PRIVACY POLICY
CANADA ONLINE
TRAVEL NEWS, CANADA ONLINE NEWS AND 1476132 ONT INC recognized in this document
as "we" or "COTN") recognize the importance
of protecting the privacy of all information provided by users of our web sites,
subscribers to our magazines, registrants for our events, recipients of our
e-mail newsletters and all other customers of our products and services. We
created this policy with a fundamental respect for our customers' right to
privacy and to guide our relationships with our customers. This Privacy
Statement discloses the privacy practices for all products and services owned by
COTN
INFORMATION
COLLECTION AND USE
COTN collects information from our website users, subscribers and other
customers. In this section of our Privacy Statement, we describe the type of
information we collect and how we use it to provide better services to our
customers.
Registration
and Ordering
When attending our trade shows and other in-person events, participating in our
customer-sponsored webcasts, using some of our websites and signing up for
certain selected services (such as free subscriptions), users must first
register. During registration, users are required to give their contact
information (such as name, e-mail address, mailing address and phone number).
For internal purposes, we use this information to communicate with users and
provide requested services, and, for our website visitors, to provide a more
personalized experience on our sites. We also may collect information about a
user's professional responsibilities (such as job title, purchasing
responsibilities, company information and professional certification). We use
such information to improve our service, for marketing purposes and/or for
industry reporting purposes.
Many of our products and services are free to subscribers who meet certain demographic criteria. Independent auditors may need to certify the eligibility of these subscribers. In order to do that, we may collect unique identifiers (such as mother's maiden name) that we disclose to the auditors strictly for industry reporting and audit verification purposes.
For our services that require payment (such as certain events, products and subscriptions), we also collect credit card information (such as account name, number and expiration date), which is used for our or our agent's billing purposes only, and is not otherwise shared.
E-mail
Newsletters
If users wish to subscribe to our e-mail newsletters, we ask for contact
information (such as name, e-mail address and phone number) and information
about the subscriber's professional interests and responsibilities. We use this
information in the same manner as we use contact information in the registration
and ordering process described above. Recipients of our newsletters can
unsubscribe using the instructions listed at the end of the e-mail newsletter.
Surveys
and Contests
From time to time we invite web site users and other customers to provide
information via surveys or contests. Participation in these surveys or contests
is completely voluntary and the website user or other customer therefore has a
choice whether to disclose requested contact information (such as name and
mailing address) and demographic information (such as zip code or job title). In
addition to the other uses set forth in this policy, contact information
collected in connection with surveys and contests is used to notify the winners
and award prizes and to monitor or improve the use of, and satisfaction with the
website or other COTN product or service. Subject to the given customer's
preferences (as described in the "Permission" section below), such
information also may be shared with third party sponsors of such surveys or
contests.
Interactive
Features
At some of our sites, we offer interactive and community features such as
discussion boards and user profiles. Note that all personal information sent or
posted via such features becomes public information for which we are not
responsible.
Tell-A-Friend
If customers elect to use our referral service for informing a friend about our
sites and services, we may ask them for the friend's name, job title and e-mail
address. COTN will store and use this information to send the friend an
invitation. This information may also be used to provide information about our
company and related products and services. The friend may contact us as
specified in the tell-a-friend message to request that no further communications
be sent.
Communications
with Us
We have features where our customers can submit information to us (such as our
feedback forms). Where such submissions include requests for service, support or
information, we may forward them to our agents, as needed, to best respond to
the specific request. In addition, we may retain e-mails and other information
sent to us for our internal administrative purposes and to help us to serve
customers better. Please note that letters to the editor and similar submissions
may be made public.
Communications
from Us: Service Updates, Special Offers
In order to best serve our customers, we may send updates that contain important
information about our products and services. For example, we send new members a
welcoming message and verify password and username for our password-protected
web sites. We may also communicate with a customer to provide requested services
and for account-related issues via e-mail, phone or regular mail. In addition to
such service and product-essential messages, we offer our customers the option
to receive information about our company, related products, services and special
deals. Users, however, can choose not to receive these communications from us,
as set forth in the Permission section below.
Automatic
Data Collection
Our web sites, newsletters and, from time to time, certain other products and
services have features that automatically collect information from customers, to
deliver content specific to customers' interests and to honor their preferences.
This information assists us in creating products and services that will serve
the needs of our customers.
For example, we use "cookies," a piece of data stored on the user's hard drive containing information about the user. Cookies benefit the user by requiring login only once, thereby saving time while on our web site. If users reject the cookies, they may be limited in the use of some areas of our web site. For example, the user may not be able to participate in sweepstakes, contests or drawings. Additionally, we may note some of the pages the user visits on our web sites and via our email newsletters through the use of pixel tags (also called clear gifs) and web beacons. The use of cookies, pixels and web beacons enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our sites and via our email newsletters.
In addition, some of our business affiliates use cookies on our web sites and in our email newsletters, in ads or promotions. However, we have no access to or control over these business affiliates' cookies; we urge users to read their privacy policies for information. In particular, we use third-party advertising technology to serve ads for COTN products and services when you visit certain COTN Web sites. This technology uses information about your visits to these COTN Web sites (not including your name, address, or other personal information), to serve our ads to you. In the course of serving our advertisements to you, a unique third-party cookie may be placed or recognized on your browser. In addition, we use web beacons, provided by our ad serving partner, to help manage our online advertising for COTN products and services. These web beacons enable our ad server to recognize a browser's cookie when a browser visits these sites and to learn which banner ads bring users to our Web sites. The information used in this process is not personally identifiable. We allow advertisers to use third party ad servers to display ads on our sites. These third party ad servers may set and recognize their cookies on your pc. They may collect standard information about your browser and system and use that data, along with your IP address, to manage ad frequency and serve ads in a format most compatible with your system.
For our internal purposes, we gather date, time, browser type, navigation history and IP address of all visitors to our web sites. We use this information for our internal security audit log, trend analysis and system administration, and to gather broad information about our user base.
We may combine information supplied by a customer at registration with web site usage data to learn more about users and their preferences in the content of the site. We may use this information to tailor services to your interests or to contact you about offers from our business associates which may be of interest to you. We do not disclose this information to third parties.
WITH
WHOM YOUR INFORMATION IS SHARED
Other than with respect to users of COTN and related sites, when we have
co-branded, customized, private labeled, "powered by" or sponsored
products and services, or when we join with other parties to provide specific
services (however we do not share credit card information with such third
parties), then we may share (provide and receive) information about our
customers with such third party, subject to the customer's preferences (as
described in the "Permission" section below). Other than with
respect to users of COTN and related sites, in particular, please note that
information collected in connection with online webcasts will be shared with the
sponsor of the particular webcast(s)/seminar(s), subject to the given customer's
preferences (as described in the "Permission" section below).
These sponsors will use the information according to their own privacy policies, and we urge participants to read those policies and be aware of their privacy practices before registering.
If you register for the COTN network of sites, information which you submit at registration may be shared with third party sponsors if you access their white papers and resources or register for events they sponsor.
Finally, on occasion, we may provide targeted lists of names and offline and online contact information for marketing purposes to third parties, subject to our Permission policies, as described below, pursuant to which we give customers the option of not having their name or contact information disclosed to third parties.
Other than as set forth above, we do not share personally identifiable information with other companies, apart from those acting as our agents in providing our product(s)/service(s), and which agree to use it only for that purpose and to keep the information secure and confidential. Also, our parent, subsidiary and affiliate companies, entities into which our company may be merged, or entities to which any of our assets, products, sites or operations may be transferred, will be able to use personal information. We will also disclose information we maintain when required to do so by law, for example, in response to a court order or a subpoena or other legal obligation, in response to a law enforcement agency's request, or in special cases when we have reason to believe that disclosing this information is necessary to identify, contact or bring legal action against someone who may be causing injury to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) our rights or property
CORRECTION/UPDATING
PERSONAL INFORMATION
If information which you have submitted to us changes, or if you no longer
desire our product(s)/service(s), we provide a way to correct or update your
personal data: you may either contact Customer Support for the applicable
product or service or, to change your preferences, complete the
"Feedback" page as described in the "Permission" section
below.
PERMISSION
Our customers are given the opportunity to choose whether to receive information
from our affiliates and us not directly related to the product or service for
which they registered (or which they otherwise agreed to receive). Other than
the sharing of user information with certain sponsors by COTN and related sites,
as set forth in the "With Whom Your Information Is Shared" section
above, Customers also have the opportunity to choose whether to have personal
information shared with third parties for marketing purposes
SECURITY
We use reasonable precautions to protect information about our customers
while it is stored on our servers or in transit to our vendors processing on our
behalf. Sensitive information that is transmitted to us online (such as credit
card number) is encrypted and is transmitted to us securely. In addition, access
to all of our customers' information, not just the sensitive information
mentioned above, is restricted. Only employees who need the information to
perform a specific job (for example, a billing clerk or a customer service
representative) are granted access to personally identifiable information.
Finally, the servers on which we store personally identifiable information are
kept in a secure environment.
LINKS
Our web sites contain links to other sites. COTN is not responsible for the
privacy practices or content of such other sites. We encourage our users to be
aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each web
site to which we may link that may collect personally identifiable information.
CHILDREN
COTN websites are not directed at individuals under thirteen years of age and
COTN does not intend to collect any personally-identifiable information from
such individuals.
NOTIFICATION
and CHANGES
If we change our Privacy Statement, we will post those changes on this page so
our users are aware of what information we collect, how we use it and under
which circumstances, if any, we disclose it. Users should check this policy
frequently to keep abreast of any changes.