We, City of Guelph, take our privacy obligations seriously and we’ve created this privacy policy to explain how we treat your personal information collected for the Smart Cities initiative: Our Food Future.
The City/Smart Cities Office is committed to being open, accessible and transparent while protecting the privacy of individuals.
The City/Smart Cities Office complies with the regulations set out in the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) and the Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) when collecting, using, and disclosing personal information. You can find more information about your privacy rights at the web site of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, https://www.ipc.on.ca/individuals/.
Personal information is recorded information about an identifiable individual such as name, address, age, etc. It does not include information about individuals acting in a business, professional or official capacity (e.g. name, job title, and business contact information).
Privacy protection
The City/Smart Cities Office will not collect your personal information unless it is authorized to do so. When collecting personal information, the following practices will be followed to ensure compliance with MFIPPA/PHIPA:
- Personal information collected will be limited to only that which is required in order to administer the programs and services of the City/Smart Cities Office.
- When collecting personal information the City/Smart Cities Office will:
- Collect personal information directly from the individual to whom the information relates, with limited exceptions;
- Take reasonable steps to ensure the accuracy of personal information collected;
- Provide notice or obtain the necessary consent prior to collection;
- Inform individuals of the legal authority by which the information is being collected;
- State the principal purpose(s) for which the personal information will be used;
- Provide contact information for a City/Smart Cities Office staff member that can answer questions regarding the collection and use of the personal information.
Personal information collected by the City/Smart Cities Office will only be used for the purpose for which it was collected or a consistent purpose.
Personal information will not be retained for longer than is required for the provision of City/Smart Cities Office programs and services, in accordance with the City’s records retention by-law or subject to legislation.
The City/Smart Cities Office takes reasonable steps to ensure that personal information is protected against unauthorized access, use or destruction as well as loss or theft.
The disclosure of personal information is administered in accordance with MFIPPA, PHIPA and City/Smart Cities Office procedures.
Privacy and notices of collection
A notice of collection statement will be provided any time personal information is collected by the City/Smart Cities Office or one of our project collaborators. This includes forms, surveys and in person engagement sessions. Participation in all City/Smart Cities Office initiatives is voluntary.
All Our Food Future notices will clearly state:
- That personal information is being collected by the City/Smart Cities Office or collaborator and the legal authority by which the information is being collected (e.g. Municipal Act);
- What the purpose of that collection is (ex. to inform an Our Food Future study or report);
- When applicable, whether or not personal information and opinions will be confidential or will be shared in any way;
- Direct phone and email contact for the Information and Access Coordinator (519-822-1260 extension 2349 / [email protected]); and
- The phone and email contact for the City/Smart Cities Office staff member, or collaborator, managing the initiative the information is being collected for.
The City/Smart Cities Office will post all notices of collection for telephone surveys in the Public Notices section of the City’s online newsroom at guelph.ca/news.
The City/Smart Cities Office or a collaborator will never ask members of the public for financial information or insist that a financial transaction be completed as part of a telephone survey.
Website privacy policy
By visiting foodfuture.ca visitors are accepting the practices described in this policy and agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this Privacy Policy.
Personal information
No personally identifiable information is automatically collected about visitors who simply browse the Our Food Future web site or who download information from it. Personal information is gathered only when a visitor knowingly provides such specific information on a voluntary basis. Personal information may be disclosed to collaborators directly associated with Our Food Future; however, no personal information will be disclosed to any other third party unless visitors were advised otherwise at the point and time of collection or the City/Smart Cities Office is required to under legislation or by the Government of Canada or the Province of Ontario.
Logging practices
The City of Guelph’s web server logs visitor activity to help manage the website. Information stored in logs does not identify visitors personally. The Our Food Future website is hosted on the City’s server.
We use cookies to understand how you use foodfuture.ca
We are constantly improving foodfuture.ca to make it useful to you. In order to do this, we gather statistics about which pages you visit while on the website. These statistics help us track the number of visitors and determine where to put information so it is easier to find.
We gather this information by placing a temporary file, called a “cookie”, on your hard drive.
This cookie does not collect any information we could use to identify you, such as your name, address, email address or phone number. It collects information such as:
- Your IP address (a series of numbers that are automatically assigned to your computer when you go online).
- The type of web browser and operating system you use.
- The date and time you visited the site.
- Which pages you visited.
- The order you visited the pages.
- How long you spent on each page.
- The page you entered the site on.
- The last page you looked at before you left.
Third party cookies
When visiting our site, your browser may receive longer-term cookies from Google, a third party. Consequently, Google may track your online activities across other websites.
If you are concerned about cookies you can adjust your web browser settings to reject them. This, however, may impact your use of City websites, including foodfuture.ca, and services. Please consult your browser settings (and browser plugins) which allow you to configure whether and how you receive cookies.
Third parties
The City collects and analyzes website usage data strictly for internal purposes. We do not sell, rent, exchange, or otherwise disclose any information that we collect about our website visitors to third parties, except as required by law.
External links
The Our Food Future site has links to other sites that may collect personally identifiable information about visitors. This privacy policy does not cover third party data collection practices and the City/Smart Cities Office does not assume any responsibility for the actions of third parties.
Disclaimer
Site ownership and operation
Foodfuture.ca is owned and operated by the Corporation of the City of Guelph. The site is coordinated and maintained by Information Technology (IT). Web content is produced by the Smart Cities Office, a department within the City.
Accuracy
Every effort is made to ensure the information on the Our Food Future web site is timely and accurate; however, information should be verified independently before being used or relied on. Contact the Smart Cities Office. All information is provided on an “as is” basis without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, statutory or otherwise. The City/Smart Cities Office does not warrant or make any representations as to the quality, content, accuracy or completeness of the information, text, graphics, links and other items contained on its web site. The City/Smart Cities Office makes no warranties, express or implied as to the fitness of the information for any purpose, or to results obtained by individuals using the information and is not responsible for any action taken in reliance on the information contained herein. Material is provided as general information only and is not intended to provide specific legal advice for any individual and should not be relied upon in that regard.
Email communications
Communications made through the Our Food Future web site email and messaging system is for convenience only and shall not be deemed to constitute legal notice to the City/Smart Cities Office or any of its officers, agents, agencies, employees or representatives with respect to any existing or potential claim or cause of actions or for any other purpose unless the Our Food Future web site states otherwise or unless the law expressly provides otherwise.
External links
The Our Food Future site contains links to other web sites that meet the following criteria:
- Official government site (i.e. Federal, Provincial, Municipal and government-funded agencies, boards, local government associations, local elected officials.)
- A site which is deemed to be of interest to our visitors, and is in keeping with the City of Guelph’s Mission Statement, Vision and Core Values (i.e. businesses, organizations or community groups), and the goals of the Our Food Future initiative.
- Prospective sites will be reviewed to ensure that, in the sole opinion and discretion of the City/Smart Cities Office they are in keeping with the above criteria. The City/Smart Cities Office reserves the right to accept or deny any requests for references to or links to third party sites. The City/Smart Cities Office is not responsible for, and does not endorse, the information on any linked web site unless the Our Food Future web site states otherwise.
Contact us
For further information about our privacy policy and related information practices, or to access or correct your personal information, or make a complaint, please contact us on [email protected].