Voice of English-speaking Québec (from now on “VEQ“) is committed to collecting, using, disclosing, retaining and destroying your Personal Information, regardless of the format in which it is held or accessed, per this policy (the “Privacy Policy”).
This Policy also discloses the roles and responsibilities of VEQ’s staff, from collecting to destroying your Personal Information.
If you have any questions about your Personal Information and have read the Policy and still have questions, you may contact our Privacy Officer, Brigitte Wellens, at the following email address: privacy@veq.ca
VEQ, at its discretion, may occasionally change the Policy. If so, you will be notified as appropriate. Once notified, your continued use of the services provided by VEQ after the amended Policy becomes effective will represent your consent to the Policy as amended.
1. Definitions.
The attributed meanings of words and expressions found within this policy have been listed below:
- “Governmental Authority(ies)” means the following: a) any multinational, federal, provincial, state, regional, municipal or local government, department, court, tribunal, arbitral body, Commission, agency, board or office b) any subdivision, agent, Commission or authority of any of the preceding, c) any quasi-governmental or private body exercising a power of regulation, administration, expropriation or any taxing authority under the direction of or on behalf of any of the preceding, including any private body mandated to render public services; and
d) any judicial or quasi-judicial body, court or tribunal;
- “Act” means the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector, chapter P-39.1, and any subsequent amendments or modifications to it;
- “Personal Information” means any information relating to a natural person which enables that person to be identified, directly or indirectly;
- “Privacy Officer” means the Privacy Officer appointed by VEQ to ensure compliance with and implementation of the Act, who, as of the date hereof, is Ms. Brigitte Wellens, who can be reached by email at privacy@veq.ca ;
2. Consent.
By submitting your Personal Information to VEQ, you consent to the collection, use, disclosure, and retention of your Personal Information by VEQ per this Policy.
3. Purposes for which personal information is collected.
VEQ collects your Personal Information for the following purposes:
- Respond to your requests or questions;
- To improve the Website and its services. VEQ may combine information obtained from you with information it receives about you from third parties;
- To send you, according to the choice you have made, information about our various activities;
- To prevent and detect fraud or to evaluate and improve protection and security measures;
- Contact you about this Policy;
- Carry out friendly check-ins with a specific clientele;
- Carry out publicity to promote the activities and interests of VEQ;
- To facilitate your participation in VEQ activities.
VEQ uses your Personal Information solely for the purposes set out in this Policy and undertakes to obtain your consent for any other use that is not provided for herein, except in the case of exceptions provided for in the Act.
4. Means of collecting your personal information.
VEQ collects your Personal Information when you:
- Subscribe to our e-newsletter or e-bulletin on this website
- Please register to attend one of our events and activities
- Click on an advertisement VEQ has placed on a third-party website (e.g. Google, Facebook, etc.)
- Complete a survey, enter a contest or any other promotion
- Fill in a paper or online form (e.g. Microsoft Form, Zoom, etc.)
- Contact us by email, telephone or any other means of communication
- Please send us your Personal Information by email
5. Right of access and rectification provided by law
At your request, VEQ will confirm the existence of your Personal Information, provide you with access to it and allow you to obtain a copy of it in a structured and commonly used technological format.
You have the right to demand that Personal Information that is inaccurate, incomplete or ambiguous be rectified or that Personal Information be deleted if its collection, communication or retention is not authorized by law.
You have the right to require VEQ to cease disseminating your Personal Information where such dissemination is contrary to law, a court order or where the following conditions are met:
(i) Serious harm is caused to your reputation or privacy,
(ii) Such harm outweighs the public interest in knowing the information or any individual’s interest in free expression
(iii) The requested cessation of dissemination does not exceed what is necessary to prevent further harm.
In all cases, your request for access or rectification must be in writing, and you must provide proof of your identity as the person to whom the Personal Information pertains. The Privacy Officer at VEQ will respond to your written request within 30 days of receipt.
Access to your Personal Information is free, except where reasonable charges may be applied for the transcription, reproduction or transmission.
In the event of a refusal to grant your request, the Privacy Officer undertakes to provide the reasons for the decision and to inform you of the provisions of the Act on which the refusal is based, the recourse available to you, and the time limit within which they may be exercised. The officer provides the necessary assistance to help you understand the refusal.
They undertake to issue, free of charge, a copy of your Personal Information that has either been modified or added or, depending on the request, an attestation of the deletion of your Personal Information. The Privacy Officer also undertakes to notify, without delay, any person who has received the information in the six months preceding the request from the person concerned and, where applicable, the person from whom the information was obtained.
Also, it undertakes to keep the Personal Information that is the subject of your request for access or rectification for the time required to enable you to exhaust your recourse under the Act.
6. Right to withdraw your consent.
You have the right, at any time, to withdraw your consent to the disclosure or use of your Personal Information by VEQ. To do so, please get in touch with the Privacy Officer using the contact information provided in this Policy.
However, where applicable, withdrawal of your consent may result in VEQ being unable or unwilling to provide its service.
7. We collect personal information through cookies on our website.
Cookies automatically gather personal information when you use our website and online services. They are stored on your device to ensure smooth website operation, deliver relevant information, and personalize your experience.
You have control over cookies: you can choose to accept or decline them. While most web browsers accept cookies by default, you can adjust your browser settings to refuse them. To turn off cookies, go to your browser’s. You can also use private browsing mode to limit cookie use. Remember that disabling cookies may significantly impact your experience on our website.
8. Disclosure of your personal information.
- Communication to entities and/or persons in Québec.
VEQ wants you to understand with whom it shares the Personal Information it collects about you. Accordingly, JH Partners shares your Personal Information with the following persons/entities:
- Authorized service providers – VEQ may share your Personal Information with service providers who perform services on our behalf. The services provided by these service providers include processing credit card payments, processing donations, providing customer service, analyzing and promoting activities, supporting website functionality, conducting contests, sweepstakes and surveys, and supporting other website functions. These service providers may have access to your Personal Information for the sole purpose of performing their functions. In such cases, measures will be put in place to ensure the confidentiality of your Personal Information.
- Business partners —VEQ may share your Personal Information with its business partners to provide you with services. In such cases, measures will be taken to ensure the confidentiality of your Personal Information.
- Community partners —VEQ may share your Personal Information with its community partners to improve the health and well-being of the English-speaking community in the Capitale-Nationale region (the Greater Québec City region), including Portneuf and Charlevoix. In this case, measures will be taken to ensure the confidentiality of your Personal Information.
- Public health and social services —VEQ may share your Personal Information with staff in the public health and social services sector in the Greater Québec City region. In this case, measures will be taken to ensure the confidentiality of your Personal Information.
- Government authorities —VEQ may share your Personal Information with government authorities when required. In such cases, measures will be taken to ensure the confidentiality of your Personal Information.
VEQ must obtain your consent to communicate or transmit your Personal Information to a third party not covered by this Policy, except when justified under an exception provided for in the Act.
8.2 Communication to entities and/or persons outside Québec
Your Personal Information may be disclosed or stored outside Québec. In such cases, VEQ undertakes to conduct a privacy impact assessment and to transfer your information only if the assessment demonstrates that the disclosed personal information is protected.
VEQ may share your Personal Information with the following companies, which demonstrate or have demonstrated that your Personal Information is adequately protected:
- MailChimp – A marketing automation and email marketing platform.
- MS SharePoint – A tool for creating websites, publishing content and storing files.
- Zoom – A communications platform that allows users to connect with video, audio and phone.
9. Third-party websites.
Please note that our website contains links to third-party websites that are not subject to this Policy. These websites may collect your personal information and inform us of your activities. VEQ recommends reviewing each third-party website by clicking the “Privacy Policy” link at the bottom of your web page.
10. Retention of your personal information.
VEQ stores your Personal Information on secure computer servers and, where necessary, in paper format in locked offices. The following is a list of physical locations where your Personal Information may be stored:
- The Wellness Centre at Jeffery Hale.
11. Safety measures.
VEQ takes appropriate security measures, including physical, electronic and procedural measures, to protect your Personal Information from unauthorized access and disclosure.
VEQ has taken the following security measures to protect your personal information adequately:
- Each employee has a unique password to access their computer.
- A multifactor authentication system is in place.
- Each VEQ staff member, supplier, customer, volunteer, and Board and Committee member signs a confidentiality agreement.
- Staff receive training on applying this Policy and good practices for storing and protecting Personal Information.
- Locked filing cabinets and a secure method of storing the keys for each are in place. Personal Information collected in paper format or physical form can also be stored in locked offices.
12. How long do we keep personal information?
VEQ retains Personal Information for as long as necessary for the purposes set out in this Policy and is subject to any retention period provided by law.
Once the purposes for which your Personal Information was collected have been fulfilled, VEQ will destroy or anonymize it, subject to any retention period provided for by law.
We may retain some of your account information for analysis, accounting, record-keeping, and fraud prevention purposes. This includes enforcing our Terms of Use and taking necessary actions to protect the website. If we’ve shared your information with third parties, their policies will apply, and we cannot be held responsible.
When VEQ makes decisions based on your Personal Information, it is retained for one year following the Act.
13. Handling complaints.
If you have a complaint regarding the protection of your Personal Information or the use of your Personal Information by VEQ, please get in touch with our Privacy Officer at the email address indicated on the first page of this Policy. A response to your complaint will follow as soon as possible.
14. Staff roles and responsibilities.
Only authorized employees of VEQ have access to your Personal Information, that is, employees who need to know or have access to your Personal Information to enable VEQ to provide its services. Employees authorized by VEQ to access their personal information are given specific access codes, and each authorized employee has access only to the personal information required to perform their duties in the program area.
The Privacy Officer is responsible for ensuring compliance with and implementing this Policy. He or she shall also ensure that all authorized VEQ employees are familiar with it and use Personal Information by its provisions.
15. Access to and means of accessing your Personal Information.
If you have any questions about VEQ’s access to or use of your Personal Information, please get in touch with our Privacy Officer at the email address listed on the first page of this Policy. The contact information for the Privacy Officer will also be available on our website.
16. Collection of Personal Information from Minors.
VEQ, for its purposes, may collect personal information from a minor. In such cases, VEQ will obtain the consent of the parent or legal guardian to collect the Personal Information and will only use the Personal Information for the purposes disclosed at the time of collection.
17. Protocol in the event of a breach of confidentiality.
In case of a confidentiality breach affecting credit rating, identity theft, or employment, VEQ will promptly notify the Commission d’accès à l’information and affected individuals.
VEQ will implement an internal register of confidentiality incidents to prevent new occurrences of the exact nature.
18. Precedence.
If this Policy contradicts the Act, the Act’s provisioAct’sall prevail.