any employee of an organization, may not constitute personal information. Information that is publicly available, such as a telephone book listing, is also not considered to be personal information.
Your provision of personal information to the Society means that you agree and consent that we may collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not provide any personal information to the Society.
When you visit, access or use the Online Community, we may generally collect two types of information:
The Online Community provides a forum in which you may share your experiences with cancer and connect with other people affected by cancer over the Internet. Anyone can view content on the Online Community without registration. In order to contribute and interact on the Online Community, however, you will need to register.
When you register with the Online Community, you will be required to create a user profile and provide us with your first and last name, a chosen username and "nickname", your email address and a password.
You will be asked to create a unique nickname; nobody else will be able to post to the site using that name. You will be known to other users of this Site only by your nickname, unless you otherwise identify yourself. When you create a nickname, we encourage you to select a pen name or pseudonym that does not include identifying personal information.
You can also provide more personal information in the profile section (e.g., your cancer diagnosis, whether you have cancer or are caring for someone with cancer) so other similar users can connect more easily with you.
You submit and contribute to the Online Community at your own discretion. Keep in mind that most user content you post on the Online Community will be available to the general public. You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose any personal information in a publicly-available forum such as the Online Community.
Any improper collection or misuse of information provided on the Online Community is a violation of the CancerConnection/ParlonsCancer.ca Terms of Use and should be reported to privacyoffice@cancer.ca.
We use your personal information for the following purposes:
In addition, registered users can choose to receive information regarding the Society that we think you may find valuable. Should you opt-in to this service, we will use your full name and your e-mail address to send you such communications.
Note that you can withdraw consent or opt-out of receiving Society information that you may have previously requested by changing your account preferences online or by sending an email request to cancerconnection@cancer.ca.
In order to improve our site on an ongoing basis, we use cookies to track your visit. These types of data are used to track site usage in an aggregate manner and to improve the services provided on the Online Community.
A cookie is a small amount of data that is transferred to your browser by a web server and can only be read by the website that gave it to you. It functions as your identification card. It is not a program and cannot be executed as code or deliver viruses.
Cookies can also customize the site to your particular interests or store your personal information, such as passwords or user IDs. If a site ever greets you with your name, chances are it's using a cookie to do so.
Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a cookie this gives you the chance to decide whether to accept it. The alerts will be quite frequent, however, and may eventually become annoying. You can also use the Online Community without cookies, but you may have to re-enter information each time you visit.
To learn more about cookies and how to change your settings, please use the help function in your browser.
The Society aims to ensure that any personal information provided is accurate, complete and current as required for the purposes for which the information is used.
We understand you may not want everyone to see the information you create on the Online Community; that is why we give you control of your information. Your privacy settings are intended to allow you to make informed choices about who has access to your personal information.
When you register with the Online Community, you create your profile with as much or as little detail as you wish. You can also choose from three options related to who can see your profile: it can be seen by anyone who visits the site, only registered users you designate as "friends", or it can remain "private" so it cannot be viewed by others at all. You can edit your profile and adjust the viewing settings at any time.
Regardless of the settings you create, identifying information like your real name, local address, email and chosen user name will never be visible to others. Only your nickname is displayed to other users of the Online Community. For example, your nickname appears when you post a message to a discussion forum or as the author of the stories you write in blogs. We recommend that you pick a nickname that does not include identifying information.
Please remember that any information posted publicly on a social network (for example the comments you post in discussion forums or stories you write in blogs) becomes public information that can be searched by Internet search engines such as Google.
There are some circumstances in which certain personal information may be disclosed or accessible to third parties. Examples include the following:
The Society and registered users of the Online Community may provide links to other websites. As the Society has no control over the content of any of these websites, these links may be updated or deleted as the Society deems appropriate.
Please be aware that the Society is not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites that we link to. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every website that requests personal information from you.
Consent to the collection, use and disclosure of personal information may be given in various ways. Consent can be expressed (for example, orally, electronically or on a form you agree to describing the intended uses and disclosures of personal information) or implied (for example, when you provide information necessary for a service you have requested). You may provide your consent in some circumstances where notice has been provided to you about our intentions with respect to your personal information and you have proceeded to obtain our products or services using an "opt-out" option provided, if any. Consent may be given by your authorized representative (such as a legal guardian or a person having a power of attorney). Generally, by providing us with personal information, we will assume that you consent to our collection, use and disclosure of such information for the purposes identified or described in this Privacy Policy, if applicable, or otherwise at the time of collection.
You may withdraw your consent to our collection, use and disclosure of personal information, subject to contractual and legal restrictions and reasonable notice, and provided that any consent you have given for certain purposes will be valid for so long as necessary to fulfill those purposes. The Online Community may be required or permitted under statute or regulation to collect, use or disclose personal information without your consent, for example to comply with a court order, or to comply with local or federal regulations or a legally permitted inquiry by a government agency.
Access and control over most personal information on the Online Community is readily edited through the profile editing feature. Registered users may modify their profile information at any time by logging into their account. Individuals who wish to deactivate their Online Community account may do so by emailing us at cancerconnection@cancer.ca and making this request.
Removed information may persist in backup copies for a reasonable period of time but will not be generally available to members of the Online Community. You understand and acknowledge that, even after removal of your user content from our systems, copies of your user content may remain viewable in cached and archived pages or if other users have viewed, copied or stored your user content.
Where you make use of the communication features of the service to share information with other individuals on the Online Community, however, you generally cannot remove such communications, for example, if you send a message to another user via the private messaging feature.
Only our employees and those of our services providers who require it for the purposes of their duties will have access to the file containing your personal information, which will be kept at our offices or on our servers.
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or would like to request access to or correction of your personal information, please contact:
Privacy Officer
Canadian Cancer Society
55 St. Clair Ave West, Suite 300 Toronto, ON M4V 2Y7
E-mail: privacyoffice@cancer.ca
Please note that as we cannot guarantee the security of Internet mail, all formal requests to access personal information should be made in writing.
Please note that a fee may apply in processing your request depending on the type and volume of information requested.
If you are not happy with the way that the Society has handled your inquiry, or have a concern about the Society's privacy practices that you feel we have not addressed satisfactorily, you can contact the Privacy Commissioner of Canada at:
112 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 1H3
Tel: 1 800 282-1376
Fax: (613) 947-6850
While the Society has attempted to create a policy which applies to all Canadians accessing the Online Community, privacy laws in some provinces are different than those in Ontario (where the Society's National Office is based) or under federal Canadian law. Thus, Canadian individuals accessing this policy who reside in B.C., Alberta or Quebec should check with their Division Society office concerning the additional privacy practices that may apply in those provinces to the provision of personal information by BC, Alberta or Quebec residents.
© 2004. 2011. 2012 Canadian Cancer Society
Last modified on: 9 October 2012