Thank you for visiting the website of the Elizabeth Fry Society of Quebec (hereinafter the SEFQ) and for taking the time to review our privacy policy (hereinafter the Policy).

By browsing our website or using our systems or services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy and consent to the processing of your personal data and information in accordance with it, where applicable.

This privacy policy is composed of the following elements:

  1. Objectives of the privacy policy
  2. Effective date
  3. Methods of obtaining consent
  4. Purposes of data collection
  5. Purposes of data processing
  6. Personal information collected
  7. Processing methods used
  8. Methods of access and control of personal information
  9. Sharing and reasons for sharing personal information with third parties
  10. Use of cookies and similar technologies
  11. Retention of personal information

1. Objectives of the privacy policy

Respect for privacy and the protection of personal information are essential to us, which is why, through this Policy, we aim to protect them in accordance with applicable laws.

To ensure this protection, the SEFQ undertakes to only collect, process, and share information that can identify an individual when they have consented to it, unless permitted or required by law, in which case your consent will not be necessary.

The Policy aims to inform users of the reasons and the manner in which the SEFQ, or any person acting on its behalf, will collect and use their personal information. It is intended to be in clear language to ensure informed consent from users.

For the purposes of this Policy, "personal information" means all information about an identifiable person or information that can identify a person. Whenever possible, we will anonymize, pseudonymize, and/or aggregate this information so that it no longer identifies an individual.

2. Effective date

This Policy applies from October 15, 2023.

3. Methods of obtaining consent

We are committed to obtaining consent before collecting an individual's personal information. Consent may be explicit or implied and may be given directly by the person or their authorized representative.

We prefer to obtain explicit consent, whether verbally, electronically, or in writing. However, implied consent can be reasonably inferred from a person's actions or inactions. For example, providing a name and address to receive a publication or a name and phone number to get a response to a question is considered implied consent for collecting information containing personal data. To determine the appropriate type of consent, we consider the sensitivity of the personal information in question, the purposes for which it is collected, and the reasonable expectations of a person in a similar situation.

If we wish to use personal information for a new purpose, we will describe the intended use and seek consent again.

It is not always possible, especially in the context of a request from the State, to obtain a person's consent to collect, use, or disclose their personal information. We are committed to never disclosing this type of information, except in accordance with this Policy, unless required or permitted by law.

4. Purposes of data collection

The information collected is in accordance with the purposes and objectives set out in this privacy policy.

Here are some reasons why we collect your personal information:

  • To provide products and services: We will collect and process the necessary data and information to fulfill our mission and contractual obligations.
  • To ensure and improve these products and services: Data collected during your interactions with our services may be used to analyze and improve the functioning of our products and services.
  • To develop new products and services as well as for AI: Data collected may be used in a research and development context to offer new products and services to our users, including through advertisements and marketing messages. Additionally, collected and aggregated data may be processed by algorithms using artificial intelligence.
  • To offer personalized products and services: Collecting and analyzing data generated by your interactions with our services allows us to develop and create products and services that are relevant to best meet your cultural and entertainment needs, particularly to anticipate adaptation measures for customers who require them.
  • To assess the performance of products and services: Data is collected to gain information on the advantages and disadvantages of our products and services to evaluate and resolve them if necessary, including through surveys. This allows us to ensure the quality of our products and services and to facilitate risk management.
  • To protect the privacy of our users: Data collected allows us to verify identity and protect the privacy of individuals who communicate with us by phone, electronically, or otherwise.
  • To meet legal obligations: Data is collected to comply with laws, regulations, or international treaties.

5. Personal information collected

The SEFQ may collect personal information in various forms, but will only do so by lawful means and only for the necessary purposes that have been disclosed to you, as described in this Policy, or where permitted or required by law.

The personal information collected, as well as its sensitivity, may vary depending on the context of interactions between you and the SEFQ. Therefore, we must prioritize informing you of the nature of the personal information we use.

We protect all collected personal information. Among the personal information that may be collected and used, we pay particular attention to:

Name and contact details: First and last name, email address, postal address, phone number, and other similar data used to communicate with you.

Demographic data: Data about you such as your age, gender, country, and communication language.

Data related to your interactions with the justice system: Dates of offense, location of sentence.

Payment data: Data necessary for processing your payments, such as payment instrument number (e.g., your credit card number) and associated security code.

Subscription data: Information about your subscriptions to the organization's newsletters.

Interactions: Data related to your use of websites, platforms, and tools created. These are data you provide to use the products. In other cases, such as error reports, these are data we generate.

Other examples of interaction data we collect include:

  • Data on visited sites and usage: For example:
    • Payment and account history: Data on donations made to the SEFQ, in the context of a fundraising campaign or a court order.
    • Problem resolution and help data: Data you provide when you contact the SEFQ for help, including services you use, and other information that helps us resolve your problem.
  • Content consumption data: Data on the content (organization presentation, services, resources) you access through our site.
  • Searches and orders: Search queries and orders you use when you visit our website.
  • Text, input, and handwritten entry data: Text, input, and handwritten entry data, as well as any related information.
  • Location data: Data, which may be precise or not, about the location of your device. For example, location data can be collected from the IP address of a device or from your account profile data indicating more imprecisely where you are, such as a city name or postal code.
  • Other data: Other data provided when you use our website, including data from Google Analytics.

6. Purposes of data processing

Provide our products and services: We use data to operate our products and services, as well as to provide you with rich and interactive experiences.

For example, the eligibility assessment form for pardon or record suspension allows us to assist you more effectively in your efforts and to adapt our service to your specific situation.

Improve products and/or services: We use data to improve our products, including adding new features or capabilities.

Develop products and/or services: We use data to develop new products. For example, we use anonymized or pseudonymized personal information to better understand the needs of our customers.

Help secure and troubleshoot issues: We use data to help secure and troubleshoot issues with our products and services. This includes using data to ensure the security of services offered to our customers, detecting malware and malicious activities, resolving performance and compatibility issues to help customers get the most out of their experience, and informing them of product and service updates. This may include using automated systems to detect security issues.

Security: We use data to protect the security of our products and customers. Our security features may prevent malware from operating and inform users of malware detection on their device.

Surveys and promotional communications: We use data we collect to provide surveys and promotional communications. You can subscribe to email subscriptions, respond to surveys, and choose to receive or not receive promotional communications from the SEFQ by email, SMS, postal mail, and phone. For more information on managing your contact details, email subscriptions, and promotional communications, see the Access and Control of Your Personal Information section of this Policy.

Relevant offers: The SEFQ uses data to provide you with relevant and important information about the products and services offered. We analyze data from various sources to predict the information that will be most interesting and relevant to you and communicate it to you in different ways.

Advertising: The SEFQ uses data collected through its interactions with you, some of our products, and on third-party websites to advertise our products and services, including on third-party sites. We may sometimes use automated processes to make ads more relevant.

Commercial transactions: We use data to process your transactions with us. For example, we process payment information to collect charitable donations and provide receipts for tax purposes.

Reporting and business operations: We use data to analyze our operations and improve decision-making. This allows us to make informed decisions and create reports on the performance of our activities.

Protection of rights and property: We use data to detect and prevent fraud, resolve disputes, enforce contracts, and protect our property. We may use automated processes to detect and prevent activities that violate our rights and those of third parties.

Legal compliance: We process data to comply with the law. We also process contact details and identifiers to help customers exercise their data protection rights.

Research: We use data for research purposes, including for scientific purposes and in the public interest, where permitted by law.

7. Processing methods used

The SEFQ places the utmost importance on the security of your personal information and is committed to processing it according to industry standards, only for the purposes for which it is collected as described in this policy or in a specific notice to this effect. However, absolute security of this information is impossible due to the inherent security limitations of internet transmission. Therefore, the information transmitted to us is ultimately at the user's own risk.

8. Methods of access and control of personal information

The SEFQ ensures that all personal information in its possession is as accurate, current, and complete as necessary for the purposes for which it is used.

You have the right to request access to your personal information for verification purposes and to request correction if it is inaccurate. If you believe your personal information is inaccurate or if you wish to access your personal information, you can make a request using the contact details provided at the end of this Policy.

To the extent possible, we will provide you with timely access to your personal information. However, for security reasons, we may need to verify your identity.

Furthermore, there may be circumstances where we cannot give you access to your personal information. Notably, when access could lead to the disclosure of another person's personal information and that person refuses to consent to the disclosure, or when legal restrictions apply. If such a situation arises, we will inform you of the reason why we cannot give you access to your personal information.

If your request concerns data appearing on web pages or platforms of third parties, please contact these third parties directly.

9. Sharing and reason for sharing personal information with third parties

We do not share your personal information with companies, organizations, or individuals outside of the SEFQ, except for our authorized suppliers and partners who need access to the information for the purposes listed in this policy and within the limits of it, as well as in the following cases:

  • With your consent.
  • For storage in cloud servers, in which case personal information may transit through third-party jurisdictions. Note that we only retain the services of reputable companies with privacy policies.
  • For external processing needs: We transmit personal information to other trusted companies or individuals who process it on our behalf, according to our instructions, in accordance with this privacy policy, with a data security level at least equivalent to ours and in compliance with any other appropriate security and confidentiality measures.
  • For legal reasons: We transmit personal information outside our company if access to it is necessary to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

The SEFQ is committed to not selling or renting your personal information to third parties.

10. Cookies and similar technologies

The SEFQ may use cookies, web beacons, invisible pixels, log files, or other technologies to collect certain personal information related to visitors to our website, as well as recipients of our newsletters, invitations, and other communications. Cookies are pieces of information transmitted by the server to the browser during a website visit that uniquely identify the current connection. This data may include information such as your Internet address (IP), browser type, browser version, pages of our site you visit, time and date of your visit, browsing time, and other statistics.

The cookies used serve in particular to retrieve the search history linked to the session, to facilitate the user's online browsing experience. It is important to know that enabling the cookies option may, depending on the chosen configuration, allow other servers to install cookies on your system. You can set your browser settings to notify you of the presence of cookies, allowing you to accept or decline them.

Please note that our website may contain links or references to third-party websites. This policy ceases to apply when you leave our website, and the SEFQ is not responsible for the collection or processing of personal information by these third parties or through these external sources.

11. Retention of personal information

The SEFQ retains the data collected for different periods, depending on their nature and utility in providing our products and services. During the retention period, the SEFQ takes physical and technical measures to ensure the security of data containing personal information:

  • SSL protocol (Secure Sockets Layer)
  • Access management - authorized person
  • Access management - concerned person
  • Automatic backups
  • Identifier/password
  • Firewall
  • Data encryption

The main locations where personal information is retained are the cities where the SEFQ has offices or facilities and the cities where Percumédia inc., Madmimi, and Microsoft (Exchange) have servers containing data collected by the SEFQ.

Personal information may be retained outside the country where you live if a third-party provider or another entity to whom we disclose personal information in accordance with this Policy is located outside the country. In such cases, personal information may be subject to the local laws of the countries or territories where the information is collected, used, disclosed, or stored, and government and law enforcement authorities in those countries or territories may have access to it.

Once the retention period has expired, personal information is destroyed. Only statistics or reports containing depersonalized and anonymized data may be retained for extended periods.

Additional Information

Changes to these rules:

We make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any reduction in your rights under this Privacy Policy cannot be applied without your explicit consent. We always indicate the date when the last changes were made and allow you to access archived versions for review. If the changes are significant, we post a prominent notice on our website (including, for some services, through a notification by email).

Compliance Officer:

For any questions, comments, or complaints about this policy, you can contact the person responsible for ensuring compliance with this privacy policy:

Aleksandra Zajko
Elizabeth Fry Society of Quebec
5105, chemin de la Côte Saint-Antoine
Montreal, QC H4A 1N8

Phone: 514.489.2116
Fax: 514.489.2598
Email: admin [at] elizabethfry.qc.ca