Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy of EcoSchools Canada

EcoSchools Canada respects each individual’s right to personal privacy. We collect and use information through the provision of our services, including our website, only in the ways disclosed in this policy. This policy is a public document which applies to information collected by EcoSchools Canada including information collected on our website and is intended for members, donors, staff and any visitor to our website.

Our Services and the Information We Collect

EcoSchools Canada is a registered charity that operates the EcoSchools Canada certification program.

The head office of EcoSchools Canada is in Toronto, Ontario.

EcoSchools Canada collects a variety of personal data, which may include your name, mailing address, email address, and other details, if any, necessary to provide these services. By choosing to provide your personal information to EcoSchools Canada or enter your personal information on our website you indicate your willingness to disclose this information to EcoSchools Canada, and to use the services of EcoSchools Canada. EcoSchools Canada does not collect credit card information. All donations or transactions take place through secure third-party sites.

What is Personal Information?

Personal information means information about an identifiable individual. This includes an individual’s name, home address and phone number, age, sex, marital or family status, an identifying number, financial information including credit card information, donation amounts and dates, educational and professional history, etc.  Personal information does not include anonymous or aggregate information that cannot be traced back to an identifiable individual.

How Do We Use and Disclose Your Personal Information?

We use your personal information to:

• Provide you with the services listed above;
• Do all the things necessary to administer those services;
• Market and promote the services of EcoSchools Canada;
• Carry out fundraising efforts in support of EcoSchools Canada charitable objects;
• Communicate with you; and
• Advise you, if appropriate, about upcoming events and other services that may be of interest to you.

We collect personal information through account registration, event registration, membership forms and internet tracking. Information regarding the web pages visited, length of visit and time of day, dates, first pages entered, browsers used, IP addresses, geographic area location and referring pages are collected through normal internet tracking programs. To receive our products, gifts and services, your name, address, telephone, e-mail is mandatory so that the gifts or purchases may be sent to the proper location and that information may be forwarded regarding discounts.

From time to time, personal information may be shared with volunteers and service providers known as affiliates. Such affiliates assist us in establishing, managing and maintaining our relationship with you, helping us to deliver  programming and providing products and services to EcoSchools Canada, such as mailing and fulfillment organizations and third party fundraising, ticketing or email marketing agencies. Such affiliates will only use your personal information for the purposes identified above and are bound by confidentiality agreements and commit to safeguarding your personal information. Note that in working with our service providers, your personal information may be transferred to a foreign jurisdiction to be processed or stored.

We employ the use of cookies on our website. A cookie is a small text file that our Web server places on a user’s computer hard drive to be a unique identifier. Cookies enable EcoSchools Canada to track usage patterns and deliver customized content to users. Our cookies do have an expiration date. Our cookies do not collect personally identifiable information.

We also offer links to other websites. Please note: When you click on links to other websites, we encourage you to read their privacy policies. Their standards may differ from ours.

Consent

We ask for consent to collect, use or disclose personal information, except in specific circumstances where collection, use or disclosure without consent is authorized or required by law. We may assume your implied consent in cases where you volunteer information for a specific service.

We ask for your express consent for some purposes and may not be able to provide certain services if you are unwilling to provide consent to the collection, use or disclosure of certain personal information.

We may also use your information to contact you about our own and designated EcoSchools delivery partners’ goods and services that may be of interest to you, as permitted by law. If you do not want us to use your information in this way, please do not opt into this consent, use the unsubscribe mechanism at the bottom of our e-mails and/or e-mail us at programs [at] ecoschools [dot] ca.

EcoSchools Canada and designated EcoSchools delivery partners will gain consent for commercial electronic message purposes prior to sending commercial messages (including emails), unless we have a pre-existing commercial relationship with the individual users, including donors, as in these particular cases consent is considered to be implied. Should EcoSchools Canada require personal information for a new purpose, express consent for that new use will be requested. Individuals that “Opt-Out” from receiving emails from EcoSchools Canada will be unsubscribed upon request.

EcoSchools Canada will also gain consent to use any photos uploaded by program participants, or submitted as part of program requirements. All pictures that clearly identify faces, whether adult, youth, or child, will not be used for any purpose unless an EcoSchools Canada photo release form has been submitted and accepted. Adults will sign a personal photo release form, and youth under 18 will have their parents or guardians review and sign their photo release form.

Where you have provided your consent to the collection, use, and transfer of your personal information, you may have the legal right to withdraw your consent under certain circumstances. To withdraw your consent, if applicable, contact us at programs [at] ecoschools [dot] ca. Please note that if you withdraw your consent we may not be able to provide you with a particular product or service.

Retention of Your Personal Information

EcoSchools Canada will retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purpose(s) for which it was collected and to comply with applicable laws and regulations. Unless specifically revoked in writing, your consent to such purposes will remain valid after collection and, if applicable, after your use of the EcoSchools Canada website.

EcoSchools Canada takes reasonable measures to ensure that personal information is kept safe from loss or theft, unauthorized access, use, copying, disclosure or modification. Safeguards include physical, organizational and technical measures, such as (but not limited to):

• security card access to premises;
• restriction of employee access to information on a “need to know” basis;
• confidentiality undertakings by all employees and affiliates; and,
• locking up personal information and not leaving it unattended or in plain view.

Personal information stored electronically by EcoSchools Canada is protected with the use of secured servers including cloud storage, which are secured and firewalled against intrusion and maintained within Canada.

How We Use and Disclose Personal Information

The information that we collect is for the sole purpose of providing the services listed above and any new services offered by EcoSchools Canada.

Personal information obtained by the website or collected in person, by telephone or by mail is used only for the intended purposes stated at the time that the information is collected. No notification and consent will be sought if EcoSchools Canada is compelled or required by applicable law, statute, regulation, ordinance, or court order to disclose personal data.

Nothing contained in this Privacy Policy is intended to create a contract or agreement between EcoSchools Canada and any user visiting the site or providing identifying information in any form.

Accessing Your Personal Information

You have certain rights in respect of the personal information that we hold about you, including:

• the right to request access to the information that we hold about you;
• the right to ask us to make changes to the information we hold about you to ensure that it is accurate and kept up to date; and
• the right to request that we delete information that we may hold about you.

You can exercise the rights set out above by writing to us at the details set out at the end of this Policy. We reserve the right to verify your identity before releasing any information to you.

Questions or Concerns?

Any questions or complaints regarding this policy of EcoSchools Canada, including requests for access to information, are to be made in writing and sent to: info@ecoschools.ca.

Amendments to this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be amended from time to time. Notification of any changes in the Privacy Policy will be posted on EcoSchools Canada’s website.

EcoSchools Canada Privacy Policy, February 2022.