Privacy

SCC is a federal Crown corporation. We are committed to a website that respects our visitors’ privacy. All personal information within our control is governed by the Privacy Act.

This Privacy Notice explains:

why and how we collect, use, retain, disclose and dispose of your personal information
how you can control your personal information and make informed choices about certain preferences and settings

Your privacy and the Internet

When you visit a website, web servers automatically collect certain information about your visit. This includes collecting your Internet Protocol (IP) address.

IP addresses are unique numbers assigned by Internet Service Providers (ISP). They are assigned to all devices used to access the Internet. Web servers automatically log the IP address of visitors to their sites.

The IP address does not identify a person. However, in certain circumstances (such as with the cooperation of an ISP), it could be used to identify an individual using the site. For this reason, SCC considers the IP address to be personal information, especially when combined with other data collected automatically.

Examples of data collected include:

when a visitor requests a web page
visits to pages
date and time of the visit

Unless otherwise noted, SCC does not automatically gather any specific information from you. We do not collect your name, telephone number or email address. SCC can only obtain this type of information if you supply it to us, for example by:

providing your information by email
filling in a contact form
creating an account

In these cases, how your personal information is handled will be provided in a Privacy Statement.

In cases where services are provided by organizations outside of SCC (such as social media platforms), IP addresses may be recorded by the web server of the third-party service provider.

Digital markers (including cookies)

A digital marker is a resource created by the visitor’s browser. It’s there to remember certain pieces of information for the web server to reference during the same (or subsequent) visit to the website.

Examples of digital markers include:

cookies
HTML5 web storage

Digital markers can do a variety of things, including:

allowing a website to recognize a previous visit each time the visitor accesses the site
tracking the information viewed on a site to help website administrators ensure visitors find what they are looking for

SCC uses digital markers on some portions of our website. During your online visit, your browser exchanges data with SCC’s web server.

The digital markers used do not allow SCC to identify individuals.

If you want, you may adjust your browser settings to reject digital markers, including cookies. However, it may affect your ability to interact with SCC’s website.

Communicating with SCC

If you choose to send SCC an email or complete a feedback form online, your personal information is used by SCC to respond to your inquiry.

SCC does not:

use the information to create individual profiles
disclose the information to anyone other than to those in SCC who need to provide you with a response

Any disclosure of your personal information is done in accordance with the Privacy Act.

Emails and other electronic methods used to communicate with SCC are not secure unless it is specifically stated on a web page. We recommend that you do not send sensitive personal information through non-secure electronic means, including your:

Social Insurance Number
date of birth

Personal information from emails or completed feedback forms is collected pursuant to the Standards Council of Canada Act. This information may be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. It is included in the Personal Information Bank – Public Communications (PSU 914).

Third-party social media

SCC uses social media as an extension of its presence on the web. Social media accounts are public and are not hosted on SCC’s servers. Users who choose to interact with us via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications you use to access them.

Third-party service providers that SCC uses include:

Personal information that you provide to SCC via social media accounts is collected under the authority of the Standards Council of Canada Act. This information is collected to capture conversations between you and SCC. Examples of conversations include questions and answers, comments, likes and retweets.

The personal information may be used to respond to inquiries. It may also be used for statistical, evaluation and reporting purposes. Comments posted that violate Canadian law will be deleted and disclosed to law enforcement authorities. Comments that violate our rules of engagement will also be deleted. The personal information is included in Personal Information Bank – Outreach Activities (PSU 938).

Web analytics

Web analytics is the collection, analysis, measurement and reporting of data about web traffic and visits. It’s done for the purpose of understanding and optimizing web usage. Information in digital markers may be used for the purpose of web analytics to remember your online interactions with the scc.ca website.

When your computer requests an SCC web page, information is collected for web analytics. This may include the:

IP address of the device that contacted the site
type of browser used
type of operating system used
date and time of the visit
pages visited and documents downloaded

Such data may be used for:

communications and information technology statistical purposes
audit
evaluation
research
planning
reporting

SCC collects this information under the authority of the Standards Council of Canada Act.

SCC uses Google Analytics. The information collected is disclosed to Google, an external third-party service provider. Your IP address is anonymized prior to being stored on the service provider’s servers in order to help safeguard your privacy. The information collected is de-personalized by removing the final octet of your IP address before analysis of the data occurs.

Google is based in the United States of America (USA). This means that the data collected is transmitted outside of Canada and may be subject to USA laws, including the USA Patriot Act.

You may opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics. To do this, you can:

disable or refuse the cookies
disable JavaScript within your browser
use a Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On

For more information about the Google Analytics privacy policies, visit Google Analytics Privacy & Terms.

The information produced by web analytics is disposed of in accordance with the Government of Canada’s Directive on Privacy Practices.

Protecting the security of the SCC website

SCC uses technologies to identify:

unauthorized access to its systems
attempts to breach or compromise systems
attempts to cause damage

Such technologies will record IP addresses and log activities in SCC’s systems. This information can be used to identify individuals if attempts to damage the systems listed above are detected.

This information is collected pursuant to section 161 of the Financial Administration Act. The information may be shared with appropriate law enforcement authorities if suspected criminal activities are detected. Such information may be used for network security related statistical purposes, audit, evaluation, research, planning and reporting. It is included in Personal Information Bank – Security Incidents (PSU 939).

Inquiring about these practices

You may direct any questions, comments, concerns or complaints about the administration of the Privacy Act and privacy policies related to SCC’s web presence to SCC’s Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator.

Contact:
•    email: atip-aiprp@scc-ccn.ca
•    telephone: 613-238-3222
•    mail:

Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator
55 Metcalfe St., Suite 600
Ottawa, Ontario
K1P 6L5

If you are not satisfied with SCC’s response to your privacy concern, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner by telephone at 1-800-282-1376.