Privacy Policy
Humane Canada is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that understands and is committed to the protection of individual privacy. To help ensure the personal information that we hold is secure and used in a responsible and respectful manner, we have developed a Privacy Protection Policy. It governs the collection, use, disclosure and disposition of personal information by Humane Canada.
Definition and Collection of Personal Information
We consider “Personal Information” to mean any information, recorded in any form, about an identified individual or an individual whose identity may be inferred or determined from such information, other than business contact information (i.e.: name, title, business address). Personal information may include race, age, marital status, religion, employment history, credit history, assets, home address, home telephone number, identifiable photos and donor histories and files.
Personal information may be provided to us through correspondence, online donations, event or program registration, contest entries, requests for information, surveys, questionnaires, sales of products or services or other forms of communication.
This information may be collected and used by Humane Canada for the purposes of:
processing and receipting a donation or order
recognizing a contribution
identifying attendees at an event
responding to information and product requests
completing product orders or shipping contest prizes
providing publications/products and email news or updates you have requested
providing and/or evaluating a service
Entering your information helps us to ensure that we can acknowledge and issue correct charitable receipts to donors, as well as provide products, information and services such as news alerts and action bulletins.
In addition, Google Analytics tracks general information about visitors, such as their domain name, time of visit, IP address and which pages are being accessed. This information is used only in aggregate form, to perform statistical analyses of user behaviour and characteristics, in order to measure interest in and use of the various sections of our site(s) so as to improve design and navigation and to gather marketing information for internal purposes only.
Disclosure of your Personal Information
Humane Canada does not sell its donor list. If it rents, exchanges or otherwise shares its donor list, it will abide by the Canadian Marketing Association Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice and honour donors’ requests to be excluded from such lists.
Humane Canada may disclose your personal information to individuals or organizations that are our service providers. Where we disclose personal information to individuals or organizations that perform services on our behalf, we will require those service providers to use such information solely for the purposes of providing services to Humane Canada and to have appropriate safeguards for the protection of that personal information.
Please note that there are circumstances where the use and/or disclosure of personal information may be justified or permitted or where Humane Canada is obliged to disclose information without consent.
Such circumstances may include:
Where required by law or by order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or governmental tribunal
Where Humane Canada believes, upon reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of an identifiable person or group
Where it is necessary to establish or collect monies owing to Humane Canada
Where it is necessary to permit Humane Canada to pursue available remedies or limit any damages that we may sustain
Where the information is public
Where obliged or permitted to disclose information without consent, Humane Canada will never disclose more information than is required.
Your Consent
Unless permitted by law, no personal information is collected without first obtaining the consent of the individual concerned to the collection, use and dissemination of that information. Donors’ requests to remain anonymous are honoured. However, we will seek consent to use and disclose personal information after it has been collected in those cases where we wish to use the information for a new or different purpose and the individual concerned has not yet consented to such a use of their personal information.
By using our website or providing personal information to Humane Canada, you agree and consent that we may collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with this policy. In addition, where appropriate, specific authorizations or consents may be obtained from time to time.
Humane Canada adheres to the privacy principles from the federal Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) as laid out in this present Privacy Policy.
In most cases, and subject to legal and contractual restrictions, you are free to refuse or withdraw your consent at any time upon reasonable advance notice. It should be noted that in certain circumstances, services and products can only be offered if you provide personal information to Humane Canada. Consequently, if you choose not to provide us with any required personal information, we may not be able to offer you the services or products requested.
Safeguarding Your Personal Information
Humane Canada stores personal information in databases and files in Ottawa, Canada and in a cloud on our server. All employees, volunteers, agents and authorized service providers of Humane Canada are required to protect the confidentiality of personal information. Humane Canada maintains appropriate technical and organizational safeguards to protect personal information against loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. We protect personal information by restricting access to those employees, volunteers and other individuals that the management of Humane Canada has determined need to know that information in order that we may provide our services.
Donors and shoppers on humanecanada.ca are linked to an industry standard secure payment service for credit card transactions that is encrypted with SSL
Accuracy and Retention of Your Personal Information
Humane Canada makes reasonable efforts to keep your personal information accurate, complete and up-to-date. Our site allows you to choose to receive or stop receiving communications from us.
We keep your personal information only as long as it is required for the reasons it was collected. The length of time we retain information varies, depending on the service and the nature of the information. This period may extend beyond the end of a person’s relationship with us, but it will be only for so long as it is necessary for us to have sufficient information to respond to any issues that may arise at a later date.
When your personal information is no longer required for Humane Canada’s™ purposes, we have procedures to destroy, delete, erase or convert it into an anonymous form.
Access To Your Personal Information
Humane Canada permits the reasonable right of access and review of personal information held by us about an individual and will endeavour to provide the information in question within a reasonable time, generally no later than 30 days following the request.
Humane Canada reserves the right not to change any personal information but will append any alternative text the individual concerned believes to be appropriate. We also reserve the right to decline to provide access to personal information where the information requested:
Would disclose (i) personal information, including opinions, about another individual or about a deceased individual; or ii) trade secrets or other confidential business information that may harm Humane Canada or the competitive position of a third party;
Would interfere with contractual or other negotiations of Humane Canada or a third party;
Is subject to solicitor-client, litigation or other legal privilege;
Is not readily retrievable and the burden or cost of providing it would be disproportionate to the nature or value of the information;
Does not exist, is not held, or cannot be found by Humane Canada;
Could reasonably result in (i) serious harm to the treatment or recovery of the individual concerned, (ii) serious emotional harm to the individual concerned or another individual, or (iii) serious bodily harm to another individual;
May harm or interfere with law enforcement activities and other investigative or regulatory functions of a body authorized by law to perform such functions; or
May be withheld or is requested to be withheld under applicable legislation.
Resolving Your Privacy Concerns
In the event of questions about: (i) access to your personal information; (ii) our collection, use, management or disclosure of personal information; or (iii) this Policy; please contact us by sending an email to info@humanecanada.ca or calling 1-888-678-2347.
Humane Canada will investigate all complaints and, if a complaint is justified, we will take all reasonable steps to resolve the issue.
Please check back for updates to our Privacy Protection Policy. We may change the terms of this policy from time to time in order to reflect new practices. Any changes will be clearly displayed online. Any information collected by us will be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of our policy that were in effect at the time of collection.
