The Canadian Mesothelioma Foundation (CMF) is committed to protecting your privacy and complying with Ontario’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (“FIPPA”). This policy statement concerns how the CMF collects, uses, discloses and retains personal information about members of the Mesothelioma Health Network, members of CMF patient support groups, users of our services, and members of the general public.
What Is "personal information" and why does the CMF need it?
“Personal information" means recorded information about an identifiable individual. To qualify as Personal Information, the information must be about the individual in a personal capacity. Examples of information that could be Personal Information include your name, address, gender, date of birth, language preference, email address, telephone number, credit card information, personal opinions, Twitter user name or other social media user identification, and any other information stored in such a way that your identity could be determined. Work contact information (e.g., your office address and phone number) is not considered Personal Information.
The CMF may collect Personal Information from you in person, over the telephone, by mail, by fax, or through online services. The CMF uses Personal Information about you and your use of its website, https://www.cmfonline.org (the “website”), for various purposes, including:
- to provide our services;
- to maintain our records as required by law;
- to better understand your preferences;
- to track and analyze trends and patterns;
- to conduct and administer surveys and feedback;
- to comply with legal and regulatory requirements; and
- to send communications, including promotional campaigns, informing you about products and services.
The most common situations where the CMF may collect and use your Personal Information are set out below:
- Visiting the website
When you visit our website, we may collect information that is automatically sent to us by your web browser. This information may include your domain name and your numerical IP address. We may also collect other information, such as the type of browser you use, which pages you view, and the files you request. We use this information to better understand how visitors use our website and to improve our website to better meet your needs. The amount of information that is sent by your web browser depends on the browser and settings you use. Please refer to the instructions provided by your browser if you want to learn more about what information it sends to websites you visit or how you may change or restrict this.
The CMF does not collect, store, or disclose, without your consent, any Personal Information about the users of the website. With your consent, and for the purposes of operating the Mesothelioma Health Network, the CMF collects and stores Personal Information, such as your name, e-mail address, telephone number, and biographical information. The CMF also collects and stores anonymous demographic information, which is not unique to you, such as your workplace, city and country. The CMF does not collect, use or disclose sensitive Personal Information, such as race, religion, or political affiliations.
- Email and Other Communications
From time to time, the CMF may obtain your consent to send you emails and other communications about services, events or administrative functions. The CMF obtains consent for email communications. You can opt-out of receiving emails and notifications from us at any time by unsubscribing or by clicking on our “Contact Us” page on the website.
When you request that your name be removed from our databases, it may not be possible to completely delete all your Personal Information due to technical and legal constraints. However, you will not continue to receive emails from the CMF once you request removal of your name.
- Online Registration
You do not have to register to visit the CMF’s website. However, you may need to register and provide your Personal Information to be able to use some of the features offered through our online services (like, for example, the Mesothelioma Health Network). Your registration information is used to provide and administer the service you requested.
- Third-Party Links
The website contains links to other sites that we do not own or operate. We will not provide any of your Personal Information to these third parties without your consent. We provide links to third party websites as a convenience to the user. These links are not intended as an endorsement of or referral to the linked website. The linked websites have separate and independent privacy statements, notices and terms of use, which we recommend you read carefully. This Privacy Policy does not apply to such third-party websites and we are not responsible for the content of such third-party websites or the privacy practices of such third parties. Since the CMF has no control over such websites, the CMF has no responsibility or liability for the manner in which said organizations may use your Personal Information.
- Social Media and Networks
The CMF may use accounts on social networks, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and others to promote its services. The CMF’s social media accounts are publicly accessible, and your posts, comments, and replies to, and mentions of, the CMF may be publicly visible, depending on your privacy settings. Your privacy and the retention of information on social media accounts are governed by the privacy policies of the parties that operate these social networks. Some social networks may allow you to control the information you make available to the CMF and others. Users should review and agree to privacy agreements and terms and conditions of the parties that operate these networks prior to participating. As stated above, the CMF does not have any control over such platforms, and therefore it has no responsibility or liability for the manner in which the organizations that operate such linked platforms collect, use, disclose, secure and otherwise treat your Personal Information. The CMF may collect and measure information available to it about social media activity in order to provide content that is relevant and potentially interesting to users of these social media platforms.
Consent to collect, use or disclose your Personal Information
The CMF will only collect, use or disclose your Personal Information if we have your consent to do so. Consent may be written, oral, electronic, or implied, depending on the circumstances.
If you provide Personal Information to the CMF, you are deemed to consent to such use and disclosure of that Personal Information as may be reasonably necessary in order to maintain the CMF's records as may be required by law, to provide the services you have requested from us, or to address your request or complaint.
You can withdraw your consent to the collection, use or disclosure of your Personal Information at any time by telling us in writing that you wish to do so.
Use of your Personal Information
If you are a member of the Mesothelioma Health Network, the CMF collects and uses your Personal Information to operate the website and deliver the services you have requested.
The CMF or the Mesothelioma Health Network does not sell, rent or lease its membership lists to third parties. The CMF and/or the Mesothelioma Health Network may, from time to time, contact you on behalf of external partners about a particular offering that may be of interest to you (e.g., an upcoming conference, webinar or other educational opportunity). In those cases, your unique Personal Information (e-mail, name, telephone number) is not transferred to the third party, unless you have authorized us to do so.
The CMF keeps track of the webpages our customers visit within the website and the Mesothelioma Health Network, in order to determine what services and resources are the most popular. These data are used to customize content within the Mesothelioma Health Network and ensure that we are meeting the needs of members whose behaviour indicates that they are interested in a particular topic or subject area.
Disclosing, storing and correcting Personal Information
The CMF protects your Personal Information from unauthorized access, use or disclosure through technical and physical security measures. Your Personal Information may only be accessed by persons within CMF who require such access to provide you with the services indicated herein. However, no transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure since “perfect security” does not exist on the internet. Consequently, CMF does not represent, warrant, covenant or guarantee the complete security of your Personal Information that you have provided to CMF.
The CMF will only disclose your Personal Information upon your request, when it is reasonably necessary for us to do so, or when required by law.
The CMF will take reasonable steps to prevent the loss or theft of your Personal Information, and we will securely destroy that Personal Information when we no longer have a reasonable need for it.
The CMF will take reasonable steps to ensure that your Personal Information as provided by you and which we hold is accurate and complete, and to correct any errors or omissions which you bring to our attention.
Website analytics, privacy and cookies
The CMF uses website analytics to help us understand how visitors use the website and to improve our web services. The tool uses cookies to collect standard Personal Information (including your IP address) about visitors’ behavior in an anonymous form and stores this Personal Information on secure servers. Cookies are small text files sent to your computer when your browser visits a website. You have the ability to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer.
The CMF will not (and will not allow any third party to) use its analytics to collect Personal Information of visitors to the website. The CMF will use the anonymous information collected for the purpose of tracking your use of the website, compiling reports on activity of the website for website operators and providing other services relating the activity of the website and Internet usage.
By using the website, you consent to the processing of data about you by the CMF in the manner and for the purposes set out above. However, you can also choose to decline cookies by selecting the appropriate settings on your browser which will prevent the CMF from obtaining such data about you.
Questions, requests and complaints
The CMF will take reasonable steps to respond to your questions about the Personal Information that we have about you. Pursuant to the provisions of applicable privacy legislation, we will:
- advise you whether we have such Personal Information;
- advise you whether we have used or disclosed the Personal Information;
- provide you with access to your Personal Information; and
- change any inaccurate and incomplete Personal Information, where feasible.
Any questions, requests or complaints in relation to this policy statement should be directed to the CMF’s legal counsel by:
- Email: info@cmfonline.org
- Mail: 4302-50 Yorkville Ave, Toronto, ON, M4W 0A3
Changes to this policy statement
The CMF will occasionally update this policy statement to reflect the needs of the CMF in providing our services, and, feedback from members of the Mesothelioma Health Network and CMF patient groups. The CMF encourages you to periodically review this policy to be informed of how the CMF is protecting your Personal Information.