Privacy policy

At the Canadian Cancer Society (the “Society”), we recognize the importance of privacy and are committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality, and security of your personal information. This privacy policy describes the personal information that the Society collects, how we manage that information and the circumstances under which we may disclose that information.

The Society’s privacy policy is based upon the Canadian Standards Association’s Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information as well as the requirements of applicable privacy legislation. As this policy is subject to change due to legal and regulatory requirements, we encourage you to periodically check our website or call our Privacy Office at 1 800 268-8874, ext. 2257 for updates to this policy.

• What is personal information?

  Personal information is any information about an identifiable individual, other than an individual’s business title or business contact information. Personal information (e.g. name, address, age, credit card information, banking information) does not include information that cannot be associated with or tracked back to a specific individual. Information that is publicly available, such as a telephone directory listing, is also not considered to be personal information.

• What information does the Society collect?

  1) Personally identifying information

  The Society only collects personally identifying information about donors, clients, volunteers and event participants for fundraising, public education and advocacy purposes, program and service delivery, as well as to establish, maintain and manage our relationship with you.

  Your provision of personal information to the Society means that you agree and consent that we may collect, use and disclose your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. If you do not agree with these terms, please do not provide any personal information to the Society. Failure to provide your personal information to the Society may prevent us from offering you the services and/or programs you have requested. We will discuss the impacts of withdrawal of consent with you at that time.

  The information the Society collects is the minimum amount we need to establish and maintain a service, volunteer, participant, donor or program relationship with you. This includes but is not limited to:

  • contact and identification information, such as your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address
  • donation information such as date of gift, amount of gift, the campaign you contributed to, name of spouse or partner if it was a joint gift
  • financial information such as your payment methods and preferences, billing and banking information (credit card number and expiry date or chequing account transit numbers, in order to process your donation); for online financial transactions such as donations and event registrations, we process standard credit card information (card number, card type and expiration date) via a secure, 128-bit encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) session. SSL is the proven standard for secure web transactions.

  We may be required by law to collect certain information about you. For example, some of the information the Society collects is needed in order to satisfy the requirements of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) (e.g. processing income tax receipts).

  The Society generally collects your personal information directly from you and only with your consent. However, if the individual who has a relationship with the Society is a minor, information may be collected from a parent or legal guardian. In general, the Society will not collect or use personal information about you from a third party without your consent. The Society will usually obtain your consent at the time that we collect your personal information. If your personal information will be used or disclosed for any additional purposes that are not outlined in this policy, the Society will advise you of these new purposes before such use or disclosure.

  (2) Website practices on cancer.ca

  Usage tracking

  Our websites may automatically record some general information about your visit using Google Analytics which we use for statistical analysis to help make sure our sites are more useful to visitors and make the most efficient use of donor dollars in our marketing efforts through targeted advertising.  This information does not allow us to identify you individually. This information might include the:

  • Internet domain for your Internet service provider, such as “company.com” or “service.ca” and the IP address of the computer accessing the website, such as “ppp-55”;
  • Type of browser you are using, such as Internet Explorer or Chrome;
  • Type of operating system you are using such as Windows or Macintosh;
  • Date and time of the visit to our site,  the pages of our site that were visited, and the address of the previous website you were visiting if you linked to us from another website
  • Age category, gender, and affinity interests as determined by Google Analytics Demographic and Interest reports

  If you wish, you may opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics by disabling or refusing the cookies; by disabling JavaScript within your browser; or by using the Google Analytics Opt-Out Browser Add-On.

  Data collected for Web analytics purposes goes outside of Canada to Google servers and may be processed in any country where Google operates servers. Data may be subject to the governing legislation of that country. For further information about Google Analytics, please refer to the Google Analytics terms of service.

  Cookies

  We also use "cookies" that identify you as a return visitor and which can help us tailor information to suit your individual preferences. A cookie is a piece of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then store the cookie on your hard drive. The goal is to save you time and provide you with a more meaningful visit and to measure website activity. Cookies do not contain any personally identifying information. Many browsers, however, allow you to disable cookie collection if you wish, or inform you when a cookie is being stored on your hard drive.

  Targetedadvertising

  As you interact with Canadian Cancer Society websites, third party advertising partners may use cookies that we place on your computer, tracking pixels, web beacons and similar technologies to identify you as a visitor to our websites, and present you with targeted ads to help us promote the Society. You can opt-out of the use of your information for select ad targeting by visiting this site: http://youradchoices.ca/choices, and also by setting up “Do Not Track” options available through your browser. We also occasionally provide your personal information to trusted advertising partners for the purpose of presenting you with targeted ads on behalf of the Society. You can request that your personal information not be shared with our advertising partners by contacting privacy@ontario.cancer.ca

  Online transactions

  We protect the security of your transactions on our website by using SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) web server certificates that offer secure communications by encrypting all data going to and from the Canadian Cancer Society websites.

  External Links

  This policy discloses the privacy practices for our websites.   The Society provides links to other websites which the Society believes may be of interest to you. As the Society has no control over the content of any of these websites, these links may be updated or deleted as the Society deems appropriate.

  Please be aware that the Society is not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites that we link to. We encourage you to read the privacy statements of each and every website that requests personal information from you.

  Third-Party Social Media

  The Canadian Cancer Society’s use of social media serves as an extension of its presence on the internet. Social media account(s) are public and are not hosted on Canadian Cancer Society servers. Users who choose to interact with the Canadian Cancer Society via social media should read the terms of service and privacy policies of these third-party service providers and those of any applications used to access them.
• How does the Society use your personal information?

  As explained above, the Society uses your personal information, to process donations, to respond to your requests for services and information, to keep you informed about Society activities, and for fundraising. For example, if you have expressed an interest in participating in a fundraising event, such as Relay for Life, we may send you information about other opportunities to support or participate in the Society’s activities.

  The Society makes every attempt to use anonymous or aggregate information whenever possible. We may also use information that doesn’t personally identify you in the following ways:

  • to assist in the development of new programs, events, and services
  • to provide donation recipients with summary or aggregate information about our donations, programs and services
  • for internal research purposes
  • to develop advertising based on donor preferences
• When does the Society disclose your personal information?

  The Society shares your personal information only with employees and/or volunteers who require such information to establish, manage and maintain our relationship with you. We may also disclose your personal information to third party service providers whom we engage to fundraise, process your donation, deliver a support service, support your volunteer activities,  or answer your inquiry. These third party providers only have access to personal information that is needed to perform their services and may not use it for any other purpose. They are bound by agreements that obligate them to protect your personal information. Note that in working with our service providers, your personal information may be accessible in, or transferred to, a foreign jurisdiction. Such information may be provided to law enforcement or national security authorities of that jurisdiction in order to comply with foreign laws.

  There are circumstances where the use and/or disclosure of personal information is justified or permitted without consent. These circumstances may include:

  • where required by law or by order or requirement of a court, administrative agency or other governmental tribunal
  • where the Society believes, upon reasonable grounds, that it is necessary to protect the rights, privacy, safety or property of an identifiable person or group
  • where the information is public

  Fundraising helps to ensure the on-going stability and quality of the services and programs the Society provides to individuals living with cancer. As part of our fundraising initiatives, we may exchange donor information with other registered charities. If you do not wish the Society to trade your name in this manner, or if you do not want to receive any marketing or fundraising materials from the Society, you can contact our Privacy Office at privacy@ontario.cancer.ca, at 1 800 268-8874 extension 2257, or write us at Privacy Office, Canadian Cancer Society – Ontario Division, 55 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 500, Toronto, Ontario M4V 2Y7. Please allow up to 12 weeks for your request to be processed, as campaigns may already be in progress.

• Accuracy of information

  The Society aims to ensure that any personal information provided is accurate, complete and current as required for the purposes for which the information is used.

• Safeguarding your personal information

  The Society 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, including but not limited to:

  • Security card access to premises
  • Restriction of access to files on a “need to know” basis;
  • Confidentiality undertakings by all employees;
  • Locking up personal information and never leaving it unattended and in plain view;
  • Firewalls, anti-virus, strong passwords and software solutions for technical security; and
  • Regular reviews of privacy compliance initiatives.

  The Society trains all staff on privacy best practices and ensures that employees are aware of the importance of safeguarding any personal information that they are privy to.

• Retention of personal information

  The Society keeps 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 program, service or event and the nature of the information, for example we keep financial information for 6 years, in accordance with CRA rules and regulations. The retention period may extend beyond your relationship with us. When your personal information is no longer required for Society purposes, the information is either physically destroyed or deleted.

• Inquiries and requests for access

  If you have any questions about this privacy policy, or would like to access your personal information, please contact our Privacy Officer. Please note that as we cannot guarantee the security of Internet mail, all formal requests to access personal information should be made in writing.

  Privacy Officer

  Canadian Cancer Society – Ontario Division

  55 St. Clair Avenue West, Suite 500

  Toronto, Ontario

  M4V 2Y7

  Telephone: (416) 488-5402; extension 2257

  Toll free: 1 800 268-8874; extension 2257

  Fax: (416) 488-2872

  E-mail: privacy@ontario.cancer.ca

  Please note that a fee may apply in processing access requests depending on the type and volume of information requested.

Learn more about the terms and conditions of our mobile giving program.